The stories for oratorios are generally drawn from?

Answer 1

Most of the oratorios written have taken their libretti (the words) from The Bible. Many obtain their words from the Old Testament as well as the New. For example, In Mendelssohn's Elijah, most of the story is found in the First Book of Kings in the Old Testament In Walton's Belshazzar's Feast, the words come from the same part of the Old Testament, as well as the Psalms. In Handel's Messiah, the words come a great deal from the prophesies found in the Old Testament about Jesus In the passions of Bach, the words come from the New Testament stories of Jesus' Trial and Crucifixion.