1 Whoever wishes for vengeance will find vengeance from the Lord, and he will surely be attentive to his sins.
2 Forgive your neighbor, if he has harmed you, and then your sins will be forgiven you when you pray.
3 A man holds on to anger against another man, and does he then seek a remedy from God?
4 He has no mercy on a man like himself, and does he then entreat for his own sins?
5 He who is but flesh holds on to anger, and does he then request forgiveness from God? Who can obtain pardon for his sins in this way?
6 Remember your very end, and let animosities cease.
7 For corruption and death are suspended over his commandments.
8 Remember the fear of God, and do not be angry with your neighbor.
9 Remember the covenant of the Most High, and overlook the ignorant offenses of your neighbor.
10 Refrain from strife, and you will diminish your sins.
11 For a ill-tempered man enflames conflict, and a sinful man troubles his friends, and he casts hostility into the midst of those who have peace.
12 For the fire burns according to the wood of the forest. And the anger of a man burns according to the strength of the man. And according to his resources, he will exalt his anger.
13 A hasty contention kindles a fire. And a hasty quarrel sheds blood. And an accusatory tongue brings death.
14 If you blow on a spark, it will increase to a fire. But if you spit on it, it will be extinguished. Both of these proceed from the mouth.
15 The double-tongued whisperer is accursed. For he has disturbed many who had peace.
16 A third tongue has stirred up many, and has scattered them from nation to nation.
17 It has destroyed the walled cities of the wealthy, and has undermined the houses of the great.
18 It has cut down the virtues of the peoples, and has broken strong nations.
19 A third tongue has cast down virtuous women, and has deprived them of their labors.
20 Whoever favors it will not have rest, nor will he have a friend in whom he may find peace.
21 The wound of a whip causes a bruise, but the wound of the tongue will crush the bones.
22 Many have fallen by the mouth of the sword, but not as many as have perished by their own tongue.
23 Blessed is he who is protected from a wicked tongue, who has not gone over to its wrath, and has not pulled its yoke, and has not been bound by its chains.
24 For its yoke is a yoke of iron. And its chains are chains of brass.
25 Its death is a most wicked death. And hell is more useful than it is.
26 Its continuance will not be permanent, but it will take hold of the ways of the unjust. And the just will not be burned by its flame.
27 Those who abandon God will fall by it, and it will burn within them and not be quenched. And it will be sent upon them, like a lion, and it will wound them, like a leopard.
28 Hedge your ears with thorns. Do not be willing to listen to a wicked tongue. And make doors and bars for your mouth.
29 Melt down your gold and your silver. And make a scale for your words, and an upright bridle for your mouth.
30 And be attentive, lest perhaps you may slip with your tongue, and fall in the sight of your enemies, who are lying in wait for you, and then your fall may be incurable unto death.
1 He shows mercy who lends to his neighbor, for he keeps the commandments by strengthening him.
2 Lend to your neighbor in his time of need, and receive it again from your neighbor in his time.
3 Keep your word, and act faithfully with him, and then you will find whatever you need in every time.
4 Many have treated a loan like found money, and they offered trouble to those who helped them.
5 Until they receive, they kiss the hands of the giver, and they humble their voice in promises.
6 But at the time of repayment, they will ask for more time, and they will speak annoying and complaining words, and they will make excuses for the time.
7 Then, if he is able to repay, he will turn away. He will pay barely one half, and he will consider it as if he had found it.
8 But if not, then he will defraud him of his money, and he will have him as an enemy without cause.
9 And he will repay him with accusations and curses, and he will repay him with contempt, instead of with honor and kindness.
10 Many have refused to lend, not because of wickedness, but because they were afraid to be defrauded without cause.
11 Yet truly, be more steadfast toward the humble, and you should not delay in acts of mercy toward them.
12 Assist the poor because of the commandment. And you should not send him away empty because of his dire need.
13 Lose your money to your brother and your friend. For you should not hide it under a stone to be lost.
14 Let your treasure be in the precepts of the Most High, and it will benefit you more than gold.
15 Store your alms in the hearts of the poor, and it will obtain help for you against all evil.
16 Better than the shield or the lance of a powerful man,
17 it will fight for you against your enemy.
18 A good man offers credit for the sake of his neighbor. But one who abandons him to himself will perish in shame.
19 You should not forget the kindness of your benefactor. For he has offered his life on your behalf.
20 The sinner and the unclean flee from such promises.
21 A sinner attributes to himself the goods of his loan. And an ungrateful mind will abandon the one who has freed him.
22 A man offers credit to his neighbor. But when he will have lost respect, he will abandon him.
23 A wicked promise has destroyed many who had good intentions, and has tossed them like a wave on the ocean.
24 It has caused powerful men to travel around, and they have wandered amid foreign nations.
25 A sinner transgressing the commandment of the Lord will fall into a wicked promise. And he who undertakes many things will fall into judgment.
