1 Joshua, the son of Nun, was valiant in warfare; he was the successor of Moses among the prophets. He was great in accord with his name,
2 very great in the saving the elect of God. He fought against the insurgent enemies, so that he might obtain the inheritance for Israel.
3 What great glory he secured, by lifting up his hands and throwing his spears against the cities!
4 Who before him has stood so firmly? For the Lord himself led forward the enemies.
5 Was not the sun halted by his wrath, and one day made as if two?
6 He called upon the Most High Power, when the enemies assailed him on every side. And the great and holy God answered him with hailstones of exceedingly great force.
7 He made a violent assault against a hostile nation, and at his descent, he destroyed his adversaries,
8 so that the nations would acknowledge his power: that it is not easy to fight against God. And he followed the Almighty.
9 And in the days of Moses, he accomplished a work of mercy. He and Caleb, the son of Jephuneh, stood against the enemy, and forbid the people from sin, and broke their wicked murmuring.
10 And these two, having been appointed, were freed from peril, from foot soldiers numbering six hundred thousand, so as to lead them into their inheritance, into a land flowing with milk and honey.
11 And the Lord gave strength to Caleb also, and his strength remained even in his old age, so that he ascended to the high places of the land, and his offspring obtained it as an inheritance.
12 This was so that all the sons of Israel would see that it is good to obey the holy God.
13 Then there were the judges, each one called by name, whose heart was not corrupted. They did not turn away from the Lord,
14 so that their memory might be blessed, and their bones might spring forth from their place,
15 and their name might remain forever, continuing in their sons, holy men of glory.
16 Samuel, prophet of the Lord, beloved by the Lord his God, established a new government, and he anointed leaders over his people.
17 By the law of the Lord, he judged the congregation, and the God of Jacob saw it, and so, by his fidelity, he was proven to be a prophet.
18 And he was known to be faithful in his words. For he saw the God of light.
19 And when fighting against the enemies, who stood against him on every side, he called upon the name of the Almighty Lord, with an offering of an inviolate lamb.
20 And the Lord thundered from heaven, and with a great noise, he made his voice to be heard.
21 And he crushed the leaders of the Tyrians, and all the commanders of the Philistines.
22 And before the time of the end of his life in the world, he offered testimony in the sight of the Lord and of his Christ, that he had not taken a bribe from any flesh, not even so much as a shoe, and that no man made an accusation against him.
23 And after this, he slept. And he made known to the king and revealed to him the end of his life. And he lifted up his voice from the earth in prophecy, to abolish the impiety of the people.
1 After these things, Nathan the prophet arose, in the days of David.
2 And just as fat is separated from meat, so was David separated from the sons of Israel.
3 He played with lions, as if with lambs, and he acted similarly with bears, as if they were lambs of the flock, in his youth.
4 Did he not kill the giant, and take away the reproach from his people?
5 By lifting up his hand, with a stone in a sling, he threw down the boasting of Goliath.
6 For he called upon the Almighty Lord, and he swore with his right hand to take away the mighty man of war, and to exalt the horn of his people.
7 So he glorified him amid ten thousand, and he praised him with the blessings of the Lord, by offering him a crown of glory.
8 For he crushed the enemies on every side, and he eradicated his adversaries, the Philistines, even to this day. He broke their horn, even for all time.
9 In all his works, he gave thanks to the Holy One, to the Most High, with words of glory.
10 With all his heart, he praised the Lord and he loved God, who made him and who gave him power against his enemies.
11 And he appointed singers to stand opposite the altar, and by their voices he provided sweet music.
12 And he provided beauty for the celebrations, and he gave order to the times, even until the end of his life, so that they would praise the holy name of the Lord, and magnify the sanctity of God, from early morning.
13 The Lord purged his sins, and he exalted his horn forever. And he gave him the covenant of the kingdom, and a throne of glory in Israel.
14 After him, an understanding son rose up. And by means of him, he cast down all the power of the enemies.
15 Solomon reigned in days of peace, and God subjected all his enemies to him, so that he might build a house in his name, and prepare a sanctuary for all time. O how well-taught you were in your youth!
16 And you were filled with wisdom like a river, and your mind exposed the world.
17 And you explained mysteries by means of parables. Your name became known to far off islands, and you were beloved for your peace.
18 The earth was in wonder over your canticles, and proverbs, and parables, and interpretations,
19 and over the name of the Lord God, who is known as the God of Israel.
20 You gathered gold like copper, and you multiplied silver like lead.
21 But you bent your thigh to women, and you were held by the power of your body.
22 You brought a stain upon your glory, and you profaned your seed, so as to bring wrath upon your children, and to incite your foolishness,
23 so that you would cause the kingdom to be divided, and an obstinate kingdom to rule from Ephraim.
24 But God will not abandon his mercy, nor will he corrupt or abolish his own works. And he will not perish the stock of the descendents of his elect. And he will not destroy the offspring of him who loves the Lord.
25 Therefore, he left behind a remnant for Jacob and for David, from the same stock.
26 And Solomon had his end with his fathers.
27 And he left behind himself some of his offspring, as the folly of the nation:
28 both Rehoboam, who had little prudence, and who turned away the people by his counsel,
29 and Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin, and who provided a way of sin to Ephraim. And their sins were multiplied exceedingly.
