# verses

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Panic seized all the people who lived along the Mediterranean Sea, and they shook with fear. Everyone in the towns of Tyre, Sidon, Sur, Ocina, Jamnia, Ashdod, and Ashkelon was terrified.


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The Peace Delegation to King Nebuchadnezzar
All these nations sent a peace delegation to King Nebuchadnezzar with this message:


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&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;We remain loyal to you, great King Nebuchadnezzar; we are ready to serve you and obey any command that you may wish to give us.


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Our buildings, all our land, our wheat fields, our livestock, and our tents are at your disposal; use them in any way you wish.


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Holofernes led Nebuchadnezzar's army down to the Mediterranean coast. He stationed guards in all the walled towns and selected certain local men in each of the towns as reserve troops.


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The people in the towns and in the surrounding countryside welcomed Holofernes by wearing wreaths of flowers and dancing to the beat of drums.


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But Holofernes destroyed all their places of worship and cut down their sacred trees. He had been ordered to destroy all the gods of the land so that all the nations and tribes would worship only Nebuchadnezzar and pray to him as a god.


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Then Holofernes passed through Jezreel Valley near Dothan, which faces the main ridge of the mountains of Judah,


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and set up camp between Geba and Scythopolis. He stayed there for a month in order to get supplies for his army.


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The Israelite Plan for Defense
The people of Judah heard what Holofernes, the commander of King Nebuchadnezzar's armies, had done to the other nations. They heard how he had looted and destroyed all their temples,


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and they were terrified of him and afraid of what he might do to Jerusalem and to the Temple of the Lord their God.


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They had only recently returned home to Judah from exile and had just rededicated the Temple and its utensils and its altar after they had been defiled.


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So they sent a warning to the whole region of Samaria and to the towns of Kona, Beth Horon, Belmain, Jericho, Choba, and Aesora, and to Salem Valley.


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They immediately occupied the mountaintops, fortified the villages on the mountains, and stored up food in preparation for war. It was fortunate that they had recently harvested their fields.


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The High Priest Joakim, who was in Jerusalem at that time, wrote to the people in the towns of Bethulia and Betomesthaim, which face Jezreel Valley near Dothan.


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He ordered them to occupy the mountain passes which led into the land of Judah, where it would be easy to withstand an attack, since the approach was only wide enough for two people at a time to pass.


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The Israelites carried out the orders given to them by the High Priest Joakim and the Council which met in Jerusalem.


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They put on sackcloth—they and their wives, their children, their livestock, and every resident foreigner, every slave and hired laborer.


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They also covered the altar with sackcloth. Then all the men, women, and children in Jerusalem lay face down on the ground in front of the Temple; they lay there in the Lord's presence, all in sackcloth, their heads covered with ashes. They joined together in earnest prayer to the God of Israel, begging him not to let their children be captured, their wives carried off, or their home towns destroyed. They pleaded with him not to give the Gentiles the satisfaction of destroying the Temple and dishonoring it.


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The Lord heard their prayers and saw their distress. For many days the people of Judah and Jerusalem continued their fast in front of the Temple of the Lord Almighty.


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The High Priest Joakim, the priests, and all the others who served in the Lord's Temple, wore sackcloth when they offered the daily burnt offering, the freewill offerings of the people, and the offerings made to fulfill a vow.


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They put ashes on their turbans and cried out in prayer to the Lord, begging him to have mercy on the whole nation.


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The War Council in the Camp of Holofernes
When Holofernes, the Assyrian general, heard that the Israelites had prepared for war, blocked the mountain passes, fortified the mountaintops, and set up roadblocks in the plains,


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he boiled over with anger. He called together all the Moabite rulers, all the Ammonite generals, and all the governors of the region along the Mediterranean coast


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and said to them,
You live in Canaan, so tell me about the people who live in these mountains. Which cities do they occupy? How large is their army? What is the source of their power and strength? Who is the king who leads their army?


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The Speech of Achior
Then Achior, the leader of all the Ammonites, answered Holofernes,
Sir, if you will please be so kind as to listen to me, I will tell you the truth about these people who live in the mountains near your camp. I will not lie to you.


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who abandoned the ways of their ancestors in order to worship the God of heaven. Finally, they were driven out of their land because they refused to worship their ancestors' gods. Then they fled to Mesopotamia, where they settled and lived for a long time.


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Afterward, their god told them to leave Mesopotamia and go to the land of Canaan, where they settled and became very rich in gold, silver, and livestock.


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Later, when a famine struck all the land of Canaan, these Israelites, as they were later called, went down to Egypt and stayed there as long as there was enough food. While they were there, they became a large nation with so many people that they could not be counted.


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So the king of Egypt turned against them. He took advantage of them and put them to work making bricks. He oppressed them and made them slaves.


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But they prayed to their god, and he sent disasters that left the Egyptians helpless. When the Egyptians drove them out of the country,


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and then led them along the way to Sinai and Kadesh Barnea.
The Israelites drove out all the people who lived in the southern part of Canaan,


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occupied the land of the Amorites, wiped out the people of Heshbon, crossed the Jordan River, and took possession of the entire mountain region.


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They drove out the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Shechemites, and all the Girgashites. The Israelites have now lived in these mountains for a long time.


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But when they disobeyed him, they suffered heavy losses in many wars and were finally taken away as captives to a foreign country. The temple of their god was leveled and their cities were occupied by their enemies.


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But now that they have returned to their god, they have come back home from the countries where they had been scattered. They have again taken possession of the city of Jerusalem, where their temple is, and have resettled in the mountains that had remained uninhabited.


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Sir, if these people are now sinning against their god, even unknowingly, and if we can be sure that they are guilty of some offense, we can successfully attack them.


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But if they have not disobeyed the law of their god, then you should leave them alone, or he will defend them, and we will be disgraced before the whole world.


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The Reaction of the Crowd
When Achior had finished his speech, all the people standing around the tent began to protest. Holofernes' own senior officers, as well as the Moabites and those from the Mediterranean coast, demanded that Achior be put to death.


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Why should we be afraid of these Israelites? they asked.
They are weak; they can't put up a strong defense.


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The Speech of Holofernes
When the noise of the crowd around the council had subsided, Holofernes spoke to Achior in front of the entire group, those from the Mediterranean coast, the Moabites, and the Ammonite mercenaries.


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Achior, who do you think you are, acting like a prophet? Who are you to tell us not to go to war against the Israelites because some god will defend them? Nebuchadnezzar is our god, and that's all that matters. He will send his army and wipe these Israelites off the face of the earth. Their god can't help them.


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But we serve Nebuchadnezzar, and we will beat them as easily as if their whole army were one man. They will not be able to hold their ground against our cavalry;


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it will overwhelm them. The mountains will be soaked with their blood, and the valleys will be filled with their corpses. After our attack, they will be completely wiped out; not a trace of them will be left. This is the command of Nebuchadnezzar, the lord of the whole earth, and he doesn't speak idle words.


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Achior, you are nothing but an Ammonite mercenary, and you talk like a traitor. You will not see me again until I come and punish this race of runaway slaves.


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And when I do, my soldiers will put you to death. You will be just another name on the casualty list.


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Why look so worried, Achior? Don't you think the town can stand against me? I will carry out all my threats; you can be sure of that!


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Achior Is Brought to Bethulia
Then Holofernes ordered his men, who were waiting in his tent, to seize Achior, take him to Bethulia, and hand him over to the Israelites.


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So the men seized Achior and took him out of the camp into the valley. From there they led him into the mountains, as far as the spring which was below Bethulia.


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When the men of that town saw them approaching, they picked up their weapons and ran to the top of the hill. Every man who used a sling as a weapon rained stones down on Holofernes' soldiers, and this stopped them from coming any farther up the mountain.


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The Assyrians were forced to take cover along the mountainside, where they tied Achior up and left him lying at the foot of the mountain. Then they returned to Holofernes.


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Later, when the Israelites came down from Bethulia, they untied Achior, brought him into the town, and took him before the town officials,


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who at that time were Uzziah son of Micah, of the tribe of Simeon, Chabris son of Gothoniel, and Charmis son of Melchiel.


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The officials called together the town elders, and all the women and the young men also ran to the assembly. Achior was brought before the people, and Uzziah began questioning him.


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Achior told them what had been said at Holofernes' war council, what he himself had said to the Assyrian officers, and how Holofernes had boasted about what he would do to the Israelites.


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O Lord God of heaven, look how our boastful enemies have humiliated your people! Have pity on us and help us.


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After the assembly was over, Uzziah took Achior home with him, and gave a banquet there for the elders. All that night they prayed to the God of Israel for help.


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The Siege of Bethulia
The next day Holofernes gathered his whole army together, as well as his allied forces. It was an immense army, consisting of 170,000 infantry and 12,000 cavalry, not counting the support troops who took care of the equipment. He ordered them to march on Bethulia, seize the mountain passes, and attack the Israelites. So they moved out


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and set up camp beside the spring in the valley near Bethulia. The camp was so wide that it spread out toward the town of Dothan as far as Balbaim, and so long that it stretched from Bethulia to Cyamon, which faces Jezreel Valley.


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When the Israelites saw the size of the army, they were terrified and said to one another,
Those soldiers are going to eat up everything in sight. There's not enough food in the mountains, valleys, and hills put together to feed an army like that.


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But in spite of their fear, all the Israelites took up their weapons, lighted signal fires on the towers, and remained on guard duty all night.


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The next day Holofernes led out his entire cavalry so that the Israelites in Bethulia could see them.


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He inspected the approaches to the town and the springs that supplied its water. He seized the springs and stationed guards there, before returning to camp.


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All the leaders of the Edomite and Moabite forces, along with the commanders of the troops from the Mediterranean coast, came to Holofernes and said,


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These Israelites do not rely on their weapons for defense but rather on the height of the mountains where they live, since the mountains are not easy to climb.


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So then, General Holofernes, if you do not make a direct attack on them, your whole army will suffer no casualties.


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Stay in your camp and keep your soldiers in their quarters. Just command your men to blockade the springs at the foot of the mountains,


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because that's where the people of Bethulia come to draw their water. Then, when they are dying of thirst, they will surrender their town to you. Meanwhile, we and our men will go up to the tops of the surrounding mountains, where we will set up camp and keep anyone from leaving the town.


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Everyone will starve to death—men, women, and children. Even before we attack, the streets will be littered with their corpses.


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In this way you can make them pay for their rebellion and for refusing to surrender peacefully to you.


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Holofernes and his entire staff were pleased with this suggestion, so he gave orders to put the plan into action.


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The Moabites and 5,000 Assyrians moved their camp into the valley to control the source of the town's water.


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The Edomites and the Ammonites went up into the mountains and set up their camp opposite the town of Dothan. They sent some of their men to the southeast in the direction of Acraba, near Chusi, which is beside the Mochmur River. The rest of the Assyrian army set up camp in the valley. Their camp was spread out over the whole countryside, because the number of tents and the amount of equipment needed for such a large army were immense.


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Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord their God for help. They had lost their courage, for with the enemy all around them there was no way to escape.


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The entire Assyrian army—infantry, chariots, and cavalry—blockaded Bethulia for thirty-four days until the town ran out of water.


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All the reservoirs and cisterns went dry, so that the drinking water had to be rationed, and not a day passed when there was enough water to go around.


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Children were becoming weak; everywhere throughout the town women and young people were collapsing. No one had any strength left.


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All the people of the town—men, women, and children alike—gathered around Uzziah and the town officials and shouted in protest,


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&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;God will punish you for what you have done to us! You are to blame for what is happening, because you did not make peace with the Assyrians.


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There is no one to help us now! God has put us in their power. We are exhausted and dying of thirst.


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Call the Assyrians now and surrender to them, and let Holofernes and his army take the town and loot it.


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We are better off as prisoners of war. They will make us slaves, but at least we will be alive, and we won't have to watch our wives and children dying before our eyes.


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Heaven and earth are witnesses against you, and so is our God, the Lord of our ancestors, who is punishing us for their sins as well as ours. We can only hope and pray that he will not let these terrible things happen to us today.


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Then Uzziah said to them,
Don't give up, my friends! Let's wait five more days to see if the Lord our God will be merciful to us. Surely he will not abandon us completely.


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So Uzziah dismissed the people. All the men returned to their guard posts on the walls and towers, while the women and children went back to their homes. The morale of the entire town was very low.


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Judith, the Israelite Widow
At that time, Judith heard about Uzziah's decision. She was the daughter of Merari, the granddaughter of Ox and the great-granddaughter of Joseph. Joseph's ancestors were Oziel, Elkiah, Ananias, Gideon, Raphaim, Ahitub, Elijah, Hilkiah, Eliab, Nathanael, Salamiel, Sarasadai, and Israel.


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Judith's husband Manasseh, who belonged to the same tribe and clan, had died during the barley harvest.


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He had suffered a sunstroke while in the fields supervising the farm workers and later died in bed at home in Bethulia. He was buried in the family tomb in the field between Dothan and Balamon.


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In her grief she built a little shelter on the roof of her house and lived there, wearing sackcloth.


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She fasted during that entire period except when fasting was forbidden: the day before the Sabbath and the Sabbath itself, the eve of the New Moon Festival and the Festival itself, and all the festivals and holidays observed by the people of Israel.


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Judith was a very beautiful woman. Her husband had left her gold and silver, servants and slaves, livestock and fields. She continued to supervise the estate,


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Judith Meets with the Town Officials
Judith heard how the people were complaining bitterly against Uzziah, now that the water shortage had broken their morale. She learned that in answer to their complaints he had promised to surrender the town to the Assyrians after five days.


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Judith sent a slave, the woman who managed her business affairs, to invite Uzziah, Chabris, and Charmis, the town officials, to her home.


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When the officials arrived, Judith said to them,
Please listen to me. You are the leaders of the people of Bethulia, but you were wrong to speak to the people as you did today. You should not have made a solemn promise before God that you would surrender the town to our enemies if the Lord did not come to our aid within a few days.


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What right do you have to put God to the test as you have done today? Who are you to put yourselves in God's place in dealing with human affairs?


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There is no way that you can understand what is in the depths of a human heart or find out what a person is thinking. Yet you dare to read God's mind and interpret his thoughts! How can you claim to understand God, the Creator? No, my friends, you must stop arousing the anger of the Lord our God!


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If he decides not to come to our aid within five days, he still may rescue us at any time he chooses. Or he may let our enemies destroy us.


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But you must not lay down conditions for the Lord our God! Do you think that he is like one of us? Do you think you can bargain with him or force him to make a decision?


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No! Instead, we should ask God for his help and wait patiently for him to rescue us. If he wants to, he will answer our cry for help.


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We do not worship gods made with human hands. Not one of our clans, tribes, towns, or cities has ever done that, even though our ancestors used to do so.


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But since we worship no other God but the Lord, we can hope that he will not reject us or any of our people.


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If our town is taken by the enemy, the entire region of Judah will then fall, and our Temple in Jerusalem will be looted. And God will make us pay with our lives for allowing the Temple to be defiled.


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He will hold us responsible for the slaughter and captivity of our people and for the destruction of the land we have inherited. We will be despised and mocked by the people in those nations to which we will be taken as slaves.


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We are not going to win the favor of our enemies by surrendering to them now. If we do surrender, the Lord our God will see that we are put to shame.


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No, my friends, we should set an example for our own people. Not only their lives, but the fate of the Temple and the altar depend on us.


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The Lord our God is putting us to the test, just as he tested our ancestors, and we should be thankful for that.


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Remember how he put Abraham and Isaac to the test, and what happened to Jacob while he was working as a shepherd for his uncle Laban in Mesopotamia.


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God is not testing our loyalty as severely as he did theirs. God is not sending this punishment on us as revenge, but as a warning to us who worship him.


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Then Uzziah answered Judith,
Everything you have said makes good sense, and no one can argue with it.


