Ecclesiasticus, 48
1. Then the prophet Elijah arose like a fire, his word flaring like a torch.
2. It was he who brought famine on them and decimated them in his zeal.
3. By the word of the Lord he shut up the heavens, three times also he brought down fire.
4. How glorious you were in your miracles, Elijah! Has anyone reason to boast as you have? -
5. rousing a corpse from death, from Sheol, by the word of the Most High;
6. dragging kings down to destruction, and high dignitaries from their beds;
7. hearing a rebuke on Sinai and decrees of punishment on Horeb;
8. anointing kings as avengers, and prophets to succeed you;
9. taken up in the whirlwind of fire, in a chariot with fiery horses;
10. designated in the prophecies of doom to allay God's wrath before the fury breaks, to turn the hearts of fathers towards their children, and to restore the tribes of Jacob.
11. Blessed, those who will see you, and those who have fallen asleep in love; for we too shall certainly have life.
12. Such was Elijah, who was enveloped in a whirlwind; and Elisha was filled with his spirit; throughout his life no ruler could shake him, and no one could subdue him.
13. No task was too hard for him, and even in death his body prophesied.
14. In his lifetime he performed wonders, and in death his works were marvellous.
15. Despite all this the people did not repent, nor did they give up their sins, until they were herded out of their country and scattered all over the earth;
16. only a few of the people were left, with a ruler of the House of David. Some of them did what pleased the Lord, others piled sin on sin.
17. Hezekiah fortified his city, and laid on a water-supply inside it; with iron he tunnelled through the rock and constructed storage-tanks.
18. In his days Sennacherib invaded and sent Rabshakeh; he lifted his hand against Zion, and boasted loudly in his arrogance.
19. Then their hearts and hands trembled, they felt the pangs of a woman in labour,
20. but they called on the merciful Lord, stretching out their hands towards him. Swiftly the Holy One heard them from heaven and delivered them by the agency of Isaiah;
21. he struck the camp of the Assyrians and his Angel annihilated them.
22. For Hezekiah did what is pleasing to the Lord, and was steadfast in the ways of David his father, enjoined on him by the prophet Isaiah, a great man trustworthy in his vision.
23. In his days the sun moved back; he prolonged the life of the king.
24. In the power of the spirit he saw the last things, he comforted the mourners of Zion,
25. he revealed the future to the end of time, and hidden things long before they happened.
