1 Whoever fears God will do good. And whoever holds to justice will obtain it.
2 And like an honorable mother, she will meet him, and like a virgin bride, she will receive him.
3 She will feed him with the bread of life and understanding. And she give him to drink from the water of salvific wisdom. And she will be confirmed in him, and he will not waver.
4 And she will hold to him, and he will not be confounded. And she will exalt him, along with those closest to him.
5 And in the midst of the Church, she will open his mouth, and she will fill him with the spirit of wisdom and understanding, and she will clothe him with a robe of glory.
6 She will store up in him a treasure of rejoicing and exultation, and she will cause him to inherit an everlasting name.
7 But foolish men will not take hold of her. And though understanding men will meet her, foolish men will not catch sight of her. For she is far from arrogance and deceit.
8 Lying men will be wary of her. But men who speak the truth will be found with her, and they will have success, even when examined by God.
9 Praise is not beautiful in the mouth of a sinner.
10 For wisdom was sent from God. And praise will stand before the wisdom of God, and praise will abound in the mouths of the faithful, and the sovereign Lord will give praise to wisdom.
11 You should not say: “It is because of God that wisdom is absent.” For you should not do what he detests.
12 You should not say: “He has led me astray.” For the impious are of no use to him.
13 The Lord hates all abominable error, and those who fear him will not love such things.
14 God established man from the beginning, and he left him in the hand of his own counsel.
15 He added his commandments and precepts.
16 If you choose to keep the commandments, and if, having chosen them, you fulfill them with perpetual fidelity, they will preserve you.
17 He has set water and fire before you. Extend your hand to whichever one you would choose.
18 Before man is life and death, good and evil. Whichever one he chooses will be given to him.
19 For the wisdom of God is manifold. And he is strong in power, seeing all things without ceasing.
20 The eyes of the Lord are upon those who fear him, and he knows each one of the works of man.
21 He has commanded no one to act impiously, and he has given no one permission to sin.
22 For he does not desire a multitude of unfaithful and useless sons.
1 You should not rejoice in impious children, if they are successful; nor should you take delight in them, if the fear of God is not in them.
2 You should not approve of their life, nor should you look with favor on their labors.
3 For one child who fears God is better than one thousand impious children.
4 And it is better to die without children, than to leave behind impious children.
5 By means one person with understanding, a country will be inhabited. The tribe of the impious will become desolate.
6 Many such things my eyes have seen, and greater things than these my ear has heard.
7 In the synagogue of sinners, a fire will blaze forth; and amid an unbelieving people, wrath will flare up.
8 The giants of antiquity did not obtain pardon for their sins; they were destroyed by trusting in their own abilities.
9 And he did not spare the place of Lot’s sojourn, and he abhorred them because of the arrogance of their words.
10 He did not take pity on them, destroying an entire people, who even extolled themselves concerning their sins.
11 And this was so with six hundred thousand men, who were gathered together in the hardness of their hearts. And if even a single obstinate person had escaped unpunished, it would be a wonder.
12 For mercy and wrath are with him. He is powerful in forgiveness, and he pours forth wrath.
13 As is his mercy, so also is his correction; he judges a man according to his works.
14 The sinner, in his violations, will not escape; but the patience of the One who shows mercy will not be diminished.
15 Every mercy will make a place for each man, according to the merit of his works, and according to the understanding of his sojourn.
16 You should not say: “I am hidden from God,” or, “Who, from on high, will take note of me?”
17 or, “Among a great number of people, I will not be noticed. For what is my soul amid such an immense creation?”
18 Behold: the heavens, and the heaven of the heavens, the abyss, and the entire earth, and the things that are within these, will be shaken by his gaze,
19 together with mountains and hills, and the foundations of the earth. When God casts his gaze upon them, they will be struck with trembling.
20 And concerning all these things, the heart is without understanding; but every heart is understood by him.
21 And who will understand his ways, or the tempest, which no eye of man will see?
22 For many of his works are concealed. But who will announce the works of his justice? Or who will endure them? For the testament is far from some persons, and the examination of each thing is in its end.
