Visions of a Battle

¹About this time Antiochus the Fourth made a second attack against Egypt.

²For nearly forty days people all over Jerusalem saw visions of cavalry troops in gold armor charging across the sky. The riders were armed with spears and their swords were drawn.

³They were lined up in battle against one another, attacking and counterattacking. Shields were clashing, there was a rain of spears, and arrows flew through the air. All the different kinds of armor and the gold bridles on the horses flashed in the sunlight.

⁴Everyone in the city prayed that these visions might be a good sign.

Jason Attacks Jerusalem

⁵When a false report began to spread that Antiochus had died, Jason took more than a thousand men and suddenly attacked Jerusalem. They drove back those stationed on the city walls and finally captured the city. Menelaus fled for safety to the fort, near the Temple hill,

⁶while Jason and his men went on slaughtering their fellow Jews without mercy. Jason did not realize that success against one's own people is the worst kind of failure. He even considered his success a victory over enemies, rather than a defeat of his own people.

⁷But Jason did not take over the government. Instead he was forced to flee once again to the territory of the Ammonites, and in the end his evil plot brought him nothing but shame and disgrace,

⁸and he died in misery. Aretas, the ruler of the Arabs, imprisoned him; he was looked upon as a criminal and despised because he had betrayed his own people; everyone was hunting for him, and he had to run from town to town. He fled to Egypt for safety,

⁹then to Greece, hoping to find refuge among the Spartans, who were related to the Jews. Finally, this man, who had forced so many others to flee from their own country, died as a fugitive in a foreign land.

¹⁰Jason had killed many people and left their bodies unburied, but now his own death was unmourned. He was not given a funeral or even buried with his ancestors.

Antiochus Attacks Jerusalem

¹¹When the news of what had happened in Jerusalem reached Antiochus, he thought the whole country of Judea was in revolt, and he became as furious as a wild animal. So he left Egypt and took Jerusalem by storm,

¹²giving his men orders to cut down without mercy everyone they met and to slaughter anyone they found hiding in the houses.

¹³They murdered everyone—men and women, boys and girls; even babies were butchered.

¹⁴Three days later Jerusalem had lost 80,000 people: 40,000 killed in the attack and at least that many taken away to be sold as slaves.

¹⁵But Antiochus was still not satisfied. He even dared to enter the holiest Temple in all the world, guided by Menelaus, who had become a traitor both to his religion and to his people.

¹⁶With his filthy and unholy hands, Antiochus swept away the sacred objects of worship and the gifts which other kings had given to increase the glory and honor of the Temple.

¹⁷He was so thrilled with his conquest that he did not realize that the Lord had let his holy Temple be defiled because the sin of the people of Jerusalem had made him angry for a while.

¹⁸If the people of Jerusalem had not been involved in so many sins, Antiochus would have been punished immediately and prevented from taking such a foolish action. He would have suffered the same fate as Heliodorus, who was sent by King Seleucus to inspect the treasury.

¹⁹But the Lord did not choose his people for the sake of his Temple; he established his Temple for the sake of his people.

²⁰So the Temple shared in the people's suffering but also later shared in their prosperity. The Lord abandoned it when he became angry, but restored it when his anger had cooled down.

Another Attack against Jerusalem

²¹Antiochus took 135,000 pounds of silver from the Temple and hurried off to Antioch. Such was his arrogance that he felt he could make ships sail across dry land or troops march across the sea.

²²He appointed governors to cause trouble for the people. In Jerusalem he placed Philip, a man from Phrygia who was more evil than Antiochus himself.

²³At Mount Gerizim he placed Andronicus. In addition to these, there was Menelaus, who mistreated his fellow Jews far worse than the governors did. Antiochus hated the Jews so much

²⁴that he sent an army of 22,000 mercenary troops from Mysia to Jerusalem under the command of a man named Apollonius, with orders to kill every man in the city and to sell the women and boys as slaves.

²⁵Apollonius arrived in Jerusalem, pretending to be on a peace mission. Then on a Sabbath, when all the Jews were observing the day of rest, he led his troops, who were fully armed, in a parade outside the city.

²⁶Suddenly he commanded his men to kill everyone who had come out to see them. They rushed into the city and murdered a great many people.

²⁷But Judas Maccabeus and about nine others escaped into the barren mountains, where they lived like wild animals. In order not to defile themselves, they ate only plants which they found growing there.

Simon Son of Onias

¹The greatest of his brothers and the pride of his people was the High Priest Simon son of Onias, who repaired the Temple

²and laid the foundation for the high double wall and the fortifications of the Temple.

³The reservoir, as big as the bronze tank, was dug while he was in office.

⁴He made plans to protect his people from attack and fortified the city so that it could withstand a siege.

⁵How glorious he was when he came out of the Most Holy Place!

⁶He was like the morning star shining through the clouds, like the full moon,

⁷like the sun shining on the Temple of the Most High, like the rainbow gleaming in glory against the clouds,

⁸like roses in springtime, like lilies beside a stream, like the cedars of Lebanon in summer,

⁹like burning incense, like a cup made of hammered gold and decorated with all kinds of jewels,

¹⁰like an olive tree loaded with fruit, like a cypress tree towering into the clouds.