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This is not the first time you have shown wisdom. Ever since you were a child, all of us have recognized the soundness and maturity of your judgment.


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But our people are dying of thirst. They forced us to say what we did and to make a solemn promise, which we cannot break.


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So now, since you are a deeply religious woman, pray for our people; ask the Lord to send rain to fill our cisterns, so that we can get our strength back.


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Tonight, the three of you must stand guard at the gate so that my slave woman and I can leave the town. And before the day comes on which you have promised to surrender, the Lord will use me to rescue the people of Israel.


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Uzziah and the other officials said to her,
You have our blessing. May the Lord our God guide you as you take revenge on our enemies. Then they left Judith's rooftop shelter and returned to their posts.


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Judith's Prayer
Then Judith put ashes on her head, opened her robe to reveal the sackcloth she was wearing under her clothes, and bowed down with her face to the floor. It was the time that the evening incense was being offered in the Temple in Jerusalem, and Judith prayed in a loud voice:


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O Lord, the God of my ancestor Simeon, remember how you armed Simeon with a sword to take revenge on those foreigners who seized Dinah, who was a virgin, tore off her clothes, and defiled her; they stripped her naked and shamed her; they raped her and disgraced her, even though you had forbidden this.


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That is why you let their leaders be killed—put to death on the same bed where they had raped the woman. You destroyed them all, slaves, princes, and rulers on their thrones.


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You let their wives be carried off, their daughters taken captive, and their possessions plundered by the Israelites, your chosen people, who were eager to do your will. Dinah's brothers were furious because of this disgrace to their family, so they called on you for help.
O my God, listen to my prayer, the prayer of a widow.


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Your hand guided all that happened then, and all that happened before and after. You have planned it all—what is happening now, and what is yet to be. Your plans have always been carried out.


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Whatever you want to be done is as good as done. You know in advance all that you will do and what decisions you will make.


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Now the Assyrians are stronger than ever; they take pride in their cavalry and their infantry. They rely on their weapons, but they do not know that you, O Lord, are a warrior who ends war. The Lord is your name.


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In your anger, use your power to shatter their mighty army. They plan to defile your Temple, where you are worshiped, and to hack off the corners of your altar with their swords.


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Look how proud and boastful they are! Pour out your fury upon them! I am only a widow, but give me the strength to carry out my plan.


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Use my deceitful words to strike them all dead, master and slave alike. Let a woman's strength break their pride.


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Your power does not depend on the size and strength of an army. You are a God who cares for the humble and helps the oppressed. You give support and protection to people who are weak and helpless; you save those who have lost hope.


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Now hear my prayer, O God of my ancestor Simeon, the God in whom Israel trusts, ruler of heaven and earth, creator of the rivers and the seas, king of all creation. Hear my prayer and


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let my deceitful words wound and kill those who have planned such cruelty against your covenant and your holy Temple, against Mount Zion and the land you have given your people.


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Make your whole nation and every tribe recognize that you are God, almighty and all-powerful, and that you alone protect the people of Israel!


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she stood up, called her slave woman, and went down into the house as she always did on Sabbaths and festival days.


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She took off the sackcloth and her widow's clothes, took a bath, and put on rich perfumes. She brushed her hair, tied a ribbon around it, and dressed herself in the fine clothes she used to wear on joyful occasions when her husband Manasseh was still alive.


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She put on sandals and all her finest jewelry: rings and earrings, and bracelets on her wrists and ankles. She made herself so beautiful that she was sure to attract the attention of any man who saw her.


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Judith gave her slave woman a leather bag of wine and a jar of oil to carry. She filled a bag with roasted barley, cakes of dried figs, and several loaves of bread baked according to Jewish food laws. She carefully wrapped all the food and dishes and gave them to her slave.


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Then the two women left the house and went to the gates of Bethulia, where they found Uzziah and the town officials, Chabris and Charmis, standing guard.


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When the men saw Judith after she had changed clothes and put on make-up, they were struck by her beauty and said to her,


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May the God of our ancestors bless you and make your plan successful, so that you may bring glory to Jerusalem and victory to Israel.
Judith prayed


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and then said,
Order the gates to be opened for me. I am on my way to do what we were talking about. Then they ordered the young men to open the gates for her,


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and Judith and her slave left the city. The men watched her as she went down the mountain into the valley, until she was out of sight.


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They arrested Judith and questioned her,
What is your nationality? Where did you come from, and where are you going?
I am a Hebrew, she answered,
but I am running away from the Israelites because God is going to let you destroy them.


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I am on my way to see Holofernes, the general in command of your army, to give him some reliable information. I can show him how to advance into the mountains and take control of the entire region without a single casualty.


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&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;You have saved your life by coming down here to see our general. Some of us will take you to his headquarters and present you to him.


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There was great commotion in the Assyrian camp as news of Judith's arrival spread from tent to tent. While she stood outside the tent of Holofernes waiting to be presented to him, many Assyrian soldiers came and stood around her.


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They were greatly impressed by her beauty and wondered what kind of people the Israelites were.
Who can have contempt for people whose women are so beautiful? they asked one another.
We had better kill all the men, or else these Jews will be able to charm the whole world.


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Holofernes was resting on his bed under a mosquito net woven of purple and gold thread and decorated with emeralds and other precious stones.


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When the men told him that Judith had arrived, he came to the outer part of the tent. Silver lamps were carried ahead of him.


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When Judith came near him and his servants, they were all astonished at her beauty. She bowed down to the ground before Holofernes, but his servants helped her to her feet.


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Holofernes said to Judith,
Don't worry; there's no need for you to be afraid. I have never hurt anyone who was willing to serve Nebuchadnezzar, king of the whole world.


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contenido:
Even now, if your people up in the mountains had not insulted me, I would not have declared war on them. They have brought all this trouble on themselves.


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contenido:
But tell me, why have you left them and come to us? You will be safe here. No need to be afraid! We have spared your life tonight, and you are in no danger for the future.


book: Jdt
contenido:
No one here will harm you; everyone will treat you well, like all other servants of my master, Nebuchadnezzar.


book: Jdt
contenido:
Then Judith said to Holofernes,
Allow me to speak to you, my lord, and please listen to what I have to say. I will tell you the truth.


book: Jdt
contenido:
If you follow my advice, God will do something great with you, and my lord will not fail in his plan.


book: Jdt
contenido:
For I swear to you by the life and strength of Nebuchadnezzar, king of the whole world, who sent you to bring order to all the subjects of his kingdom, that not only have you made people serve him, but because of you even the wild animals, the livestock, and the birds obey him. Because of you, Nebuchadnezzar and his entire kingdom will prosper.


book: Jdt
contenido:
We have heard how wise and clever you are. The whole world knows that you are the most competent, skilled, and accomplished general in the whole Assyrian Empire.


book: Jdt
contenido:
Please, sir, do not dismiss lightly what Achior told you, but take it seriously, because it is true. No one can harm or conquer our people unless they sin against their God.


book: Jdt
contenido:
But you will not suffer any setbacks, nor will you fail to achieve your goal. When the Israelites sin and make their God angry, they will die.


book: Jdt
contenido:
Their food supply has already run out, and the water shortage has become serious, so they have decided to kill their livestock and eat foods that God's Law clearly forbids them to eat.


book: Jdt
contenido:
They have decided to eat the wheat set aside from the early harvest and the tithes of wine and oil, which are holy and are reserved for the priests who serve God in Jerusalem. The rest of us are forbidden even to touch this sacred food,


book: Jdt
contenido:
but since the people in Jerusalem have already broken this law, the people of our town have sent messengers to the Council there requesting permission to do the same.


book: Jdt
contenido:
On the day that they receive permission and actually eat the food, you will be able to destroy them.


book: Jdt
contenido:
As soon as I learned about this, I ran away from my people. God has sent me to do something with you that will amaze everyone in the entire world who hears about it.


book: Jdt
contenido:
Sir, I am a religious woman; I worship the God of heaven day and night. I will stay here in your camp, and each night I will go out into the valley to pray to God, and he will tell me when the Israelites have sinned.


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contenido:
As soon as I find out, I will come and tell you, and you can march out with your whole army. The Israelites will not be able to defend themselves against you.


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contenido:
I will guide you through the central part of the land of Judah until we come to Jerusalem, where I will crown you king in the center of the city. You will scatter the people of Jerusalem like sheep without a shepherd. Not even a dog will dare to growl at you. God has revealed these things to me in advance and has sent me to report them to you.


book: Jdt
contenido:
Holofernes and his personal servants were pleased with what Judith had said, and they admired her wisdom.


book: Jdt
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She must be the wisest and most beautiful woman in the world, they commented one to another.


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contenido:
Then Holofernes said to her,
It's a good thing that God has sent you here to bring us victory and to destroy those who have insulted King Nebuchadnezzar.


book: Jdt
contenido:
Not only are you beautiful, but you know how to make a speech. If you do as you have promised, your God will be my God. You will live in King Nebuchadnezzar's palace and will be famous throughout the world.


book: Jdt
contenido:
Judith Remains Faithful to Her Religion
Holofernes commanded his men to take Judith to the table which was set with his silverware and to serve her some of his own special food and wine.


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contenido:
But Judith refused.
I cannot eat your food, she said,
for I would be breaking the laws of my God. I will eat only what I have brought with me.


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contenido:
But what will you do when your food and wine are gone? Holofernes asked.
Where will we get more food for you? There are no Israelites here in our camp.


book: Jdt
contenido:
Sir, Judith answered,
as surely as you live, I have more than enough food to last until the Lord has used me to carry out his plan.


book: Jdt
contenido:
Then Holofernes' personal servants led Judith to a tent. She slept there until the time of the morning watch just before dawn, when she got up


book: Jdt
contenido:
Holofernes ordered his guards to let Judith leave the camp. So for three days Judith lived in the camp, and each night she would go out to the valley near Bethulia and bathe at the spring.


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contenido:
After she had bathed, she would pray to the Lord God to guide her in her plan to bring victory to Israel.


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contenido:
Then she would return to the camp ritually pure and remain in her tent until after the evening meal.


book: Jdt
contenido:
Holofernes' Banquet
On the fourth day of Judith's stay in the camp, Holofernes gave a banquet for his highest ranking officers, but he did not invite any of the officers who were on duty.


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contenido:
He said to Bagoas, the eunuch who was in charge of his personal affairs,
Go and persuade the Hebrew woman, who is in your care, to come to my tent to eat and drink with us.


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contenido:
It would be a shame to pass up an opportunity to make love to a woman like that. If I don't try to seduce her, she will laugh at me.


book: Jdt
contenido:
So Bagoas left Holofernes and went to Judith.
Lovely lady, he said,
the general invites you to his tent for some drinks. Come and enjoy yourself like the Assyrian women who serve in Nebuchadnezzar's palace. This is a great honor.


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contenido:
I shall be glad to accept, Judith answered.
How could I refuse? I'll remember this happy night as long as I live.


book: Jdt
contenido:
So Judith got up and put on her prettiest clothes. Her slave woman went ahead of her and placed on the ground in front of Holofernes the lamb skins that Bagoas had given Judith to sit on when she ate.


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contenido:
Judith came into the tent and sat down there. Holofernes was aroused when he saw her and had an uncontrollable desire to make love to her. From the first day he had seen her, he had been waiting for a chance to seduce her.


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contenido:
Holofernes was so charmed by her that he drank more wine than he had ever drunk at one time in his whole life.


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contenido:
Finally, when it got late, the guests excused themselves and left. Bagoas then closed up the tent from the outside and prevented Holofernes' servants from going in. So they all went to bed; everyone was very tired because the banquet had lasted so long.


book: Jdt
contenido:
Judith's slave woman was waiting outside the tent for Judith to go and pray, as she had done each night. Judith had also told Bagoas that she would be going out to pray as usual.


book: Jdt
contenido:
All the guests and servants were now gone, and Judith and Holofernes were alone in the tent. Judith stood by Holofernes' bed and prayed silently,
O Lord, God Almighty, help me with what I am about to do for the glory of Jerusalem.


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contenido:
Now is the time to rescue your chosen people and to help me carry out my plan to destroy the enemies who are threatening us.


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contenido:
She came closer, seized Holofernes by the hair of his head, and said,
O Lord, God of Israel, give me strength now.


book: Jdt
contenido:
Then Judith raised the sword and struck him twice in the neck as hard as she could, chopping off his head.


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contenido:
She rolled his body off the bed and took down the mosquito net from the bedposts. Then she came out and gave Holofernes' head to her slave,


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contenido:
who put it in the food bag.
Judith and Her Slave Return to Bethulia
Then the two women left together, as they always did when they went to pray. After they had walked through the Assyrian camp, they crossed the valley and went up the mountainside until they came to the gates of Bethulia.


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contenido:
When they were a short distance away, Judith called out to the guards at the gate,
Open the gate! Open the gate! Our God is still with us. Today he has once again shown his strength in Israel and used his power against our enemies.


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contenido:
Everyone, young and old, ran together to the gate. No one could believe that Judith had come back. They opened the gate for her and her slave and welcomed them. Then, when they had lit a fire to give some light and had gathered around the two women,


book: Jdt
contenido:
Judith shouted,
Praise God, give him praise! Praise God, who has not held back his mercy from the people of Israel. Tonight he has used me to destroy our enemies.


book: Jdt
contenido:
She then took the head out of the food bag and showed it to the people.
Here, she said,
is the head of Holofernes, the general of the Assyrian army, and here is the mosquito net from his bed, where he lay in a drunken stupor. The Lord used a woman to kill him.


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contenido:
As the Lord lives, I swear that Holofernes never touched me, although my beauty deceived him and brought him to his ruin. I was not defiled or disgraced; the Lord took care of me through it all.


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contenido:
Everyone in the city was utterly amazed. They bowed down and worshiped God, praying together,
Our God, you are worthy of great praise. Today you have triumphed over the enemies of your people.


book: Jdt
contenido:
Then Uzziah said,
Judith, my dear, the Most High God has blessed you more than any other woman on earth. How worthy of praise is the Lord God who created heaven and earth! He guided you as you cut off the head of our deadliest enemy.


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contenido:
May God give you everlasting honor for what you have done. May he reward you with blessings, because you remained faithful to him and did not hesitate to risk your own life to relieve the oppression of your people.
All the people replied,
Amen, amen!


book: Jdt
contenido:
Judith's Plan
Then Judith said to them,
My friends, please follow my advice. In the morning, take this head and hang it on the town wall.


book: Jdt
contenido:
Appoint a leader for yourselves, and at sunrise have all your able-bodied men take their weapons and march out of the town with him, as if they were going down into the valley to attack the Assyrian outpost.


book: Jdt
contenido:
The Assyrian guards will grab their weapons and rush back to camp to wake up their officers. The officers will run to Holofernes' tent but will not find him, and the whole army will be terrified and retreat as you advance against them.


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contenido:
But before you do any of this, send Achior the Ammonite to me. I want to see if he recognizes Holofernes, the man who spoke of Israel with contempt and sent Achior to us, thinking he would be killed along with the rest of us.


book: Jdt
contenido:
Achior's Conversion
So they called Achior from Uzziah's house. But when he came and saw the head of Holofernes in the hands of one of the men, Achior fainted and fell to the floor.


book: Jdt
contenido:
When they had helped him up, Achior bowed at Judith's feet in respect.
May every family in the land of Judah praise you, he said,
and may every nation tremble with terror when they hear your name.


book: Jdt
contenido:
Please tell me how you managed to do this.
While all the people were gathered around, Judith told him everything that she had done from the day she left the town until that moment.


