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INTRODUCTION

Elijah

As God the Lord of Israel liveth, before whom I stand,

there shall not be dew nor rain these years but according to my word.

NO. 1 CHORUS

The People

Help, Lord! Wilt Thou quite destroy us? The harvest now is over,
the summer days are gone,
and yet no power cometh to help us!
Will then the Lord be no more God in Zion?

RECITATIVE

The People

The deeps afford no water, and the rivers are exhausted!
The suckling’s tongue now cleaveth for thirst to his mouth;
the infant children ask for bread, and there is no one breaketh it to feed them!

NO. 2 DUET WITH CHORUS

The People

Lord, bow Thine ear to our pray’r!

Two Women

Zion spreadeth her hands for aid,
and there is neither help nor comfort.

NO. 3 RECITATIVE

Obadiah

Ye people, rend your hearts and not your garments for your transgressions:

even as Elijah hath sealed the heavens through the word of God.

I therefore say to ye, forsake your idols,
return to God, for He is slow to anger,
and merciful, and kind, and gracious,

and repenteth Him of the evil.

NO. 4 ARIA

Obadiah

“If with all your hearts ye truly seek Me,
ye shall ever surely find me.”
Thus saith our God.
Oh! that I knew where I might find Him, that I might even come before His presence!

NO. 5 CHORUS

The People

Yet doth the Lord see it not, He mocketh at us!
His curse hath fallen down upon us.
His wrath will pursue us till He destroy us.
For He, the Lord our God, He is a jealous God,
and He visiteth all the fathers’ sins on the children to the third and

the fourth generation of them that hate Him.
His mercies on thousands fall, on all them that love Him, and keep His commandments.

NO. 8 RECITATIVE, ARIA, AND DUET

The Widow

What have I to do with thee, O man of God?
Art thou come to me, to call my sin unto remembrance?
To slay my son art thou come hither?
Help me, man of God, my son is sick,
and his sickness is so sore that there is no breath left in him! I go mourning all the day long;
I lie down and weep at night.
See mine affliction, be thou the orphan’s helper!

Elijah

Give me thy son!
Turn unto her, O Lord, my God;
Oh, turn in mercy, help this widow’s son!
For thou art gracious, and full of compassion, and plenteous in mercy and truth.
Lord, my God, let the spirit of this child return, that he again may live!

The Widow

Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? There is no breath in him!
Shall the dead arise and praise thee?

Elijah

Lord, my God, oh, let the spirit of this child return, that he again may live!

The Widow

The Lord hath heard thy prayer, the soul of my son reviveth! My son reviveth!

Elijah

Now behold, thy son liveth!

The Widow

Now by this I know that thou art a man of God,
and that His word in thy mouth is the truth!
What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits to me?

Elijah

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, love Him with all thine heart,

and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
Oh, blessed are they who fear Him!

Both

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God; with all thy heart,

and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
Oh, blessed are they who fear Him!

NO. 9 CHORUS

The People

Blessed are the men who fear Him,
they ever walk in the ways of peace!
Through darkness riseth light to the upright.

He is gracious, compassionate; He is righteous.

NO. 10 RECITATIVE WITH CHORUS

Elijah

As God the Lord of Sabaoth liveth, before whom I stand,
three years this day fulfilled,
I will shew myself unto Ahab,

and the Lord will then send rain again upon the earth.

Ahab

Art thou Elijah?
Art thou he that troubleth Israel?

The People

Thou art Elijah,
thou he that troubleth Israel!

Elijah

I never troubled Israel’s peace.
It is thou, Ahab, and all thy father’s house.
Ye have forsaken God’s commands,
and thou hast follow’d Baalim.
Now send and gather to me the whole of Israel unto

Mount Carmel;
there summon the prophets of Baal,
and also the prophets of the groves,
who are feasted at Jezebel’s table.
Then we shall see whose God is the Lord.

The People

And then we shall see whose God is God the Lord.

Elijah

Rise then, ye priests of Baal.
Select and slay a bullock, and put no fire under it;

uplift your voices and call the God ye worship,
and I then will call on the Lord Jehovah,
and the God, who by fire shall answer, let him be God.

