The Treaty with the Romans

¹Judas had heard about the Romans and their reputation as a military power. He knew that they welcomed all those who joined them as allies and that those who came to them could be sure of the friendship of Rome.

²People had told him about the wars the Romans had fought and their heroic acts among the Gauls, whom they had conquered and forced to pay taxes.

³He had been told what they had done in Spain when they captured the silver mines and the gold mines there.

⁴By careful planning and persistence, they had conquered the whole country, even though it was far from Rome. They had overcome the kings from distant lands who had fought against them; they had defeated them so badly that the survivors had to pay annual taxes.

⁵They had fought and conquered Philip and Perseus, kings of Macedonia, and all who had joined them against Rome.

⁶They had even defeated Antiochus the Great, king of Syria, who had attacked them with 120 elephants, cavalry, chariots, and a powerful army.

⁷They took him alive and forced him and his successors to pay heavy taxes, to give hostages, and to surrender

⁸India, Media, Lydia, and some of their best lands. They took these and gave them to King Eumenes.

⁹When the Greeks made plans to attack and destroy them,

¹⁰the Romans learned of the plans and sent a general to fight against them. The Romans killed many of the Greeks, took their wives and children captive, plundered their possessions, occupied their land, tore down their fortresses, and made them slaves, as they are today.

¹¹They also destroyed or made slaves of other kingdoms, the islands, and everyone who had ever fought against them.

¹²But they maintained their friendship with their allies and those who relied on them for protection. They conquered kings near and far, and everyone who heard of their reputation was afraid of them.

¹³They helped some men to become kings, while they deposed others; they had become a world power.

¹⁴In spite of all this, no Roman ever tried to advance his own position by wearing a crown or putting on royal robes.

¹⁵They created a senate, and each day 320 senators came together to deliberate about the affairs of the people and their well-being.

¹⁶Each year they entrusted to one man the responsibility of governing them and controlling their whole territory. Everyone obeyed this one man, and there was no envy or jealousy among them.

¹⁷Judas chose Eupolemus, the son of John and grandson of Accos, and Jason son of Eleazar and sent them to Rome to make a treaty of friendship and alliance with the Romans.

¹⁸He did this to eliminate Syrian oppression, since the Jews clearly saw that they were being reduced to slavery.

¹⁹After a long and difficult journey, Eupolemus and Jason reached Rome and entered the Senate. They addressed the assembly in these terms:

²⁰Judas Maccabeus, his brothers, and the Jewish people have sent us here to make a mutual defense treaty with you, so that we may be officially recorded as your friends and allies.

²¹The Romans accepted the proposal,

²²and what follows is a copy of the letter which was engraved on bronze tablets and sent to Jerusalem to remain there as a record of the treaty:

²³May things go well forever for the Romans and for the Jewish nation on land and sea! May they never have enemies, and may they never go to war!

²⁴But if war is declared first against Rome or any of her allies anywhere,

²⁵the Jewish nation will come to her aid with wholehearted support, as the situation may require.

²⁶And to those at war with her, the Jews shall not give or supply food, arms, money, or ships, as was agreed in Rome. The Jews must carry out their obligations without receiving anything in return.

²⁷In the same way, if war is declared first against the Jewish nation, the Romans will come to their aid with hearty support, as the situation may require.

²⁸And to their enemies there shall not be given or supplied food, arms, money, or ships, as was agreed in Rome. The Romans must carry out their obligations without deception.

²⁹These are the terms of the treaty that the Romans have made with the Jewish people.

³⁰But if, in the future, both parties shall agree to add or remove anything, they shall act on their decision, and whatever they add or remove shall be valid.

³¹Furthermore, concerning the wrongs which King Demetrius is doing against the Jews, we have written him as follows, Why have you treated our friends and allies, the Jews, so harshly?

³²If they complain to us about you one more time, we will support their cause and go to war against you on land and sea.

Laziness and Foolishness

^1-2Lazy people are no better than dung; they are repulsive, and no one wants to get near them.

³It is a disgrace to a father to have an undisciplined child, especially if it is a daughter.

⁴A sensible daughter will get a husband, but a shameless daughter brings her father grief.

⁵A girl with no sense of propriety will disgrace both her husband and her father; neither will have any respect for her.

⁶Lecturing your children can sometimes be as out of place as singing to people in mourning, but a whipping is a wise choice of discipline at any time.

⁷Trying to teach a fool is like gluing a broken pot back together, like waking someone out of a deep sleep.

⁸Explaining something to a fool is like explaining it to a sleepy person; when you have finished, he'll say, What was that again?

¹¹We mourn for the dead because they have no access to light. We ought to mourn for fools, because they have no access to intelligence. In fact, we should go into deeper mourning for fools, because the life they lead is worse than death. The dead are at least at rest.

¹²For seven days we mourn the dead, but a foolish or ungodly person causes a lifetime of grief.

¹³Don't visit stupid people or spend a lot of time talking with them. Avoid them; then they can't contaminate you, and you can live in peace without being troubled or worn down by their foolishness.

