1 He who loves his son will frequently chastise him, so that he may be happy in the very end, and not grope for the doors of his neighbors.
2 He who instructs his son will be praised over him and will glory in him, in the midst of his household.
3 He who teaches his son will make his enemy jealous, and in the midst of his friends, he will glory in him.
4 When his father has died, it will be as if he were not dead. For he will have left behind someone who is like himself.
5 In his life, he saw him and rejoiced in him. And at his passing, he was not sorrowful, nor was he confounded in the sight of his enemies.
6 For he left behind himself a defender of his house against his enemies, and someone who will repay his friends with kindness.
7 For the sake of the souls of his sons, he will bind up his wounds, and at every voice, his gut will be stirred up.
8 An untamed horse becomes stubborn, and a child left to himself becomes headstrong.
9 Coddle a son, and he will make you afraid. Play with him, and he will make you sorrowful.
10 You should not laugh with him; otherwise you may have grief, and in the end, your teeth be clenched.
11 You should not give him power in his youth, but you should not despise his thoughts.
12 Bow down his neck in his youth, and slap his sides while he is a child, lest perhaps he may become stubborn, and then he will not trust you, and so he will bring sorrow to your soul.
13 Instruct your son, and work with him, lest you give offense by his shameful behavior.
14 Better is a healthy pauper with a strong constitution, than a wealthy man who is weak and afflicted by maladies.
15 A healthy soul with the sanctity of justice is better than all the gold and silver. And a sound body is better than immense revenues.
16 There is no revenue above the revenue of a healthy body. And there is no delight above a joyful heart.
17 Death is better than a bitter life. And eternal rest is better than continual sickness.
18 Good things hidden in a closed mouth are like seats at a feast placed around a grave.
19 What benefit is there in an offering to an idol? For it can neither eat, nor smell.
20 So is he who flees from the Lord, carrying the wages of his iniquity.
21 He sees with his eyes and groans, like a eunuch who embraces a virgin and sighs.
22 You should not give your soul to sadness, and you should not afflict yourself by your own counsel.
23 The gladness of the heart is the life of a man, and it is a treasure of sanctity without defect. And the exultation of a man is length of life.
24 Take pity on your own soul by pleasing God, and show self-restraint. Gather your heart into his sanctity, and drive sadness far away from yourself.
25 For sadness has killed many, and there is no usefulness in it.
26 Envy and anger will diminish your days, and pensiveness will bring old age before its time.
27 A cheerful and good heart is like a feast. And its feasts are formed by diligence.
1 Watching for wealth consumes the flesh, and thinking about it takes away sleep.
2 Anticipation in thought distracts the mind, and a grievous infirmity makes the soul sober.
3 The rich man has labored in gathering wealth, and in his rest, he will be filled with his goods.
4 The poor man has labored in his lowly way, and in the end, he may still be in need.
5 Whoever loves gold will not be justified. And whoever pursues consumption will be consumed by it.
6 Many have been caused to fall because of gold, and it became their ruin by its beauty.
7 Gold is a stumbling block to those who sacrifice for it. Woe to those who pursue it eagerly, for all the imprudent will perish by it.
8 Blessed is the rich man who is found to be without blemish. And blessed is he who has not gone after gold, nor placed his hope in money or treasures.
9 Who is he? For we should praise him. For he has done wonderful things in his life.
10 He has been tested by it, and has become perfect; he will have eternal glory. He was able to transgress, but he has not transgressed. He was able to do evil, but he has not done evil.
11 Therefore, his good things are established in the Lord, and the entire Church of the saints will proclaim his almsgiving.
12 Are you seated at a great table? You should not open your mouth over it first.
13 You should not speak in this way: “There are many things that are upon it.”
14 Remember that a wicked eye is evil.
15 What has been made more wicked than the eye? Therefore, when it sees, it will shed tears over the entire face.
16 You should not extend your hand first, for then, having been corrupted by envy, you would be ashamed.
17 You should not press forward at a feast.
18 Understand which things are your neighbor’s and not your own.
19 Make use of the things that are set before you, just as a frugal man would. Otherwise, if you eat much, you will be hated.
20 Cease eating first, for the sake of discipline. And do not eat to excess, lest you offend.
21 And if you sit in the midst of many, you should not extend your hand before they do, and you should not be the first to ask for a drink.
22 How sufficient is a little wine for a well-taught man! For in sleep, you will not labor because of it, and you will not feel pain.
23 Worry, and disease, and torment are with an intemperate man.
24 A healthy sleep is with a temperate man. He will sleep until morning, and his soul will be delighted with him.
25 And if you have been coaxed into eating too much, rise up, go outside, and vomit. And it will refresh you, and you will not bring sickness upon your body.
