1 The words of king Lamuel. The vision by which his mother instructed him:
2 What, O my beloved? What, O beloved of my womb? What, O beloved of my vows?
3 Do not give your substance to women, or your riches to overthrow kings.
4 Not to kings, O Lamuel, not to kings give wine. For there are no secrets where drunkenness reigns.
5 And perhaps they may drink and forget judgments, and alter the case of the sons of the poor.
6 Give strong drink to the grieving, and wine to those who are bitter in soul.
7 Let them drink, and forget their needs, and remember their sorrow no more.
8 Open your mouth for the mute and for all the cases of the sons who are passing through.
9 Open your mouth, declare what is just, and do justice to the indigent and the poor.
10 Who shall find a strong woman? Far away, and from the furthest parts, is her price.
11 The heart of her husband confides in her, and he will not be deprived of spoils.
12 She will repay him with good, and not evil, all the days of her life.
13 She has sought wool and flax, and she has worked these by the counsel of her hands.
14 She has become like a merchant’s ship, bringing her bread from far away.
15 And she has risen in the night, and given a prey to her household, and provisions to her maids.
16 She has considered a field and bought it. From the fruit of her own hands, she has planted a vineyard.
17 She has wrapped her waist with fortitude, and she has strengthened her arm.
18 She has tasted and seen that her tasks are good; her lamp shall not be extinguished at night.
19 She has put her hand to strong things, and her fingers have taken hold of the spindle.
20 She has opened her hand to the needy, and she has extended her hands to the poor.
21 She shall not fear, in the cold of snow, for her household. For all those of her household have been clothed two-fold.
22 She has made embroidered clothing for herself. Fine linen and purple is her garment.
23 Her husband is noble at the gates, when he sits among the senators of the land.
24 She has made finely woven cloth and sold it, and she has delivered a waistband to the Canaanite.
25 Strength and elegance are her clothing, and she will laugh in the final days.
26 She has opened her mouth to wisdom, and the law of clemency is on her tongue.
27 She has considered the paths of her household, and she has not eaten her bread in idleness.
28 Her sons rose up and predicted great happiness; her husband rose up and praised her.
29 Many daughters have gathered together riches; you have surpassed them all.
30 Charm is false, and beauty is vain. The woman who fears the Lord, the same shall be praised.
31 Give to her from the fruit of her own hands. And let her works praise her at the gates.
&
32 And I even return authority over the stronghold, which is in Jerusalem, and I give it to the high priest, in order to appoint in it any such men as he will choose, who will guard it.
33 And every soul of the Jews who were taken captive from the land of Judah in all my kingdom, I set at liberty without charge, so that they are all released from tributes, even of their cattle.
34 And all the days of solemnities, and the Sabbaths, and the new moons, and the decreed days, and the three days before the solemn day, and three days after the solemn day, shall all be days of immunity and remission for all the Jews who are in my kingdom.
35 And no one will have the authority to do anything, or to incite any plots, against any of them, in all cases.
36 And let there be enrolled from the Jews, into the army of the king, up to thirty thousand men. And allowances shall be given to them, just as is due to all the king’s army. And some of them shall be appointed to be in the fortresses of the great king.
37 And some of them shall be set over the affairs of the kingdom, those who act with faith, and let the leaders be from them, and let them walk by their own laws, just as the king has commanded in the land of Judah.
38 And the three cities that have been added to Judea from the region of Samaria, let them be counted with Judea, so that they may be united as one, and so that they may obey no other authority, except the high priest.
39 Ptolemais and its confines, I give as a free gift to the holy places that are in Jerusalem, for the necessary expenses of the holy things.
40 And I give, every year, fifteen thousand shekels of silver from the allotment of the king, from what belongs to me.
41 And all that has been left over, which those who were set over the affairs in prior years have not paid: from this time, they will give it to the works of the house.
42 And beyond this, they shall receive five thousand shekels of silver from the allotment of the holy places each year, and this will belong to the priests who perform the ministry.
43 And whoever will flee into the temple that is in Jerusalem, or in any of its parts, being liable before the king in any matter, let them be released, and all that is theirs in my kingdom, let them have it freely.
44 And as to the works of rebuilding and repairing the holy places, the expenses shall be given from the king’s revenues.
45 And as to the raising of the walls of Jerusalem and the fortifications all around it, the expenses shall be given from the king’s revenues, as also for the building of the walls in Judea.”
46 So when Jonathan and the people heard these words, they did not believe or accept them, because they remembered the great malice that he had done in Israel, for he had troubled them greatly.
47 And so they were pleased with Alexander, because he had been to them a leader with words of peace, and they were of assistance to him every day.
48 And so king Alexander gathered together a great army, and he moved his camp against Demetrius.
49 And the two kings joined together in battle, and the army of Demetrius fled away, and Alexander followed after him, and he closed in on them.
50 And the battle was hard fought, until the sun went down. And Demetrius was slain on that day.
51 And Alexander sent ambassadors to Ptolemy, the king of Egypt, according to these words, saying:
1 If it had not been that the Lord was with us, let Israel now say:
2 If it had not been that the Lord was with us, When men rose up against us,
3 Perhaps they had swallowed us up alive. When their fury was enkindled against us,
4 Perhaps the waters had swallowed us up.
5 Our soul hath passed through a torrent: perhaps our soul had passed through a water insupportable.
6 Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us to be a prey to their teeth.
7 Our soul hath been delivered as a sparrow out of the snare of the fowlers. The snare is broken, and we are delivered.
8 Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
16 For where there is a testament, it is necessary for the death of the one who testifies to intervene.
17 For a testament is confirmed by death. Otherwise, it as yet has no force, as long as the one who testifies lives.
18 Therefore, indeed, the first was not dedicated without blood.
19 For when every commandment of the law had been read by Moses to the entire people, he took up the blood of calves and goats, with water and with scarlet wool and hyssop, and he sprinkled both the book itself and the entire people,
20 saying: “This is the blood of the testament which God has commanded for you.”
21 And even the tabernacle, and all the vessels for the ministry, he similarly sprinkled with blood.
22 And nearly everything, according to the law, is to be cleansed with blood. And without the shedding of blood, there is no remission.
23 Therefore, it is necessary for the examples of heavenly things to be cleansed, just as, indeed, these things were. Yet the heavenly things are themselves better sacrifices than these.
24 For Jesus did not enter by means of holy things made with hands, mere examples of the true things, but he entered into Heaven itself, so that he may appear now before the face of God for us.
25 And he did not enter so as to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters into the Holy of Holies each year, with the blood of another.
26 Otherwise, he would need to have suffered repeatedly since the beginning of the world. But now, one time, at the consummation of the ages, he has appeared in order to destroy sin though his own sacrifice.
27 And in the same manner as it has been appointed for men to die one time, and after this, to be judged,
28 so also Christ was offered, one time, in order to empty the sins of so many. He shall appear a second time without sin, for those who await him, unto salvation.