26 Help your neighbor to recover according to your ability, but attend to yourself, lest you also fall.
27 The primary need in a man’s life is water and bread, and clothing, and a house to protect modesty.
28 A pauper’s food under a roof of boards is better than a splendid feast on a sojourn away from home.
29 Let yourself be pleased with little instead of much, and you will not hear the reproach of being away from home.
30 It is a wicked life to go from house to house as a guest. For wherever he is a guest, he will not act confidently, nor open his mouth.
31 He will entertain, and feed, and give drink to the ungrateful, and beyond this, he will listen to bitter words:
32 Go, my guest, and set the table, and let others eat from what you have in your hand.
33 Depart from the honored face of my friends. For it has become necessary for my house to host my brother instead.
34 These things are grievous to a man having understanding: to take advantage of a household, and to reproach a lender.
&
1 At the same time, Antiochus returned in dishonor from Persia.
2 For he had entered into the city called Persepolis, and attempted to rob the temple, and to oppress the city, but the multitude, rushing to arms, turned them to flight, and so it happened that Antiochus, after fleeing, returned in disgrace.
3 And when he had arrived near Ecbatana, he realized what had happened to Nicanor and Timothy.
4 And so, rising up in anger, he thought to turn back upon the Jews the injury done by those who had put him to flight. And, therefore, he ordered his chariot to be driven without stopping along the way, for the judgment of heaven was urging him on, because he had spoken so arrogantly about how he would come to Jerusalem and make it into a mass grave for the Jews.
5 But the Lord God of Israel, who oversees all things, struck him with an incurable and invisible plague. For, as soon as he had finished these words, a dire pain in his abdomen seized him, with bitter internal torments.
6 And, indeed, it sprung forth justly, since he had tormented the internal organs of others with many strange and new tortures, yet he in no way ceased from his malice.
7 But, beyond this, being filled with arrogance, breathing fire with his soul against the Jews, and instructing the task to be accelerated, it happened that, as he was rushing on forcefully, he fell from the chariot, and his limbs were afflicted with a serious bruising of the body.
8 And he, being filled with arrogance beyond human means, seemed to himself to command even the waves of the sea and to weigh even the heights of the mountains in a balance. But now, humbled to the ground, he was carried on a stretcher, calling himself as a witness to the manifest virtue of God.
9 So then, worms swarmed from his impious body, and, as he lived on in pain, his flesh fell away, and then his odorous stench oppressed the army.
10 And him who, a little before, thought that he could touch the stars of heaven, no one could endure to carry, because of the intolerable stench.
11 And so, from then on, being led away from his heavy arrogance by the admonishment of a divine plague, he began to come to an understanding of himself, with his pains increasing through every moment.
12 And, when he could not even bear his own stench, he spoke in this way: “It is just to be subject to God, and a mortal should not consider himself equal to God.”
13 Then this wicked one prayed to the Lord, from whom, subsequently, there might be no mercy.
14 And the city, to which he was going in haste to pull it down to the ground and to make it a mass grave, he now wanted to make free.
15 And the Jews, whom he had said he certainly did not consider worthy even to be buried, but would deliver them to be torn apart by birds and wild beasts, and would exterminate them with their little ones, he now promised to make equal with the Athenians.
16 And even the holy temple, which before he had plundered, he would adorn with the best gifts, and increase the holy vessels, and pay out from his revenues the charges pertaining to the sacrifices.
17 Beyond these things, he would even become a Jew himself, and would travel through every place on earth and declare the power of God.
18 But, when his pains did not cease, (for the just judgment of God had overwhelmed him,) in despair he wrote to the Jews, in the manner of a supplication, a letter composed in this way:
19 To the very good citizens of the Jews, Antiochus, king and ruler, wishes much health, and welfare, and happiness.
20 If you and your sons are faring well, and if everything is according to your will, we give very great thanks.
21 And so, fixed in infirmity, yet kindly remembering you, I am returning from the places of Persia, and, having been seized by a serious infirmity, I considered it necessary to have a concern for the common good,
22 not despairing in myself, but having a great hope to escape the infirmity.
23 Moreover, considering that my father also, during the time that he led an army into the upper regions, revealed who would take up the leadership after him,
24 so that, if anything contrary should occur, or any if difficulties should be reported, those who were in the regions, knowing to whom the whole matter had been bequeathed, would not be disturbed.
25 In addition to these things, considering that whichever are the nearest powers and neighbors lie in ambush for the right time and await the right event, I have designated my son, Antiochus, as king, whom I frequently commended to many of you while traveling in the upper provinces. And I have written to him what I have added below.
26 And so, I beg you and petition you, that remembering the public and private benefits, each one will continue to be faithful to me and to my son.
