Judas Maccabeus Revolts

¹Judas Maccabeus and his friends went secretly from village to village until they had gathered a force of about 6,000 Jewish men who had remained faithful to their religion.

²They begged the Lord to help his people, now trampled under foot by all nations, to take pity on the Temple, now defiled by pagans,

³and to have mercy on Jerusalem, now destroyed and almost leveled to the ground.

⁴They also asked the Lord to show his hatred of evil by taking revenge on those who were murdering his people, mercilessly slaughtering innocent children, and saying evil things against the Lord.

⁵When Judas had finally organized his forces, the Gentiles were unable to stand against him, because the Lord's anger against Israel had now turned to mercy.

^6-7Judas would make sudden attacks on towns and villages and burn them. He captured strategic positions and routed many enemy troops, finding that he was most successful at night. People everywhere spoke of his bravery.

Ptolemy Sends Nicanor to Attack Judas

⁸When Philip, governor of Jerusalem, realized that Judas was gaining ground little by little and that his victories were becoming more and more frequent, he wrote a letter to Ptolemy, governor of Greater Syria, requesting his help in defending the royal interests.

⁹Ptolemy immediately appointed Nicanor son of Patroclus, who was also in the closest circle of the King's Friends, and sent him with more than 20,000 troops of various nationalities to wipe out the entire Jewish race. Ptolemy also appointed Gorgias, a general of wide military experience, to go with him.

¹⁰King Antiochus owed the Romans 150,000 pounds of silver; Nicanor planned to pay off the debt by selling Jewish prisoners of war as slaves.

¹¹So he at once sent word to the towns along the coast, informing them that he would be selling Jews for less than a pound of silver each. But he did not know of the judgment that Almighty God had in store for him.

Judas Learns of Nicanor's Plans

¹²Judas learned that Nicanor was advancing with his army toward Judea, so he informed his men.

¹³Some were cowardly and did not believe in the justice of God, and they ran away as fast as they could.

¹⁴But others sold all their remaining possessions so that the Lord would consider them worthy to be saved from the godless Nicanor, who had sold them as slaves even before the battle had taken place.

¹⁵They prayed that if God was not willing to do this for their sake alone, he might be willing to rescue them because of the covenants he had made with their ancestors, and because he, the great and wonderful God, had called them to be his people.

¹⁶Judas brought together all 6,000 of his men and encouraged them not to be frightened or to flee in panic at the sight of the large number of Gentile troops who were marching against them without cause. Instead they should fight bravely,

¹⁷never forgetting the crimes the Gentiles had committed against the Temple and how they had made Jerusalem suffer terribly and had done away with Jewish traditions.

¹⁸They rely on their weapons and their daring, Judas said, but we trust in Almighty God, who is able to destroy not only these troops, but, if necessary, the entire world, with a mere nod of his head.

¹⁹Then Judas went on to remind them of the ways God had helped their ancestors: during the time of Sennacherib 185,000 of the enemy had been destroyed;

²⁰and once in Babylonia 8,000 Jews came to the aid of 4,000 Macedonians, defeating 120,000 Galatians and taking a great deal of loot, all because of God's help.

Judas Defeats Nicanor

²¹Judas' words encouraged his men and made them willing to die for their religion and their country. He then divided his army into four divisions

²²of about 1,500 men each, with himself and his brothers Simon, Joseph, and Jonathan each in charge of a division.

²³After ordering Eleazar to read aloud from the holy book, he gave his men the battle cry: God will help us, and personally led the attack against Nicanor.

²⁴Almighty God fought on their side, and they killed more than 9,000 of the enemy. They wounded many others and put the entire enemy army to flight.

²⁵They seized the money from the people who had come to buy them as slaves. Then they pursued the enemy a long way, until they had to return,

²⁶because it was almost time for the Sabbath to begin.

²⁷When they had collected the enemy's weapons and looted the dead, they celebrated the Sabbath, praising the Lord and giving thanks to him, because he had brought them safely to that day and had given them the first sign of his mercy.

²⁸When the Sabbath was over, they gave some of the loot to the victims of persecution and to the widows and orphans; then they divided the rest among their own families.

²⁹Afterward they joined together in prayer to the merciful Lord, asking him to look favorably upon his servants.

Judas Defeats Timothy and Bacchides

³⁰The Jews later fought against the forces of Timothy and Bacchides and killed more than 20,000 of them. They captured some very high fortresses and took a lot of loot, which they divided equally among themselves and the widows, orphans, old men, and the victims of persecution.

³¹They carefully collected all the enemy's weapons and stored them in strategic places, but the rest of the loot was taken to Jerusalem.

³²They executed the commanding officer of Timothy's forces, a godless man who had caused the Jews much suffering.

³³While celebrating their victory in the city of their ancestors, they burned alive those men who had set fire to the Temple gates. The dead included Callisthenes, who had hidden in a small house; and so he received the punishment he deserved for his evil deeds.

³⁴In this way, the evil Nicanor, who had brought a thousand merchants to buy the Jews,

³⁵was defeated with the help of the Lord by the very people he despised so much. He threw off his splendid uniform and fled all alone like a runaway slave, until he reached Antioch. He had succeeded only in destroying his entire army.

³⁶This man, who had tried to pay a debt to Rome by selling the people of Jerusalem, showed that the Jews could not be defeated. God was their mighty Defender, because they obeyed the laws he had given them.