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contenido:
When she had finished her story, the people cheered so loudly that the whole town echoed with sounds of joy.


book: Jdt
contenido:
When Achior heard all that the God of Israel had done, he became a firm believer. He was circumcised and made a member of the Israelite community, as his descendants are to the present day.


book: Jdt
contenido:
Panic in Holofernes' Camp
The next morning the Israelites hung the head of Holofernes on the wall of the town. All of them took up their weapons and went out in companies to the slopes in front of the town.


book: Jdt
contenido:
When the Assyrians saw what was happening, they sent word to their officers, and these reported the matter to their superiors.


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contenido:
These men then went to Holofernes' tent and said to Bagoas,
Wake up the general! Those worthless Israelites have dared to come down from the mountain to attack us; they are just asking to be destroyed.


book: Jdt
contenido:
Bagoas went in and clapped his hands in front of the sleeping quarters of the tent, thinking that Holofernes was in bed with Judith.


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contenido:
When there was no answer, he drew the curtain aside and went in, and there he found the headless body sprawled over a footstool.


book: Jdt
contenido:
He went into the tent where Judith had stayed, but of course he did not find her. He rushed out and shouted to the officers,


book: Jdt
contenido:
They have tricked us! One Israelite woman has disgraced Nebuchadnezzar's whole kingdom. Look in there! Holofernes is lying dead on the ground and his head is gone!


book: Jdt
contenido:
When the officers heard this, they tore their clothes in grief; and as the panic spread, wild cries and shouts were heard throughout the camp.


book: Jdt
contenido:
and began to tremble with fear. They all scattered in different directions from the camp, making no effort to stay together as they tried to escape along the paths in the mountains and valleys.


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contenido:
The soldiers who had camped in the mountains around Bethulia also began to retreat. Then all the Israelite soldiers came charging down on them.


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contenido:
Uzziah sent messengers to the towns of Betomesthaim, Bebai, Choba, and Kola, and throughout the land of Israel to tell everyone what had happened and to urge them to join in pursuing and destroying the enemy.


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contenido:
When they received the message, they all attacked the Assyrians and chased them as far as Choba, slaughtering them as they went. Even the people of Jerusalem and others living in the mountains joined the attack when the messengers told them what had happened in the Assyrian camp. The people of the regions of Gilead and Galilee blocked the path of the retreating Assyrians and inflicted heavy losses on them. They pursued them as far as the region around Damascus.


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contenido:
The rest of the people in Bethulia went down to the Assyrian camp, plundered it and carried away enough loot to make themselves very rich.


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contenido:
When the Israelite soldiers returned from the slaughter, they helped themselves to what was left. There was so much of it that the people of the towns and villages in the hill country also shared in the loot.


book: Jdt
contenido:
Israel Celebrates the Victory
The High Priest Joakim and the Council of Israel came from Jerusalem to see for themselves what great things the Lord had done for his people and to meet Judith and congratulate her.


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contenido:
When they arrived, they all praised her,
You are Jerusalem's crowning glory, the heroine of Israel, the pride and joy of our people!


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contenido:
You have won this great victory for Israel by yourself. God, the Almighty, is pleased with what you have done. May he bless you as long as you live.
All the people responded,
Amen.


book: Jdt
contenido:
It took the people thirty days to finish looting the camp of the Assyrians. Judith was given Holofernes' tent, all his silver, his bowls, his couches, and all his furniture. She took them and loaded as much as she could on her mule; then she brought her wagons and loaded them too.


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contenido:
All the Israelite women came to see her; they sang her praises and danced in her honor. On this joyful occasion Judith and the other women waved ivy-covered branches


book: Jdt
contenido:
and wore wreaths of olive leaves on their heads. Judith took her place at the head of the procession to lead the women as they danced. All the men of Israel followed, wearing wreaths of flowers on their heads, carrying their weapons, and singing songs of praise.


book: Jdt
contenido:
Judith's Song of Praise
Then Judith sang a song of thanksgiving there with all Israel present, and the people joined in this song of praise.


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contenido:
She sang,
Praise my God and sing to him;
praise the Lord with drums and cymbals;
play a new song for him.
Praise him and call on him for help.


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contenido:
The Lord is a warrior who ends war.
He rescued me from my pursuers
and brought me back to his people's camp.


book: Jdt
contenido:
Down from the mountains of the north came the Assyrians,
with their tens of thousands of soldiers.
Their troops blocked the rivers in the valleys;
their cavalry covered the mountains.


book: Jdt
contenido:
They threatened to set fire to our country,
slaughter our young men,
dash our babies to the ground,
take our children away as captives,
and carry off all our young women.


book: Jdt
contenido:
Their hero was not slain by young soldiers
or attacked and killed by mighty giants.
It was Judith, the daughter of Merari,
who brought him down with her beauty.


book: Jdt
contenido:
She gave victory to the oppressed people of Israel,
when she took off her widow's clothes,
and put on a linen dress to entice him.
She put on her rich perfumes
and tied a ribbon around her hair.


book: Jdt
contenido:
Her dainty sandal caught his eye;
her beauty captured his heart.
Then the sword slashed through his neck.


book: Jdt
contenido:
Then our people shouted in victory.
They had been weak and oppressed,
but they forced the enemy to retreat in panic and fear.


book: Jdt
contenido:
We are the descendants of slaves,
but our enemies turned and ran;
we killed them like runaway slaves.
They were destroyed by the army of the Lord.


book: Jdt
contenido:
I will sing a new song to my God.
O Lord, you are strong and glorious!
You have never been defeated.


book: Jdt
contenido:
Let all your creatures serve you.
You gave the command,
and all of them came into being;
you breathed on them,
and all of them were created.
No one can oppose your command.


book: Jdt
contenido:
The mountains and the seas tremble,
and rocks melt like wax when you come near.
But there is mercy for all who obey you.


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contenido:
The Lord is more pleased with those who obey him
than with all the choice meat on the altar,
or with all the most fragrant sacrifices.


book: Jdt
contenido:
The nations who rise up against my people are doomed.
The Lord Almighty will punish them on Judgment Day.
He will send fire and worms to devour their bodies,
and they will weep in pain forever.


book: Jdt
contenido:
Judith's Fame
When the people arrived in Jerusalem, they purified themselves and worshiped God. They presented their burnt offerings, freewill offerings, and gifts.


book: Jdt
contenido:
Judith dedicated to God all of Holofernes' property, which the people had given to her. And as a special offering in fulfillment of a vow, she presented to the Lord the mosquito net which she had taken from Holofernes' bed.


book: Jdt
contenido:
For three months the people continued to celebrate in front of the Temple in Jerusalem, and Judith stayed there with them.


book: Jdt
contenido:
When the celebrations had ended, everyone returned home, and Judith went back to Bethulia to live on her own estate. For the rest of her life she was famous throughout the land of Israel.


book: Jdt
contenido:
Her fame continued to spread, and she lived in the house her husband had left her. Before she died, Judith divided her property among her husband's and her own close relatives and set her slave woman free. When she died in Bethulia at the age of 105, she was buried beside her husband, and the people of Israel mourned her death for seven days.


book: Jdt
contenido:
As long as Judith lived, and for many years after her death, no one dared to threaten the people of Israel.


book: Esth
contenido:
Queen Vashti Defies King Xerxes
From his royal throne in Persia's capital city of Susa, King Xerxes ruled 127 provinces, all the way from India to Ethiopia.


book: Esth
contenido:
In the third year of his reign he gave a banquet for all his officials and administrators. The armies of Persia and Media were present, as well as the governors and noblemen of the provinces.


book: Esth
contenido:
For six whole months he made a show of the riches of the imperial court with all its splendor and majesty.


book: Esth
contenido:
After that, the king gave a banquet for all the people in the capital city of Susa, rich and poor alike. It lasted a whole week and was held in the gardens of the royal palace.


book: Esth
contenido:
The courtyard there was decorated with blue and white cotton curtains, tied by cords of fine purple linen to silver rings on marble columns. Couches made of gold and silver had been placed in the courtyard, which was paved with white marble, red feldspar, shining mother-of-pearl, and blue turquoise.


book: Esth
contenido:
Drinks were served in gold cups, no two of them alike, and the king was generous with the royal wine.


book: Esth
contenido:
There were no limits on the drinks; the king had given orders to the palace servants that everyone could have as much as they wanted.


book: Esth
contenido:
On the seventh day of his banquet the king was drinking and feeling happy, so he called in the seven eunuchs who were his personal servants, Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carkas.


book: Esth
contenido:
He ordered them to bring in Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown. The queen was a beautiful woman, and the king wanted to show off her beauty to the officials and all his guests.


book: Esth
contenido:
But when the servants told Queen Vashti of the king's command, she refused to come. This made the king furious.


book: Esth
contenido:
Now it was the king's custom to ask for expert opinion on questions of law and order, so he called for his advisers, who would know what should be done.


book: Esth
contenido:
Those he most often turned to for advice were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan—seven officials of Persia and Media who held the highest offices in the kingdom.


book: Esth
contenido:
He said to these men, “I, King Xerxes, sent my servants to Queen Vashti with a command, and she refused to obey it! What does the law say that we should do with her?”


book: Esth
contenido:
Then Memucan declared to the king and his officials: “Queen Vashti has insulted not only the king but also his officials—in fact, every man in the empire!


book: Esth
contenido:
Every woman in the empire will start looking down on her husband as soon as she hears what the queen has done. They'll say, ‘King Xerxes commanded Queen Vashti to come to him, and she refused.’


book: Esth
contenido:
When the wives of the royal officials of Persia and Media hear about the queen's behavior, they will be telling their husbands about it before the day is out. Wives everywhere will have no respect for their husbands, and husbands will be angry with their wives.


book: Esth
contenido:
If it please Your Majesty, issue a royal proclamation that Vashti may never again appear before the king. Have it written into the laws of Persia and Media, so that it can never be changed. Then give her place as queen to some better woman.


book: Esth
contenido:
When your proclamation is made known all over this huge empire, every woman will treat her husband with proper respect, whether he's rich or poor.”


book: Esth
contenido:
To each of the royal provinces he sent a message in the language and the system of writing of that province, saying that every husband should be the master of his home and speak with final authority.


book: Esth
contenido:
Esther Becomes Queen
Later, even after the king's anger had cooled down, he kept thinking about what Vashti had done and about his proclamation against her.


book: Esth
contenido:
So some of the king's advisers who were close to him suggested, “Why don't you make a search to find some beautiful young virgins?


book: Esth
contenido:
You can appoint officials in every province of the empire and have them bring all these beautiful young women to your harem here in Susa, the capital city. Put them in the care of Hegai, the eunuch who is in charge of your women, and let them be given a beauty treatment.


book: Esth
contenido:
Then take the young woman you like best and make her queen in Vashti's place.”
The king thought this was good advice, so he followed it.


book: Esth
contenido:
There in Susa lived a Jew named Mordecai son of Jair; he was from the tribe of Benjamin and was a descendant of Kish and Shimei.


book: Esth
contenido:
When King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took King Jehoiachin of Judah into exile from Jerusalem, along with a group of captives, Mordecai was among them.


book: Esth
contenido:
He had a cousin, Esther, whose Hebrew name was Hadassah; she was a beautiful young woman, and had a good figure. At the death of her parents, Mordecai had adopted her and brought her up as his own daughter.


book: Esth
contenido:
When the king had issued his new proclamation and many young women were being brought to Susa, Esther was among them. She too was put in the royal palace in the care of Hegai, who had charge of the harem.


book: Esth
contenido:
Hegai liked Esther, and she won his favor. He lost no time in beginning her beauty treatment of massage and special diet. He gave her the best place in the harem and assigned seven young women specially chosen from the royal palace to serve her.


book: Esth
contenido:
Every day Mordecai would walk back and forth in front of the courtyard of the harem, in order to find out how she was getting along and what was going to happen to her.


book: Esth
contenido:
The regular beauty treatment for the women lasted a year—massages with oil of myrrh for six months and with oil of balsam for six more. After that, each woman would be taken in turn to King Xerxes.


book: Esth
contenido:
She would go there in the evening, and the next morning she would be taken to another harem and put in the care of Shaashgaz, the eunuch in charge of the king's concubines. She would not go to the king again unless he liked her enough to ask for her by name.


book: Esth
contenido:
The time came for Esther to go to the king. Esther—the daughter of Abihail and the cousin of Mordecai, who had adopted her as his daughter; Esther—admired by everyone who saw her. When her turn came, she wore just what Hegai, the eunuch in charge of the harem, advised her to wear.


book: Esth
contenido:
So in Xerxes' seventh year as king, in the tenth month, the month of Tebeth, Esther was brought to King Xerxes in the royal palace.


book: Esth
contenido:
The king liked her more than any of the other women, and more than any of the others she won his favor and affection. He placed the royal crown on her head and made her queen in place of Vashti.


book: Esth
contenido:
Then the king gave a great banquet in Esther's honor and invited all his officials and administrators. He proclaimed a holiday for the whole empire and distributed gifts worthy of a king.


book: Esth
contenido:
Mordecai Saves the King's Life
Meanwhile Mordecai had been appointed by the king to an administrative position.


book: Esth
contenido:
As for Esther, she had still not let it be known that she was Jewish. Mordecai had told her not to tell anyone, and she obeyed him in this, just as she had obeyed him when she was a little girl under his care.


book: Esth
contenido:
During the time that Mordecai held office in the palace, Bigthana and Teresh, two of the palace eunuchs who guarded the entrance to the king's rooms, became hostile to King Xerxes and plotted to assassinate him.


book: Esth
contenido:
Mordecai learned about it and told Queen Esther, who then told the king what Mordecai had found out.


book: Esth
contenido:
There was an investigation, and it was discovered that the report was true, so both men were hanged on the gallows. The king ordered an account of this to be written down in the official records of the empire.


book: Esth
contenido:
Haman Plots to Destroy the Jews
Some time later King Xerxes promoted a man named Haman to the position of prime minister. Haman was the son of Hammedatha, a descendant of Agag.


book: Esth
contenido:
The king ordered all the officials in his service to show their respect for Haman by kneeling and bowing to him. They all did so, except for Mordecai, who refused to do it.


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day after day they urged him to give in, but he would not listen to them. “I am a Jew,” he explained, “and I cannot bow to Haman.” So they told Haman about this, wondering if he would tolerate Mordecai's conduct.


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and when he learned that Mordecai was a Jew, he decided to do more than punish Mordecai alone. He made plans to kill every Jew in the whole Persian Empire.


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In the twelfth year of King Xerxes' rule, in the first month, the month of Nisan, Haman ordered the lots to be cast (“purim,” they were called) to find out the right day and month to carry out his plot. The thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, was decided on.


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So Haman told the king, “There is a certain race of people scattered all over your empire and found in every province. They observe customs that are not like those of any other people. Moreover, they do not obey the laws of the empire, so it is not in your best interests to tolerate them.


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If it please Your Majesty, issue a decree that they are to be put to death. If you do, I guarantee that I will be able to put 375 tons of silver into the royal treasury for the administration of the empire.”


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The king took off his ring, which was used to stamp proclamations and make them official, and gave it to the enemy of the Jewish people, Haman son of Hammedatha, the descendant of Agag.


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So on the thirteenth day of the first month Haman called the king's secretaries and dictated a proclamation to be translated into every language and system of writing used in the empire and to be sent to all the rulers, governors, and officials. It was issued in the name of King Xerxes and stamped with his ring.


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Runners took this proclamation to every province of the empire. It contained the instructions that on a single day, the thirteenth day of Adar, all Jews—young and old, women and children—were to be killed. They were to be slaughtered without mercy and their belongings were to be taken.


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The contents of the proclamation were to be made public in every province, so that everyone would be prepared when that day came.


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At the king's command the decree was made public in the capital city of Susa, and runners carried the news to the provinces. The king and Haman sat down and had a drink while the city of Susa was being thrown into confusion.


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contenido:
Mordecai Asks for Esther's Help
When Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes in anguish. Then he dressed in sackcloth, covered his head with ashes, and walked through the city, wailing loudly and bitterly,


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until he came to the entrance of the palace. He did not go in because no one wearing sackcloth was allowed inside.


