Wars with Neighboring Nations

¹When the neighboring nations heard that the Jews had built the altar and restored the Temple as it had been before, they were so furious

²that they made up their minds to destroy all the Jews who were living among them. So they began to murder and kill our people.

³The Idumeans were blockading the Israelites, so Judas went to war against them at Akrabattene, crushed them, and looted them.

⁴He also dealt with the people of Baean, who were a constant threat to the people of Israel, because they would lie in ambush waiting to trap Israelite travelers.

⁵He shut the Baeanites up in their forts, took a solemn oath that he would destroy them, and burned their forts with everyone in them.

⁶Then he marched against the land of Ammon, where he met a large and powerful army under the command of a man named Timothy.

⁷Judas won many battles against them and finally defeated them.

⁸He captured Jazer and its surrounding villages and then returned to Judea.

⁹The Gentiles in Gilead assembled to attack and destroy the Israelites living in their territory. But the Israelites fled to the fortress of Dathema

^10-11and sent the following letter to Judas and his brothers: The Gentiles around us are joining forces under Timothy. We have fled to this fortress for protection, and now they are getting ready to capture it and destroy us.

¹²Many of us have already been killed. Come rescue us!

¹³All the Jewish men in the region of Tob have been killed, their wives and their children have been taken captive, and their possessions have been carried off. A force of about 1,000 men has been destroyed there.

¹⁴This letter was still being read when other messengers, who had torn their clothes in sorrow, arrived with a report from Galilee.

¹⁵They said, An army from Ptolemais, Tyre, Sidon, and all of Galilee has come together to destroy us.

¹⁶When Judas and the people heard all this, a great assembly was held to decide what should be done to help these countrymen, who were in such difficulty under enemy attack.

¹⁷Judas said to his brother Simon, Choose some men and go rescue our fellow Jews in Galilee; our brother Jonathan and I will go to Gilead.

¹⁸Judas left the rest of his army to defend Judea and put the two leaders, Azariah and Joseph son of Zechariah, in charge of the people.

¹⁹He told them: I am leaving you in command here, but don't go out and fight the Gentiles until we get back.

²⁰Then 3,000 men joined Simon for the march into Galilee, and 8,000 remained with Judas for the march into Gilead.

²¹Simon went into Galilee and fought many battles with the Gentiles. He defeated them

²²and pursued them all the way to the city of Ptolemais, killing about 3,000 of them, and taking the loot.

²³Then he took the Jews who were in Galilee and Arbatta, with their wives, their children, and all they owned, and brought them back to Judea with him. There was great rejoicing.

²⁴During this time, Judas Maccabeus and his brother Jonathan had crossed the Jordan River and had marched for three days through the desert.

²⁵They met some friendly Nabateans who told them all that had happened to the Jews in Gilead.

²⁶They reported that many Jews were imprisoned in the fortified cities of Bozrah, Bosor, Alema, Chaspho, Maked, and Karnaim,

²⁷while others were imprisoned in the smaller towns of Gilead. They also reported that the enemy was drawn up to make an attack the next day on the Jewish fortresses, hoping to destroy all the Jews in a single day.

²⁸So Judas and his army suddenly turned and attacked Bozrah by the desert road, captured the town, and killed every man in it. They looted the town and set it on fire.

²⁹They left there and marched all night to the fortress at Dathema.

³⁰At dawn Judas and his men saw a vast army attacking the fortress; they were bringing up ladders, siege platforms, and battering rams in an effort to capture it.

³¹When Judas heard the noise, the shouts, and the sound of trumpets coming from the city, he realized that the battle had begun,

³²so he said to his men, Fight today for our fellow Jews!

³³He ordered his men to march in three columns and attack the enemy from the rear. As they moved forward, they blew trumpets and shouted prayers.

³⁴When the army under Timothy's command saw that it was Judas Maccabeus, the soldiers turned and fled. Judas crushed them and killed about 8,000 men that day.

³⁵Then Judas turned aside to attack the town of Alema; he captured it and killed all the men in it. He looted the town and set fire to it.

³⁶From there he went on and captured Chaspho, Maked, Bosor, and the other towns of Gilead.

³⁷After this, Timothy gathered another army and camped opposite Raphon, on the other side of a river.

³⁸Judas sent some men to spy on the camp, and they reported back to him that all the Gentiles in the region had joined Timothy and had formed a large army.

³⁹Timothy had also hired Arab mercenaries to help him, and these were camped on the other side of the river ready to attack Judas. So Judas went out to meet them in battle.

⁴⁰As Judas and his army came closer to the water, Timothy said to his officers, If he keeps on coming and crosses the river, we won't be able to turn back his attack, and he will defeat us.

⁴¹But if he is afraid and stops on the other side of the river, we will cross over to attack and defeat him.

⁴²When Judas reached the bank of the river, he gave orders to his officers to let no one stop but to push everyone forward into battle.

