PART I

Introduction: Recitative

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. (I Kings XVII 1) Overture (Representing the three years of famine)

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? (Jeremiah VIII 19, 20) Recitative Chorus: 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! (I Kings XVII 7; Lamentations IV 4)

2. Duet with Chorus

The People
Lord! Bow Thine ear to our prayer!

Duet (Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano)
Zion spreadeth her hands for aid; and there is neither help nor comfort. (Psalm LXXXVI 1; Lamentations I 17)

3. Recitative

Obadiah
Ye people, rend your hearts, and not your garments, for your transgressions the Prophet 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. (Joel II 12, 13)

4. Air

Tenor
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. (Deut. IV 29; Job XXIII 3)

10. Recitative

Elijah, Ahab and Chorus Elijah
As God the Lord of Sabaoth liveth, before Whom I stand, three years this day fulfilled, I will show myself unto Ahab; and the Lord will then send rain again upon the earth.

Ahab
Art thou Elijah? Art thou he that troubleth Israel?

Chorus
Thou art Elijah, 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 command: and thou hast followed 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.

Chorus
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 then I will call on the Lord Jehovah: and the God who by fire shall answer, let him be God.

Chorus
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. (I Kings XVIII 1, 15, 17-19, 22-25)

11. Chorus

Priests of Baal
Baal, we cry unto thee; hear and answer us! Heed the sacrifice we offer! Baal, O hear us, and answer us! Hear us, Baal! Hear, mighty god! Baal, O answer us! Baal, let thy flames fall and extirpate the foe! Baal, O hear us!

12. Recitative

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.

Chorus

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

13. Recitative

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.

Chorus

Priests of Baal
Hear and answer, Baal! Mark! How the scorner derideth us! Hear and answer!

(I Kings XVIII 26-29)

14. Recitative and Air

Elijah
Draw near, all ye people: come to me! Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel!

This day let it be known that Thou art God; and I am Thy servant! O show to all this people that I have done these things according to Thy word! O hear me Lord, and answer me; and show this people that Thou art Lord God; and let their hearts again be turned! (I Kings XVIII 30, 36, 37)

15. Chorale

Angels
Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee. He never will suffer the righteous to fall: He is at thy right hand. Thy mercy, Lord, is great; and far above the heavens. Let none be made ashamed that wait upon Thee. (Psalm LV 22, XVI 8, CVIII 4, XXV 3)

16. Recitative

Elijah
O Thou, Who makest Thine angels spirits; Thou, Whose ministers are flaming fires, let them now descend! (Psalm CIV 4) Chorus

The People
The fire descends from heaven; the flames consume His offering! 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! (I Kings XVIII 38, 39; Deut. V 7, VI 4) Recitative

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.

Chorus

The People
Take all the prophets of Baal; and let not one of them escape us: bring all, and slay them! (I Kings XVIII 40)

17. Air

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 every day: and if the wicked turn not, the Lord will whet His sword; and He hath bent His bow, and made it ready. (Jeremiah XXIII 29; Psalm VII 11,12)

18. Arioso (Mezzo-Soprano)
Woe unto them who forsake Him! Destruction shall fall upon them, for they have transgressed against Him. Though they are by Him redeemed, yet have they spoken falsely against Him, from Him they have fled. (Hosea VII 13)

19. Recitative with 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 heavens 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, help Thy servant now, O God!

The People
Open the heavens and send us relief: help, help Thy servant now, O God!

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

The Youth (Elijah’s protégé and successor, Elisha) There is nothing. The heavens 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 didst afflict them: then hear from heaven, and forgive the sin!

Help! Send Thy servant help, O God!

The People
Then hear from heaven, and forgive the sin! Help! Send Thy servant help, O Lord!

Elijah
Go up again, and still look towards the sea.

The Youth
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 Youth
No; there is nothing.

Elijah
Have respect to the prayer of Thy servant, O Lord, my God! Unto Thee I will cry, Lord, my rock; be not silent to me; and Thy great mercies remember, Lord!