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Throughout all the provinces, wherever the king's proclamation was made known, there was loud mourning among the Jews. They fasted, wept, wailed, and most of them put on sackcloth and lay in ashes.


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When Esther's servant women and eunuchs told her what Mordecai was doing, she was deeply disturbed. She sent Mordecai some clothes to put on instead of the sackcloth, but he would not accept them.


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Then she called Hathach, one of the palace eunuchs appointed as her servant by the king, and told him to go to Mordecai and find out what was happening and why.


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Mordecai told him everything that had happened to him and just how much money Haman had promised to put into the royal treasury if all the Jews were killed.


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He gave Hathach a copy of the proclamation that had been issued in Susa, ordering the destruction of the Jews. Mordecai asked him to take it to Esther, explain the situation to her, and have her go and plead with the king and beg him to have mercy on her people.


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“If anyone, man or woman, goes to the inner courtyard and sees the king without being summoned, that person must die. That is the law; everyone, from the king's advisers to the people in the provinces, knows that. There is only one way to get around this law: if the king holds out his gold scepter to someone, then that person's life is spared. But it has been a month since the king sent for me.”


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he sent her this warning: “Don't imagine that you are safer than any other Jew just because you are in the royal palace.


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If you keep quiet at a time like this, help will come from heaven to the Jews, and they will be saved, but you will die and your father's family will come to an end. Yet who knows—maybe it was for a time like this that you were made queen!”


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“Go and get all the Jews in Susa together; hold a fast and pray for me. Don't eat or drink anything for three days and nights. My servant women and I will be doing the same. After that, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. If I must die for doing it, I will die.”


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Esther Invites the King and Haman to a Banquet
On the third day of her fast Esther put on her royal robes and went and stood in the inner courtyard of the palace, facing the throne room. The king was inside, seated on the royal throne, facing the entrance.


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When the king saw Queen Esther standing outside, she won his favor, and he held out to her the gold scepter. She then came up and touched the tip of it.


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“What is it, Queen Esther?” the king asked. “Tell me what you want, and you shall have it—even if it is half my empire.”


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Esther replied, “If it please Your Majesty, I would like you and Haman to be my guests tonight at a banquet I am preparing for you.”


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The king then ordered Haman to come quickly, so that they could be Esther's guests. So the king and Haman went to Esther's banquet.


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Over the wine the king asked her, “Tell me what you want, and you shall have it. I will grant your request, even if you ask for half my empire.”


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“If Your Majesty is kind enough to grant my request, I would like you and Haman to be my guests tomorrow at another banquet that I will prepare for you. At that time I will tell you what I want.”


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Haman Plots to Kill Mordecai
When Haman left the banquet he was happy and in a good mood. But then he saw Mordecai at the entrance of the palace, and when Mordecai did not rise or show any sign of respect as he passed, Haman was furious with him.


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But he controlled himself and went on home. Then he invited his friends to his house and asked his wife Zeresh to join them.


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He boasted to them about how rich he was, how many sons he had, how the king had promoted him to high office, and how much more important he was than any of the king's other officials.


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“What is more,” Haman went on, “Queen Esther gave a banquet for no one but the king and me, and we are invited back tomorrow.


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But none of this means a thing to me as long as I see that Jew Mordecai sitting at the entrance of the palace.”


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So his wife and all his friends suggested, “Why don't you have a gallows built, seventy-five feet tall? Tomorrow morning you can ask the king to have Mordecai hanged on it, and then you can go to the banquet happy.”
Haman thought this was a good idea, so he had the gallows built.


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The King Honors Mordecai
That same night the king could not get to sleep, so he had the official records of the empire brought and read to him.


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The part they read included the account of how Mordecai had uncovered a plot to assassinate the king—the plot made by Bigthana and Teresh, the two palace eunuchs who had guarded the king's rooms.


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The king asked, “How have we honored and rewarded Mordecai for this?”
His servants answered, “Nothing has been done for him.”


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“Are any of my officials in the palace?” the king asked.
Now Haman had just entered the courtyard; he had come to ask the king to have Mordecai hanged on the gallows that was now ready.


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So Haman came in, and the king said to him, “There is someone I wish very much to honor. What should I do for this man?”
Haman thought to himself, “Now who could the king want to honor so much? Me, of course.”


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So he answered the king, “Have royal robes brought for this man—robes that you yourself wear. Have a royal ornament put on your own horse.


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Then have one of your highest noblemen dress the man in these robes and lead him, mounted on the horse, through the city square. Have the nobleman announce as they go: ‘See how the king rewards someone he wishes to honor!’”


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Then the king said to Haman, “Hurry and get the robes and the horse, and provide these honors for Mordecai the Jew. Do everything for him that you have suggested. You will find him sitting at the entrance of the palace.”


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So Haman got the robes and the horse, and he put the robes on Mordecai. Mordecai got on the horse, and Haman led him through the city square, announcing to the people as they went: “See how the king rewards a man he wishes to honor!”


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Mordecai then went back to the palace entrance while Haman hurried home, covering his face in embarrassment.


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He told his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then she and those wise friends of his told him, “You are beginning to lose power to Mordecai. He is a Jew, and you cannot overcome him. He will certainly defeat you.”


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Haman Is Put to Death
While they were still talking, the palace eunuchs arrived in a hurry to take Haman to Esther's banquet.


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for a second time. Over the wine the king asked her again, “Now, Queen Esther, what do you want? Tell me and you shall have it. I'll even give you half the empire.”


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Queen Esther answered, “If it please Your Majesty to grant my humble request, my wish is that I may live and that my people may live.


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My people and I have been sold for slaughter. If it were nothing more serious than being sold into slavery, I would have kept quiet and not bothered you about it; but we are about to be destroyed—exterminated!”


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Esther answered, “Our enemy, our persecutor, is this evil man Haman!”
Haman faced the king and queen with terror.


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The king got up in a fury, left the room, and went outside to the palace gardens. Haman could see that the king was determined to punish him for this, so he stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life.


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He had just thrown himself down on Esther's couch to beg for mercy, when the king came back into the room from the gardens. Seeing this, the king cried out, “Is this man going to rape the queen right here in front of me, in my own palace?”
The king had no sooner said this than the eunuchs covered Haman's head.


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Then one of them, who was named Harbonah, said, “Haman even went so far as to build a gallows at his house so that he could hang Mordecai, who saved Your Majesty's life. And it's seventy-five feet tall!”
“Hang Haman on it!” the king commanded.


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So Haman was hanged on the gallows that he had built for Mordecai. Then the king's anger cooled down.


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The Jews Are Told to Fight Back
That same day King Xerxes gave Queen Esther all the property of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. Esther told the king that Mordecai was related to her, and from then on Mordecai was allowed to enter the king's presence.


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The king took off his ring with his seal on it (which he had taken back from Haman) and gave it to Mordecai. Esther put Mordecai in charge of Haman's property.


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Then Esther spoke to the king again, throwing herself at his feet and crying. She begged him to do something to stop the evil plot that Haman, the descendant of Agag, had made against the Jews.


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“If it please Your Majesty, and if you care about me and if it seems right to you, please issue a proclamation to keep Haman's orders from being carried out—those orders that the son of Hammedatha the descendant of Agag gave for the destruction of all the Jews in the empire.


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King Xerxes then said to Queen Esther and Mordecai, the Jew, “Look, I have hanged Haman for his plot against the Jews, and I have given Esther his property.


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But a proclamation issued in the king's name and stamped with the royal seal cannot be revoked. You may, however, write to the Jews whatever you like; and you may write it in my name and stamp it with the royal seal.”


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This happened on the twenty-third day of the third month, the month of Sivan. Mordecai called the king's secretaries and dictated letters to the Jews and to the governors, administrators, and officials of all the 127 provinces from India to Ethiopia. The letters were written to each province in its own language and system of writing and to the Jews in their language and system of writing.


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Mordecai had the letters written in the name of King Xerxes, and he stamped them with the royal seal. They were delivered by riders mounted on fast horses from the royal stables.


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These letters explained that the king would allow the Jews in every city to organize for self-defense. If armed men of any nationality in any province attacked the Jewish men, their children, or their women, the Jews could fight back and destroy the attackers; they could slaughter them to the last man and take their possessions.


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This decree was to take effect throughout the Persian Empire on the day set for the slaughter of the Jews, the thirteenth of Adar, the twelfth month.


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It was to be proclaimed as law and made known to everyone in every province, so that the Jews would be ready to take revenge on their enemies when that day came.


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At the king's command the riders mounted royal horses and rode off at top speed. The decree was also made public in Susa, the capital city.


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Mordecai left the palace, wearing royal robes of blue and white, a cloak of fine purple linen, and a magnificent gold crown. Then the streets of Susa rang with cheers and joyful shouts.


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In every city and province, wherever the king's proclamation was read, the Jews held a joyful holiday with feasting and happiness. In fact, many other people became Jews, because they were afraid of them now.


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The Jews Destroy Their Enemies
The thirteenth day of Adar came, the day on which the royal proclamation was to take effect, the day when the enemies of the Jews were hoping to get them in their power. But instead, the Jews triumphed over them.


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In the Jewish quarter of every city in the empire the Jews organized to attack anyone who tried to harm them. People everywhere were afraid of them, and no one could stand against them.


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In fact, all the provincial officials—governors, administrators, and royal representatives—helped the Jews because they were all afraid of Mordecai.


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It was well-known throughout the empire that Mordecai was now a powerful man in the palace and was growing more powerful.


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So the Jews could do what they wanted with their enemies. They attacked them with swords and slaughtered them.


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Among them were the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews: Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha. However, there was no looting.


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He then said to Queen Esther, “In Susa alone the Jews have killed five hundred people, including Haman's ten sons. What must they have done out in the provinces! What do you want now? You shall have it. Tell me what else you want, and you shall have it.”


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Esther answered, “If it please Your Majesty, let the Jews in Susa do again tomorrow what they were allowed to do today. And have the bodies of Haman's ten sons hung from the gallows.”


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The king ordered this to be done, and the proclamation was issued in Susa. The bodies of Haman's ten sons were publicly displayed.


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On the fourteenth day of Adar the Jews of Susa got together again and killed three hundred more people in the city. But again, they did no looting.


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The Jews in the provinces also organized and defended themselves. They rid themselves of their enemies by killing seventy-five thousand people who hated them. But they did no looting.


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This was on the thirteenth day of Adar. On the next day, the fourteenth, there was no more killing, and they made it a joyful day of feasting.


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The Jews of Susa, however, made the fifteenth a holiday, since they had slaughtered their enemies on the thirteenth and fourteenth and then stopped on the fifteenth.


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This is why Jews who live in small towns observe the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a joyous holiday, a time for feasting and giving gifts of food to one another.


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The Festival of Purim
Mordecai had these events written down and sent letters to all the Jews, near and far, throughout the Persian Empire,


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These were the days on which the Jews had rid themselves of their enemies; this was a month that had been turned from a time of grief and despair into a time of joy and happiness. They were told to observe these days with feasts and parties, giving gifts of food to one another and to the poor.


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Haman son of Hammedatha—the descendant of Agag and the enemy of the Jewish people—had cast lots (“purim,” they were called) to determine the day for destroying the Jews; he had planned to wipe them out.


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But Esther went to the king, and the king issued written orders with the result that Haman suffered the fate he had planned for the Jews—he and his sons were hanged from the gallows.


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That is why the holidays are called Purim. Because of Mordecai's letter and because of all that had happened to them,


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the Jews made it a rule for themselves, their descendants, and anyone who might become a Jew, that at the proper time each year these two days would be regularly observed according to Mordecai's instructions.


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It was resolved that every Jewish family of every future generation in every province and every city should remember and observe the days of Purim for all time to come.


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Then Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai, also wrote a letter, putting her full authority behind the letter about Purim, which Mordecai had written earlier.


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The letter was addressed to all the Jews, and copies were sent to all the 127 provinces of the Persian Empire. It wished the Jews peace and security


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and directed them and their descendants to observe the days of Purim at the proper time, just as they had adopted rules for the observance of fasts and times of mourning. This was commanded by both Mordecai and Queen Esther.


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The Greatness of Xerxes and Mordecai
King Xerxes imposed forced labor on the people of the coastal regions of his empire as well as on those of the interior.


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All the great and wonderful things he did, as well as the whole story of how he promoted Mordecai to high office, are recorded in the official records of the kings of Persia and Media.


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Mordecai the Jew was second in rank only to King Xerxes himself. He was honored and well-liked by his fellow Jews. He worked for the good of his people and for the security of all their descendants.


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contenido:
Alexander the Great
This history begins when Alexander the Great, son of Philip of Macedonia, marched from Macedonia and attacked Darius, king of Persia and Media. Alexander enlarged the Greek Empire by defeating Darius and seizing his throne.


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As he advanced to the ends of the earth, he plundered many nations; and when he had conquered the world, he became proud and arrogant.


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By building up a strong army, he dominated whole nations and their rulers, and forced everyone to pay him taxes.


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When Alexander had been emperor for twelve years, he fell ill and realized that he was about to die. He called together his generals, noblemen who had been brought up with him since his early childhood, and he divided his empire, giving a part to each of them.


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and each had himself crowned king of his own territory. The descendants of these kings ruled for many generations and brought a great deal of misery on the world.


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Antiochus Epiphanes and the Renegade Jews
The wicked ruler Antiochus Epiphanes, son of King Antiochus the Third of Syria, was a descendant of one of Alexander's generals. Antiochus Epiphanes had been a hostage in Rome before he became king of Syria in the year 137.


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At that time there appeared in the land of Israel a group of traitorous Jews who had no regard for the Law and who had a bad influence on many of our people. They said,
Let's come to terms with the Gentiles, for our refusal to associate with them has brought us nothing but trouble.


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and some of them became so enthusiastic about it that they went to the king and received from him permission to follow Gentile customs.


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They had surgery performed to hide their circumcision, abandoned the holy covenant, started associating with Gentiles, and did all sorts of other evil things.


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Antiochus Attacks Egypt
When Antiochus had firmly established himself as king, he decided to conquer Egypt and rule that country as well as Syria.


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He invaded Egypt with a large fleet of ships and a powerful army, including chariots, elephants, and cavalry.


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Antiochus Persecutes the Jews
In the year 143, after the conquest of Egypt, Antiochus marched with a great army against the land of Israel and the city of Jerusalem.


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In his arrogance, he entered the Temple and took away the gold altar, the lampstand with all its equipment,


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the table for the bread offered to the Lord, the cups and bowls, the gold fire pans, the curtain, and the crowns. He also stripped all the gold from the front of the Temple


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and carried off the silver and gold and everything else of value, including all the treasures that he could find stored there.


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Then he took it all to his own country. He had also murdered many people and boasted arrogantly about it.


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Rulers and leaders groaned in sorrow.
Young men and young women grew weak.
The beauty of our women faded.


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Two years later Antiochus sent a large army from Mysia against the towns of Judea. When the soldiers entered Jerusalem,


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their commander spoke to the people, offering them terms of peace and completely deceiving them. Then he suddenly launched a fierce attack on the city, dealing it a major blow and killing many of the people.


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Then Antiochus and his forces built high walls and strong towers in the area north of the Temple, turning it into a fort.


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They also brought in arms and supplies and stored in the fort all the loot that they had taken in Jerusalem. This fort became a great threat to the city.


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The people of Jerusalem fled in fear,
and the city became a colony of foreigners.
Jerusalem was foreign to its own people,
who had been forced to abandon the city.


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Her Temple was as empty as a wilderness;
her festivals were turned into days of mourning,
her Sabbath joy into shame.
Her honor became an object of ridicule.


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Antiochus now issued a decree that all nations in his empire should abandon their own customs and become one people. All the Gentiles and even many of the Israelites submitted to this decree. They adopted the official pagan religion, offered sacrifices to idols, and no longer observed the Sabbath.