⁴³Judas was the first to cross the river against the enemy, and all his men followed him. The Gentiles broke ranks before them, threw away their arms, and fled to the pagan temple at Karnaim.

⁴⁴But Judas and his men took the city and burned down the temple with all who were in it. With Karnaim overthrown, the Gentiles could no longer offer any resistance to Judas.

⁴⁵Then Judas gathered together all the Jews in Gilead to take them back to Judea with him. It was a large group of all kinds of people, together with their wives and children and all that they owned.

⁴⁶They went as far as Ephron, a large, well-fortified town. It was impossible to go around it on either side, and the road passed directly through the town.

⁴⁷But the people there would not let them pass and blocked the town gates with stones.

⁴⁸Then Judas sent a friendly message to them: Let us pass through your territory to return home. No one will harm you; we will just pass through. But they still refused to open the gates.

⁴⁹So Judas told everyone in the group, except the fighting men, to camp where they were.

⁵⁰The fighting men were ordered to take up their positions and attack the town. They fought all day and all night, until they had taken it.

⁵¹Judas had all the men of Ephron put to death, plundered the town, and leveled it. Then he and his army marched through the town over the dead bodies.

⁵²They crossed the Jordan into the wide plain opposite Beth Shan.

⁵³Throughout the whole march Judas kept gathering up the stragglers and encouraging the people until they reached the land of Judea.

⁵⁴With thanksgiving and rejoicing, they went up to Mount Zion and sacrificed burnt offerings because they had returned safely without a single loss.

⁵⁵While Judas and Jonathan were in Gilead and their brother Simon was attacking Ptolemais in Galilee,

⁵⁶Joseph and Azariah, the commanders of the army in Judea, heard about their brave deeds and victories.

⁵⁷They said to one another, Let's go to war with the Gentiles around us and win some fame for ourselves.

⁵⁸So they and their men attacked Jamnia.

⁵⁹Gorgias and his men went out of the town to meet them in battle.

⁶⁰They defeated Joseph and Azariah and pursued them as far as the borders of Judea. At least 2,000 Israelite men were killed that day.

⁶¹This great defeat came about because the Jewish commanders wanted to be heroes and refused to obey Judas and his brothers.

⁶²Besides, they did not belong to the family of the Maccabees, whom God had chosen to bring freedom to the people of Israel.

⁶³But Judas Maccabeus and his brothers won great respect among all the Israelites and all the Gentiles. When people heard of their fame,

⁶⁴large crowds gathered to praise them.

⁶⁵Then Judas and his brothers went to war against the Edomites to the south. He attacked Hebron and its surrounding towns, destroyed its fortifications, and burned down the towers around it.

⁶⁶Then he marched into the land of the Philistines and passed through Marisa.

⁶⁷That day a number of priests were killed in battle because they wanted to be heroes and foolishly went out to fight.

⁶⁸Judas turned aside to Azotus in Philistia. He pulled down the altars, burned the images of their gods, plundered their towns, and then returned to Judea.

¹If you touch tar, it will stick to you, and if you keep company with arrogant people, you will come to be just like them.

²Don't try to lift something too heavy for you, and don't keep company with people who are richer and more powerful than you. You cannot keep a clay pot next to an iron kettle; the pot will break if it hits the kettle.

³If a rich person wrongs someone, he can afford to add insult to injury; but if a poor person is wronged, he is forced to apologize for himself.

⁴A rich person will use you as long as he can profit from it, but when you need him, he will leave you helpless.

⁵He will live with you as long as you have anything and will gladly drain you dry.

⁶If he needs you, he will trick you with his smiles and cheerful, kindly words. Do you need anything? he will ask.

⁷He will feed you until you are embarrassed. Finally, when he has drained you two or three times over, he will laugh at you. If you see him later, he will pretend he doesn't know you, and will pass you by.

⁸Be careful not to be misled; you can be enjoying yourself and suddenly find yourself humiliated.

⁹If you are invited to the home of someone influential, be reserved in your behavior. Then he will invite you more often.

¹⁰If you push yourself on him, he will put you in your place. On the other hand, if you keep your distance from him, he will forget about you.

¹¹Don't pretend to be his equal or trust everything he says. In spite of all of his long and polite conversation, he is testing you.

¹²If a person does not keep confidences, he is cruel; he will not hesitate to hurt you or have you put in jail.

¹³Keep your secrets to yourself and be very careful, for you are always walking on dangerous ground.

¹⁴As long as you live, love the Lord and call on him to rescue you.

¹⁵Every creature prefers its own kind, and people are no different.

¹⁶Just as animals of the same species flock together, so people keep company with people like themselves.

¹⁷A sinner has no more in common with a devout person than a wolf has with a lamb.

¹⁸Rich people have no more in common with poor people than hyenas have with dogs.

¹⁹The rich hunt down the poor just as lions hunt down wild donkeys in the open country.