¹⁴Such people are a heavier burden to bear than lead; and the only word that fits them is fools.

¹⁵It is easier to carry a load of sand, salt, and iron than to put up with a stupid person.

¹⁶A wooden beam can be put into a building so firmly that an earthquake cannot shake it loose; a person can be trained to use reason and good sense so well that he keeps his head when a crisis comes.

¹⁷A mind that thinks things through intelligently is like a firm wall, finely decorated.

¹⁸Small stones on top of a wall will not stay put when the wind blows, and a person whose stupid ideas have made him timid will not be able to stand up to frightening situations.

Friendship

¹⁹If you stick something in your eye, tears will flow; and if you hurt a person deeply, you will discover his true feelings.

²⁰If you throw rocks at birds, you will scare them away; and if you insult a friend, you will break up the friendship.

^21-22Even if you have a violent argument with a friend, and speak sharply, all is not lost. You can still make up with him. But any friend will leave you if you insult him, if you are arrogant, if you reveal his secrets, or if you turn on him unexpectedly.

²³Gain the confidence of your neighbor if he is poor; then you can share his happiness if he becomes successful. Stand by him when he is in trouble if you want to share with him when better times come his way.

²⁴Fumes and smoke appear before the flames do; insults come before violence.

²⁵I will never be afraid to protect a friend, and I will never turn a friend away if he needs me.

²⁶If I suffer because of him, everyone who learns of it will be on guard against him.

A Prayer for Help against Sin

²⁷I wish that a guard could be placed at my mouth, that my lips could be wisely sealed. It would keep me from making mistakes and prevent me from destroying myself with my own tongue!

¹O Lord, my Father and Master of my life, do not leave me at the mercy of my own words; don't let them cause my downfall.

²I wish I could be whipped for my thoughts, so that Wisdom could discipline my mind. I would not want to be spared when I am wrong; I would not want a single sin to be overlooked!

³Then I would not keep on sinning, making one mistake after another. I could not fall to my enemies and be humiliated by them.

⁴O Lord, my Father, God of my life, keep me from being arrogant;

⁵protect me from evil desires.

⁶Keep me from being overcome by greed or lust; do not leave me at the mercy of these shameless passions.

Taking Oaths

⁷My children, listen to what I have to say about proper speech; do as I teach you and you will never get trapped.

⁸Sinners are caught by their own arrogant, insulting words.

⁹Don't fall into the habit of taking oaths, and don't use God's holy name too freely.

¹⁰A slave who is constantly beaten will never be free of bruises; someone who is always taking an oath by the Holy Name will never be free of sin.

¹¹Anyone who takes oaths all the time is sinful to the core, and punishment is never far away from his household. If he fails to fulfill his oath, he is guilty. If he ignores his oath, he is twice as guilty. If his oath was insincere in the first place, he cannot be pardoned and will have a house full of trouble.

Filthy Talk

¹²There is one way of speaking that is like death itself—may no Israelite ever be guilty of it! Devout people do not wallow in such sin, and they will keep away from such behavior.

¹³Don't fall into the habit of coarse, profane talk; it is sinful.

¹⁴You might forget yourself while in the company of important people and make a fool of yourself with some foul word that comes to you naturally. Think how your parents would feel! You would curse the day you were born and wish you were dead!

¹⁵If you fall into the habit of using offensive language, you will never break yourself of it as long as you live.

Sexual Sins

¹⁶There are any number of ways to sin and bring down the Lord's anger, but sexual passion is a hot, blazing fire that cannot be put out at will; it can only burn itself out. A man who lives for nothing but sexual enjoyment will keep on until that fire destroys him.

¹⁷To such a man all women are desirable, and he can never get enough as long as he lives.

¹⁸The man who is unfaithful to his wife thinks to himself, No one will ever know. It's dark in here, and no one sees me. I have nothing to worry about. As for the Most High, he won't even notice.

¹⁹This man is only afraid of other people. He doesn't realize that the eyes of the Lord are 10,000 times brighter than the sun, that he sees everything we do, even when we try to hide it.

²⁰He knew everything before he created the world, as well as after.

²¹That sinful man will be caught when he least expects it, and punished publicly.

²²The same is true of a woman who is unfaithful to her husband and presents him with a child by another man.

²³In the first place, she has broken the Law of the Most High. In the second place, she has wronged her husband. And in the third place, she has made a whore of herself by committing adultery and bearing the child of a man not her husband.

^24-25The children will suffer for her sin. They will not be able to find a place in society or establish families. She herself will be brought before the assembly

²⁶and permanently disgraced. There will be a curse on her memory. After she is gone,

²⁷everyone will realize that nothing is better than fearing the Lord, nothing is sweeter than keeping his commands.

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²⁶Don't promise to be responsible for someone else's debts.

²⁷If you should be unable to pay, they will take away even your bed.

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²⁸Never move an old property line that your ancestors established.

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²⁹Show me someone who does a good job, and I will show you someone who is better than most and worthy of the company of kings.