23 Whoever diminishes the heart, thinks empty thoughts. For the imprudent and erring man thinks up foolishness.
24 Listen to me, son, and learn the discipline of understanding, and attend to my words in your heart.
25 And I will speak with equity about discipline, and I will strive to announce wisdom. So attend to my words in your heart, and I will speak with equity of spirit, about the virtues that God has set within his works from the beginning, and I will announce his knowledge in truth.
26 With the judgment of God, his works have been done from the beginning; and from their institution, he himself distinguished their parts and set their beginnings, in their kinds.
27 He has beautified their works unto eternity. They have neither hungered, nor labored, and they have not ceased from their works.
28 Neither will any one of them cause anguish to his neighbor, forever.
29 You should not be incredulous at his word.
30 Afterward, God looked with favor upon the earth, and he filled it with his goodness.
31 The soul of every living thing brought word from before his face, and their return again is to him.
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25 And so, having received orders from the king, he returned, holding nothing at all worthy of the priesthood, in truth, having the soul of a cruel tyrant and the rage of a wild beast.
26 And indeed, Jason, who had taken captive his own brother, was himself deceived, and was expelled to become a fugitive in the region of the Ammonites.
27 Then Menelaus, indeed, obtained the principality, but truly, concerning the money that he had promised to the king, nothing was done. Although Sostratus, who was first over the stronghold, attempted to collect it,
28 since the collection of certain taxes pertained to him. For this reason, they were both called before the king.
29 And Menelaus was removed from the priesthood, being succeeded by Lysimachus, his brother. Then Sostratus was appointed over the Cyprians.
30 And while these things were occurring, it happened that those from Tarsus and Mallus incited a sedition, because they had been given as a gift to Antiochidi, the concubine of the king.
31 And so, the king hurried to come and calm them, leaving behind Andronicus, one of his associates, as his deputy.
32 Then Menelaus, believing that he had reached an opportune time, having stolen certain gold vessels out of the temple, gave them to Andronicus, along with others he had gained at Tyre and throughout the neighboring cities.
33 But when Onias had realized this with certainty, he accused him, keeping himself in a safe place at Antioch beside Daphne.
34 Meanwhile, Menelaus met with Andronicus, asking him to execute Onias. So he then went to Onias, and he gave him his right hand with an oath, and, even though he was suspicious of him, he persuaded him to venture out of asylum, and he immediately killed him, with no respect for justice.
35 For this reason, not only the Jews, but also the other nations, were indignant and bore much grief for the unjust killing of so great a man.
36 But when the king returned from the places of Cilicia, the Jews at Antioch, and similarly the Greeks, went to him, complaining of the iniquitous killing of Onias.
37 And so Antiochus was grieved in his mind because of Onias, and, being moved to compassion, he shed tears, remembering the sobriety and modesty of the deceased.
38 And, being inflamed in soul, he ordered the purple to be torn from Andronicus, and that he be led around, throughout the entire city, and that, in the same place where he had committed the impiety against Onias, the sacrilegious man should be deprived of his life, as his fitting punishment rendered by the Lord.
39 But when many sacrileges were committed by Lysimachus in the temple through the counsel of Menelaus, and the news was divulged, the multitude gathered together against Lysimachus, though a great quantity of gold had been exported already.
40 But when the multitude stirred up an insurrection, and their minds were filled with anger, Lysimachus armed about three thousand, who began to act with hands of iniquity. A certain tyrant was their leader, a man advanced both in age and in madness.
41 But when they perceived the attempt of Lysimachus, some took hold of stones, others strong clubs, and, in truth, certain ones threw ashes upon Lysimachus.
42 And indeed, many were wounded, and some were struck down; however, all were put to flight. And, as for the sacrilegious man, they executed him beside the treasury.
