A knock under the hood

I'm not sure if my engine knocking or it's something else. The day before my car cut off at the gas station my car was knocking and I had it checked and it had no oil so I got the oil changed and it still had a knock but not as loud. So I drove it home the next day I went to get gas and the car normally cuts off and hard to crank after getting gas because of the fuel filter needs changing or need a new fuel pump. So I crank it back up and drove 5 seconds and it cut off. I tried to crank it back up but it keep making a clicking sound, lights still on but it's not turning over. I had it towed so I tried to crank it again a couple days later and it crunk straight up and it still has that slightly knock sound. And one other thing when it cut off at the gas, a guy tried to hook it up to some jumping cables and it start smoking so he said it was the starter overheating trying to get the motor to turn over so now I'm stuck and wondering what's the issue. Do I need a new motor, or a starter or what? Or what are some things I need to be looking for?