Sirach 48
Elijah was a powerful prophet who performed many wondrous works, including bringing a famine, raising a dead man, and throwing down kings. He was taken up into a whirlwind of fire and his spirit was passed on to Elisha. Despite Elijah's miracles, the people did not repent and were eventually cast out of their land. The passage also describes Hezekiah, a king who pleased God and was saved from the Assyrian army through the prophet Isaiah, and notes that Hezekiah was a faithful follower of David and was given a longer life by God.
1And the prophet Elijah arose like a fire, and his word burned like a torch2He brought a famine upon them, and those who provoked him in their envy became few. For they could not bear the precepts of the Lord3By the word of the Lord, he closed the heavens, and he brought down fire from heaven three times4In this way, Elijah was magnified in his wondrous works. So who can say that he is similar to you in glory5He raised up a dead man from the grave, from the fate of death, by the word of the Lord God6He threw down kings unto perdition, and he easily shattered their power and boasting from his bed7He heeded the judgment at Sinai, and the judgments of punishment at Horeb8He anointed kings unto repentance, and he chose the prophets who would follow after him9He was received into a whirlwind of fire, into a swift chariot with fiery horses10He is written in the judgments of the times, so as to lessen the wrath of the Lord, to reconcile the heart of the father to the son, and to restore the tribes of Jacob11Blessed are those who saw you, and who were adorned with your friendship12For we live only in our life, and after death, our name will not be the same13Certainly, Elijah was covered by the whirlwind, and his spirit was completed in Elisha. In his days, he was not fearful of the ruler, and no power defeated him14No word overwhelmed him, and after death, his body prophesied15In his life, he gave great portents, and in death, he wrought miracles16In all these things, the people did not repent, and they did not withdraw from their sins, even until they were cast out of their land, and were dispersed throughout all the earth17And there was left behind a people very few in number, but with a leader in the house of David18Some of these did what pleased God. But others committed many sins19Hezekiah fortified his city, and he brought water into its midst, and he dug into rock with iron, and he built a well for water20In his days, Sennacherib rose up, and he sent Rabshakeh, and he lifted up his hand against them, and he extended his hand against Zion, and he became arrogant in his power21Then their hearts and hands shook. And they were in pain, like women giving birth22And they called upon the merciful Lord. And they spread their hands and lifted them up to heaven. And the holy Lord God quickly heeded their voice23He was not mindful of their sins, and he did not give them over to their enemies. Instead, he purified them by the hand of Isaiah, the holy prophet24He threw down the army of the Assyrians, and the Angel of the Lord crushed them25For Hezekiah did what pleased God, and he went with fortitude in the way of David his father, just as he had been commanded by Isaiah, a prophet great and faithful in the sight of God26In his days, the sun went backwards, and he added to the king’s life27With a great spirit he saw the final things. And he consoled the mourners in Zion28He revealed the future, even the distant future, and hidden things before they occurred
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