²⁰Arrogant people have nothing but scorn for the humble, and the rich think of the poor in the same way.

²¹When a rich person stumbles, his friends will steady him, but if a poor person falls, his friends will have nothing to do with him.

²²When someone rich makes a mistake, there are many people to cover up for him and explain away all the things he never should have said. But let someone poor make a mistake, and he gets nothing but criticism. Even if what he says makes good sense, nobody will listen.

²³When a rich person speaks, everyone is silent, and they praise him to the skies for what he says. But let a poor person speak, and everybody says, Who is that? They push him down if he so much as stumbles.

²⁴There is nothing wrong with being rich if you haven't sinned to get that way. But there is nothing sinful about being poor, either. Only the ungodly think so.

²⁵It's what is in your heart that makes the expression on your face happy or sad.

²⁶If you feel cheerful, you will look cheerful, although making up proverbs calls for some intense thought.

¹If a person never says anything carelessly, he is to be congratulated; he doesn't need to feel guilty.

²If a person has a clear conscience and never gives up hope, he is certainly to be congratulated!

Responsible Use of Wealth

³It isn't right for someone who is selfish to be rich. What use is money to a stingy person?

⁴If you deny yourself in order to accumulate wealth, you are only accumulating it for someone else. Others will use your riches to live in luxury.

⁵How can you be generous with others if you are stingy with yourself, if you are not willing to enjoy your own wealth?

⁶No one is worse off than someone who is stingy with himself; it is a sin that brings its own punishment.

⁷When such a person does something good, it is only by accident; his selfishness will sooner or later be evident.

⁸A selfish person is evil; he turns his back on people's needs

⁹and is never satisfied with what he has. Greed will shrivel up a person's soul.

¹⁰Some people are too stingy to put bread on their own table.

¹¹My child, treat yourself as well as you can, and bring worthy offerings to the Lord.

¹²Remember that death is coming for you some day, and you haven't been told when that will be.

¹³Before that day comes, be kind to your friends; be as generous as you can.

¹⁴Don't deny yourself a single day's happiness. If there is something you want to do and it is lawful, go ahead!

¹⁵Some day all that you have worked for will be divided up and given to others.

¹⁶So be generous; but also be willing to receive from others. Enjoy yourself, for you will not find any pleasures in the world of the dead.

¹⁷The human body wears out like a piece of clothing. The ancient law decrees that we must die.

¹⁸Human beings are like leaves on a spreading tree. New growth takes the place of the fallen leaves; while some of us die, others are being born.

¹⁹Everything made by human hands will decay and perish, along with the person who made it.

The Happiness of Having Wisdom

²⁰It is a happy person who is concerned with Wisdom and who uses good sense.

²¹Anyone who studies the ways of Wisdom will also learn her secrets.

²²Go after Wisdom like a hunter looking for game.

²³Look into her windows and listen at her doors.

²⁴Camp as close to her house as you can get,

²⁵and you will have a fine place to live.

^26-27Build your home there, safe beneath her protecting branches, and shaded from the heat.

¹If you fear the Lord, you will do this. Master his Law, and you will find Wisdom.

²She will come to welcome you, like a mother or a young bride.

³She will give you wisdom and knowledge like food and drink.

⁴Rely on her for support, and you will never know the disgrace of failure.

⁵She will make you more honored than all your neighbors; when you speak in the assembly, she will give you the right words.

⁶You will find happiness and genuine joy; your name will be remembered forever.

⁷But people who are foolish or sinful will never even catch sight of Wisdom.

⁸She will have nothing to do with conceited people; she never enters the mind of liars.

⁹It is not appropriate for a sinner to sing hymns of praise, because his worship is insincere.

¹⁰A hymn should be an expression of wisdom, inspired by the Lord himself.

Free Will

¹¹Don't blame the Lord for your sin; the Lord does not cause what he hates.

¹²Don't claim that he has misled you; he doesn't need the help of sinners to accomplish his purposes.

¹³The Lord hates evil in all its forms, and those who fear the Lord find nothing attractive in evil.

¹⁴When, in the beginning, the Lord created human beings, he left them free to do as they wished.

¹⁵If you want to, you can keep the Lord's commands. You can decide whether you will be loyal to him or not.

¹⁶He has placed fire and water before you; reach out and take whichever you want.

¹⁷You have a choice between life and death; you will get whichever you choose.

¹⁸The Lord's wisdom and power are great and he sees everything.

¹⁹He is aware of everything a person does, and he takes care of those who fear him.

²⁰He has never commanded anyone to be wicked or given anyone permission to sin.

¹³Lazy people stay at home; they say a lion might get them if they go outside.

¹⁴Adultery is a trap—it catches those with whom the Lord is angry.

¹⁵Children just naturally do silly, careless things, but a good spanking will teach them how to behave.

¹⁶If you make gifts to rich people or oppress the poor to get rich, you will become poor yourself.