Eclesiástico (Sirácida) 48 — LXXUP

1 Then stood up Elijah the prophet as fire, And his word burned like a lamp. 2 He brought a sore famine upon them, And by his zeal he diminished their number. 3 By the word of the Lord he shut up the heaven, And also three times brought down fire. 4 O Elijah, how wast thou honored in thy wondrous deeds! And who may glory like unto thee! 5 Who didst raise up a dead man from death, And his soul from the place of the dead, by the word of the most High: 6 Who broughtest kings to destruction, And honorable men from their bed: 7 Who heardest the rebuke of the Lord in Sinai, And in Horeb the judgment of vengeance: 8 Who anointedst kings to take revenge, And prophets to succeed after him: 9 Who wast taken up in a whirlwind of fire, And in a chariot of fiery horses: 10 Who wast ordained for reproofs in their times, To pacify the wrath of the Lord’s judgment, before it broke forth into fury, And to turn the heart of the father unto the son, And to restore the tribes of Jacob. 11 Blessed are they that saw thee, And slept in love; For we shall surely live. 12 Elijah it was, who was covered with a whirlwind; And Elisha was filled with his spirit: While he lived, he was not moved [with the presence] of any prince, Neither could any bring him into subjection. 13 No word could overcome him; And after his death his body prophesied. 14 He did wonders in his life, And at his death were his works marvelous. 15 For all this the people repented not, Neither departed they from their sins, Till they were spoiled and carried out of their land, And were scattered through all the earth: Yet there remained a small people, And a ruler in the house of David: 16 Of whom some did that which was pleasing [to God], And some multiplied sins. 17 Hezekiah fortified his city, And brought in water into the midst thereof: He dug the hard rock with iron, And made wells for waters. 18 In his time Sennacherib came up, And sent Rabshakeh, And lifted up his hand against Zion, And boasted proudly. 19 Then trembled their hearts and hands, And they were in pain, as women in travail. 20 But they called upon the Lord who is merciful, And stretched out their hands toward him: And immediately the Holy One heard them out of heaven, And delivered them by the ministry of Isaiah. 21 He smote the host of the Assyrians, And his angel destroyed them. 22 For Hezekiah had done the thing that pleased the Lord, And was strong in the ways of David his father, As Isaiah the prophet, who was great And faithful in his vision, had commanded him. 23 In his time the sun went backward, And he lengthened the king’s life. 24 He saw by an excellent spirit what should come to pass at the last, And he comforted them that mourned in Zion. 25 He showed what should come to pass forever, And secret things or ever they came.

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