The Lord Punishes Antiochus

¹About this time Antiochus was retreating in disorder from Persia,

²where he had entered the city of Persepolis and had attempted to rob a temple and take control of the city. The people took up arms and attacked Antiochus, forcing his army to retreat in disgrace.

³When he reached Ecbatana, he was told what had happened to the forces of Nicanor and Timothy.

⁴He became furious and decided to make the Jews pay for the defeat he had suffered. So he ordered his chariot driver not to stop until they reached Jerusalem. With great arrogance he said, I will turn Jerusalem into a graveyard full of Jews. But he did not know that he was heading straight for God's judgment.

⁵In fact, as soon as he had said these words, the all-seeing Lord, the God of Israel, struck him down with an invisible but fatal blow. He was seized with sharp intestinal pains for which there was no relief—

⁶a fitting punishment for the man who had tortured others in so many terrible ways!

⁷But this in no way caused him to give up his pride. Instead he became more arrogant than ever, and breathing out fiery threats against the Jews, he gave orders to drive even faster. As a result he fell out of his chariot with such a thud that it made every bone in his body ache.

⁸His arrogant pride made him think he had the superhuman strength to make ocean waves obey him and to weigh high mountains on a pair of scales. But suddenly he fell flat on the ground and had to be carried off on a stretcher, a clear sign to everyone of God's power.

⁹Even the eyes of this godless man were crawling with worms and he lived in terrible pain and agony. The stink was so bad that his entire army was sickened,

¹⁰and no one was able to come close enough to carry him around. Yet only a short while before, he thought he could take hold of the stars.

Antiochus Makes a Promise to God

¹¹Antiochus was deeply depressed and suffered constant pain because of the punishment that God had brought on him, so he finally came to his senses and gave up his arrogant pride.

¹²Then, when he could no longer endure his own stink, he said, It is right that all mortals should be subject to God and not think that they are his equal.

¹³The time of the Lord's mercy had come to an end for Antiochus, but this worthless man made the Lord a promise:

¹⁴I once intended to level Jerusalem to the ground and make that holy city a graveyard full of Jews, he said, but now I declare it a free city.

¹⁵I had planned to throw out the dead bodies of the Jews and their children for the wild animals and the birds to eat, for I did not consider them worth burying. But now I intend to grant them the same privileges as the citizens of Athens enjoy.

¹⁶I once looted the Temple and took its sacred utensils, but I will fill it with splendid gifts and with better utensils than before, and I will pay the cost of the sacrifices from my own resources.

¹⁷Besides all this, I will become a Jew myself and go wherever people live, telling them of God's power.

Antiochus' Letter to the Jews

¹⁸Antiochus was in despair and could find no relief from his pain, because God was punishing him as he deserved, so he wrote the following letter to the Jews:

¹⁹King Antiochus to the Jews, my most distinguished subjects. Warm greetings and best wishes for your health and prosperity.

²⁰I hope that you and your families are in good health and that all goes well with you. My hope is in God,

²¹and I remember with a deep sense of joy the respect and kindness that you have shown me. On my way home from Persia I fell violently ill, and so I thought it best to begin making plans for the general welfare of the people.

²²I have not given up hopes of getting well; in fact I am fully confident that I will recover.

²³But I recall that my father used to appoint a successor whenever he went on a military campaign east of the Euphrates.

²⁴He did this so that if something unexpected happened, or if some bad news came back, then his subjects would not be afraid, for they knew who had been left in command.

²⁵Also, I know how the rulers along the frontiers of my kingdom are constantly on the lookout for any opportunity that may come along. That is why I have appointed my son Antiochus to succeed me as king. I have frequently entrusted him to your care and recommended him to you when I went on my regular visits to the provinces east of the Euphrates. (He is receiving a copy of the letter which follows.)

²⁶Now I strongly urge each of you to keep in mind the good things that I have done for you, both individually and as a nation, and to continue in your good will toward me and my son.

²⁷I am confident that he will treat you with fairness and kindness, just as I have always done.

²⁸And so, this murderer, who had cursed God, suffered the same terrible agonies he had brought on others, and then died a miserable death in the mountains of a foreign land.

²⁹One of his close friends, Philip, took his body home; but, because he was afraid of Antiochus' son, he went on to King Ptolemy Philometor of Egypt.

A King Is Like Everyone Else

^1-2Like every human being, I am mortal. I am a descendant of that first man, who was made from the soil. I was conceived from the sperm of a man, in the pleasure of intercourse. For nine months my flesh took shape in the blood of my mother's womb.

³When I was born, I came into the world like anyone else. I began to breathe the same air we all breathe; and like everyone else, the first sound I made was a cry.

⁴I was wrapped in cloths and cared for.

⁵No king ever began life differently.

⁶For all of us, there is one way into life, and there is one way out.

Solomon Declares His Love for Wisdom

⁷Realizing that I was only human, I prayed and was given understanding. The spirit of Wisdom came to me.

⁸I regarded her more highly than any throne or crown. Wealth was nothing compared to her.

