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Luke 4:25
ESV But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land,
NIV I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah's time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land.
NASB But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a severe famine came over all the land;
CSB But I say to you, there were certainly many widows in Israel in Elijah's days, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months while a great famine came over all the land.
NLT Certainly there were many needy widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the heavens were closed for three and a half years, and a severe famine devastated the land.
KJV But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land;

What does Luke 4:25 mean?

When Jesus arrives in His childhood hometown, the people struggle to believe He's anything more than another common Nazarene (Luke 4:22; Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:1–4). Jesus points out that this is a common problem for mankind (Luke 4:24). His former neighbors are stubbornly skeptical, but not hostile—yet.

Here, Jesus begins to point out that Israel has not always listened to God's messengers. When that happens, God sometimes sends those messengers to Gentiles (Luke 4:26–27). In Jesus' era, there was a heightened sense of angst against non-Jews. This was mostly thanks to the Roman occupation of Jerusalem and Judea. As soon as Jesus implies that God is willing to speak to Gentiles just as much as the Jews, the crowd will attack Him in a rage (Luke 4:28–30). Paul, speaking in Jerusalem, would suffer a similar reaction when speaking well of Gentiles (Acts 22:21–22).

The example Jesus uses here is recorded in 1 Kings chapter 17. As explained in the next verse (Luke 4:26), during a severe drought, the prophet Elijah was sent outside of Israel to perform miracles (1 Kings 17:14–16; 22–24).
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