Some years later, at harvest time, the boy went out one morning to join his father, who was in the field with the harvest workers.

Gehazi went on ahead and held Elisha's stick over the child, but there was no sound or any other sign of life. So he went back to meet Elisha and said, "The boy didn't wake up."

He closed the door and prayed to the LORD.

Elisha got up, walked around the room, and then went back and again stretched himself over the boy. The boy sneezed seven times and then opened his eyes.

But there was a famine in Canaan, and it was so bad that Abram went farther south to Egypt, to live there for a while.

There was another famine in the land besides the earlier one during the time of Abraham. Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, at Gerar.

"We have come to live in this country, because in the land of Canaan the famine is so severe that there is no pasture for our flocks. Please give us permission to live in the region of Goshen."

Long ago, in the days before Israel had a king, there was a famine in the land. So a man named Elimelech, who belonged to the clan of Ephrath and who lived in Bethlehem in Judah, went with his wife Naomi and their two sons Mahlon and Chilion to live for a while in the country of Moab. While they were living there,

Joseph said to the king, "The two dreams mean the same thing; God has told you what he is going to do.

It is just as I told you---God has shown you what he is going to do.

The repetition of your dream means that the matter is fixed by God and that he will make it happen in the near future.

I will break your stubborn pride; there will be no rain, and your land will be dry and as hard as iron.

All your hard work will do you no good, because your land will not produce crops and the trees will not bear fruit.

I will cut off your food supply, so that ten women will need only one oven to bake all the bread they have. They will ration it out, and when you have eaten it all, you will still be hungry.

The LORD will strike you with infectious diseases, with swelling and fever; he will send drought and scorching winds to destroy your crops. These disasters will be with you until you die.

Instead of rain, the LORD will send down duststorms and sandstorms until you are destroyed.

"You will plant plenty of seed, but reap only a small harvest, because the locusts will eat your crops.

Olive trees will grow everywhere in your land, but you will not have any olive oil, because the olives will drop off.

A prophet named Elijah, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to King Ahab, "In the name of the LORD, the living God of Israel, whom I serve, I tell you that there will be no dew or rain for the next two or three years until I say so."

So Elijah started out. The famine in Samaria was at its worst,

The LORD sent famine to their country and took away all their food.

He made rich soil become a salty wasteland because of the wickedness of those who lived there.

I have brought drought on the land---on its hills, grainfields, vineyards, and olive orchards---on every crop the ground produces, on people and animals, on everything you try to grow."

There will be terrible earthquakes, famines, and plagues everywhere; there will be strange and terrifying things coming from the sky.

For those will be 'The Days of Punishment,' to make come true all that the Scriptures say.

One of them, named Agabus, stood up and by the power of the Spirit predicted that a severe famine was about to come over all the earth. (It came when Claudius was emperor.)

I will begin my work of destruction in my own city. Do they think they will go unpunished? No, they will be punished, for I am going to send war on all the people on earth. I, the LORD Almighty, have spoken.

The seven thin cows which came up later and the seven thin heads of grain scorched by the desert wind are seven years of famine.

During David's reign there was a severe famine which lasted for three full years. So David consulted the LORD about it, and the LORD said, "Saul and his family are guilty of murder; he put the people of Gibeon to death."

Gad went to him, told him what the LORD had said, and asked, "Which is it to be? Three years of famine in your land or three months of running away from your enemies or three days of an epidemic in your land? Now think it over, and tell me what answer to take back to the LORD."

Listen to me: it is true that there were many widows in Israel during the time of Elijah, when there was no rain for three and a half years and a severe famine spread throughout the whole land.