Chapter 2

Mattathias and His Sons. ¹ In those days Mattathias, son of John, son of Simeon, a priest of the family of Joarib,^(A) left Jerusalem and settled in Modein.^{[a] 2} He had five sons: John, who was called Gaddi; ³ Simon, who was called Thassi; ⁴ Judas, who was called Maccabeus; ⁵ Eleazar, who was called Avaran; and Jonathan, who was called Apphus. ⁶ When he saw the sacrileges that were being committed in Judah and in Jerusalem, ⁷ he said:

¹⁴ Then Mattathias and his sons tore their garments, put on sackcloth, and mourned bitterly.

Pagan Worship Refused and Resisted. ¹⁵ The officers of the king in charge of enforcing the apostasy came to the city of Modein to make them sacrifice. ¹⁶ Many of Israel joined them, but Mattathias and his sons drew together. ¹⁷ Then the officers of the king addressed Mattathias: “You are a leader, an honorable and great man in this city, supported by sons and kindred. ¹⁸ Come now, be the first to obey the king’s command, as all the Gentiles and Judeans and those who are left in Jerusalem have done. Then you and your sons shall be numbered among the King’s Friends,^[b] and you and your sons shall be honored with silver and gold and many gifts.”

¹⁹ But Mattathias answered in a loud voice: “Although all the Gentiles in the king’s realm obey him, so that they forsake the religion of their ancestors and consent to the king’s orders, ²⁰ yet I and my sons and my kindred will keep to the covenant of our ancestors. ²¹ Heaven forbid that we should forsake the law and the commandments. ²² We will not obey the words of the king by departing from our religion in the slightest degree.”

²³ As he finished saying these words, a certain Jew came forward in the sight of all to offer sacrifice on the altar in Modein according to the king’s order. ²⁴ When Mattathias saw him, he was filled with zeal; his heart was moved and his just fury was aroused; he sprang forward and killed him upon the altar. ²⁵ At the same time, he also killed the messenger of the king who was forcing them to sacrifice, and he tore down the altar. ²⁶ Thus he showed his zeal for the law, just as Phinehas did with Zimri, son of Salu.^(C)

²⁷ Then Mattathias cried out in the city, “Let everyone who is zealous for the law and who stands by the covenant follow me!” ²⁸ Then he and his sons fled to the mountains, leaving behind in the city all their possessions.^(D)

²⁹ At that time many who sought righteousness and justice went out into the wilderness^[c] to settle there, ³⁰ they and their children, their wives and their animals, because misfortunes pressed so hard on them. ³¹ It was reported to the officers and soldiers of the king who were in the City of David, in Jerusalem, that those who had flouted the king’s order had gone out to secret refuges in the wilderness. ^32 (E)Many hurried out after them, and having caught up with them, camped opposite and prepared to attack them on the sabbath. ³³ The pursuers said to them, “Enough of this! Come out and obey the king’s command, and you will live.” ³⁴ But they replied, “We will not come out, nor will we obey the king’s command to profane the sabbath.” ³⁵ Then the enemy attacked them at once. ³⁶ But they did not retaliate; they neither threw stones, nor blocked up their secret refuges. ³⁷ They said, “Let us all die in innocence; heaven and earth are our witnesses that you destroy us unjustly.” ³⁸ So the officers and soldiers attacked them on the sabbath, and they died with their wives, their children and their animals, to the number of a thousand persons.

³⁹ When Mattathias and his friends heard of it, they mourned deeply for them. ⁴⁰ They said to one another, “If we all do as our kindred have done, and do not fight against the Gentiles for our lives and our laws, they will soon destroy us from the earth.” ⁴¹ So on that day they came to this decision: “Let us fight against anyone who attacks us on the sabbath, so that we may not all die as our kindred died in their secret refuges.”

⁴² Then they were joined by a group of Hasideans,^[d] mighty warriors of Israel, all of them devoted to the law. ⁴³ And all those who were fleeing from the persecutions joined them and supported them. ⁴⁴ They gathered an army and struck down sinners in their wrath and the lawless in their anger, and the survivors fled to the Gentiles for safety. ⁴⁵ Mattathias and his friends went about and tore down the pagan altars; ⁴⁶ they also forcibly circumcised any uncircumcised boys whom they found in the territory of Israel. ⁴⁷ They put to flight the arrogant, and the work prospered in their hands. ⁴⁸ They saved the law from the hands of the Gentiles and of the kings and did not let the sinner triumph.

Farewell of Mattathias. ⁴⁹ When the time came for Mattathias to die, he said to his sons: “Arrogance and scorn have now grown strong; it is a time of disaster and violent wrath. ⁵⁰ Therefore, my children, be zealous for the law and give your lives for the covenant of our ancestors.

⁶⁵ “Here is your brother Simeon who I know is a wise counselor; listen to him always, and he will be a father to you. ⁶⁶ And Judas Maccabeus, a mighty warrior from his youth, shall be the leader of your army and wage the war against the nations. ⁶⁷ Gather about you all who observe the law, and avenge your people. ⁶⁸ Pay back the Gentiles what they deserve, and observe the precepts of the law.”