27 For I trust that he will behave with moderation and humanity, and that, following my intentions, he will be impartial to you.”
28 And so the murderer and blasphemer, having been struck very badly, just as he himself had treated others, passed from this life in a miserable death on a journey among the mountains.
29 But Philip, who was nurtured with him, carried away his body, and, fearing the son of Antiochus, went into Egypt to Ptolemy Philometor.
5 Lord, bow down thy heavens and descend: touch the mountains and they shall smoke.
6 Send forth lightning, and thou shalt scatter them: shoot out thy arrows, and thou shalt trouble them.
7 Put forth thy hand from on high, take me out, and deliver me from many waters: from the hand of strange children:
8 Whose mouth hath spoken vanity: and their right hand is the right hand of iniquity.
9 To thee, O God, I will sing a new canticle: on the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings I will sing praises to thee.
10 Who givest salvation to kings: who hast redeemed thy servant David from the malicious sword:
11 Deliver me, And rescue me out of the hand of strange children; whose mouth hath spoken vanity: and their right hand is the right hand of iniquity:
1 After these things, I saw four Angels standing above the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, so that they would not blow upon the earth, nor upon the sea, nor upon any tree.
2 And I saw another Angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the Seal of the living God. And he cried out, in a great voice, to the four Angels to whom it was given to harm the earth and the sea,
3 saying: “Do no harm to the earth, nor to the sea, nor to the trees, until we seal the servants of our God on their foreheads.”
4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed: one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed, out of every tribe of the sons of Israel.
5 From the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed. From the tribe of Ruben, twelve thousand were sealed. From the tribe of Gad, twelve thousand were sealed.
6 From the tribe of Asher, twelve thousand were sealed. From the tribe of Naphtali, twelve thousand were sealed. From the tribe of Manasseh, twelve thousand were sealed.
7 From the tribe of Simeon, twelve thousand were sealed. From the tribe of Levi, twelve thousand were sealed. From the tribe of Issachar, twelve thousand were sealed.
8 From the tribe of Zebulun, twelve thousand were sealed. From the tribe of Joseph, twelve thousand were sealed. From the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed.
9 After these things, I saw a great crowd, which no one could number, from all the nations and tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and in sight of the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands.
10 And they cried out, with a great voice, saying: “Salvation is from our God, who sits upon the throne, and from the Lamb.”
11 And all the Angels were standing around the throne, with the elders and the four living creatures. And they fell upon their faces in view of the throne, and they worshipped God,
12 saying: “Amen. Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving, honor and power and strength to our God, forever and ever. Amen.”
13 And one of the elders responded and said to me: “These ones who are clothed in white robes, who are they? And where did they come from?”
14 And I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me: “These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and have made them white by the blood of the Lamb.
15 Therefore, they are before the throne of God, and they serve him, day and night, in his temple. And the One who sits upon the throne shall dwell over them.
16 They shall not hunger, nor shall they thirst, anymore. Neither shall the sun beat down upon them, nor any heat.
17 For the Lamb, who is in the midst of the throne, will rule over them, and he will lead them to the fountains of the waters of life. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
1 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
2 And I saw seven Angels standing in the sight of God. And seven trumpets were given to them.
3 And another Angel approached, and he stood before the altar, holding a golden censer. And much incense was given to him, so that he might offer upon the golden altar, which is before the throne of God, the prayers of all the saints.
4 And the smoke of the incense of the prayers of the saints ascended, in the presence of God, from the hand of the Angel.
5 And the Angel received the golden censer, and he filled it from the fire of the altar, and he cast it down upon the earth, and there were thunders and voices and lightnings and a great earthquake.
6 And the seven Angels who hold the seven trumpets prepared themselves, in order to sound the trumpet.
7 And the first Angel sounded the trumpet. And there came hail and fire, mixed with blood; and it was cast down upon the earth. And a third part of the earth was burned, and a third part of the trees was entirely burned up, and all the green plants were burned.
8 And the second Angel sounded the trumpet. And something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was cast down into the sea. And a third part of the sea became like blood.
9 And a third part of the creatures that were living in the sea died. And a third part of the ships were destroyed.
10 And the third Angel sounded the trumpet. And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch. And it fell upon a third part of the rivers and upon the sources of water.
11 And the name of the star is called Wormwood. And a third part of the waters were turned into wormwood. And many men died from the waters, because they were made bitter.
12 And the fourth Angel sounded the trumpet. And a third part of the sun, and a third part of the moon, and a third part of the stars were struck, in such a way that a third part of them was obscured. And a third part of the day did not shine, and similarly the night.
13 And I saw, and I heard the voice of a lone eagle flying through the midst of heaven, calling with a great voice: “Woe, Woe, Woe, to the inhabitants of the earth, from the remaining voices of the three Angels, who will soon sound the trumpet!”
