Sirach 48 - New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Elijah

48 Then Elijah arose, a prophet like fire,
and his word burned like a torch.^(A)
2 He brought a famine upon them,
and by his zeal he made them few in number.
³ By the word of the Lord he shut up the heavens
and also three times brought down fire.^(B)
4 How glorious you were, Elijah, in your wondrous deeds!
Who can boast^[a] as you can?
⁵ You who raised a corpse from death
and from Hades, by the word of the Most High,^(C)
6 who sent kings down to destruction
and famous men from their sickbeds,^(D)
7 who heard rebuke at Sinai
and judgments of vengeance at Horeb,^(E)
8 who anointed kings to inflict retribution
and prophets to succeed you,^[b](F)
9 who were taken up by a whirlwind of fire
in a chariot with horses of fire,^(G)
10 who were prepared at the appointed time^[c]
to calm wrath before it breaks out in fury,
to turn the hearts of parents to their children
and to restore the tribes of Jacob.^(H)
11 Happy are those who saw you
and were adorned^[d] in love!
For we also shall surely live.^[e]

Elisha

¹² When Elijah was enveloped in the whirlwind,
Elisha was filled with his spirit.
He performed twice as many signs
and marvels with every utterance of his mouth.^[f]
Never in his lifetime did he tremble before any ruler,
nor could anyone intimidate him at all.^(I)
13 Nothing was too hard for him,^[g]
and when he was dead his body prophesied.^(J)
14 In his life he did wonders,
and in death his deeds were marvelous.

¹⁵ Despite all this the people did not repent,
nor did they forsake their sins,
until they were carried off as plunder from their land
and were scattered over all the earth.
The people were left very few in number
but with a ruler from the house of David.^(K)
16 Some of them did what was right,
but others sinned more and more.

Hezekiah

¹⁷ Hezekiah fortified his city
and brought water into its midst;
he tunneled the rock with iron tools
and built cisterns for the water.^(L)
18 In his days Sennacherib invaded the country;
he sent his commander^[h] and departed;
he shook his fist against Zion
and made great boasts in his arrogance.^(M)
19 Then their hearts and hands were shaken,
and they were in anguish, like women in labor.
²⁰ But they called upon the Lord who is merciful,
spreading out their hands toward him.
The Holy One quickly heard them from heaven
and delivered them through Isaiah.^(N)
21 The Lord^[i] struck down the camp of the Assyrians,
and his angel wiped them out.^(O)
22 For Hezekiah did what was pleasing to the Lord,
and he kept firmly to the ways of his ancestor David,
as he was commanded by the prophet Isaiah,
who was great and trustworthy in his visions.^(P)

Isaiah

²³ In Isaiah’s^[j] days the sun went backward,
and he prolonged the life of the king.^(Q)
24 By his dauntless spirit he saw the future
and comforted the mourners in Zion.^(R)
25 He revealed what was to occur to the end of time
and the hidden things before they happened.^(S)

Footnotes

1. 48.4Or be glorified
2. 48.8Heb: Gk him
3. 48.10Heb: Gk are for reproofs
4. 48.11Other ancient authorities read and have died
5. 48.11Meaning of Gk uncertain
6. 48.12Heb: Gk lacks He performed . . . mouth
7. 48.13Heb: Gk no word surpassed him
8. 48.18Other ancient authorities add from Lachish
9. 48.21Gk He
10. 48.23Gk his

Cross references

1. 48.1 : Mal 4.5
2. 48.3 : 1 Kings 17.1; 18.38; 2 Kings 1.10, 12
3. 48.5 : 1 Kings 17.21, 22
4. 48.6 : 2 Kings 1.16; 2 Chr 21.12–15
5. 48.7 : 1 Kings 19.8–18
6. 48.8 : 1 Kings 19.15, 16
7. 48.9 : 2 Kings 2.11; 6.17
8. 48.10 : Mal 4.5, 6; Sir 36.13; Lk 1.17
9. 48.12 : 2 Kings 2.11, 15; 3.14
10. 48.13 : 2 Kings 13.21; Sir 46.20
11. 48.15 : 2 Kings 18.11, 12; Rom 9.29
12. 48.17 : 2 Kings 20.20; 2 Chr 32.5
13. 48.18 : 2 Kings 18.13, 17; Isa 36.1, 2, 8, 9
14. 48.20 : 2 Kings 19.15–20
15. 48.21 : 2 Kings 19.35; Isa 37.36
16. 48.22 : 2 Kings 18.3
17. 48.23 : 2 Kings 20.10, 11; Isa 38.8
18. 48.24 : Isa 12.1; 40.1
19. 48.25 : Isa 42.9; 48.3, 6