The Divided Kingdom

So he arose, and went to Zarephath: and when he came to the gate of the citie, beholde, the widowe was there gathering stickes: and he called her, and sayde, Bring me, I pray thee, a litle water in a vessel, that I may drinke.

And as she was going to fet it, he called to her, and sayde, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsell of bread in thine hand.

And shee sayde, As the Lord thy God liueth, I haue not a cake, but euen an handfull of meale in a barrel, and a litle oyle in a cruse: and behold, I am gathering a fewe stickes for to go in, and dresse it for me and my sonne, that we may eate it, and dye.

And Eliiah said vnto her, Feare not, come, do as thou hast sayd, but make me thereof a litle cake first of all, and bring it vnto mee, and afterward make for thee, and thy sonne.

For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The meale in the barrel shall not be wasted, neither shall the oyle in the cruse be diminished, vnto the time that the Lord send rayne vpon the earth.

So she went, and did as Eliiah sayd, and she did eate: so did he and her house for a certaine time.

The barrell of the meale wasted not, nor the oyle was spent out of the cruse, according to the worde of the Lord, which he spake by the hand of Eliiah.

And after these things, the sonne of the wife of the house fell sicke, and his sicknesse was so sore, that there was no breath left in him.

And she said vnto Eliiah, What haue I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come vnto me to call my sinne to remembrance, and to slay my sonne?

And he said vnto her, Giue me thy sonne. and he tooke him out of her bosome, and caryed him vp into a chamber, where he abode, and laid him vpon his owne bed.

Then he called vnto the Lord, and sayde, O Lord my God, hast thou punished also this widowe, with whome I soiourne, by killing her sonne?

And he stretched himselfe vpon the childe three times, and called vnto the Lord, and saide, O Lord my God, I pray thee, let this childes soule come into him againe.

Then the Lord heard the voyce of Eliiah, and the soule of the child came into him againe, and he reuiued.

And Eliiah tooke the childe, and brought him downe out of the chamber into the house, and deliuered him vnto his mother, and Eliiah sayd, Behold, thy sonne liueth.

And the woman saide vnto Eliiah, Now I knowe that thou art a man of God, and that the worde of the Lord in thy mouth is true.

After many dayes, the worde of the Lord came to Eliiah, in the third yeere, saying, Goe, shewe thy selfe vnto Ahab, and I will sende rayne vpon the earth.

And Eliiah went to shew himselfe vnto Ahab, and there was a great famine in Samaria.

And Ahab called Obadiah the gouernour of his house: (and Obadiah feared God greatly:

For when Iezebel destroyed the Prophets of the Lord, Obadiah tooke an hundreth Prophets, and hid them, by fiftie in a caue, and he fed them with bread and water.)

And Ahab saide vnto Obadiah, Goe into the land, vnto all the fountaines of water, and vnto all the riuers, if so be that we may finde grasse to saue the horses and the mules aliue, lest we depriue the lande of the beastes.

And so they deuided the lande betweene them to walke thorowe it. Ahab went one way by him selfe, and Obadiah went another way by him selfe.

And as Obadiah was in the way, behold, Eliiah met him: and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, Art not thou my lord Eliiah?

And he answered him, Yea, goe tell thy lord, Behold, Eliiah is here.

And he said, What haue I sinned, that thou wouldest deliuer thy seruant into the hande of Ahab, to slay me?

As the Lord thy God liueth, there is no nation or kingdome, whither my lorde hath not sent to seeke thee: and when they sayd, He is not here, he tooke an othe of the kingdome and nation, if they had not found thee.