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The king also sent messengers with a decree to Jerusalem and all the towns of Judea, ordering the people to follow customs that were foreign to the country.


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He ordered them not to offer burnt offerings, grain offerings, or wine offerings in the Temple, and commanded them to treat Sabbaths and festivals as ordinary work days.


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They were commanded to build pagan altars, temples, and shrines, and to sacrifice pigs and other unclean animals there.


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They were forbidden to circumcise their sons and were required to make themselves ritually unclean in every way they could,


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so that they would forget the Law which the Lord had given through Moses and would disobey all its commands.


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The king not only issued the same decree throughout his whole empire, but he also appointed officials to supervise the people and commanded each town in Judea to offer pagan sacrifices.


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Many of the Jews were ready to forsake the Law and to obey these officials. They defiled the land with their evil,


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On the fifteenth day of the month of Kislev in the year 145, King Antiochus set up
The Awful Horror on the altar of the Temple, and pagan altars were built in the towns throughout Judea.


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and anyone who was caught with a copy of the sacred books or who obeyed the Law was put to death by order of the king.


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On the twenty-fifth of the month, these same evil people offered sacrifices on the pagan altar erected on top of the altar in the Temple.


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Mothers who had allowed their babies to be circumcised were put to death in accordance with the king's decree.


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Their babies were hung around their necks, and their families and those who had circumcised them were put to death.


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But many people in Israel firmly resisted the king's decree and refused to eat food that was ritually unclean.


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The Faithfulness of Mattathias
During that time, a priest of the Jehoiarib family named Mattathias, who was the son of John and the grandson of Simeon, moved from Jerusalem and settled in Modein.


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he said:
Why was I born to see these terrible things,
the ruin of my people and of the holy city?
Must I sit here helpless
while the city is surrendered to enemies
and the Temple falls into the hands of foreigners?


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contenido:
Its splendid furnishings
have been carried away as loot.
Our children have been killed in the streets,
and our young men by the sword of the enemy.


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In their grief, Mattathias and his sons tore their clothes, put on sackcloth, and continued in deep mourning.


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Then the king's officials, who were forcing the people to turn from God, came to the town of Modein to force the people there to offer pagan sacrifices.


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The king's officials said to Mattathias,
You are a respected leader in this town, and you have the support of your sons and relatives.


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Why not be the first one here to do what the king has commanded? All the Gentiles, the people of Judea, and all the people left in Jerusalem have already done so. If you do, you and your sons will be honored with the title of
Friends of the King, and you will be rewarded with silver and gold and many gifts.


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Mattathias answered in a loud voice,
I don't care if every Gentile in this empire has obeyed the king and yielded to the command to abandon the religion of his ancestors.


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My children, my relatives, and I will continue to keep the covenant that God made with our ancestors.


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Just as he finished speaking, one of the men from Modein decided to obey the king's decree and stepped out in front of everyone to offer a pagan sacrifice on the altar that stood there.


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When Mattathias saw him, he became angry enough to do what had to be done. Shaking with rage, he ran forward and killed the man right there on the altar.


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He also killed the royal official who was forcing the people to sacrifice, and then he tore down the altar.


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contenido:
In this way Mattathias showed his deep devotion for the Law, just as Phinehas had done when he killed Zimri son of Salu.


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contenido:
The Guerrilla Warfare of Mattathias
Then Mattathias went through the town shouting,
Everyone who is faithful to God's covenant and obeys his Law, follow me!


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contenido:
At that time also many of the Israelites who were seeking to be right with God through obedience to the Law went out to live in the wilderness, taking their children, their wives, and their livestock with them, because of the terrible oppression they were suffering.


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contenido:
The report soon reached the king's officials and the soldiers in the fort at Jerusalem that some men who had defied the king's command had gone into hiding in the wilderness.


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contenido:
A large force of soldiers pursued them, caught up with them, set up camp opposite them, and prepared to attack them on the Sabbath.


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contenido:
There is still time, they shouted out to the Jews.
Come out and obey the king's command, and we will spare your lives.


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contenido:
We will not come out, they answered.
We will not obey the king's command, and we will not profane the Sabbath.


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contenido:
but the Jews did nothing to resist; they did not even throw stones or block the entrances to the caves where they were hiding.


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contenido:
They said,
We will all die with a clear conscience. Let heaven and earth bear witness that you are slaughtering us unjustly.


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contenido:
So the enemy attacked them on the Sabbath and killed the men, their wives, their children, and their livestock. A thousand people died.


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contenido:
and said to one another,
If all of us do as these other Jews have done and refuse to fight the Gentiles to defend our lives and our religion, we will soon be wiped off the face of the earth.


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contenido:
On that day they decided that if anyone attacked them on the Sabbath, they would defend themselves, so that they would not all die as other Jews had died in the caves.


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contenido:
Then Mattathias and his friends were joined by a group of devout and patriotic Jews, the strongest and bravest men in Israel, who had all volunteered to defend the Law.


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contenido:
In addition, everyone who was fleeing from the persecution joined them and strengthened their forces.


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contenido:
Now that they had an army, they gave vent to their anger by attacking the renegade Jews. Those who escaped were forced to flee to the Gentiles for safety.


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contenido:
They rescued the Law of Moses from the Gentiles and their kings and broke the power of the wicked King Antiochus.


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contenido:
The Death of Mattathias
When the time came for Mattathias to die, he said to his sons,
These are times of violence and distress. Arrogant people are in control and have made us an object of ridicule.


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contenido:
But you, my sons, must be devoted to the Law and ready to die to defend God's covenant with our ancestors.


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contenido:
Remember what our ancestors did and how much they accomplished in their day. Follow their example, and you will be rewarded with great glory and undying fame.


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contenido:
Remember how Abraham put his trust in the Lord when he was tested and how the Lord was pleased with him and accepted him.


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contenido:
Phinehas, our ancestor, because of his burning devotion, was given the promise that his descendants would always be priests.


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contenido:
David was made king and was given the promise that his descendants would always be kings because of his steadfast loyalty to God.


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contenido:
Take each of these ancestors of ours as an example, and you will realize that no one who puts his trust in the Lord will ever lack strength.


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contenido:
Don't be afraid of the threats of a wicked man. Remember that he will die and all his splendor will end with worms feeding on his decaying body.


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contenido:
Today he may be highly honored, but tomorrow he will disappear; his body will return to the earth and his scheming will come to an end.


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contenido:
But you, my sons, be strong and courageous in defending the Law, because it is through the Law that you will earn great glory.


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contenido:
Judas Maccabeus has been strong all his life; he will be your commander and will lead you in battle against the enemy.


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contenido:
He was buried in the family tomb at Modein, and all the people of Israel went into deep mourning for him. This happened in the year 146.


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contenido:
All his brothers and all the loyal followers of his father gave him their support, and they were happy to carry on Israel's war.


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contenido:
Judas brought greater glory to his people.
In his armor, he was like a giant.
He took up his weapons and went to war;
with his own sword he defended his camp.


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contenido:
In fear of him, lawless men huddled together in terror,
not knowing which way to turn.
He advanced the cause of freedom by what he did.


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contenido:
He made life miserable for many kings,
but brought joy to the people of Israel.
We will praise him forever for what he did.


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contenido:
He went through the towns of Judea
and destroyed all the godless men.
He relieved Israel of its terrible suffering.


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contenido:
His fame spread to the ends of the earth,
as he gathered together those who were threatened with death.


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contenido:
Then Apollonius assembled a Gentile army, including a large force from Samaria, to attack the people of Israel.


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contenido:
When Judas learned of this, he marched out to battle, defeated the army, and killed Apollonius. Many Gentiles lost their lives, and the rest fled.


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contenido:
When the spoils of war were collected, Judas took the sword of Apollonius and used it in battle until the day he died.


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contenido:
Seron, the general of the Syrian forces, learned that Judas had gathered together an army, consisting of a band of loyal men who were ready to fight under his command.


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contenido:
Seron said to himself,
I will make a reputation for myself throughout the empire by defeating Judas and his men, who have no respect for the king's command.


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contenido:
Then he began a new campaign against Judas and was joined by a strong force of godless men who were eager to help him take vengeance on Israel.


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When Judas' men saw the army coming against them, they asked,
How can our little group of men fight an army as big as that? Besides, we have not eaten all day, and we are tired!


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It is not difficult, Judas answered,
for a small group to overpower a large one. It makes no difference to the Lord whether we are rescued by many people or by just a few.


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contenido:
Victory in battle does not depend on who has the largest army; it is the Lord's power that determines the outcome.


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contenido:
Our enemies are coming against us with great violence, intending to plunder our possessions and kill our wives and children.


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contenido:
As soon as Judas had finished speaking, he and his men made a sudden attack against Seron and his army and crushed them.


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contenido:
They pursued them down the pass at Beth Horon to the plain and killed about 800 men. Those who escaped fled to Philistia.


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contenido:
His fame reached the ears of King Antiochus, and people in every nation talked about Judas and his victories.


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contenido:
The King Appoints Lysias as Governor
When Antiochus heard what had happened, he was furious. He ordered all the armies of his empire to assemble in one huge force.


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contenido:
From his treasury he paid a full year's wages to his soldiers and ordered them to be prepared for any emergency.


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contenido:
But then he found that the funds in his treasury were exhausted. Income from taxes had decreased because of the disorder and the troubles he had brought on the world by doing away with the laws which had been in force from the earliest times.


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Antiochus had always given presents more lavishly than earlier kings, but now he was worried that he might not be able to continue this, or even to meet expenses—this had happened once or twice before.


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contenido:
He was very disturbed; but finally he decided to go to Persia, collect the taxes from the provinces there, and bring together a large sum of ready cash.


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He appointed Lysias, an important man who had been granted the title
Relative of the King, as governor to take care of the king's affairs in the whole territory between the Euphrates River and the Egyptian border.


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contenido:
He put Lysias in charge of all the elephants and of half his army, and then gave him detailed instructions about what he wanted done, and in particular, what he wanted done with the inhabitants of Judea and Jerusalem.


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contenido:
Lysias was ordered to send an army against the Jews, especially the Jews in Jerusalem, to break their power and destroy them, so that no trace of them would remain.


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contenido:
Taking the other half of his army, the king set out from Antioch, his capital city, in the year 147. He crossed the Euphrates River and marched through Mesopotamia.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
The Victories of Judas
Lysias chose Nicanor, Gorgias, and Ptolemy son of Dorymenes as army commanders; all three were able men who bore the title
Friend of the King.


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contenido:
He put them in charge of 40,000 infantry and 7,000 cavalry and ordered them to invade the land of Judea and destroy it as the king had commanded.


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contenido:
These commanders set out with their entire force, and when they came to the plains near Emmaus, they made camp.


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contenido:
A force from Idumea and Philistia joined them. The merchants of the region heard about the strength of the army, and they came to the camp with chains and a large amount of money, hoping to buy some Jewish slaves.


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contenido:
Judas and his brothers saw that their situation was getting more and more difficult, with foreign armies camped within their own borders. They also learned that the king had commanded the complete destruction of the people.


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Jerusalem was as empty as a wilderness;
no citizens left or entered the city.
The holy Temple was profaned by foreigners,
and Gentiles camped in the city's fort;
so joy departed from the people of Israel,
and the sound of music was heard no more.


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contenido:
Then Judas and his men assembled and marched to Mizpah, opposite Jerusalem, because the people of Israel had previously had a place of worship there.


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contenido:
In deep mourning, they fasted all that day, put on sackcloth, threw ashes on their heads, and tore their clothes.


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contenido:
the book of the Law to search for God's guidance.They brought the priests' robes, the offerings of the first grain, and the tithes, and then they brought in some Nazirites who had completed their vows.


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contenido:
now that your holy Temple has been trampled and profaned by Gentiles, and your priests mourn in disgrace?


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contenido:
After that, Judas divided his men into groups of ten, fifty, a hundred, and a thousand, placing officers in charge of each group.


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contenido:
Then, in obedience to the Law, he sent home everyone who had recently been married, built a house, or planted a vineyard, as well as anyone who was afraid.


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contenido:
where Judas said to them:
Prepare yourselves for battle and be courageous! Be ready early tomorrow morning to fight these Gentiles who have joined forces to attack us and destroy us and our Temple.


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contenido:
It is better for us to die fighting than to stand idly by and watch the destruction of our nation and our Temple.


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contenido:
with men from the fort in Jerusalem as his guides. He had planned to make a surprise attack on the Jewish army,


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contenido:
When Gorgias and his army reached Judas' camp that night, they found no one there. They thought Judas and his men were trying to escape, so they started looking for them in the mountains.


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contenido:
At dawn Judas appeared in the plain with 3,000 men, not all of them as well armed as they would have liked.


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contenido:
But Judas said to his men,
Don't worry about the size of their army, and don't be frightened when they attack.


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contenido:
Remember how our ancestors were saved at the Red Sea when the king of Egypt was pursuing them with his army!


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contenido:
Now let us ask the Lord to have mercy on us. Let us pray that he will honor his covenant with our ancestors and crush this army when we attack today.


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contenido:
but all the stragglers were killed. The Israelites pursued the enemy as far as Gezer, the plains of Idumea, and the towns of Azotus and Jamnia. Altogether they killed about 3,000 of the enemy.


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contenido:
he said to his men,
Don't be greedy for loot. Gorgias and his army are nearby in the mountains, so there is still heavy fighting ahead of us. We must stand firm and fight. After that, you can safely take all the loot you want.


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Judas was just finishing his speech when an enemy patrol on a scouting mission looked down from the mountains


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contenido:
and saw that their army had been put to flight; they could tell from the smoke that their camp was burning.


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contenido:
When they saw all this, they were terrified, and when they also saw that Judas' army was in the plain ready for battle,


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contenido:
Then Judas returned to loot the enemy camp; he took large amounts of gold and silver, blue and purple cloth, and other rich plunder.


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contenido:
When the Jews came back to their own camp, they sang a hymn:
The Lord is worthy of praise; his mercy endures forever.


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contenido:
Victory over Lysias
The Gentile troops that escaped went to Lysias and reported all that had happened.


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contenido:
When Lysias heard that his troops had lost the battle, he was shocked and disappointed that Israel had not been defeated as the king had commanded.


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contenido:
In the following year Lysias gathered an army of 60,000 well-trained infantry and 5,000 cavalry, intending to conquer the Jews.


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contenido:
When Judas saw how strong the enemy's army was, he prayed,
We will praise you, Savior of Israel. You broke the attack of the giant by the hand of your servant David and you let Saul's son Jonathan and the young man who carried his weapons defeat the entire Philistine army.


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contenido:
Now in the same way let your people Israel defeat our enemy. Put them to shame, in spite of all their confidence in their infantry and cavalry.


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contenido:
When Lysias saw that his army was being defeated and when he saw the reckless courage of Judas and his men, who showed that they were ready to live or die with honor, he returned to Antioch. There he recruited some mercenaries and planned to return to Judea later with a much larger army.


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contenido:
The Purification of the Temple
Judas and his brothers said,
Now that our enemies have been defeated, let's go to Jerusalem to purify the Temple and rededicate it.


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contenido:
There they found the Temple abandoned, the altar profaned, the gates burned down, the courtyards grown up in a forest of weeds, and the priests' rooms torn down.


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contenido:
and fell face down on the ground. When the signal was given on the trumpets, everyone cried out to the Lord.


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contenido:
Then Judas ordered some of his soldiers to attack the men in the fort, while he purified the Temple.


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contenido:
They purified the Temple and took the stones that had been defiled and put them in an unclean place.


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contenido:
by the Gentiles, and decided to tear it down, so that it would not stand there as a monument to their shame. So they tore down the altar


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contenido:
and put the stones in a suitable place on the Temple hill, where they were to be kept until a prophet should appear and decide what to do with them.


