| 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 offathers towards their children, and to restore the tribes of Jacob. |
| 11 Blessed, those who wil see you, and those who have fal en asleep in love; for we too shal certainlyhave life. |
| 12 Such was Elijah, who was enveloped in a whirlwind; and Elisha was fil ed with his spirit; throughout hislife 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 marvel ous. |
| 15 Despite al this the people did not repent, nor did they give up their sins, until they were herded out oftheir country and scattered al 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 pleasedthe 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 rockand constructed storage-tanks. |
| 18 In his days Sennacherib invaded and sent Rabshakeh; he lifted his hand against Zion, and boastedloudly in his arrogance. |
| 19 Then their hearts and hands trembled, they felt the pangs of a woman in labour, |
| 20 but they cal ed on the merciful Lord, stretching out their hands towards him. Swiftly the Holy Oneheard 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. |