⁶⁹ Then he blessed them, and he was gathered to his ancestors. ⁷⁰ He died in the year one hundred and forty-six,^[e] and was buried in the tombs of his ancestors in Modein, and all Israel mourned him greatly.

B. No One Knows the Future

Chapter 9

¹ All this I have kept in my heart and all this I examined: The just, the wise, and their deeds are in the hand of God. Love from hatred^[a] mortals cannot tell; both are before them. ^2 (A)Everything is the same for everybody: the same lot for the just and the wicked, for the good, for the clean and the unclean, for the one who offers sacrifice and the one who does not. As it is for the good, so it is for the sinner; as it is for the one who takes an oath, so it is for the one who fears an oath. ³ Among all the things that are done under the sun, this is the worst, that there is one lot for all. Hence the hearts of human beings are filled with evil, and madness is in their hearts during life; and afterward—to the dead!

⁴ For whoever is chosen among all the living has hope: “A live dog^[b] is better off than a dead lion.” ^5 (B)For the living know that they are to die, but the dead no longer know anything. There is no further recompense for them, because all memory of them is lost. ⁶ For them, love and hatred and rivalry have long since perished. Never again will they have part in anything that is done under the sun.

^7 (C)Go, eat your bread^[c] with joy and drink your wine with a merry heart, because it is now that God favors your works. ⁸ At all times let your garments be white, and spare not the perfume for your head. ⁹ Enjoy life with the wife you love, all the days of the vain life granted you under the sun. This is your lot in life, for the toil of your labors under the sun. ¹⁰ Anything you can turn your hand to, do with what power you have; for there will be no work, no planning, no knowledge, no wisdom in Sheol where you are going.

The Time of Misfortune Is Not Known. ¹¹ Again I saw under the sun that the race is not won by the swift, nor the battle by the valiant, nor a livelihood by the wise, nor riches by the shrewd, nor favor by the experts; for a time of misfortune comes to all alike. ¹² Human beings no more know their own time than fish taken in the fatal net or birds trapped in the snare; like these, mortals are caught when an evil time suddenly falls upon them.

The Uncertain Future and the Sages. ¹³ On the other hand I saw this wise deed under the sun, which I thought magnificent. ¹⁴ Against a small city with few inhabitants advanced a mighty king, who surrounded it and threw up great siegeworks about it. ¹⁵ But in the city lived a man who, though poor, was wise, and he delivered it through his wisdom. Yet no one remembered this poor man. ^16 (D)Though I had said, “Wisdom is better than force,” yet the wisdom of the poor man is despised and his words go unheeded.

Chapter 6

Debates About the Sabbath.^{[a] 1 (A)}While he was going through a field of grain on a sabbath, his disciples were picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them.^{(B) 2} Some Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?” ^3 (C)Jesus said to them in reply, “Have you not read what David did when he and those [who were] with him were hungry? ⁴ [How] he went into the house of God, took the bread of offering,^[b] which only the priests could lawfully eat, ate of it, and shared it with his companions.”^{(D) 5} Then he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.”

^6 (E)On another sabbath he went into the synagogue and taught, and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. ⁷ The scribes and the Pharisees watched him closely to see if he would cure on the sabbath so that they might discover a reason to accuse him.^{(F) 8} But he realized their intentions and said to the man with the withered hand, “Come up and stand before us.” And he rose and stood there.^{(G) 9} Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?” ¹⁰ Looking around at them all, he then said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so and his hand was restored. ¹¹ But they became enraged and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.

The Mission of the Twelve.^{[c] 12 (H)}In those days he departed to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer^[d] to God. ¹³ When day came, he called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose Twelve,^[e] whom he also named apostles: ^14 (I)Simon, whom he named Peter,^[f] and his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, ¹⁵ Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called a Zealot,^{[g] 16} and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot,^[h] who became a traitor.

Ministering to a Great Multitude.^{(J) 17 [i]}And he came down with them and stood on a stretch of level ground. A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon ¹⁸ came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and even those who were tormented by unclean spirits were cured. ¹⁹ Everyone in the crowd sought to touch him because power came forth from him and healed them all.

Sermon on the Plain.^{(K) 20 [j]}And raising his eyes toward his disciples he said:

²³ Rejoice and leap for joy on that day! Behold, your reward will be great in heaven. For their ancestors treated the prophets in the same way.^(N)

Love of Enemies.^{[l] 27 (R)}“But to you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,^{(S) 28} bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.^{(T) 29} To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic. ³⁰ Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back. ³¹ Do to others as you would have them do to you.^{(U) 32} For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. ³³ And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same. ³⁴ If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit [is] that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, and get back the same amount.^{(V) 35} But rather, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.^{(W) 36} Be merciful, just as [also] your Father is merciful.

Judging Others.^[m]