⁹Precious jewels could not equal her worth; beside Wisdom all the gold in the world is a handful of sand, and silver is nothing more than clay.

¹⁰I valued her more than health and good looks. Hers is a brightness that never grows dim, and I preferred it to any other light.

¹¹When Wisdom came to me, all good things came with her. She brought me untold riches.

¹²I was happy with them all, because Wisdom had brought them to me. I had not realized before that she was the source of all these things.

¹³I was sincere in learning from her, and now I am glad to share what I learned.

¹⁴No one can ever exhaust the treasures of Wisdom. Use those treasures and you are God's friends; he approves of what you learn from her.

¹⁵I pray to God that my thoughts may be worthy of what I have learned, and that I may speak according to his will. He is Wisdom's guide; he gives correction to those who are wise.

¹⁶We are under his power and authority—we ourselves, our words, all our understanding and skills.

¹⁷It is he who gave me true knowledge of the forces of nature: what the world is made of; how the elements behave;

¹⁸how the calendar is determined by the movements of the sun, the changing seasons,

¹⁹the constellations, and the cycles of years.

²⁰He has taught me about the nature of living creatures, the behavior of wild animals, the force of the winds, the reasoning powers of human beings, the different kinds of plants, and the use of their roots as medicine.

²¹I learned things that were well known and things that had never been known before,

The Nature of Wisdom

²²because Wisdom, who gave shape to everything that exists, was my teacher. The spirit of Wisdom is intelligent and holy. It is of one nature but reveals itself in many ways. It is not made of any material substance, and it moves about freely. It is clear, clean, and confident; it cannot be harmed. It loves what is good. It is sharp and unconquerable,

²³kind, and a friend of humanity. It is dependable and sure, and has no worries. It has power over everything, and sees everything. It penetrates every spirit that is intelligent and pure, no matter how delicate its substance may be.

²⁴Wisdom moves more easily than motion itself; she is so pure that she penetrates everything.

²⁵She is a breath of God's power—a pure and radiant stream of glory from the Almighty. Nothing that is defiled can ever steal its way into Wisdom.

²⁶She is a reflection of eternal light, a perfect mirror of God's activity and goodness.

²⁷Even though Wisdom acts alone, she can do anything. She makes everything new, although she herself never changes. From generation to generation she enters the souls of holy people, and makes them God's friends and prophets.

²⁸There is nothing that God loves more than people who are at home with Wisdom.

²⁹Wisdom is more beautiful than the sun and all the constellations. She is better than light itself,

³⁰because night always follows day, but evil never overcomes Wisdom.

¹Her great power reaches into every part of the world, and she sets everything in useful order.

Solomon's Love for Wisdom

²Wisdom has been my love. I courted her when I was young and wanted to make her my bride. I fell in love with her beauty.

³She glorifies her noble origin by living with God, the Lord of all, who loves her.

⁴She is familiar with God's mysteries and helps determine his course of action.

⁵Is it good to have riches in this life? Nothing can make you richer than Wisdom, who makes everything function.

⁶Is knowledge a useful thing to have? Nothing is better than Wisdom, who has given shape to everything that exists.

⁷Do you love justice? All the virtues are the result of Wisdom's work: justice and courage, self-control and understanding. Life can offer us nothing more valuable than these.

⁸Do you want to have wide experience? Wisdom knows the lessons of history and can anticipate the future. She knows how to interpret what people say and how to solve problems. She knows the miracles that God will perform, and how the movements of history will develop.

⁹So I decided to take Wisdom home to live with me, because I knew that she would give me good advice and encourage me in times of trouble and grief.

¹⁰I thought to myself, Because of her I will be honored wherever people come together. The old men will respect me, even though I am young.

¹¹They will find that my opinions show deep insight, and those in power will admire me.

¹²When I am silent, they will wait for me to speak, and when I speak, they will pay attention. Even when I speak at length, they will listen with concentration.

¹³Because of Wisdom I will gain immortality; I will live forever in the memory of those who come after me.

¹⁴I will hold power over nations and peoples;

¹⁵dreaded tyrants will be seized with fear at the mention of my name. I will be famous, as a good king and as a brave soldier.

¹⁶When I come home to Wisdom, I will find contentment because there is no conflict or pain in living with her, only happiness and joy.

¹⁷And so I thought it over: to be wedded to Wisdom is to live forever,

¹⁸to love her is to be perfectly happy, to do her work is to be rich beyond measure, to share her company is to have sound judgment, to converse with her is to be honored. Then I was determined to take Wisdom as my bride.

¹⁹I had a pleasant personality even as a child. I had been fortunate enough to receive a good soul, or rather, I was given a sound body to live in because I was already good.

²⁰Still, I realized that I would never receive Wisdom unless God gave her to me—and knowing that only God could give her to me was itself a sign of understanding. So I prayed, begging the Lord with all my heart:

More of Solomon's Proverbs

¹Here are more of Solomon's proverbs, copied by scribes at the court of King Hezekiah of Judah.

²We honor God for what he conceals; we honor kings for what they explain.

³You never know what a king is thinking; his thoughts are beyond us, like the heights of the sky or the depths of the ocean.