¹¹When Simon put on his magnificent robe and went up to the holy altar dressed in perfect splendor, he made the Temple courtyard a majestic sight.

¹²When the priests handed him the portions of the sacrifice as he stood beside the altar with his assistants circling him like a wreath, he was like a young cedar of Lebanon surrounded by palm trees.

¹³Those were the descendants of Aaron in their splendid garments, standing before the whole assembly of Israel, holding in their hands the offering made to the Lord.

¹⁴When he had finished the service at the altar and had arranged the sacrifice to the Most High, the Almighty,

¹⁵he reached for a cup and poured out sweet-smelling wine at the foot of the altar as an offering to the Most High, the universal King.

¹⁶Then the priests shouted and blew their trumpets of hammered silver. They made a loud noise that the Most High would hear.

¹⁷All the people immediately bowed down with their faces to the ground to worship their Lord, the Almighty, the Most High.

¹⁸Then the choir began to sing his praises, and the beautiful music rang out.

¹⁹The people kept praying to the merciful Lord Most High until the service of worship had come to a close.

²⁰Then Simon came down from the altar, raised his hands over the whole assembly of Israel, and reverently pronounced the blessing from the Lord,

²¹while the people bowed a second time in worship to receive that blessing from the Most High.

A Benediction

²²Now then, give praise to the God of the universe, who has done great things everywhere, who brings us up from the time we are born, and deals with us mercifully.

²³May he give us happiness and allow us to have peace in Israel forever.

²⁴May he continue his mercy to us and rescue us in our time of need.

Three Hated Nations

²⁵There are two nations that I detest, and a third that does not even deserve to be called a nation.

²⁶These are the Edomites, the inhabitants of the Philistine cities, and the stupid Samaritans.

The Wisdom of Jesus Son of Sirach

²⁷I, Jesus son of Sirach Eleazar of Jerusalem, put all my wisdom into writing this book to provide instruction and knowledge for others.

²⁸May God bless everyone who gives attention to these teachings. Whoever takes them to heart will become wise.

²⁹Whoever lives by them will be strong enough for any occasion, because he will be walking in the light of the Lord.

A Song of Thanksgiving

¹I give you thanks, O Lord and King; I praise you as my God and Savior. I give you thanks,

²for you have helped me and protected me. You have rescued me from death, from dangerous lies and slander.

³You helped me when no one else would; in your great mercy you saved me from the many troubles I have known: from the glaring hatred of my enemies, who wanted to put an end to my life;

⁴from suffocation in oppressive smoke rising from fires that I did not light;

⁵from death itself; from vicious slander reported to the king.

⁶I was once brought face-to-face with death;

⁷enemies surrounded me everywhere. I looked for someone to help me, but there was no one there.

⁸But then, O Lord, I remembered how merciful you are and what you had done in times past. I remembered that you rescue those who rely on you, that you save them from their enemies.

⁹Then from here on earth I prayed to you to rescue me from death.

¹⁰I prayed, O Lord, you are my father; do not abandon me to my troubles when I am helpless against arrogant enemies.

¹¹I will always praise you and sing hymns of thanksgiving. You answered my prayer,

¹²and saved me from the threat of destruction. And so I thank you and praise you. O Lord, I praise you!

The Search for Wisdom

¹³When I was still young, before I started out on my travels, I boldly prayed for Wisdom.

¹⁴I went to the Temple and asked for her, and I will look for her as long as I live.

¹⁵From my blossoming youth to my ripe old age she has been my delight. I have followed directly in her path ever since I was young.

¹⁶I received Wisdom as soon as I began listening for her, and I have been rewarded with great knowledge.

¹⁷I have always been a learner and am grateful to everyone who has been my teacher.

¹⁸I was determined to live wisely and was devoted to the cause of goodness. I have no regrets.

¹⁹I fought for Wisdom and was strict in my conduct. When I prayed, I sadly confessed how far short of Wisdom I fell.

²⁰But I was determined to have her, and I found her by keeping myself free from sin. I have grown in Wisdom since first I found her, and I will never be without her.

²¹Because I was driven by the desire to find her, I have been richly rewarded.

²²The Lord gave me a gift for words, and I have used it in his praise.

²³Come to me, all you that need instruction, and learn in my school.

²⁴Why do you admit that you are ignorant and do nothing about it?

²⁵Here is what I say: It costs nothing to be wise.

²⁶Put on the yoke, and be willing to learn. The opportunity is always near.

²⁷See for yourselves! I have really not studied very hard, but I have found great contentment.

²⁸No matter how much it costs you to get Wisdom, it will be well worth it.

²⁹Be joyfully grateful for the Lord's mercy, and never be ashamed to praise him.

³⁰Do your duty at the proper time, and the Lord, at the time he thinks proper, will give you your reward.

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¹⁷Don't be glad when your enemies meet disaster, and don't rejoice when they stumble.

¹⁸The Lord will know if you are gloating, and he will not like it; and then maybe he won't punish them.

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¹⁹Don't let evil people worry you; don't be envious of them.

²⁰A wicked person has no future—nothing to look forward to.