²⁵ But I tell you ·the truth [truly], there were many widows in Israel during the time of Elijah. ·It did not rain [^LThe sky/heavens were shut] in Israel for three and one-half years, and there was ·no food anywhere [^La great famine] in the whole country [1 Kin. 17]. ²⁶ But Elijah was sent to none of those widows, only to a widow in Zarephath, a town in Sidon [^Ca Gentile city on the coast north of Israel]. ²⁷ And there were many ·with skin diseases [^Tlepers] living in Israel during the time of the prophet Elisha. But none of them were ·healed [cured; cleansed], only Naaman, ·who was from the country of Syria [^Lthe Syrian; 2 Kin. 5].”