30 They thoroughly turned them away from their own land.
31 And they sought every kind of wickedness, even until punishment overwhelmed them, and freed them from every kind of sin.
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26 But Alcimus seeing the love that they had for one another, and the agreements, went to Demetrius, and he told him that Nicanor had assented to foreign interests, and that he had chosen Judas, a traitor to the kingdom, as his successor.
27 And so the king, being exasperated and provoked by this very wicked accusation, wrote to Nicanor, saying that he was certainly overburdened by the agreement of alliance, and he ordered him nevertheless to send Maccabeus quickly to Antioch in chains.
28 When this was known, Nicanor was in consternation, and he took it grievously that he would make void the things that were agreed, having received no injury from the man.
29 But, because he was not able to oppose the king, he watched for an opportunity to follow through with the orders.
30 But Maccabeus, seeing that Nicanor acted more formally with him, and that, when they met together as usual, he exhibited insolence, understood this austerity not to be from goodness. So, gathering together a few men, he hid himself from Nicanor.
31 But when he realized that he was effectively prevented by the man, he went to the greatest and holiest temple, and he ordered the priests, offering the usual sacrifices, to deliver the man to him.
32 When these spoke oaths to him that they did not know where he who was being sought was, he extended his hand toward the temple,
33 and he swore, saying: “Unless you deliver Judas to me in chains, I will reduce this shrine of God to the ground, and I will dig up the altar, and I will consecrate this temple to Liber the father.”
34 And having said this, he departed. But the priests, extending their hands toward heaven, called upon him who had always fought for his people, saying this:
35 O Lord of the universe, who needs nothing, you willed that the temple of your dwelling should be with us.
36 And now, O Lord, Holy of all holies, preserve unpolluted, until eternity, this house, which was recently made clean.”
37 Then Razias, a certain one of the elders from Jerusalem, was brought before Nicanor; the man was of good reputation, and was one who loved the city. For his affection, he was called the father of the Jews.
38 This one, for a long time, held on to his purpose of continuing in Judaism, and he was content to hand over body and life, so that he might persevere in it.
39 Then Nicanor, being willing to manifest the hatred that he held for the Jews, sent five hundred soldiers to apprehend him.
40 For he thought, if he mistreated him, it would bring great disaster upon the Jews.
41 Now, as the group sought to rush into his house, and to break open the door, and wanting even to bring in fire, as he was about to be apprehended, he struck himself with the sword:
42 choosing to prefer to die nobly rather than to become subject to sinners, or to suffer unworthy injustices against his birth.
43 But, since he had, in haste, not obtained the certitude of a decisive wound, and the crowd was breaking in the doors, he, running boldly to the wall, manfully threw himself down upon the crowd.
44 But they quickly provided a place for his fall, so he landed at the middle of the neck.
45 And, since he was still breathing, and being inflamed in soul, he rose up, and as his blood flowed down in a great stream, being very gravely wounded, he ran through the crowd.
46 And standing upon a certain steep rock, and being now almost without blood, grasping his intestines with both hands, he threw himself over the crowd, calling upon the Ruler of life as well as spirit, to restore these to him again. And so he passed away from this life.
9 Mountains and all hills, fruitful trees and all cedars:
10 Beasts and all cattle: serpents and feathered fowls:
11 Kings of the earth and all people: princes and all judges of the earth:
12 Young men and maidens: let the old with the younger, praise the name of the Lord:
13 For his name alone is exalted.
14 The praise of him is above heaven and earth: and he hath exalted the horn of his people. A hymn to all his saints: to the children of Israel, a people approaching to him. Alleluia.
1 And I saw an Angel, descending from heaven, holding in his hand the key of the abyss and a great chain.
2 And he apprehended the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and he bound him for a thousand years.
3 And he cast him into the abyss, and he closed and sealed it, so that he would no longer seduce the nations, until the thousand years are completed. And after these things, he must be released for a brief time.
4 And I saw thrones. And they sat upon them. And judgment was given to them. And the souls of those beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus and because of the Word of God, and who did not adore the beast, nor his image, nor accept his character on their foreheads or on their hands: they lived and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
5 The rest of the dead did not live, until the thousand years are completed. This is the First Resurrection.
6 Blessed and holy is he who takes part in the First Resurrection. Over these the second death has no power. But they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and they shall reign with him for a thousand years.
7 And when the thousand years will have been completed, Satan shall be released from his prison, and he will go out and seduce the nations which are upon the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog. And he will gather them together for battle, those whose number is like the sand of the sea.
8 And they climbed across the breadth of the earth, and they encompassed the camp of the Saints and the Beloved City.
9 And fire from God descended from heaven and devoured them. And the devil, who seduced them, was cast into the pool of fire and sulphur,
10 where both the beast and the false prophetess shall be tortured, day and night, forever and ever.
11 And I saw a great white throne, and One sitting upon it, from whose sight earth and heaven fled, and no place was found for them.
12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing in view of the throne. And books were opened. And another Book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged by those things that had been written in the books, according to their works.
13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it. And death and Hell gave up their dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.
14 And Hell and death were cast into the pool of fire. This is the second death.
15 And whoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the pool of fire.
