June 21, 2012, Reading

The Book of Sirach   48: 1-14

48:1 And the prophet Elijah arose like a fire, and his word burned like a torch.
48:2 He brought a famine upon them, and those who provoked him in their envy became few. For they could not bear the precepts of the Lord.
48:3 By the word of the Lord, he closed the heavens, and he brought down fire from heaven three times.
48:4 In this way, Elijah was magnified in his wondrous works. So who can say that he is similar to you in glory?
48:5 He raised up a dead man from the grave, from the fate of death, by the word of the Lord God.
48:6 He threw down kings unto perdition, and he easily shattered their power and boasting from his bed.
48:7 He heeded the judgment at Sinai, and the judgments of punishment at Horeb.
48:8 He anointed kings unto repentance, and he chose the prophets who would follow after him.
48:9 He was received into a whirlwind of fire, into a swift chariot with fiery horses.
48:10 He is written in the judgments of the times, so as to lessen the wrath of the Lord, to reconcile the heart of the father to the son, and to restore the tribes of Jacob.
48:11 Blessed are those who saw you, and who were adorned with your friendship.
48:12 For we live only in our life, and after death, our name will not be the same.
48:13 Certainly, Elijah was covered by the whirlwind, and his spirit was completed in Elisha. In his days, he was not fearful of the ruler, and no power defeated him.
48:14 No word overwhelmed him, and after death, his body prophesied.

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