And--if you are ready to accept it--John is himself the Elijah who was destined to come.

"Some say John the Baptist," they answered, "Others, however, say that he is Elijah, while others again say Jeremiah, or one of the Prophets."

And all at once Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Jesus.

"Master," exclaimed Peter, interposing, "it is good to be here; if you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."

"How is it," his disciples asked, "that our Teachers of the Law say that Elijah has to come first?"

"Elijah indeed does come," Jesus replied, "and will restore everything;

And I tell you that Elijah has already come, and people have not recognized him, but have treated him just as they pleased. In the same way, too, the Son of Man is destined to undergo suffering at men's hands."

Some of those standing by heard this, and said: "The man is calling for Elijah!"

But the rest said: "Wait and let us see if Elijah is coming to save him." [However another man took a spear, and pierced his side; and water and blood flowed from it.]

Others again said--"He is Elijah," and others--"He is a Prophet, like one of the great Prophets."

"John the Baptist," they answered, "but others say Elijah, while others say one of the Prophets."

And Elijah appeared to them, in company with Moses; and they were talking with Jesus.

"Rabbi," said Peter, interposing, "it is good to be here; let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."

"How is it," they asked Jesus, "that our Teachers of the Law say that Elijah has to come first?"

"Elijah does indeed come first," answered Jesus, "and re-establish everything; and does not Scripture speak, with regard to the Son of Man, of his undergoing much suffering and being utterly despised?

But I tell you that Elijah has come, and people have treated him just as they pleased, as Scripture says of him."

Some of those standing round heard this, and said: "Listen! He is calling for Elijah!"

And a man ran, and, soaking a sponge in common wine, put it on the end of a rod, and offered it to him to drink, saying as he did so: "Wait and let us see if Elijah is coming to take him down."

He shall go before him in the spirit and with the power of Elijah, 'to reconcile fathers to their children' and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, and so make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him."

There were, doubtless, many widows in Israel in Elijah's days, when the heavens were closed for three years and six months, and a severe famine prevailed throughout the country;

And yet it was not to one of them that Elijah was sent, but to a widow at Zarephath in Sidonia.

Some again said that Elijah had appeared, and others that one of the old Prophets had risen again.

"John the Baptist," was their answer; "others, however, say that you are Elijah, while others say that one of the old Prophets has risen again."

And all at once two men were talking with Jesus; they were Moses and Elijah,

And, as Moses and Elijah were passing away from Jesus, Peter exclaimed: "Sir, it is good to be here; let us make three tents, one for you, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah." He did not know what he was saying;

"What then?" they asked. "Are you Elijah?" "No," he said, "I am not." "Are you 'the Prophet'?" He answered, "No."

And their next question was: "Why then do you baptize, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor yet 'the Prophet'?"

God has not rejected his People, whom he chose from the first. Have you forgotten the words of Scripture in the story of Elijah- how he appeals to God against Israel?

Elijah was only a man like ourselves, but, when he prayed fervently that it might not rain, no rain fell upon the land for three years and a half.