1 Do not choose to do evil, and evil will not take hold of you.
2 Withdraw from the iniquitous, and evil will withdraw from you.
3 Son, do not sow evil in the furrows of injustice, and you will not reap them sevenfold.
4 Do not seek a role of leadership from the Lord, and do not seek a seat of honor from the king.
5 You should not justify yourself before God, for he is the Knower of hearts. And by no means should you wish to seem wise before the king.
6 Do not seek to become a judge, unless you have sufficient strength to shatter iniquities. Otherwise, you might fear the face of the powerful, and so establish a scandal within your integrity.
7 You should not sin against the multitude of a city, nor should you cast yourself against the people.
8 And you should not bind two sins together. For even in one sin, you will not go unpunished.
9 Do not be cowardly in your soul.
10 You should not be unwilling to beg, nor to give alms.
11 You should not say: “God will look with favor on the multitude of my gifts, and when I make an offering to the most high God, he will accept my gift.”
12 You should not ridicule a man in bitterness of soul. For there is One who humbles and who exalts: the all-seeing God.
13 Do not love a lie against your brother, nor should you act the same toward your friend.
14 Do not be willing to devise a lie of any kind. For the practice of lying is not good.
15 Do not choose to be verbose among a multitude of elders, and you should not repeat the words of your prayers.
16 You should not hate laborious works, nor the rustic life created by the Most High.
17 You should not consider yourself to be among the multitude of the undisciplined.
18 Remember wrath. For it will not be delayed.
19 Humble your spirit greatly. For the retribution against the flesh of the impious is with fire and worms.
20 Do not betray your friend for the sake of money, and you should not spurn your dearest brother for the sake of gold.
21 Do not choose to depart from a good and understanding wife, whom you have been allotted in the fear of the Lord. For the grace of her modesty is above gold.
22 You should not harm the servant whose works are honest, nor the hired hand who entrusts his life to you.
23 Let an understanding servant be loved by you like your own soul. You should not cheat him out of freedom, nor abandon him to destitution.
24 Are cattle yours? Tend to them. And if they are useful, let them remain with you.
25 Are sons yours? Instruct them, and bow them down from their childhood.
26 Are daughters yours? Watch over their bodies. And you should not display a light-hearted attitude toward them.
27 Give your daughter in marriage, and give her to an understanding man, and you will be doing a great work.
28 If a wife in accord with your soul is yours, you should not reject her. But do not entrust yourself to her who is hateful.
29 With your whole heart, honor your father. And you should not forget the complaints of your mother.
30 Remember that you would not have been born except through them. And so, give back to them as they also have done for you.
31 With all your soul, fear the Lord, and consider his priests to be holy.
32 With all your strength, love him who made you, and you should not abandon his ministers.
33 Honor God from your whole soul, and confer honor on the priests, and continue to purify yourself with your strength.
34 Give them their portion, just as it has been commanded of you, from the first-fruits and from the purifications. And for your ignorant offenses, purify yourself with a smaller offering.
35 You should offer to the Lord the gift of your strength, and the sacrifice of sanctification, and the first-fruits of what is holy.
36 And reach out your hand to the poor, so that your atonement and your blessing may be perfected.
37 A gift has grace in the sight of all the living, but you should not prohibit grace for the dead.
38 You should not fail to console those who are weeping, nor to walk with those who are mourning.
39 Do not let yourself be slow to visit the sick. For in this way, you will be confirmed in love.
40 In all your works, remember your very end, and so you will not sin, unto eternity.
1 You should not quarrel with a powerful man, lest perhaps you may fall into his hands.
2 You should not contend with a wealthy man, lest perhaps he may bring an action against you.
3 For gold and silver have destroyed many, and have reached and corrupted even the hearts of kings.
4 You should not quarrel with a man who is full of words, for you should not cast wood upon his fire.
5 You should not confide in an ignorant man, lest he speak evil about your family.
6 You should not despise a man who turns himself away from sin, nor reproach him with it. Remember that we are all subject to correction.
7 You should not spurn a man in his old age. For we are all subject to growing old.
8 Do not be willing to rejoice at the death of your enemy, knowing that we all die, and that we do not want others rejoice over us.
9 You should not despise the discourse of those who are old and wise; instead, ponder their proverbs.
10 For from them, you will learn wisdom and intelligent doctrine, so as to serve great men without blame.
11 Do not allow the discourse of your elders to pass you by. For they have learned from their fathers.
12 And from them, you will learn understanding, and you will learn what response to give in a time of necessity.
13 You should not kindle the coals of sinners by arguing with them. For you might be scorched by the flame from the fire of their sins.
14 You should not stand against the face of a contemptuous person, otherwise he may sit down as if waiting in ambush against your words.
15 You should not lend to a man who is stronger than you. But if you do lend, consider it lost.
16 You should not promise beyond your ability. But if you do promise, consider how to fulfill it.
17 You should not judge against a judge. For he judges according to what is just.
18 You should not go forth on the way with an audacious man, lest perhaps he may burden you with his evils. For he goes forth according to his own will, and you will perish with him in his folly.
19 You should not start a conflict with an angry man, and you should not go into the desert with an audacious man. For shedding blood is nothing to him, and in a place where there is no help for you, he will overthrow you.
20 You should not hold counsel with the foolish. For they are not able to love anything except what pleases them.
21 You should not take counsel in the sight of an outsider. For you do not know what he will do next.
22 You should not reveal your heart to every man, lest perhaps he may offer a false kindness to you, and then speak reproachfully about you.
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16 And so, since we will be celebrating the purification, we wrote to you. Therefore, you will do well, if you keep these days.
