Chapter Forty-Eight

The praise of God’s providence among people through the prophet Elijah, the prophet Elisha, the prophet Isaiah, the godliness and wisdom of King Hezekiah.

Sirach 48:1. And Elijah the prophet rose up like a fire, and his word burned like a lamp. Sirach 48:2. He brought famine upon them and reduced their number by his zealous efforts; Sirach 48:3. by the word of the Lord he shut up heaven and three times brought down fire. Sirach 48:4. How were you glorified, Elijah, for your wonders, and who can compare with you in glory! Sirach 48:5. You raised the dead from death and from the underworld by the word of the Most High; Sirach 48:6. you brought kings and the distinguished down to destruction from their beds; Sirach 48:7. you heard at Sinai the rebuke against them and on Horeb the judgments of vengeance; Sirach 48:8. you anointed kings for retribution and prophets as your successors; Sirach 48:9. you were taken up by a fiery whirlwind in a chariot with fiery horses; Sirach 48:10. you were appointed for rebukes in your own time, to turn away wrath before it became fury – to turn the father’s heart to his son and to restore the tribes of Jacob. Sirach 48:11. Blessed are those who saw you and were adorned with love – and we shall live by life. Sirach 48:12. Elijah was hidden by a whirlwind – and Elisha was filled with his spirit Sirach 48:13. and in his days did not tremble before the prince, and no one overpowered him; Sirach 48:14. nothing prevailed over him, and after his death his body prophesied. Sirach 48:15. And in his lifetime he performed wonders, and after his death his deeds were marvelous. 1–15. See 1 Kgs 17-19; 2 Kgs 1-10.

Sirach 48:16. For all this the people did not repent, and did not turn away from their sins, until they were taken captive from their land and scattered over all the earth. Sirach 48:17. And very few people remained and a prince from the house of David. Sirach 48:18. Some of them did what was pleasing to God, and some multiplied their sins. Sirach 48:19. Hezekiah strengthened his city and brought water inside it, and cut through the rock with iron and built reservoirs for the water. Sirach 48:20. In his days Sennacherib made an invasion and sent Rabshakeh against him, who raised his hand against Zion and boasted greatly in his pride. Sirach 48:21. Then their hearts and hands trembled, and they suffered like women in travail; Sirach 48:22. and they cried to the merciful Lord, stretching out their hands to him, Sirach 48:23. and the Holy One quickly heard them from heaven and delivered them by the hand of Isaiah; Sirach 48:24. He struck down the army of the Assyrians, and his Angel destroyed them, Sirach 48:25. for Hezekiah did what was pleasing to the Lord and firmly held to the ways of David his father, as the prophet Isaiah, great and faithful in his visions, commanded. Sirach 48:26. In his days the sun went back, and he added years to the king’s life. 19–26. See 2 Kgs 18-20; 2 Chr 29-32.

Sirach 48:27. With his great spirit he foresaw the distant future and comforted those who mourned in Zion; Sirach 48:28. to the age he proclaimed what was to come and hidden things before they came to pass. 27–28. The reference is to Isaiah’s prophecies of the Lord’s compassion on the chosen city, of the coming of the Messiah and the saving power of His gracious kingdom.