Elijah

¹Then Elijah the prophet

rose up like fire,

and his word burned like a torch.

²He brought a famine upon them,

and he reduced their number by his zeal.

³By the Lord’s word he shut up the sky,

and in the same way

he brought down fire three times.

⁴How glorious you were, Elijah,

in your amazing deeds!

Who will boast like you can?

⁵You raised a corpse from death,

⁶You brought kings down to destruction

⁷You heard a rebuke at Sinai

⁸You anointed kings to bring retribution

⁹You were taken up in a whirlwind of fire

¹⁰It is recorded that you are ready

for the designated times,

¹¹Happy are those who saw you

and who have fallen asleep

in your love,

for we will surely live as well.

Elisha

¹²Elijah was covered by the whirlwind,

and Elisha was filled with his spirit.

In his time, he didn’t tremble

before any ruler,

and no one oppressed him.

¹³Nothing was too great for him,

and in death his body prophesied.

¹⁴During his life,

he performed wonders,

and in death his accomplishments

were marvelous.

¹⁵In spite of these things,

the people didn’t change

their hearts and lives,

and they didn’t turn from their sins

until they were torn away

from their land and scattered over the whole earth.

The people who remained

were few in number,

but they had a ruler

from the house of David.

¹⁶Some of them did what pleased God,

but others sinned even more.

Hezekiah and Isaiah

¹⁷Hezekiah 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.

¹⁸During his rule,

Sennacherib moved on Jerusalem,

commissioned the field commander,

and departed.

¹⁹Then the people’s hearts and hands

were shaken,

and they were in agony

like a woman who is in labor.

²⁰They called upon the Lord

who is merciful,

The holy one at once heard them

from heaven,

²¹The Lord struck down

the camp of the Assyrians,

and his messenger destroyed them.

²²Hezekiah did what was pleasing

to the Lord,

and he kept to the ways of David

his ancestor,

²³In Isaiah’s time, the sun moved backward,

and he extended the king’s life.

²⁴By his great spirit,

he saw what was to come,

and he comforted those

who mourned in Zion.

²⁵He revealed forever what would be

and hidden things even before

they happened.