17 But we hope that God, who has freed his people and has rendered to all the inheritance, and the kingdom, and the priesthood, and sanctification,
18 just as he promised in the law, will quickly have mercy on us and will gather us together from under heaven into the holy place.
19 For he has rescued us from great perils, and he has purged the place.
20 The truth about Judas Maccabeus, and his brothers, and the purification of the great temple, and the dedication of the altar,
21 and also about the battles, which pertain to Antiochus the illustrious, and his son, Eupator,
22 and about the illuminations, which came from heaven to those who acted on behalf of the Jews with fortitude, was such that they, though few, vindicated the entire region and put to flight a multitude of the barbarous,
23 and recovered the most famous temple in the whole world, and freed the city, and restored the laws that were abolished. For the Lord, with all tranquility, was acting favorably toward them.
24 And similar things as have been comprised in five books by Jason the Cyrenean, we have attempted to abridge into one volume.
25 For, considering the multitude of the books, and the difficulty that those who are willing to undertake the narrations of histories find, due to the multitude of events,
26 we have taken care, so that, indeed, those who are willing to read may have delights of the mind, and so that, in truth, the studious may more easily be able to commit it to memory, and also so that all readers may find it useful.
27 And indeed, we ourselves, who have taken up the task of abridging this work, have no easy labor. For, in truth, more correctly, we have assumed an activity full of vigilance and sweat.
28 Just as those who prepare a feast also seek to be attentive to the will of others, for the sake of the gratitude of many, we willingly undertake the labor.
29 Indeed, leaving to the authors the truths about particular details, we instead have been devoted to this form, striving to be brief.
30 For, just as the architect of a new house will have concern for the entire structure, and, in truth, he who takes care to paint it will seek out what is fitting to adorn it, so also should such things be considered by us.
31 Moreover, to collect knowledge, and to order words, and to discuss every particular point attentively, is the duty of the author of a history.
32 Yet truly, to pursue brevity of speech, and to shun the extension of matters, is conceded to an abbreviator.
33 Therefore, here we will begin the narration. Let so much be sufficient to say in preface. For it is foolish to go on and on before the account, when the account itself is succinct.
1 I will praise thee, O lord, with my whole heart: for thou hast heard the words of my mouth. I will sing praise to thee in the sight of his angels:
2 I will worship towards thy holy temple, and I will give glory to thy name. For thy mercy, and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy holy name above all.
3 In what day soever I shall call upon thee, hear me: thou shall multiply strength in my soul.
4 May all the kings of the earth give glory to thee: for they have heard all the words of thy mouth.
5 And let them sing in the ways of the Lord: for great is the glory of the Lord.
6 For the Lord is high, and looketh on the low: and the high he knoweth afar off.
7 If I shall walk in the midst of tribulation, thou wilt quicken me: and thou hast stretched forth thy hand against the wrath of my enemies: and thy right hand hath saved me.
8 The Lord will repay for me: thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever: O despise not the work of thy hands.
1 My little sons, this I write to you, so that you may not sin. But if anyone has sinned, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the Just One.
2 And he is the propitiation for our sins. And not only for our sins, but also for those of the whole world.
3 And we can be sure that we have known him by this: if we observe his commandments.
4 Whoever claims that he knows him, and yet does not keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
5 But whoever keeps his word, truly in him the charity of God is perfected. And by this we know that we are in him.
6 Whoever declares himself to remain in him, ought to walk just as he himself walked.
7 Most beloved, I am not writing to you a new commandment, but the old commandment, which you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the Word, which you have heard.
8 Then too, I am writing to you a new commandment, which is the Truth in him and in you. For the darkness has passed away, and the true Light is now shining.
9 Whoever declares himself to be in the light, and yet hates his brother, is in the darkness even now.
10 Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause of offense in him.
11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness, and in darkness he walks, and he does not know where he is going. For the darkness has blinded his eyes.
12 I am writing to you, little sons, because your sins are forgiven for the sake of his name.
13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, adolescents, because you have overcome the evil one.
14 I am writing to you, little children, because you have known the Father. I am writing to you, young men, because you are strong, and the Word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
15 Do not choose to love the world, nor the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the charity of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world is the desire of the flesh, and the desire of the eyes, and the arrogance of a life which is not of the Father, but is of the world.
17 And the world is passing away, with its desire. But whoever does the will of God abides unto eternity.
18 Little sons, it is the last hour. And, as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have arrived. By this, we know that it is the last hour.
19 They went out from among us, but they were not of us. For, if they had been of us, certainly they would have remained with us. But in this way, it is made manifest that none of them are of us.
20 Yet you have the anointing of the Holy One, and you know everything.
21 I have not written to you as to ones who are ignorant of the truth, but as to ones who know the truth. For no lie is of the truth.
22 Who is a liar, other than he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This one is the Antichrist, who denies the Father and the Son.
23 No one who denies the Son also has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son, also has the Father.
24 As for you, let what you have heard from the beginning remain in you. If what you have heard from the beginning remains in you, then you, too, shall abide in the Son and in the Father.
25 And this is the Promise, which he himself has promised to us: Eternal Life.
26 I have written these things to you, because of those who would seduce you.
27 But as for you, let the Anointing that you have received from him abide in you. And so, you have no need of anyone to teach you. For his Anointing teaches you about everything, and it is the truth, and it is not a lie. And just as his Anointing has taught you, abide in him.
28 And now, little sons, abide in him, so that when he appears, we may have faith, and we may not be confounded by him at his advent.
29 If you know that he is just, then know, too, that all who do what is just are born of him.