The People

Yea, and the God who by fire shall answer, let him be God.

Elijah

Call first upon your God; your numbers are many! I, even I only,

remain one prophet of the Lord. Invoke your forest gods and mountain deities!

NO. 11 CHORUS

Priests of Baal

Baal, we cry to thee, hear and answer us! Heed the sacrifice we offer,
Baal, oh, hear us, and answer us.
Hear us, Baal, hear mighty God!

Baal, oh, answer us!
Baal, let thy flames fall and extirpate the foe!

NO. 12 RECITATIVE AND CHORUS

Elijah

Call him louder, for he is a god!
He talketh, or he is pursuing, or he is on a journey;

or, peradventure, he sleepeth: so awaken him. Call him louder!

Priests of Baal

Hear our cry, O Baal!
Now arise! Wherefore slumber?

NO. 13 RECITATIVE AND CHORUS

Elijah

Call him louder! He heareth not.
With knives and lancets cut yourselves after your manner!

Leap upon the altar ye have made; call him and prophesy!

Not a voice will answer you, none will listen, none heed you.

Priests of Baal

Baal! Hear and answer, Baal!
Mark how the scorner derideth us!

Elijah

Draw near all ye people, come to me!

NO. 14 ARIA

Elijah

Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel,
this day let it be known that Thou art God,
and that I am Thy servant!
Lord God of Abraham!

Oh, shew to all this people that I have done these things according to Thy word!

Oh, hear me, Lord, and answer me!
Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel,
oh, hear me and answer me,
and shew this people that Thou art Lord God.
And let their hearts again be turned!

NO. 16 RECITATIVE AND CHORUS

Elijah

O Thou, who makest Thine angels spirits.

Thou, whose ministers are flaming fires, let them now descend!

The People

The fire descends from heav’n!
The flames consume his off’ring!
Before Him, upon your faces fall!
The Lord is God! O Israel, hear!
Our God is one Lord,

and we will have no other gods before the Lord.

Elijah

Take all the prophets of Baal,
and let not one of them escape you.

Bring them down to Kishon’s brook, and there let them be slain!

The People

Take all the prophets of Baal,
and let not one of them escape us: bring all, and slay them!

NO. 17 ARIA

Elijah

Is not His word like a fire, and like a hammer that breaketh the rock into pieces?

For God is angry with the wicked ev’ry day.
And if the wicked turn not, the Lord will whet His sword,

and He hath bent His bow, and made it ready!

NO. 18 ARIOSO

Alto

Woe unto them who forsake Him! Destruction shall fall upon them,
for they have transgressed against Him. Though they are by Him redeemed,
yet they have spoken falsely against Him. From Him have they fled;
even from Him have they fled

NO. 19 RECITATIVE AND CHORUS

Obadiah

O man of God, help Thy people!
Among the idols of the Gentiles
are there any that can command the rain,
or cause the heav’ns to give their showers?

The Lord, our God, alone can do these things.

Elijah

O Lord, Thou hast overthrown Thine enemies
and destroyed them! Look down on us from heaven,

O Lord, regard the distress of Thy people.
Open the heavens and send us relief.
Help Thy servant now, O God!

The People

Open the heavens and send us relief. Help Thy servant now, O God!

Elijah

Go up now, child, and look toward the sea. Hath my prayer been heard by the Lord?

The Boy

There is nothing. The heav’ns are as brass, they are as brass above me.

Elijah

When the heavens are closed up
because they have sinned against Thee,
yet, if they pray and confess Thy name,
and turn from their sin when Thou dost afflict them:

then hear from heav’n, and forgive the sin.
Help, send Thy servant help, O God!

The People

Then hear from heav’n, and forgive the sin. Help, send Thy servant help, O God!

Elijah

Go up again, and still look toward the sea.

The Boy

There is nothing. The earth is as iron under me.

Elijah

Hearest thou no sound of rain?
Seest thou nothing arise from the deep?

The Boy

No, there is nothing.

