1 After this, Eliu again spoke in this way:
2 Does it seem right to you in your thoughts, that you should say, “I am more just than God?”
3 For you said, “Having done what is right does not please you,” and, “How will it benefit you, if I sin?”
4 And so, I will respond to your words, and to your friends who are with you.
5 Look up towards heaven and consider; also, think about the sky, which is higher than you.
6 If you sin, how will it hurt him? And if your iniquities are multiplied, what will you do against him?
7 Furthermore, if you act justly, what will you give him, or what will he receive from your hand?
8 Your impiety may hurt a man who is like you, though your justice may help the son of the man.
9 Because of the multitude of false accusers, they will cry out; and they will lament because of the strong arm of the tyrants.
10 Yet he has not said: “Where is God, who made me, who has given songs in the night,
11 who teaches us in addition to the beasts of the earth, and who educates us along with the birds of the air?”
12 There they will cry, and he will not heed them, because of the arrogance of the wicked.
13 Therefore, God does not hear in vain, and the Almighty will look into each and every case.
14 And so, when you say, “He does not examine,” be judged before him, but wait for him.
15 For, at the present time, he does not bring forth his fury, nor does he punish sin exceedingly.
16 Therefore, Job has opened his mouth in vain and has multiplied words without knowledge.
1 Continuing in a similar manner, Eliu had this to say:
2 Bear with me for a little while and I will show you; for I have still more to say in favor of God.
3 I will review my knowledge from the beginning, and I will prove my Maker to be just.
4 For truly my words are without any falsehood and perfect knowledge will be proven to you.
5 God does not abandon the powerful, for he himself is also powerful.
6 But he does not save the impious, though he grants judgment to the poor.
7 He will not take his eyes away from the just, and he continually establishes kings on their throne, and they are exalted.
8 And, if they are in captivity, or are bound with the chains of poverty,
9 he will reveal to them their works, as well as their sinfulness, in that they were violent.
10 Likewise, he will open their ears to his correction, and he will speak to them, so that they may return from iniquity.
11 If they listen and obey, they will fill their days with goodness and complete their years in glory.
12 But if they will not listen, they will pass away by the sword and will be consumed by foolishness.
13 The false and the crafty provoke the wrath of God, yet they do not cry out to him when they are chained.
14 Their soul will die in a storm, and their life, among the unmanly.
15 He will rescue the poor from his anguish, and he will open his ear during tribulation.
16 Therefore, he will save you from the narrow mouth very widely, even though it has no foundation under it. Moreover, your respite at table will be full of fatness.
17 Your case has been judged like that of the impious; you will withdraw your plea and your judgment.
18 Therefore, do not let anger overwhelm you so that you oppress another; neither should you allow a multitude of gifts to influence you.
19 Lay down your greatness without distress, and put aside all of your power with courage.
20 Do not prolong the night, even if people rise on their behalf.
21 Be careful that you do not turn to iniquity; for, after your misery, you have begun to follow this.
22 Behold, God is exalted in his strength, and there is no one like him among the law-givers.
23 Who is able to investigate his ways? And who can say, “You have done iniquity,” to him?
24 Remember that you are ignorant of his work, yet men have sung its praises.
25 All men consider him; and each one ponders from a distance.
26 Behold, God is great, defeating our knowledge; the number of his years is inestimable.
27 He carries away the drops of rain, and he sends forth showers like a raging whirlpool;
28 they flow from the clouds that are woven above everything.
29 If he wills it, he extends the clouds as his tent
30 and shines with his light from above; likewise, he covers the oceans within his tent.
31 For he judges the people by these things, and he gives food to a multitude of mortals.
32 Within his hands, he hides the light, and he commands it to come forth again.
33 He announces it to his friend, for it is his possession and he is able to reach out to it.
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46 And they circumcised all the uncircumcised boys, whom they found within the limits of Israel, and they acted with fortitude.
47 And they pursued the sons of arrogance, and the work was prosperous in their hands.
48 And they obtained the law from the hands of the Gentiles, and from the hands of the kings. And they did not surrender the horn to the sinner.
49 Then the days drew near when Mattathias would die, and he said to his sons: “Now arrogance and chastisement have been strengthened, and it is a time of overturning and of the wrath of indignation.