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contenido:
They made new utensils for worship and brought the lampstand, the altar of incense, and the table for the bread into the Temple.


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contenido:
They burned incense on the altar and lit the lamps on the lampstand, and there was light in the Temple!


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contenido:
The twenty-fifth day of the ninth month, the month of Kislev, in the year 148 was the anniversary of the day the Gentiles had desecrated the altar. On that day a sacrifice was offered on the new altar in accordance with the Law of Moses. The new altar was dedicated and hymns were sung to the accompaniment of harps, lutes, and cymbals.


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contenido:
All the people bowed down with their faces to the ground and worshiped and praised the Lord for giving them victory.


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contenido:
For eight days they celebrated the rededication of the altar. With great joy they brought burnt offerings and offered fellowship offerings and thank offerings.


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contenido:
They decorated the front of the Temple with gold crowns and shields, rebuilt the gates and the priests' rooms and put doors on them.


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contenido:
Now that the Jews had removed the shame which the Gentiles had brought, they held a great celebration.


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contenido:
Then Judas, his brothers, and the entire community of Israel decreed that the rededication of the altar should be celebrated with a festival of joy and gladness at the same time each year, beginning on the twenty-fifth of the month of Kislev and lasting for eight days.


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contenido:
Then they built high walls and strong towers around Mount Zion, so that the Gentiles could not come in and trample and defile it again.


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contenido:
Judas placed a detachment of soldiers there to guard the Temple. He also fortified the town of Bethzur, so that the people of Israel would have a fortress facing Idumea.


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contenido:
Wars with Neighboring Nations
When the neighboring nations heard that the Jews had built the altar and restored the Temple as it had been before, they were so furious


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contenido:
that they made up their minds to destroy all the Jews who were living among them. So they began to murder and kill our people.


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contenido:
The Idumeans were blockading the Israelites, so Judas went to war against them at Akrabattene, crushed them, and looted them.


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contenido:
He also dealt with the people of Baean, who were a constant threat to the people of Israel, because they would lie in ambush waiting to trap Israelite travelers.


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contenido:
He shut the Baeanites up in their forts, took a solemn oath that he would destroy them, and burned their forts with everyone in them.


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contenido:
Then he marched against the land of Ammon, where he met a large and powerful army under the command of a man named Timothy.


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contenido:
The Gentiles in Gilead assembled to attack and destroy the Israelites living in their territory. But the Israelites fled to the fortress of Dathema


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contenido:
and sent the following letter to Judas and his brothers:
The Gentiles around us are joining forces under Timothy. We have fled to this fortress for protection, and now they are getting ready to capture it and destroy us.


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contenido:
All the Jewish men in the region of Tob have been killed, their wives and their children have been taken captive, and their possessions have been carried off. A force of about 1,000 men has been destroyed there.


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contenido:
This letter was still being read when other messengers, who had torn their clothes in sorrow, arrived with a report from Galilee.


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contenido:
When Judas and the people heard all this, a great assembly was held to decide what should be done to help these countrymen, who were in such difficulty under enemy attack.


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contenido:
Judas said to his brother Simon,
Choose some men and go rescue our fellow Jews in Galilee; our brother Jonathan and I will go to Gilead.


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contenido:
Judas left the rest of his army to defend Judea and put the two leaders, Azariah and Joseph son of Zechariah, in charge of the people.


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contenido:
He told them:
I am leaving you in command here, but don't go out and fight the Gentiles until we get back.


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contenido:
Then 3,000 men joined Simon for the march into Galilee, and 8,000 remained with Judas for the march into Gilead.


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contenido:
and pursued them all the way to the city of Ptolemais, killing about 3,000 of them, and taking the loot.


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contenido:
Then he took the Jews who were in Galilee and Arbatta, with their wives, their children, and all they owned, and brought them back to Judea with him. There was great rejoicing.


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contenido:
During this time, Judas Maccabeus and his brother Jonathan had crossed the Jordan River and had marched for three days through the desert.


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contenido:
They reported that many Jews were imprisoned in the fortified cities of Bozrah, Bosor, Alema, Chaspho, Maked, and Karnaim,


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contenido:
while others were imprisoned in the smaller towns of Gilead. They also reported that the enemy was drawn up to make an attack the next day on the Jewish fortresses, hoping to destroy all the Jews in a single day.


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contenido:
So Judas and his army suddenly turned and attacked Bozrah by the desert road, captured the town, and killed every man in it. They looted the town and set it on fire.


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contenido:
At dawn Judas and his men saw a vast army attacking the fortress; they were bringing up ladders, siege platforms, and battering rams in an effort to capture it.


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contenido:
When Judas heard the noise, the shouts, and the sound of trumpets coming from the city, he realized that the battle had begun,


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contenido:
He ordered his men to march in three columns and attack the enemy from the rear. As they moved forward, they blew trumpets and shouted prayers.


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contenido:
When the army under Timothy's command saw that it was Judas Maccabeus, the soldiers turned and fled. Judas crushed them and killed about 8,000 men that day.


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contenido:
Then Judas turned aside to attack the town of Alema; he captured it and killed all the men in it. He looted the town and set fire to it.


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contenido:
Judas sent some men to spy on the camp, and they reported back to him that all the Gentiles in the region had joined Timothy and had formed a large army.


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contenido:
Timothy had also hired Arab mercenaries to help him, and these were camped on the other side of the river ready to attack Judas. So Judas went out to meet them in battle.


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contenido:
As Judas and his army came closer to the water, Timothy said to his officers,
If he keeps on coming and crosses the river, we won't be able to turn back his attack, and he will defeat us.


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contenido:
But if he is afraid and stops on the other side of the river, we will cross over to attack and defeat him.


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contenido:
When Judas reached the bank of the river, he gave orders to his officers to let no one stop but to push everyone forward into battle.


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contenido:
Judas was the first to cross the river against the enemy, and all his men followed him. The Gentiles broke ranks before them, threw away their arms, and fled to the pagan temple at Karnaim.


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contenido:
But Judas and his men took the city and burned down the temple with all who were in it. With Karnaim overthrown, the Gentiles could no longer offer any resistance to Judas.


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contenido:
Then Judas gathered together all the Jews in Gilead to take them back to Judea with him. It was a large group of all kinds of people, together with their wives and children and all that they owned.


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contenido:
They went as far as Ephron, a large, well-fortified town. It was impossible to go around it on either side, and the road passed directly through the town.


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contenido:
Then Judas sent a friendly message to them:
Let us pass through your territory to return home. No one will harm you; we will just pass through. But they still refused to open the gates.


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contenido:
The fighting men were ordered to take up their positions and attack the town. They fought all day and all night, until they had taken it.


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contenido:
Judas had all the men of Ephron put to death, plundered the town, and leveled it. Then he and his army marched through the town over the dead bodies.


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contenido:
Throughout the whole march Judas kept gathering up the stragglers and encouraging the people until they reached the land of Judea.


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contenido:
With thanksgiving and rejoicing, they went up to Mount Zion and sacrificed burnt offerings because they had returned safely without a single loss.


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contenido:
Joseph and Azariah, the commanders of the army in Judea, heard about their brave deeds and victories.


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contenido:
They said to one another,
Let's go to war with the Gentiles around us and win some fame for ourselves.


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contenido:
They defeated Joseph and Azariah and pursued them as far as the borders of Judea. At least 2,000 Israelite men were killed that day.


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contenido:
This great defeat came about because the Jewish commanders wanted to be heroes and refused to obey Judas and his brothers.


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contenido:
Besides, they did not belong to the family of the Maccabees, whom God had chosen to bring freedom to the people of Israel.


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contenido:
But Judas Maccabeus and his brothers won great respect among all the Israelites and all the Gentiles. When people heard of their fame,


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contenido:
Then Judas and his brothers went to war against the Edomites to the south. He attacked Hebron and its surrounding towns, destroyed its fortifications, and burned down the towers around it.


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contenido:
That day a number of priests were killed in battle because they wanted to be heroes and foolishly went out to fight.


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contenido:
Judas turned aside to Azotus in Philistia. He pulled down the altars, burned the images of their gods, plundered their towns, and then returned to Judea.


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contenido:
The Death of Antiochus the Fourth
As King Antiochus the Fourth was passing through Mesopotamia, he heard of a city in Persia, named Elymais, which was famous for its riches in silver and gold.


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contenido:
The temple was very rich, containing gold shields, armor, and weapons left there by Alexander, son of King Philip of Macedonia, who was the first to rule the Greek Empire.


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contenido:
Antiochus came and tried to take the city and loot it, but he didn't succeed, because the citizens had learned what he was planning to do,


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contenido:
and they drew up their troops to resist him. In great frustration he withdrew to return to Babylonia.


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contenido:
In Persia a messenger reached him with the news that the armies he had sent into Judea had been defeated.


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contenido:
Lysias and his strong army had been forced to flee from the Jews, who were now reinforced by the additional weapons, supplies, and loot they had taken from the defeated armies.


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The Jews had pulled down the thing they called
The Awful Horror that Antiochus had built on the altar in Jerusalem. They had also surrounded the Temple with high walls, as it had been before, and had taken and fortified the town of Bethzur, one of the king's own towns.


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When the king heard this report, he was so dumbfounded and terribly shaken that he went to bed in a fit of deep depression because things had not turned out as he had hoped.


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contenido:
He remained ill for a long time, as waves of despair swept over him, until he finally realized that he was going to die.


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contenido:
He called together all those to whom he had given the title
Friends of the King and said to them,
I cannot sleep, and my heart is broken with grief and worry.


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contenido:
At first I asked myself why these great waves of trouble were sweeping over me, since I have been kind and well-liked during my reign.


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contenido:
But then I remembered the wrongs I did in Jerusalem when I took all the silver and gold objects from the Temple and tried without any good reason to destroy the inhabitants of Judea.


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contenido:
I know this is why all these terrible things have happened to me and I am about to die in deep despair here in this foreign land.


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contenido:
He gave him his crown, robe, and official ring, and authorized him to educate his son Antiochus the Fifth and bring him up to be king.


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contenido:
When Lysias learned that the king had died, he made the young Antiochus king in place of his father. He had brought up Antiochus from childhood and now gave him the name Eupator.


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contenido:
The Campaign of Antiochus the Fifth and Lysias
Meanwhile, the enemies in the fort at Jerusalem had been blockading the people of Israel in the area around the Temple, constantly causing them trouble and giving support to the Gentiles.


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contenido:
The people assembled and laid siege to the fort in the year 150. They built siege platforms and battering rams.


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contenido:
But some of the men under siege escaped, and together with some of the renegade Jews, they went to the king and said,


book: 1Macc
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;How long are you going to wait before you take revenge for what was done to our countrymen?


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contenido:
But what good did it do us? Now our own countrymen have become our enemies. In fact, they have killed as many of us as they could find and have stolen our possessions.


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contenido:
And now they have laid siege to the fort in Jerusalem and are planning to take it. They have also fortified the Temple and Bethzur.


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contenido:
When the king heard this, he was furious. He brought together all the army commanders, the cavalry officers, and his most trusted advisers.


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contenido:
The king and his army passed through Idumea and laid siege to Bethzur, where they fought for a long time. They built battering rams and siege platforms, but the defenders fought bravely and came out of the town and burned down the platforms.


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contenido:
Then Judas withdrew his troops from the fort in Jerusalem and set up his camp at Beth Zechariah, blocking the advance of the king's army.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
Early the next morning, the king rapidly moved his army along the road to Beth Zechariah, where his troops took up battle positions and blew trumpets.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
The huge animals were distributed among the infantry units. A thousand men, protected by chain armor and bronze helmets, were stationed with each elephant. Each animal was also accompanied by a special force of 500 cavalry,


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contenido:
A strong, protected wooden platform was securely fastened by a special harness to the back of each elephant. Three soldiers rode on each animal, in addition to the elephant driver.


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contenido:
Lysias placed the rest of the cavalry on the two flanks of the army where they could be protected by the infantry while harassing the enemy.


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contenido:
The sunlight, reflected off the bronze and gold shields, shone on the mountains and flashed like burning torches.


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contenido:
Part of the king's army was spread out over the higher ground of the mountain slopes and part over the lower land, but they all moved forward steadily and in good order.


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contenido:
All the people were terrified when they heard the noise made by the clashing of weapons and the marching of that great and powerful army.


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contenido:
When Eleazar Avaran saw that one of the elephants was larger than the others and that it was covered with royal armor, he thought that the king was riding on it.


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contenido:
He ran boldly toward the elephant, which was in the middle of a battalion of infantry. He rushed forward killing men to the right and left, so that the enemy soldiers fell back before him on both sides.


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contenido:
But when the Jews realized how strong the royal army was and how determined it was to fight, they retreated.


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contenido:
The king and his army advanced to fight the Jews at Jerusalem and laid siege to the whole of Judea and Jerusalem.


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contenido:
He made peace with the Jews of Bethzur, who then left the town. There had not been enough food in the town for them to withstand the siege because it was the sabbatical year, when no crops were planted.


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contenido:
Then he surrounded the Temple and besieged it for a long time. He set up siege platforms, battering rams, catapults for throwing fire and stones, and other weapons to throw spears and rocks.


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contenido:
The defenders also made war machines to oppose those of the enemy, and so the battle went on for a long time.


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contenido:
But there was no food left in the Temple storage bins because it was the sabbatical year, and the people who had fled from the Gentiles and taken refuge in Judea had eaten all the food that had been stored there.


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contenido:
The shortage of food had been so severe that many people had scattered to their homes, and only a few men were left in the Temple.


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contenido:
Meanwhile, Philip, who had been appointed by King Antiochus before his death to educate his son to be king,


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contenido:
returned from Persia and Media. He had come back with the royal army and planned to take control of the government. When Lysias heard this news,


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contenido:
he made rapid preparations to depart. He said to the young king, to his officers, and to his men,
We are growing weaker each day; we are short of provisions, and this place we are besieging is strong. Besides, there are pressing government affairs which need our attention.


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contenido:
We will allow them to follow their own laws and customs as they did before. All this trouble started when we provoked them by abolishing their laws and customs.


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contenido:
This recommendation was well received by the king and the officers, so Lysias proposed peace terms to the Jews, and they accepted them.


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contenido:
When the king and his officers solemnly agreed to abide by these terms, the Jews came out of their fortress.


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contenido:
But when the king entered the Temple area on Mount Zion and saw the strong fortifications, he broke his word and ordered the walls surrounding the Temple to be torn down.


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contenido:
Then he hurriedly left and returned to Antioch, where he found Philip in control of the city. The king attacked the city and took it by force.


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contenido:
The High Priest Alcimus and the Campaign of Nicanor
In the year 151, Demetrius son of Seleucus left Rome and with a few men landed at a town on the Mediterranean coast, where he proclaimed himself king.


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contenido:
As he was making his way to the royal palace of his ancestors, the soldiers arrested Antiochus the Fifth and Lysias, planning to take them to Demetrius.


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contenido:
Then all the godless traitorous Jews led by Alcimus, who wanted to be High Priest, went to Demetrius.


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contenido:
They brought accusations against the other Jews and said,
Judas and his brothers have killed everybody who supported you, and they have driven us out of our country.


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contenido:
We advise you to send someone whom you can trust to go and inspect all the damage done to our property and the king's territory and to punish Judas, his brothers, and all who support them.


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contenido:
King Demetrius chose one of his advisers, a man by the name of Bacchides, who was the governor of Greater Syria. He was an important man in the empire and loyal to the king.


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contenido:
He was sent along with the godless Alcimus, whom the king had appointed High Priest; Alcimus had orders to take revenge on the Jews.


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contenido:
They left Antioch and arrived in Judea with a large army. Bacchides tried to trick Judas and his brothers by sending to them messengers with offers of peace.


