And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.
Parallel translations
- WEB The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook.
- BSB The ravens would bring him bread and meat in the morning and evening, and he would drink from the brook.
- NKJV The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook.
- NASB And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he would drink from the brook.
- NLT The ravens brought him bread and meat each morning and evening, and he drank from the brook.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The ravens faithfully bring Elijah bread and meat morning and evening, and he drinks from the brook.
Overview
God's promise is fulfilled as the ravens supply Elijah twice daily and the brook gives him water. The regular, reliable provision demonstrates God's tender, sustaining care for His servant in the midst of judgment on the land. It teaches that those who trust and obey God can rest in His faithful, even miraculous, provision.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- Ps 78:23–24Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven,
- Matt 6:31–33Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
- Ps 78:15–16He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths.
- Jer 37:21Then Zedekiah the king commanded that they should commit Jeremiah into the court of the prison, and that they should give him daily a piece of bread out of the bakers’ street, until all the bread in the city were spent. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.
- Matt 14:19–21And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.
- Luke 22:35And he said unto them, When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing.
- Matt 19:26But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
- Ps 34:9–10O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.
- Judg 15:18–19And he was sore athirst, and called on the LORD, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?
- Ps 37:19They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.
- Isa 33:16He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.
- Judg 14:14And he said unto them, Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not in three days expound the riddle.
- Heb 6:18That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
- Ps 37:3Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
- Hab 3:17–18Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:
- Num 11:23And the LORD said unto Moses, Is the LORD’s hand waxed short? thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not.
- Jer 40:4And now, behold, I loose thee this day from the chains which were upon thine hand. If it seem good unto thee to come with me into Babylon, come; and I will look well unto thee: but if it seem ill unto thee to come with me into Babylon, forbear: behold, all the land is before thee: whither it seemeth good and convenient for thee to go, thither go.
- Exod 16:35And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan.
- Heb 13:5–6Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Solomon's glory, wisdom, and temple where God's presence dwells are a shadow of the greater Son of David — 'one greater than Solomon is here' — and of the true Temple, Christ himself.
How 1 Kings 17:6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.