Sirach 48

Sirach 48

Elijah

1Then Elijah arose, a prophet like fire,[#Mal 4.5]

and his word burned like a torch.

2He brought a famine upon them,

and by his zeal he made them few in number.

3By the word of the Lord he shut up the heavens[#1 Kings 17.1; 18.38; 2 Kings 1.10, 12]

and also three times brought down fire.

4How glorious you were, Elijah, in your wondrous deeds!

Who can boast as you can?

5You who raised a corpse from death[#1 Kings 17.21, 22]

and from Hades, by the word of the Most High,

6who sent kings down to destruction[#2 Kings 1.16; 2 Chr 21.12–15]

and famous men from their sickbeds,

7who heard rebuke at Sinai[#1 Kings 19.8–18]

and judgments of vengeance at Horeb,

8who anointed kings to inflict retribution[#1 Kings 19.15, 16]

and prophets to succeed you,

9who were taken up by a whirlwind of fire[#2 Kings 2.11; 6.17]

in a chariot with horses of fire,

10who were prepared at the appointed time[#Mal 4.5, 6; Sir 36.13; Lk 1.17; #48.10 Heb: Gk are for reproofs]

to calm wrath before it breaks out in fury,

to turn the hearts of parents to their children

and to restore the tribes of Jacob.

11Happy are those who saw you

and were adorned in love!

For we also shall surely live.

Elisha

12When Elijah was enveloped in the whirlwind,[#2 Kings 2.11, 15; 3.14]

Elisha was filled with his spirit.

He performed twice as many signs

and marvels with every utterance of his mouth.

Never in his lifetime did he tremble before any ruler,

nor could anyone intimidate him at all.

13Nothing was too hard for him,[#2 Kings 13.21; Sir 46.20; #48.13 Heb: Gk no word surpassed him]

and when he was dead his body prophesied.

14In his life he did wonders,

and in death his deeds were marvelous.

15Despite all this the people did not repent,[#2 Kings 18.11, 12; Rom 9.29]

nor did they forsake their sins,

until they were carried off as plunder from their land

and were scattered over all the earth.

The people were left very few in number

but with a ruler from the house of David.

16Some of them did what was right,

but others sinned more and more.

Hezekiah

17Hezekiah fortified his city[#2 Kings 20.20; 2 Chr 32.5]

and brought water into its midst;

he tunneled the rock with iron tools

and built cisterns for the water.

18In his days Sennacherib invaded the country;[#2 Kings 18.13, 17; Isa 36.1, 2, 8, 9]

he sent his commander and departed;

he shook his fist against Zion

and made great boasts in his arrogance.

19Then their hearts and hands were shaken,

and they were in anguish, like women in labor.

20But they called upon the Lord who is merciful,[#2 Kings 19.15–20]

spreading out their hands toward him.

The Holy One quickly heard them from heaven

and delivered them through Isaiah.

21The Lord struck down the camp of the Assyrians,[#2 Kings 19.35; Isa 37.36; #48.21 Gk He]

and his angel wiped them out.

22For Hezekiah did what was pleasing to the Lord,[#2 Kings 18.3]

and he kept firmly to the ways of his ancestor David,

as he was commanded by the prophet Isaiah,

who was great and trustworthy in his visions.

Isaiah

23In Isaiah’s days the sun went backward,[#2 Kings 20.10, 11; Isa 38.8; #48.23 Gk his]

and he prolonged the life of the king.

24By his dauntless spirit he saw the future[#Isa 12.1; 40.1]

and comforted the mourners in Zion.

25He revealed what was to occur to the end of time[#Isa 42.9; 48.3, 6]

and the hidden things before they happened.

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