Put Not Your Trust in Princes

The Widow of Zarephath

8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, 9 “Arise, go to ^wZarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” 10 So he arose and went to ^wZarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there ^xgathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” 11 And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” 12 And she said, ^t“As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.” 13 And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’” 15 And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.

Elijah Raises the Widow’s Son

17 After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill. And his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. 18 And she said to Elijah, ^y“What have you against me, O ^zman of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son!” 19 And he said to her, “Give me your son.” And he took him from her arms and carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged, and laid him on his own bed. 20 And he cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?” 21 ^aThen he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this child’s life¹ come into him again.” 22 And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and ^bhe revived. 23 And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives.” 24 And the woman said to Elijah, ^c“Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”

Jesus Raises a Widow’s Son

11 Soon afterward¹ he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. 12 As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, ^jthe only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. 13 And when the Lord saw her, ^khe had compassion on her and ^lsaid to her, “Do not weep.” 14 Then he came up and touched ^mthe bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, ⁿarise.” 15 And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus^{2 o}gave him to his mother. 16 Fear seized them all, and ^pthey glorified God, saying, ^q“A great prophet has arisen among us!” and ^r“God has visited his people!” 17 And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.

Paul Called by God

11 For ^uI would have you know, brothers, that ^vthe gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel.¹ 12 ^wFor I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it ^xthrough a revelation of Jesus Christ. 13 For you have heard of ^ymy former life in Judaism, how ^zI persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. 14 And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely ^azealous was I for ^bthe traditions of my fathers. 15 But when he ^cwho had set me apart ^dbefore I was born,² and who ^ecalled me by his grace, 16 was pleased to reveal his Son to³ me, in order ^fthat I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone;⁴ 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.

18 Then ^gafter three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. 19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James ^hthe Lord’s brother. 20 (In what I am writing to you, ⁱbefore God, I do not lie!) 21 ^jThen I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22 And I was still unknown in person to ^kthe churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23 They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they glorified God because of me.