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contenido:
But when Judas and his brothers saw what a large army they had brought, they did not believe what the messengers said.


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contenido:
These devout and patriotic men were the first of the Jews to try to make peace with Alcimus and Bacchides.


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contenido:
They trusted Alcimus, who was a priest descended from Aaron, and they thought he would not cause them any harm.


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contenido:
Alcimus assured them of his peaceful intentions and solemnly promised that no harm would come to them or their friends.


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contenido:
But as soon as they began to trust him, he arrested 60 of them and put them all to death on the same day. As the scripture says,


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contenido:
The blood of your faithful people was poured out,
their bodies were scattered around Jerusalem,
and there was no one left to bury the dead.


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contenido:
When this happened, all the people were afraid of Alcimus and Bacchides, and they said,
They don't know what truth or justice means. They gave their solemn word and then broke it!


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contenido:
Bacchides left Jerusalem and set up his headquarters at Beth Zaith. He ordered the arrest of some of the faithful Jews and even many of the renegades who had willingly joined him; he had them killed and thrown into a deep pit.


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contenido:
Bacchides put the country under the control of Alcimus, left troops there to help him, and returned to the king.


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contenido:
Every troublemaker in the country joined him. They gained control of the land of Judea and caused great difficulties for the Jews.


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contenido:
Judas saw that the trouble Alcimus and his men had caused was even worse than the damage done by the Gentiles.


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contenido:
So he went around the whole country of Judea taking revenge on all the men who had willingly joined Alcimus and preventing them from leaving the towns and going into the country.


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contenido:
When Alcimus saw that Judas and his men were growing more powerful and when he realized that he would not be able to stand against them, he returned to the king and accused them of great crimes.


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contenido:
Then the king sent Nicanor, one of his most honored officers, who hated the Jews, with orders to exterminate them.


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contenido:
Nicanor came to Jerusalem with a big army. He tried to trick Judas and his brothers by sending peace offers. He said,


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contenido:
There need not be any quarrel between you and me. I will come to you with a small escort for a friendly private conversation.


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contenido:
When he came to Judas, they exchanged polite greetings, but Judas' enemies were ready to kidnap him.


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contenido:
When Judas learned that Nicanor's visit was part of a plot against him, he was afraid and decided not to meet him again.


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contenido:
Nicanor realized that his plan had been discovered, so he left Jerusalem to meet Judas in battle near Capharsalama.


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contenido:
Some time later Nicanor went to Mount Zion. Some of the priests left the Temple and, along with some of the leaders of the people, went to welcome him with words of peace and to show him the burnt offering that was being sacrificed on behalf of the king.


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contenido:
and angrily threatened them with an oath,
Unless Judas and his army are surrendered to me immediately, I will burn this Temple down as soon as I return after my victory. And he left in a rage.


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contenido:
The priests went into the courtyard and stood facing the altar and the Temple. They started weeping and prayed,


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contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Lord, you chose this Temple to bear your name and to be a place of prayer and intercession for your people.


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contenido:
Now, take vengeance on this man and his army; let them die in battle. Remember how they spoke evil of you, and let none of them survive.


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contenido:
Lord, the Scriptures tell us that when a king sent messengers to insult you, your angel went out and killed 185,000 of his soldiers.


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contenido:
Now, in the same way, crush this army before us today and let everyone know that Nicanor is being punished because he insulted your holy Temple. Punish him as his wickedness deserves.


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contenido:
The armies met in battle on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and Nicanor's army was defeated. Nicanor himself was the first to be killed in the battle,


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contenido:
The Jews pursued them all day long from Adasa to Gezer. As they followed, they kept sounding the call to battle on the trumpets,


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contenido:
and from all the surrounding villages of Judea people came out and attacked the fleeing enemy from the sides. This forced them back toward the Jews who were chasing them, and all of the enemy were killed in the fight. Not one of them survived.


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contenido:
The Jews took the loot and then cut off Nicanor's head and his right arm, which he had extended so arrogantly. They brought his head and his arm to be put on display outside Jerusalem.


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contenido:
The Treaty with the Romans
Judas had heard about the Romans and their reputation as a military power. He knew that they welcomed all those who joined them as allies and that those who came to them could be sure of the friendship of Rome.


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contenido:
People had told him about the wars the Romans had fought and their heroic acts among the Gauls, whom they had conquered and forced to pay taxes.


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contenido:
He had been told what they had done in Spain when they captured the silver mines and the gold mines there.


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contenido:
By careful planning and persistence, they had conquered the whole country, even though it was far from Rome. They had overcome the kings from distant lands who had fought against them; they had defeated them so badly that the survivors had to pay annual taxes.


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contenido:
They had fought and conquered Philip and Perseus, kings of Macedonia, and all who had joined them against Rome.


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contenido:
They had even defeated Antiochus the Great, king of Syria, who had attacked them with 120 elephants, cavalry, chariots, and a powerful army.


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contenido:
They took him alive and forced him and his successors to pay heavy taxes, to give hostages, and to surrender


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contenido:
the Romans learned of the plans and sent a general to fight against them. The Romans killed many of the Greeks, took their wives and children captive, plundered their possessions, occupied their land, tore down their fortresses, and made them slaves, as they are today.


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contenido:
They also destroyed or made slaves of other kingdoms, the islands, and everyone who had ever fought against them.


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contenido:
But they maintained their friendship with their allies and those who relied on them for protection. They conquered kings near and far, and everyone who heard of their reputation was afraid of them.


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contenido:
In spite of all this, no Roman ever tried to advance his own position by wearing a crown or putting on royal robes.


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contenido:
They created a senate, and each day 320 senators came together to deliberate about the affairs of the people and their well-being.


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contenido:
Each year they entrusted to one man the responsibility of governing them and controlling their whole territory. Everyone obeyed this one man, and there was no envy or jealousy among them.


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contenido:
Judas chose Eupolemus, the son of John and grandson of Accos, and Jason son of Eleazar and sent them to Rome to make a treaty of friendship and alliance with the Romans.


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contenido:
He did this to eliminate Syrian oppression, since the Jews clearly saw that they were being reduced to slavery.


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contenido:
After a long and difficult journey, Eupolemus and Jason reached Rome and entered the Senate. They addressed the assembly in these terms:


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contenido:
Judas Maccabeus, his brothers, and the Jewish people have sent us here to make a mutual defense treaty with you, so that we may be officially recorded as your friends and allies.


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contenido:
and what follows is a copy of the letter which was engraved on bronze tablets and sent to Jerusalem to remain there as a record of the treaty:


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contenido:
May things go well forever for the Romans and for the Jewish nation on land and sea! May they never have enemies, and may they never go to war!


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contenido:
And to those at war with her, the Jews shall not give or supply food, arms, money, or ships, as was agreed in Rome. The Jews must carry out their obligations without receiving anything in return.


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contenido:
In the same way, if war is declared first against the Jewish nation, the Romans will come to their aid with hearty support, as the situation may require.


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contenido:
And to their enemies there shall not be given or supplied food, arms, money, or ships, as was agreed in Rome. The Romans must carry out their obligations without deception.


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contenido:
But if, in the future, both parties shall agree to add or remove anything, they shall act on their decision, and whatever they add or remove shall be valid.


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Furthermore, concerning the wrongs which King Demetrius is doing against the Jews, we have written him as follows,
Why have you treated our friends and allies, the Jews, so harshly?


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contenido:
If they complain to us about you one more time, we will support their cause and go to war against you on land and sea.


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contenido:
The Death of Judas
When Demetrius heard that Nicanor and his army had been annihilated, he again sent Bacchides and Alcimus to the land of Judea, this time with the Syrian wing of the army.


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contenido:
They moved along Gilgal Road, laid siege to Mesaloth in Arbela, captured it, and killed many people.


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contenido:
But when they saw the enormous size of the enemy army, they were terrified. So many men deserted that only 800 Jewish soldiers were left.


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contenido:
When Judas saw that his army was dwindling away and that the battle was about to begin, he was worried because there was not enough time to bring his army together.


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contenido:
He was discouraged, but he said to those who were still with him,
Let's prepare for the attack; maybe we can still defeat them.


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contenido:
His men tried to talk him out of it.
We are not strong enough, they said.
Let's retreat now and save our lives. Then we can return with reinforcements and fight the enemy. We don't have enough men now.


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contenido:
Judas replied,
Never let it be said that I ran from a battle. If our time has come, let's die bravely for our fellow Jews and not leave any stain on our honor.


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contenido:
The Syrian army came out of the camp and took up battle positions against the Jews. The cavalry was divided into two parts. The shock troops were in the front lines, but the archers and those who used slings went ahead of the main formation.


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contenido:
Bacchides took his position on the right. The infantry advanced, protected on both sides by the cavalry, and the war trumpets were blown. The soldiers of Judas also sounded their trumpets.


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contenido:
The ground shook from the noise when the two armies met, and they fought from morning until evening.


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contenido:
When Judas saw that Bacchides and the main force of the Syrian army was on the right, all his bravest men joined him,


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contenido:
But when the Syrians on the left wing saw that their right wing had been crushed, they turned to attack Judas and his men from the rear.


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contenido:
and there at the tomb they wept for him. All Israel mourned for him in great sorrow for many days. They said,


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contenido:
The other deeds of Judas, his battles, his courageous deeds, and his great accomplishments, were too many to write down.


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contenido:
Jonathan Succeeds Judas
After the death of Judas, the lawless traitors began to reappear everywhere in Judea, and all the wicked people returned.


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contenido:
Also at that time there was a severe famine, and the whole country went over to the side of the renegades.


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contenido:
These men hunted down the friends of Judas and brought them all before Bacchides, and he subjected them to torture and humiliation.


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contenido:
It was a time of great trouble for Israel, worse than anything that had happened to them since the time prophets ceased to appear among them.


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contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Since your brother Judas died, there has been no one like him to lead us against our enemies, against Bacchides and those of our own nation who oppose us.


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contenido:
But when this news reached Jonathan, he fled, with his brother Simon and their men, to the wilderness of Tekoa and set up camp at the pool of Asphar. (


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contenido:
Jonathan sent his brother John, who was responsible for the soldiers' families, to ask the Nabateans, with whom he was on friendly terms, for permission to store with them the large amount of baggage they had.


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contenido:
Some time later Jonathan and his brother Simon learned that the Jambrites were about to celebrate an important wedding and that there would be a bridal procession from the town of Nadabath. The bride was the daughter of one of the great princes of Canaan.


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contenido:
Jonathan and Simon had wanted revenge for the death of their brother John, so they and their men went up on one of the mountains and hid.


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contenido:
They kept watch and saw a noisy crowd loaded down with baggage. The bridegroom, his friends, and his relatives were on their way to meet the bride's party. They were heavily armed and were playing musical instruments and drums.


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contenido:
The Jews attacked from their ambush and killed many of them; the rest escaped into the mountains, while the Jews carried off all their possessions.


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contenido:
Jonathan and Simon had taken full revenge for the death of their brother, and they returned to the marshes along the Jordan.


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contenido:
Jonathan said to his men,
Now we must fight for our lives. We are in a worse situation than we have ever been in before.


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contenido:
The enemy is in front of us, the river is behind us, and marshes and thickets are on both sides of us; there is no way out.


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contenido:
The battle began and Jonathan and his men were just about to kill Bacchides, when he escaped to the rear of the army.


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contenido:
So Jonathan and his men jumped into the Jordan and swam to the other side to escape, and the Syrian army did not cross the river to follow them.


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contenido:
After Bacchides returned to Jerusalem, the Syrians built fortifications with high walls and barred gates for a number of towns in Judea: Emmaus, Beth Horon, Bethel, Timnath, Pirathon, Tephon, and the fortress in Jericho.


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contenido:
He also strengthened the fortifications of the towns of Bethzur and Gezer and of the fort in Jerusalem. He placed army units in them and stored up supplies there.


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contenido:
Then he took the sons of the leading men of the country as hostages and imprisoned them in the fort.


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contenido:
In the second month of the year 153, the High Priest Alcimus ordered that the wall of the inner court of the Temple be torn down. This would have destroyed what the prophets had accomplished; but just as the work began,


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contenido:
he had a stroke, and work was stopped. Paralyzed and unable to open his mouth, he could not speak or even make a will for his family.


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contenido:
When Bacchides learned that Alcimus was dead, he returned to King Demetrius, and the land of Judea had peace for two years.


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contenido:
Then all the renegades got together and said,
Look, Jonathan and his men are living in peace and security. If we bring Bacchides here now, he can capture them all in a single night.


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contenido:
and he set out with a large army. He sent secret letters to all his allies in Judea, asking them to seize Jonathan and his men. But they were not able to do so because the plot was discovered.


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contenido:
Jonathan and his men captured 50 of the traitorous leaders who had been involved in the plot and put them to death.


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contenido:
Then Jonathan, Simon, and their forces withdrew to Bethbasi in the wilderness. They rebuilt the fallen fortifications and strengthened the town's defenses.


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contenido:
When Bacchides learned about all this, he got his whole army together and alerted his supporters in Judea.


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contenido:
He attacked Bethbasi from all sides and built siege platforms. After the battle had gone on for a long time,


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contenido:
Jonathan slipped out into the country with a small body of men and left his brother Simon in charge of the town.


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contenido:
Jonathan defeated Odomera and his people, and then attacked and destroyed the Phasirite camp. Once defeated, they joined Jonathan and advanced with him in his attack against Bacchides.


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contenido:
In the battle Bacchides was pressed so hard that all his plans came to nothing, and he was defeated.


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contenido:
He was so furious with the traitorous Jews who had urged him to come to Judea that he put many of them to death.
Then Bacchides decided to return to his own country,


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contenido:
but when Jonathan learned of this, he sent ambassadors to Bacchides to arrange for peace terms and the return of Jewish prisoners.


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contenido:
Bacchides agreed to do as Jonathan asked and gave him his solemn promise that he would let him live in peace the rest of his life.


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contenido:
Bacchides handed over the prisoners and returned to his own country. Never again did he come into Jewish territory.


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contenido:
War came to an end in Israel. Jonathan settled in Michmash and began to govern the people and to eliminate the renegade Jews from Israel.


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contenido:
Alexander Epiphanes Makes Jonathan High Priest
In the year 160, Alexander Epiphanes, son of Antiochus the Fourth, landed at Ptolemais and captured it. The people welcomed him as their king.


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contenido:
in the hope of winning Jonathan over to his side and making peace with the Jews before Alexander made a treaty with them against him.


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contenido:
Demetrius thought that Jonathan would certainly remember all the wrongs he had done to him, his brothers, and the entire Jewish nation.


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contenido:
And so Demetrius made Jonathan his ally and gave him authority to raise an army and equip it. He also ordered that the hostages held in the fort at Jerusalem should be handed over to Jonathan.


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contenido:
These men were terrified when they learned that the king had given Jonathan authority to raise an army.


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contenido:
He ordered the builders to use squared stones for the city walls and for the protecting wall around Mount Zion. This was done.


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contenido:
But some of the Jews who had abandoned the Law of Moses and its commands were still left in Bethzur, which served as their last place of refuge.


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contenido:
King Alexander learned of the promises Demetrius had made to Jonathan and he also learned about Jonathan himself, about the battles he had fought, his courageous deeds, and the troubles he and his brothers had endured.


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contenido:
He was certain that he would never find another man like Jonathan and so decided to make him his friend and ally.


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contenido:
I have this day appointed you as High Priest of your nation and conferred upon you the title of
Friend of the King. You are to be our ally and give us your support.


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contenido:
He also sent him a royal robe and a gold crown.Jonathan put on the robes of the High Priest in the seventh month of the year 160 at the Festival of Shelters. He raised an army and stored up a large supply of weapons.


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contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;How did we manage to let Alexander get ahead of us? He has strengthened his position by making an alliance with the Jews.


