In Praise of Elijah

¹Then Elijah the prophet arose like a fire,

and his word burned like a torch.

²He brought a famine upon Israel,

and he reduced them to a small number by his zeal.

³By the word of the Lord he held back the rain

and three times brought down fire from heaven.

⁴How glorious your amazing deeds made you, Elijah!

Who else can boast such deeds?

⁵You raised a corpse from death

and the grave by the word of the Most High.

⁶You brought down kings to destruction

as well as the famous from their sickbeds.

⁷You heard rebuke at Mount Sinai

and judgments of vengeance at Mount Horeb.

⁸You anointed kings to mete out retribution

and prophets to succeed you.

⁹You were taken up in a whirlwind of fire,

in a chariot with fiery horses.

¹⁰The Scriptures say that you are to come at the appointed time

to calm the anger of the Lord before it furiously breaks out.

He will turn the hearts of parents to their children

and restore the tribes of Jacob.

¹¹Blessed are they who saw you

and were honored with your love.

For now we also will certainly live.

In Praise of Elisha

¹²When Elijah was enveloped in the whirlwind,

Elisha was filled with his spirit.

Throughout his life, Elisha never feared any ruler,

and no one could even intimidate him.

¹³Nothing was too difficult for him,

and his body retained prophetic power even after death.

¹⁴During his lifetime, Elisha performed wonders,

and after death he performed amazing deeds.

¹⁵Despite all this the people did not repent.

They did not abandon their sins

until they were carried from their land as captives

and scattered throughout the whole world.

Only a small number of people were left,

but one of them was a ruler from David’s royal line.

¹⁶Some of them did what was right,

but others heaped up sins.

In Praise of Hezekiah

¹⁷Hezekiah fortified his city

and brought water within its walls.

He tunneled through solid rock with iron tools

and made cisterns to collect the water.

¹⁸During Hezekiah’s reign Sennacherib invaded the country.

He sent his commander and then left.

He threatened Jerusalem

and arrogantly made great boasts.

¹⁹The hearts of the people were shaken, and their hands trembled.

They were in anguish like women in labor.

²⁰But they called upon the Lord, who is merciful,

spreading out their hands toward him in prayer.

The Holy One quickly heard them from heaven

and rescued them through Isaiah.

²¹The Lord attacked the army of the Assyrians,

and his angel destroyed them.

²²For Hezekiah did what pleased the Lord

and walked faithfully in the ways of his ancestor David.

Hezekiah had been commanded to do this by Isaiah,

the great and trustworthy prophet.

²³During Isaiah’s time the sun went backward,

and he lengthened the king’s life.

²⁴Empowered by the Spirit, he saw the future[#48:24 Or Empowered in his spirit.]

and comforted the mourners of Jerusalem.

²⁵He showed what would happen until the end of time

and revealed hidden events before they even occurred.