Elijah

Have respect to the pray’r of Thy servant, O Lord my God!

Unto Thee will I cry, Lord, my rock, be not silent to me!
And Thy great mercies remember, Lord!

The Boy

Behold, a little cloud ariseth now from the waters; it is like a man’s hand!
The heavens are black with clouds and with wind; the storm rusheth louder and louder!

The People

Thanks be to God for all His mercies!

Elijah

Thanks be to God, for He is gracious; and His mercy endureth for evermore!

NO. 20 CHORUS

The People

Thanks be to God, He laveth the thirsty land.

The waters gather, they rush along,
they are lifting their voices.
The stormy billows are high, their fury is mighty.

But the Lord is above them and Almighty.

NO. 21 ARIA

Soprano

Hear ye, Israel, hear what the Lord speaketh!

“Oh, hadst thou heeded my commandments!”

Who hath believed our report?
To whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?

Recitative

Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and His Holy One,

to him oppressed by tyrants, thus saith the Lord:

Aria

“I am He that comforteth.
Be not afraid, for I am thy God!
I will strengthen thee!
I, the Lord, will strengthen thee,
for I, thy God, will strengthen thee.

Say, who art thou, that thou art afraid of a man that shall die;
and forgettest the Lord thy Maker, who hath stretched forth the heavens,

and laid the earth’s foundations?
Say, who art thou?”

NO. 22 CHORUS

“Be not afraid,” saith God the Lord,
“Be not afraid, thy help is near.”
God, the Lord thy God, saith unto thee, “Be not afraid!”

Though thousands languish and fall beside thee,
and tens of thousands around thee perish,
yet still it shall not come nigh thee.
“Be not afraid, thy help is near,” for He is near.

NO. 23 RECITATIVE WITH CHORUS

Elijah

The Lord hath exalted thee from among the people,
and o’er his people Israel hath made thee king.
But thou, Ahab, hast done evil to provoke him to anger above all

that were before thee,
as if it had been a light thing for thee to walk in the sins of Jeroboam.
Thou hast made a grove and an altar to Baal,
and serv’d him and worshipp’d him.
Thou hast killed the righteous, and also taken possession.
And the Lord shall smite all Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water,

and He shall give Israel up, and thou shalt know He is the Lord.

The Queen

Have ye not heard he hath prophesied against all Israel?

Chorus

We heard it with our ears!

The Queen

Hath he not prophesied also against the king of Israel?

Chorus

We heard it with our ears!

The Queen

And why hath he spoken in the Name of the Lord? Doth Ahab govern the kingdom of Israel
while Elijah’s pow’r is greater than the king’s? The gods do so to me, and more,

If, by tomorrow about this time,
I make not his life as the life of one of them whom he hath sacrific’d at the Brook of Kishon!

Chorus

He shall perish!

The Queen

Hath he not destroyed Baal’s prophets?

Chorus

He shall perish!

The Queen

Yea, by the sword he destroy’d them all!

Chorus

He destroy’d them all!

The Queen

He also closed the heavens!

Chorus

He also closed the heavens!

The Queen

And called down a famine upon the land.

Chorus

And called down a famine upon the land.

The Queen

So go ye forth and seize Elijah,
for he is worthy to die; slaughter him! Do unto him as he hath done!

NO. 24 CHORUS

The People

Woe to him! He shall perish, for he closed the heavens!

And why hath he spoken in the name of the Lord?
Let the guilty prophet perish!
He hath spoken falsely against our land and us,

as we have heard with our ears.
So go ye forth; seize on him! He shall die!

NO. 25 RECITATIVE

Obadiah

“Man of God, now let my words be precious in thy sight!”

Thus saith Jezebel: “Elijah is worthy to die.”
So the mighty gather against thee,
and they have prepared a net for thy steps

that they may seize thee, that they may slay thee. Arise then, and hasten for thy life,
to the wilderness journey.
The Lord thy God doth go with thee:

He will not fail thee, He will not forsake thee. Now begone, and bless me also!

Elijah

Though stricken, they have not grieved!