43 Therefore, about these things, a judgment began to be stirred up against Menelaus.
44 And when the king had arrived at Tyre, three men were sent from the elders to bring the matter to him.
45 But when Menelaus was overcome, he promised to give much money to Ptolemy to persuade the king.
46 And so, Ptolemy went to the king in a certain court where he was, as if merely to refresh himself, and he influenced him away from the sentence.
47 And so Menelaus, though indeed guilty of all malice, was absolved of the crimes. Moreover, these pitiable men, who, even if they had pleaded their case before Scythians, would have been judged innocent, he condemned to death.
48 Therefore, those who brought the case on behalf of the city, and the people, and the sacred vessels were quickly given an unjust punishment.
49 For this reason, even the Tyrians, being indignant, proved to be very liberal toward their burial.
50 Thus, because of the greed of those who were in power, Menelaus remained in authority, increasing in malice, to the betrayal of the citizens.
20 Because you say in thought: They shall receive thy cities in vain.
21 Have I not hated them, O Lord, that hated thee: and pine away because of thy enemies?
22 I have hated them with a perfect hatred: and they are become enemies to me.
23 Prove me, O God, and know my heart: examine me, and know my paths.
24 And see if there be in me the way of iniquity: and lead me in the eternal way.
1 The Elder to the Elect Lady, and those born of her, whom I love in the truth: and not I alone, but also all those who have known the truth,
2 because the truth which dwells in us shall be with us for eternity.
3 May grace, mercy, and peace be with you from God the Father, and from Christ Jesus, the Son of the Father, in truth and in love.
4 I was very glad because I discovered some of your sons walking in the truth, just as we received the commandment from the Father.
5 And now I petition you, Lady, not as if writing a new commandment to you, but instead that commandment which we have had from the beginning: that we love one another.
6 And this is love: that we walk according to his commandments. For this is the commandment that you have heard in the same way from the beginning, and in which you should walk.
7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess that Jesus Christ has arrived in the flesh. Such a one as this is a deceiver and an antichrist.
8 Be cautious for yourselves, lest you lose what you have accomplished, and so that, instead, you may receive a full reward.
9 Everyone who withdraws and does not remain in the doctrine of Christ, does not have God. Whoever remains in the doctrine, such a one as this has both the Father and the Son.
10 If anyone comes to you, and does not bring this doctrine, do not be willing to receive him into the house, and do not speak a greeting to him.
11 For whoever speaks a greeting to him, is speaking with his evil works.
12 I have much more to write to you, but I am not willing to do so through paper and ink. For I hope that I may be with you in the future, and that I may speak face to face, so that your joy may be full.
13 The sons of your Elect Sister greet you.
1 The Elder, to Gaius, most beloved, whom I love in the truth.
2 Most beloved, concerning everything, I make it my prayer that you may benefit by advancing and succeeding in whatever may be to the benefit of your soul.
3 I was very glad when the brothers arrived, and when they offered testimony to the truth in you, that you are walking in the truth.
4 I have no greater grace than this, when I hear that my sons are walking in the truth.
5 Most beloved, you should act faithfully in whatever you do for the brothers, and those who are sojourners;
6 they have given testimony to your charity in the sight of the Church. You would to well to lead these ones worthily to God.
7 For they set out, on behalf of his name, accepting nothing from the unbelievers.
8 Therefore, we must accept such as these, in order that we may cooperate with the truth.
9 As it happens, I had written to the church. But Diotrephes, who loves to bear the highest rank among them, would not accept us.
10 Because of this, when I come, I will admonish his works which he does, babbling against us with malicious words. And as if this were not sufficient for him, he himself does not receive the brothers. And those who do receive them, he hinders, and he ejects them from the church.
11 Most beloved, do not be willing to imitate what is evil; instead imitate what is good. Whoever does good is of God. Whoever does evil has not seen God.
12 Testimony is being given for Demetrius by everyone, and by the truth itself. And we also offer testimony. And you know that our testimony is true.
13 I had many things to write to you, but I am not willing, through ink and pen, to write to you.
14 Yet I hope to see you soon, and then we will speak face to face. Peace to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends by name.