50 Now therefore, O sons, be imitators of the law, and give your lives for the sake of the covenant of your fathers.
51 And call to mind the works of the fathers, which they have done in their generations. And you will receive great glory and an eternal name.
52 Was not Abraham found to be faithful in temptation, and so it was accounted to him as justice?
53 Joseph, in the time of his anguish, kept the commandment, and he was made ruler of Egypt.
54 Phinehas our father, being zealous in the zeal of God, received the covenant of an eternal priesthood.
55 Jesus, since he fulfilled the word, was made a commander in Israel.
56 Caleb, since he testified in the assembly, received an inheritance.
57 David, in his mercy, obtained the throne of a kingdom for all generations.
58 Elijah, since he was zealous with a zeal for the law, was received into heaven.
59 Hananiah and Azariah and Mishael, by believing, were delivered from the flame.
60 Daniel, in his simplicity, was delivered from the mouth of the lions.
61 And so, consider that, through generation after generation of all those who trusted in him, none have failed in strength.
62 And fear not the words of a sinful man, for his glory is dung and worms.
63 Today he is extolled, and tomorrow he will not be found, because he has returned into his earth and his thinking has perished.
64 Therefore, you sons, be strengthened and act manfully in the law. For by it, you shall become glorious.
65 And behold, I know that your brother Simon is a man of counsel. Heed him always, and he will be a father to you.
66 And Judas Maccabeus, who has been strong and resourceful from his youth, let him be the leader of your militia, and he will manage the war of the people.
67 And you shall add to yourselves all who observe the law, and you shall claim the vindication of your people.
68 Render to the Gentiles their retribution, and pay attention to the precepts of the law.”
69 And he blessed them, and he was added to his fathers.
70 And he passed away in the one hundred and forty-sixth year, and he was buried by his sons in the sepulchers of his fathers, in Modin, and all Israel mourned for him with a great mourning.
46 And I spoke of thy testimonies before kings: and I was not ashamed.
47 I meditated also on thy commandments, which I loved.
48 And I lifted up my hands to thy commandments, which I loved: and I was exercised in thy justifications.
49 ZAIN. Be thou mindful of thy word to thy servant, in which thou hast given me hope.
50 This hath comforted me in my humiliation: because thy word hath enlivened me.
51 The proud did iniquitously altogether: but I declined not from thy law.
52 I remembered, O Lord, thy judgments of old: and I was comforted.
1 But concerning dates and times, brothers, you do not need us to write to you.
2 For you yourselves thoroughly understand that the day of the Lord shall arrive much like a thief in the night.
3 For when they will say, “Peace and security!” then destruction will suddenly overwhelm them, like the labor pains of a woman with child, and they will not escape.
4 But you, brothers, are not in darkness, so that you would be overtaken by that day as by a thief.
5 For all of you are sons of light and sons of daytime; we are not of nighttime, nor of darkness.
6 Therefore, let us not sleep, as the rest do. Instead, we should be vigilant and sober.
7 For those who sleep, sleep in the night; and those who are inebriated, are inebriated in the night.
8 But we, who are of the daylight, should be sober, being clothed with the breastplate of faith and of charity and having, as a helmet, the hope of salvation.
9 For God has not appointed us for wrath, but for the acquisition of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
10 who died for us, so that, whether we watch, or whether we sleep, we may live in union with him.
11 Because of this, console one another and build up one another, just as you are doing.
12 And we ask you, brothers, to recognize those who labor among you, and who preside over you in the Lord, and who admonish you,
13 so that you may consider them with an abundance of charity, for the sake of their work. Be at peace with them.
14 And we ask you, brothers: correct the disruptive, console the weak-minded, support the sick, be patient with everyone.
15 See to it that no one repays evil for evil to anyone. Instead, always pursue whatever is good, with one another and with all.
16 Rejoice always.
17 Pray without ceasing.
18 Give thanks in everything. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for all of you.
19 Do not choose to extinguish the Spirit.
20 Do not spurn prophecies.
21 But test all things. Hold on to whatever is good.
22 Abstain from every kind of evil.
23 And may the God of peace himself sanctify you through all things, so that your whole spirit and soul and body may be preserved without blame unto the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.
24 He who has called you is faithful. He shall act even now.
25 Brothers, pray for us.
26 Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss.
27 I bind you, through the Lord, that this epistle is to be read to all the holy brothers.
28 May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
