Sirach 48

1Then the prophet Eli'jah arose like a fire,

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,

and also three times brought down fire.

4How glorious you were, O Eli'jah, in your wondrous deeds!

And who has the right to boast which you have?

5You who raised a corpse from death

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

6who brought kings down to destruction,

and famous men from their beds;

7who heard rebuke at Sinai

and judgments of vengeance at Horeb;

8who anointed kings to inflict retribution,

and prophets to succeed you.a

9You who were taken up by a whirlwind of fire,

in a chariot with horses of fire;

10you who are readyb at the appointed time, it is written,

to calm the wrath of God before it breaks out in fury,

to turn the heart of the father to the son,

and to restore the tribes of Jacob.

11Blessed are those who saw you,

and those who have been adornedc in love;

for we also shall surely live.d

12It was Eli'jah who was covered by the whirlwind,

and Eli'sha was filled with his spirit;

in all his days he did not tremble before any ruler,

and no one brought him into subjection.

13Nothing was too hard for him,

and when he was dead his body prophesied.

14As in his life he did wonders,

so in death his deeds were marvelous.

15For all this the people did not repent,

and they did not forsake their sins,

till they were carried away captive from their land

and were scattered over all the earth;

the people were left very few in number,

but with rulers from the house of David.

16Some of them did what was pleasing to God,e

but others multiplied sins.

17Hezeki'ah fortified his city,

and brought water into the midst of it;

he tunneled the sheer rock with iron

and built pools for water.

18In his days Sennach'erib came up,

and sent the Rab'shakeh;f

he lifted up his hand against Zion

and made great boasts in his arrogance.

19Then their hearts were shaken and their hands trembled,

and they were in anguish, like women in travail.

20But they called upon the Lord who is merciful,

spreading forth their hands toward him;

and the Holy One quickly heard them from heaven,

and delivered them by the hand of Isaiah.

21The Lordg smote the camp of the Assyrians,

and his angel wiped them out.

22For Hezeki'ah did what was pleasing to the Lord,

and he held strongly to the ways of David his father,

which Isaiah the prophet commanded,

who was great and faithful in his vision.

23In his days the sun went backward,

and he lengthened the life of the king.

24By the spirit of might he saw the last things,

and comforted those who mourned in Zion.

25He revealed what was to occur to the end of time,

and the hidden things before they came to pass.