The Regrets of the Wicked

¹On that day someone righteous, full of confidence, will stand before those who oppressed him and made light of his labors.

²They will be amazed to see him safe and will tremble with terrible fear.

³Then they will regret what they did, and groaning in anguish they will say to each other:

⁴This is the one we made fun of. We thought he was a joke. What fools we were! We thought he was crazy to live the way he did, and when he died, we didn't honor him.

⁵And now here he is, one of God's own children, with a place of his own among God's people.

⁶We were the ones who wandered off the right road. We never lived in the light of righteousness; we never caught the first glimmer of its light.

⁷All our lives we wandered across unmarked deserts, instead of following the road which the Lord wanted us to travel. And this lawlessness led us to ruin.

⁸We were so proud of ourselves—we bragged about how rich we were—and now, what good has it done us?

⁹All those things are gone now; they have disappeared like a shadow, like something you hear and then forget.

¹⁰A ship sails across the waves of the ocean, but when it is gone, it leaves no trace. You cannot tell it was ever there.

¹¹A bird flies through the air, but leaves no sign that it has been there. It speeds along, riding through the thin air by the force of its wings, leaving behind no trace of its passing.

¹²An arrow splits the air when it is shot at a target, but at once the air closes up behind it, and no one can tell where it passed.

¹³It is the same with us—we were born, and then we ceased to be. We left no sign of virtue behind us; we were destroyed by our wickedness.

¹⁴What hope do wicked people have? Only the hope of straw blown about in the wind, the hope of ocean foam that disappears in the storm, the hope of smoke in the breeze. Their hope lasts no longer than our memory of a guest who stays one day and leaves the next.

¹⁵But the righteous live on forever. The Lord will reward them; the Most High will protect them.

¹⁶He will give them royal splendor and a magnificent crown. He will shield them with his powerful arm.

¹⁷He will go out into battle determined to defeat his enemies, and use the creation itself as a weapon.

¹⁸Righteousness will be his armor, genuine justice will be his helmet,

¹⁹holiness will be his invincible shield.

²⁰He will sharpen his stern anger into a sword, and the forces of nature will join him in battle against those who are foolish enough to oppose him.

²¹Bolts of lightning will strike right on target, as if the Lord had made a bow out of the clouds and was shooting arrows.

²²Hailstones will beat down on his enemies with terrible force. The oceans and rivers will come rushing over them in a devastating flood.

²³Great windstorms will blow them away like straw. Lawlessness will be the ruin of the whole world. Evil actions will cause governments to fall.

The Responsibility of Rulers

¹So then, you kings, you rulers the world over, listen to what I say, and learn from it.

²You govern many lands and are proud that so many people are under your rule,

³but this authority has been given to you by the Lord Most High. He will examine what you have done and what you plan to do.

⁴You rule on behalf of God and his kingdom, and if you do not govern justly, if you do not uphold the law, if you do not live according to God's will,

⁵you will suffer sudden and terrible punishment. Judgment is especially severe on those in power.

⁶Common people may be mercifully forgiven for their wrongs, but those in power will face a severe judgment.

⁷The Lord of all is not afraid of anyone, no matter how great they are. He himself made everyone, great and common alike, and he provides for all equally,

⁸but he will judge the conduct of rulers more strictly.

⁹It is for you, mighty kings, that I write these words, so that you may know how to act wisely and avoid mistakes.

¹⁰These are holy matters, and if you treat them in a holy manner, you yourselves will be considered holy. If you have learned this lesson, you will be able to defend yourselves at the Judgment.

¹¹So then, make my teaching your treasure and joy, and you will be well instructed.

The Value of Wisdom

¹²Wisdom shines bright and never grows dim; those who love her and look for her can easily find her.

¹³She is quick to make herself known to anyone who desires her.

¹⁴Get up early in the morning to find her, and you will have no problem; you will find her sitting at your door.

¹⁵To fasten your attention on Wisdom is to gain perfect understanding. If you look for her, you will soon find peace of mind,

¹⁶because she will be looking for those who are worthy of her, and she will find you wherever you are. She is kind and will be with you in your every thought.

¹⁷Wisdom begins when you sincerely want to learn. To desire Wisdom is to love her;

¹⁸to love her is to keep her laws; to keep her laws is to be certain of immortality;

¹⁹immortality will bring you close to God.

²⁰This desire for Wisdom can prepare you to rule a kingdom.

²¹So then, you that rule the nations, if you value your thrones and symbols of authority, honor Wisdom so that you may rule forever.

Solomon Wishes to Share His Wisdom

²²I will tell you what Wisdom is, and how she came to be. I will not keep anything secret. I will trace her history from the beginning and make knowledge of her open to all. I will not ignore any part of the truth.

²³No jealous desire to guard my own knowledge will make me hold back anything. Wisdom has nothing in common with such an attitude.

²⁴No indeed—the more wise people there are, the safer the world will be. A sensible king can be depended on to give his people this kind of security.

²⁵So then, learn what I am about to teach you, and you will profit from it.

³⁰I walked through the fields and vineyards of a lazy, stupid person.

³¹They were full of thorn bushes and overgrown with weeds. The stone wall around them had fallen down.

³²I looked at this, thought about it, and learned a lesson from it:

³³Go ahead and take your nap; go ahead and sleep. Fold your hands and rest awhile,

³⁴but while you are asleep, poverty will attack you like an armed robber.