26 Listen to me, son, for you should not spurn me. And in the very end, you will discover my words.
27 In all your works, be prompt, and then no infirmity will befall you.
28 The lips of many will bless the splendid in bread. For the testimony of his truthfulness is faithful.
29 The city will murmur against the wicked in bread. For the testimony against his wickedness is true.
30 Do not choose to provoke those who love wine. For wine has destroyed many.
31 Fire tests the hardness of iron; similarly, drinking wine to inebriation will rebuke the hearts of the arrogant.
32 Drinking wine in sobriety gives a contented life to men. If you drink it in moderation, you will be sober.
33 What is life to him who is diminished by wine?
34 What can cheat him of his life? Death.
35 From the beginning, wine was created for cheerfulness, but not for inebriation.
36 Wine taken in moderation lifts up the mind and the heart.
37 Sober drinking is healthful to mind and body.
38 Wine taken in excess stirs up conflict and anger, and brings many to ruin.
39 Wine taken in excess is bitter to the soul.
40 The effects of inebriation are a stumbling block to the imprudent, diminishing strength and causing wounds.
41 You should not argue with your neighbor during a banquet of wine. And you should not spurn him in his cheerfulness.
42 You should not speak words of reproach to him. And you should not press him with repeated requests.
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1 But Maccabeus and those who were with him, the Lord protecting them, even recovered the temple and the city.
2 Then he demolished the altars, which the foreigners had constructed in the streets, and likewise the shrines.
3 And, having purged the temple, they made another altar. And, taking glowing stones from the fire, they began to offer sacrifices again after two years, and they set out incense, and lamps, and the bread of the Presence.
4 Having done these things, they petitioned the Lord, lying prostrate on the ground, lest they should fall once more into such evils, but also, if they should at any time sin, that they might be chastised by him more mildly, and not be delivered over to barbarians and blasphemous men.
5 Then, on the day that the temple had been polluted by the foreigners, it happened on the same day that the purification was accomplished, on the twenty-fifth day of the month, which was Kislev.
6 And they celebrated for eight days with joy, in the manner of the Feast of Tabernacles, remembering that, a little time before, they had celebrated the solemn days of the Feast of Tabernacles in mountains and caves, in the manner of wild beasts.
7 Because of this, they now preferred to carry boughs and green branches and palms, for him who had prospered the cleansing of his place.
8 And they decreed a common precept and decree, that all the people of the Jews should keep those days every year.
9 Now certainly Antiochus, who was called illustrious, held himself to be so at the passing of his life.
10 But next we will describe what happened with Eupator, the son of the impious Antiochus, abridging the evils which happened in the wars.
12 Whose sons are as new plants in their youth: Their daughters decked out, adorned round about after the similitude of a temple:
13 Their storehouses full, flowing out of this into that. Their sheep fruitful in young, abounding in their goings forth:
14 Their oxen fat. There is no breach of wall, nor passage, nor crying out in their streets.
15 They have called the people happy, that hath these things: but happy is that people whose God is the Lord.
1 And the fifth Angel sounded the trumpet. And I saw upon the earth, a star that had fallen from heaven, and the key to the well of the abyss was given to him.
2 And he opened the well of the abyss. And the smoke of the well ascended, like the smoke of a great furnace. And the sun and the air were obscured by the smoke of the well.
3 And locusts went forth from the smoke of the well into the earth. And power was given to them, like the power that the scorpions of the earth have.
4 And it was commanded of them that they must not harm the plants of the earth, nor anything green, nor any tree, but only those men who do not have the Seal of God upon their foreheads.
5 And it was given to them that they would not kill them, but that they would torture them for five months. And their torture was like the torture of a scorpion, when he strikes a man.
6 And in those days, men will seek death and they will not find it. And they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.
7 And the likenesses of the locusts resembled horses prepared for battle. And upon their heads were something like crowns similar to gold. And their faces were like the faces of men.
8 And they had hair like the hair of women. And their teeth were like the teeth of lions.
9 And they had breastplates like iron breastplates. And the noise of their wings was like the noise of many running horses, rushing to battle.
10 And they had tails similar to scorpions. And there were stingers in their tails, and these had the power to harm men for five months.
11 And they had over them a king, the Angel of the abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Doom; in Greek, Destroyer; in Latin, Exterminator.
12 One woe has gone out, but behold, there are still two woes approaching afterward.
13 And the sixth Angel sounded the trumpet. And I heard a lone voice from the four horns of the golden altar, which is before the eyes of God,
14 saying to the sixth Angel who had the trumpet: “Release the four Angels who were bound at the great river Euphrates.”
15 And the four Angels were released, who had been prepared for that hour, and day, and month, and year, in order to kill one third part of men.
16 And the number of the army of horsemen was two hundred million. For I heard their number.
17 And I also saw the horses in the vision. And those who were sitting upon them had breastplates of fire and hyacinth and sulphur. And the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions. And from their mouths proceeded fire and smoke and sulphur.
18 And one third part of men were slain by these three afflictions: by the fire and by the smoke and by the sulphur, which proceeded from their mouths.
19 For the power of these horses is in their mouths and in their tails. For their tails resemble serpents, having heads; and it is with these that they cause harm.
20 And the rest of men, who were not slain by these afflictions, did not repent from the works of their hands, so that they would not worship demons, or idols of gold and silver and brass and stone and wood, which can neither see, nor hear, nor walk.
21 And they did not repent from their murders, nor from their drugs, nor from their fornication, nor from their thefts.