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

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! (Jeremiah XIV 22; II Chronicles 19, 26, 27; Deut. XXVIII 23; Psalms XXVIII 1, CVI 1; I Kings XVIII 43-45; Psalm XCIII 3-4)
PART I

Introduction: Recitative

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. (I Kings XVII 1) Overture (Representing the three years of famine)

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? (Jeremiah VIII 19, 20) Recitative Chorus: 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! (I Kings XVII 7; Lamentations IV 4)

2. Duet with Chorus

The People
Lord! Bow Thine ear to our prayer!

Duet (Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano)
Zion spreadeth her hands for aid; and there is neither help nor comfort. (Psalm LXXXVI 1; Lamentations I 17)

3. Recitative

Obadiah
Ye people, rend your hearts, and not your garments, for your transgressions the Prophet 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. (Joel II 12, 13)

4. Air

Tenor
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. (Deut. IV 29; Job XXIII 3)

10. Recitative

Elijah, Ahab and Chorus Elijah
As God the Lord of Sabaoth liveth, before Whom I stand, three years this day fulfilled, I will show myself unto Ahab; and the Lord will then send rain again upon the earth.

Ahab
Art thou Elijah? Art thou he that troubleth Israel?

Chorus
Thou art Elijah, 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 command: and thou hast followed 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.

Chorus
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 then I will call on the Lord Jehovah: and the God who by fire shall answer, let him be God.

Chorus
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. (I Kings XVIII 1, 15, 17-19, 22-25)

11. Chorus

Priests of Baal
Baal, we cry unto thee; hear and answer us! Heed the sacrifice we offer! Baal, O hear us, and answer us! Hear us, Baal! Hear, mighty god! Baal, O answer us! Baal, let thy flames fall and extirpate the foe! Baal, O hear us!

12. Recitative

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.

Chorus

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

13. Recitative

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.

Chorus

Priests of Baal
Hear and answer, Baal! Mark! How the scorner derideth us! Hear and answer!

(I Kings XVIII 26-29)

14. Recitative and Air

Elijah
Draw near, all ye people: come to me! Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel!

This day let it be known that Thou art God; and I am Thy servant! O show to all this people that I have done these things according to Thy word! O hear me Lord, and answer me; and show this people that Thou art Lord God; and let their hearts again be turned! (I Kings XVIII 30, 36, 37)

15. Chorale

Angels
Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee. He never will suffer the righteous to fall: He is at thy right hand. Thy mercy, Lord, is great; and far above the heavens. Let none be made ashamed that wait upon Thee. (Psalm LV 22, XVI 8, CVIII 4, XXV 3)

16. Recitative

Elijah
O Thou, Who makest Thine angels spirits; Thou, Whose ministers are flaming fires, let them now descend! (Psalm CIV 4) Chorus

The People
The fire descends from heaven; the flames consume His offering! 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! (I Kings XVIII 38, 39; Deut. V 7, VI 4) Recitative

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.

Chorus

The People
Take all the prophets of Baal; and let not one of them escape us: bring all, and slay them! (I Kings XVIII 40)

17. Air

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 every day: and if the wicked turn not, the Lord will whet His sword; and He hath bent His bow, and made it ready. (Jeremiah XXIII 29; Psalm VII 11,12)

18. Arioso (Mezzo-Soprano)
Woe unto them who forsake Him! Destruction shall fall upon them, for they have transgressed against Him. Though they are by Him redeemed, yet have they spoken falsely against Him, from Him they have fled. (Hosea VII 13)

19. Recitative with 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 heavens 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, help Thy servant now, O God!

The People
Open the heavens and send us relief: help, help Thy servant now, O God!

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

The Youth (Elijah’s protégé and successor, Elisha) There is nothing. The heavens 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 didst afflict them: then hear from heaven, and forgive the sin!

Help! Send Thy servant help, O God!

The People
Then hear from heaven, and forgive the sin! Help! Send Thy servant help, O Lord!

Elijah
Go up again, and still look towards the sea.

The Youth
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 Youth
No; there is nothing.

Elijah
Have respect to the prayer of Thy servant, O Lord, my God! Unto Thee I will cry, Lord, my rock; be not silent to me; and Thy great mercies remember, Lord!

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

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! (Jeremiah XIV 22; II Chronicles 19, 26, 27; Deut. XXVIII 23; Psalms XXVIII 1, CVI 1; I Kings XVIII 43-45; Psalm XCIII 3-4)


最終更新:2011年11月03日 17:20