Sirach 48

Common English Bible

48 Then Elijah the prophet
rose up like fire,
    and his word burned like a torch.
² He brought a famine upon them,
    and he reduced their number by his zeal.
³ By the Lord’s word he shut up the sky,
    and in the same way
    he brought down fire three times.
⁴ How glorious you were, Elijah,
in your amazing deeds!
    Who will boast like you can?
⁵     You raised a corpse from death,
        from the grave^[a] by a word
        of the Most High.
⁶     You brought kings down to destruction
        and dragged the famous
        from their beds.
⁷     You heard a rebuke at Sinai
        and decrees of punishment at Horeb.
⁸     You anointed kings to bring retribution
        and prophets to succeed you.
⁹     You were taken up in a whirlwind of fire
        and in a chariot of fiery horses.
¹⁰     It is recorded that you are ready
    for the designated times,
        to calm anger before it turns to wrath,
        to turn the heart of a father to his son,
        and to restore the tribes of Jacob.
¹¹ Happy are those who saw you
    and who have fallen asleep^[b]
    in your love,
    for we will surely live as well.

¹² Elijah was covered by the whirlwind,
    and Elisha was filled with his spirit.^[c]
In his time, he didn’t tremble
before any ruler,
    and no one oppressed him.
¹³ Nothing was too great for him,
    and in death his body prophesied.^[d]
14 During his life,
he performed wonders,
    and in death his accomplishments
    were marvelous.

¹⁷ Hezekiah strengthened
the city’s defenses,
    and he provided a water supply.
    He tunneled through rock
    with iron tools,
    and he constructed storage tanks
    for water.
¹⁸ During his rule,
Sennacherib moved on Jerusalem,^[e]
    commissioned the field commander,
    and departed.
        The field commander attacked Zion,
        and made great boasts
        in his arrogance.
¹⁹ Then the people’s hearts and hands
were shaken,
    and they were in agony
    like a woman who is in labor.
²⁰ They called upon the Lord
who is merciful,
        reaching out their hands to him.
    The holy one at once heard them
    from heaven,
        and he rescued them through Isaiah.
²¹ The Lord struck down
the camp of the Assyrians,
    and his messenger destroyed them.
²² Hezekiah did what was pleasing
to the Lord,
    and he kept to the ways of David
    his ancestor,
        as Isaiah the prophet, who was great
        and whose visions were reliable,
        had commanded.