Tarry here, my servant, the Lord be with thee!

I journey hence to the wilderness.

NO. 26 ARIA

Elijah

It is enough! O Lord, now take away my life, for I am not better than my fathers!
I desire to live no longer: now let me die, for my days are but vanity!

I have been very jealous for the Lord God of Hosts,
for the children of Israel have broken Thy covenant,
and thrown down Thine altars,

and slain all Thy prophets, slain them with the sword.

And I, even I only am left,
and they seek my life to take it away!

NO. 27 RECITATIVE

Tenor

See, now he sleepeth beneath a juniper
tree in the wilderness!
And there the angels of the Lord
encamp round about all them that fear Him.

NO. 28 TRIO

The Angels

Lift thine eyes, Oh, lift thine eyes
to the mountains, whence cometh help. Thy help cometh from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
He hath said, thy foot shall not be moved. Thy Keeper will never slumber.

NO. 29 CHORUS

The Angels

He, watching over Israel, slumbers not, nor sleeps.

Shouldst thou, walking in grief, languish,
He will quicken thee.

NO. 30 RECITATIVE

An Angel (Alto Solo)

Arise, Elijah, for thou hast a long journey before thee.

Forty days and forty nights shalt thou go to Horeb, the mount of God.

Elijah

O Lord, I have labor’d in vain! Yea, I have spent my strength for naught, and in vain!

Oh, that thou wouldst rend the heavens,
that Thou wouldst come down!
That the mountains would flow down at Thy presence,

to make Thy name known to Thine adversaries,
through the wonders of Thy works!
O Lord, why hast Thou made them to err from Thy ways,

and hardened their hearts that they do not fear Thee?

Oh, that I now might die!

NO. 31 ARIA
An Angel (Alto Solo)

Oh, rest in the Lord, wait patiently for Him,

and He shall give thee thy heart’s desires.

Commit thy way unto Him, and trust in Him,

and fret not thyself because of evildoers.

NO. 32 CHORUS

He that shall endure to the end, shall be saved.

NO. 33 RECITATIVE

Elijah

Night falleth round me, O Lord!
Be not Thou far from me!
Hide not Thy face, O Lord, from me;
my soul is thirsting for Thee, as a thirsty land.

An Angel (Soprano Solo)

Arise now!
Get thee without, stand on the mount before the Lord,

for there His glory will appear and shine on thee!
Thy face must be veiled, for He draweth near.

NO. 34 CHORUS

Behold, God the Lord passed by.
And a mighty wind rent the mountains around,
brake in pieces the rocks, brake them before the Lord;

but yet the Lord was not in the tempest.
Behold, God the Lord passed by.
And the sea was upheaved, and the earth was shaken.

But yet the Lord was not in the earthquake.
And after the earthquake there came a fire,
but yet the Lord was not in the fire.
And after the fire, there came a still, small voice,
and in that still voice, onward came the Lord.

NO. 37 ARIOSO

Elijah

For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed,

but Thy kindness shall not depart from me.
Neither shall the covenant of Thy peace be removed.

NO. 38 CHORUS

Then did Elijah the prophet break forth like a fire;
his words appeared like burning torches.
Mighty kings by him were overthrown.
He stood on the mount of Sinai and heard the judgments of

the future,
and in Horeb, its vengeance.
And when the Lord would take him away to heaven, lo!

There came a fiery chariot with fiery horses,
and he went by a whirlwind to heaven.

NO. 39 ARIA

Tenor

Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in their heav’nly Father’s realm.

Joy on their head shall be for everlasting,
and all sorrow and mourning shall flee away forever.

NO. 41 SOLO QUARTET

Oh, come ev’ryone that thirsteth!
Oh, come to the waters, Oh, come unto Him.

Oh hear, and your souls shall live forever!

NO. 42 FINAL CHORUS

And then shall your light break forth as the light of morning breaketh,

and your health shall speedily spring forth then,
and the glory of the Lord ever shall reward you.
Lord, our Creator, how excellent Thy Name is in all the nations!

Thou fillest heav’n with Thy glory.
Amen!