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contenido:
I also will write them a friendly letter offering high positions and gifts, so that they will support me.


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contenido:
We are delighted to learn that you have kept your obligations under our treaty, remained loyal to us, and have not gone over to the side of our enemies.


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contenido:
I hereby grant all the Jewish people release and exemption from payment of regular taxes, salt taxes, and other special taxes.


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contenido:
Furthermore, from this day I release you from your obligation to pay me one third of the grain harvest and one half of the fruit harvest. From now on I will not demand these payments from Judea or from the three districts that have been added to Judea from Samaria and Galilee.


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contenido:
Jerusalem and its surrounding territory is to be recognized as a holy city and to be exempt from the payment of all taxes.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
I also give up my authority over the fort in Jerusalem and place it under the High Priest, who may station there anyone he wishes to guard it.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
I freely grant release to all Jews who are prisoners of war anywhere in my kingdom. All of them will be exempt from taxes, even on their cattle.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
No taxes shall be collected from any Jew anywhere in my kingdom on Sabbaths, New Moon Festivals, and other holy days. Furthermore, no taxes shall be collected three days before or after the major holy days.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
Jews may be enlisted in the royal army up to a total of 30,000 men, and they will receive the same pay as other royal troops.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
Some of them may be stationed in the great royal fortresses, and others assigned to responsible positions in the government. They shall have Jews as their leaders and officers, and they shall be allowed to follow their own laws and customs, just as the king has permitted for the people of Judea.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
The three districts added to Judea from the territory of Samaria will be completely incorporated into Judea and placed under the authority of the High Priest alone.


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contenido:
I give to the Temple in Jerusalem for its operating expenses the revenues from the city of Ptolemais and the lands belonging to it.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
I also promise to make an annual gift of 15,000 silver coins from appropriate accounts within the royal treasury.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
The total accumulated state subsidy, which we have failed to pay in recent years, shall be paid, and the payments continued from now on for the work of the Temple.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
In addition to this, we will no longer require the 5,000 silver coins annually from the Temple income. This money belongs to the priests serving in the Temple.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
Whoever owes a debt to the king or any other debt and takes refuge in the Temple in Jerusalem or in any area that belongs to it may not be arrested nor may his property anywhere in my kingdom be confiscated.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
Likewise, the expenses for rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem and its surrounding fortifications, as well as the walls of designated towns in Judea, shall be provided from the royal treasury.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
When Jonathan and the people heard the proposals made by King Demetrius, they refused to believe them or accept them, because they remembered how harshly he had treated them and what terrible troubles he had caused them.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
They preferred to give their allegiance to Alexander because he had been the first to open peace negotiations, and they remained his allies as long as he lived.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
But when the armies of the two kings met in battle, the army of Alexander turned and ran. Demetrius pursued them and won the battle.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
I have returned to my kingdom and taken my seat on the throne of my ancestors. I have taken over the government, and I am now in control of the country.


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contenido:
Now I am ready to make an alliance. Give me your daughter in marriage, and I will give both of you such gifts as you deserve.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
King Ptolemy replied,
It was a great day when you returned to your country and took the throne of your ancestors.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
I agree to your proposals, but first meet me at Ptolemais. We can get acquainted there, and I will give you my daughter in marriage.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
King Alexander met them, and Ptolemy gave him his daughter in marriage. The wedding was celebrated there in Ptolemais with royal splendor.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
So Jonathan, in a show of splendor, went to Ptolemais and met the two kings. He presented them with gifts of silver and gold, and he also gave many gifts to the high officials who had accompanied them. Everyone was favorably impressed with him.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
At the same time some traitorous Jews who wanted to make trouble for Jonathan made accusations against him, but King Alexander paid no attention to them.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
and he honored him by letting him sit at his side. Alexander told his officers to take Jonathan into the center of the city and to announce that no one was to bring charges against him for any reason and no one was to cause him any kind of trouble.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
When his accusers saw the honors given to him, heard the announcement, and saw him clothed in royal robes, they all fled.


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contenido:
The king further honored Jonathan by enrolling him in the First Order of the
Friends of the King and by making him general and governor of his province.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
Jonathan's Victory over Apollonius
In the year 165 Demetrius the Second, the son of Demetrius the First, left Crete and arrived in Syria, the land of his ancestors.


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contenido:
Demetrius reappointed Apollonius governor of Greater Syria. Apollonius raised a large army, set up camp near Jamnia, and sent the following message to Jonathan the High Priest:


book: 1Macc
contenido:
Because of you I am being ridiculed, but why do you, there in your mountains, continue this rebellion when no one supports you?


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contenido:
If you really have any confidence in your army, come down here on the plain and fight, where we can test each other's strength. Study the situation, and you will find that I have the support of the forces from the cities.


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contenido:
You will learn who I am and who our allies are, and you will discover that you have no chance of standing against us. Your predecessors have already been beaten twice on their own ground;


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contenido:
so how do you expect to defeat my cavalry and the kind of army I have here on the plain? Down here there is not so much as a pebble to hide behind and no way to escape.


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contenido:
When Jonathan received this message from Apollonius, he became angry. He took 10,000 elite troops from Jerusalem; his brother Simon also brought troops, and their two forces


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contenido:
set up camp outside of Joppa. The men of the city refused to let them in because there was a detachment of Apollonius' troops there, but Jonathan attacked,


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contenido:
and the men in the city became so frightened that they opened the gates, allowing Jonathan to capture Joppa.


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contenido:
When Apollonius heard what had happened, he took 3,000 cavalry and a large army of infantry and pretended to retreat south toward Azotus. However, relying upon the strength of his cavalry, he marched into the plain with his main force,


book: 1Macc
contenido:
positioning 1,000 cavalry where they could attack Jonathan's forces from the rear. Jonathan continued his pursuit as far as Azotus, where the two armies met in battle.


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contenido:
Not until then did Jonathan realize that he was caught in an ambush. His army was surrounded, and enemy arrows rained down on them from morning until evening.


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contenido:
Then, when the cavalry was exhausted, Simon appeared on the scene with his forces and attacked and overwhelmed the enemy infantry, who broke ranks and fled.


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contenido:
The cavalry, which by now was scattered all over the battlefield, fled to Azotus, where they took refuge in the temple of Dagon, their god.


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contenido:
But Jonathan set fire to the city and to the temple of Dagon, burning to death all those who had taken refuge there. Then he set fire to the surrounding towns and looted them.


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contenido:
Jonathan left and set up camp at Ascalon, where the people of the city came out to welcome him with great honors.


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contenido:
He sent him a gold shoulder buckle, which is given only to those honored with the title
Relative of the King. He also gave him the city of Ekron and its surrounding territory.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
The Fall of Alexander Epiphanes
King Ptolemy the Sixth of Egypt assembled an army of soldiers more numerous than the grains of sand along the seashore, and he also gathered a great fleet of ships. He intended to trap Alexander, take his kingdom, and add it to his own,


book: 1Macc
contenido:
so he went to Syria with promises of peace, and the citizens opened their gates to him and welcomed him. King Alexander had ordered them to do this because Ptolemy was his father-in-law.


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contenido:
When he reached Azotus, the people there showed him the burned ruins of the temple of Dagon and all the destruction in the city and the surrounding towns. There were corpses everywhere. The bodies of the men Jonathan had burned to death during the battle were now stacked up along Ptolemy's route.


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contenido:
The people told him what Jonathan had done, hoping that he would hold him responsible, but Ptolemy said nothing.


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contenido:
Jonathan, with all the proper ceremony, went to Joppa to meet him. They exchanged greetings and spent the night there.


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contenido:
In this way King Ptolemy, in his plot against Alexander, took control of the towns along the coast as far north as Seleucia-by-the-sea.


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contenido:
From there King Ptolemy sent this message to King Demetrius:
Let's make a treaty. My daughter is now Alexander's wife, but I will take her back and give her to you and let you rule over your father's kingdom.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
So he took his daughter away from Alexander and gave her to Demetrius; he broke off all relations with Alexander, and they became open enemies.


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contenido:
Then Ptolemy entered Antioch and assumed the crown of Syria; so he wore both the crown of Egypt and the crown of Syria.


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contenido:
King Alexander was in Cilicia at the time because the people of that region were in a state of rebellion.


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contenido:
But when he heard what Ptolemy had done, he moved to attack him. Ptolemy met him with a large force and won a decisive victory.


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contenido:
Two days later Ptolemy himself died, and the troops he had left in the fortresses were then killed by the local citizens.


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contenido:
Jonathan Wins the Favor of Demetrius the Second
About that time Jonathan gathered the men of Judea to attack the fort in Jerusalem. They built many siege platforms to use in the attack.


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contenido:
But some traitorous Jews who hated their own nation went to King Demetrius the Second and told him that Jonathan was laying siege to the fort in Jerusalem.


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contenido:
When Demetrius heard this, he was furious and immediately moved his headquarters to Ptolemais. He wrote to Jonathan and ordered him to lift the siege and to meet him for a conference in Ptolemais without a moment's delay.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
When Jonathan got the message, he gave orders for the siege to continue, and then chose some Jewish leaders and some priests to go with him. At the risk of his life,


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contenido:
he went to the king in Ptolemais, taking along robes, silver and gold, and many other gifts. He made a good impression on the king.


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contenido:
the king still treated him just as his predecessors had done. He honored him in the presence of all his advisers,


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contenido:
and confirmed him as High Priest, restoring all his former honors and appointing him to the highest rank among the
Friends of the King.


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contenido:
Jonathan asked the king to release the territory of Judea and the three regions of Samaria from the payment of taxes, promising that if Demetrius would do that, he would pay him a lump sum of 22,000 pounds of silver.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
For your information I am sending a copy of the letter I have written to the Honorable Lasthenes about you:


book: 1Macc
contenido:
I have decided to grant the Jewish nation certain benefits because they are our loyal allies and keep their treaty obligations.


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contenido:
I confirm their rights to the land of Judea and the three regions of Ephraim, Lydda, and Arimathea, which are hereby annexed to Judea from Samaria with all the lands belonging to them. This will be of benefit to everyone who goes to Jerusalem to offer sacrifice, since payments of the annual tax on produce and fruit from these lands will no longer be made to the king, but to the Temple.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
And I also grant them relief from the payment of revenues now due me from tithes, tolls, salt taxes, and special taxes.


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contenido:
You are required to see that a complete copy of this decree is made and given to Jonathan, to be posted in a prominent place on the Temple hill.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
Jonathan Helps Demetrius the Second
When King Demetrius saw that the land was peaceful under his rule and there was no further resistance, he disbanded his whole army and sent everyone home, except the soldiers he had hired from the Greek islands. This made all the soldiers who had served under his predecessors hate him because they had lost their source of income.


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contenido:
One of Alexander's former supporters, Trypho, saw that all the soldiers were complaining about Demetrius, so he went to Imalkue, the Arab who was responsible for bringing up Alexander's young son Antiochus.


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contenido:
Trypho stayed there for a long time and kept urging Imalkue to hand the boy over to him, so that he could make him king in place of his father. He also told Imalkue about the decrees of Demetrius and how the soldiers hated him.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
Jonathan sent a message to King Demetrius asking him to remove his troops from the fort in Jerusalem and from the fortresses in Judea, since they kept harassing the Jews.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
Demetrius replied: I will do what you request, and when the opportunity presents itself, I will bestow upon you and your nation the highest honors.


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contenido:
But now you can help me by sending soldiers to fight for me, because all of my troops have revolted.


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contenido:
Then the king called on the Jewish soldiers for help, and they all rushed to his aid. They went through the whole city and killed at least 100,000 people.


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contenido:
When the people saw that the Jews had complete control of the city, they lost courage and appealed to the king, requesting


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contenido:
The rebels threw down their arms and surrendered. The king and everyone in his kingdom now had great respect for the Jews, who returned to Jerusalem with a great deal of loot.


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contenido:
but he broke all his promises and turned against Jonathan. He did not reward him for his loyal service, but instead continued to harass him.


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contenido:
Jonathan Supports Antiochus the Sixth
Some time later, Trypho returned with the young boy Antiochus and crowned him king.


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contenido:
All the soldiers that Demetrius had dismissed then came to the support of the young king. They defeated Demetrius, and he fled.


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contenido:
The young King Antiochus wrote to Jonathan and confirmed him as High Priest and as ruler over the four regions and gave him the title
Friend of the King.


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contenido:
He sent him a set of gold tableware and authorized him to drink from gold cups, to wear a royal robe, and to wear the gold shoulder buckle awarded to
Relatives of the King.


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contenido:
He also appointed Jonathan's brother Simon as governor of the territory from the Phoenician coast to the Egyptian border.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
Jonathan then marched with his army through the towns of Greater Syria, and all the Syrian forces joined him as allies. He went to Ascalon, where the people welcomed him with great honors.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
Then he went to Gaza, but the people there barred their gates against him. So he laid siege to the city and burned and looted the surrounding area.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
The people of Gaza then asked for peace, and Jonathan arranged a truce. He took the sons of the leaders and sent them to Jerusalem as hostages. After that he marched on as far as Damascus.


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contenido:
Jonathan learned that the officers of Demetrius had come to Kedesh in Galilee with a large army, intending to keep him from carrying out his plan.


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contenido:
The people asked for peace terms, and Simon agreed. He then took over the town, drove the people out, and stationed a detachment of troops there.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
Jonathan and his army set up camp by Lake Galilee. Early the next morning he marched his troops to the plain of Hazor,


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contenido:
where the main force of the foreign army was advancing to meet him. Unknown to Jonathan, they had left a detachment of troops in ambush in the mountains,


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contenido:
Jonathan's entire army turned and ran. No one was left, except two officers, Mattathias son of Absalom and Judas son of Chalphi.


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contenido:
When his own fleeing soldiers saw this, they turned back and joined him in pursuit. They chased the enemy all the way back to their camp at Kedesh and then took over the camp.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
Alliances with Rome and Sparta
When Jonathan saw that things were working out to his advantage, he chose ambassadors and sent them to Rome to confirm and renew friendship with the Romans.


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contenido:
The ambassadors went to Rome, where they were admitted to the Senate chamber, and reported that the High Priest Jonathan and the Jewish nation had sent them to renew the earlier ties of friendship and alliance with Rome.


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contenido:
The Romans provided them with letters to the authorities in each country through which they would pass, guaranteeing them safe conduct in their return to the land of Judea.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
Jonathan the High Priest, the national council of leaders, the priests, and the rest of the people of Judea, to our brothers in Sparta, greetings.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
At an earlier time, your King Arius sent a letter to our High Priest Onias, stating that our two nations are related, as the attached copy shows.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
Onias received your ambassador with full honors and acknowledged receipt of your letter, which declared our alliance and friendship.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
And now, although we are not in need of such alliances, since we find our source of strength in the holy books we possess,


book: 1Macc
contenido:
we have written to renew our ties of brotherhood and friendship with you. We do not wish to become total strangers, and it has now been many years since your last communication.


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contenido:
Throughout the years we have taken every opportunity, on our festival days and other suitable days, to remember you when we have offered our sacrifices and made our prayers, as it is fitting and proper for brothers to do.


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contenido:
But we have had one series of troubles after another and have had to fight many wars, because we have been under constant attack by surrounding nations.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
So we have chosen Numenius son of Antiochus together with Antipater son of Jason and sent them as ambassadors to Rome to renew our ties of friendship and alliance with the Romans.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
We have also ordered them to go to you with our greetings and deliver this letter about the renewal of our ties of brotherhood.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
We have found a document about the Spartans and the Jews indicating that we are related and that both of our nations are descended from Abraham.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
In reply, we will send you a letter indicating that we are willing to share our possessions, including cattle and property, if you will do the same. We have given orders to our ambassadors to give you a full report about these matters.


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contenido:
Campaigns of Jonathan and Simon
Jonathan learned that the officers of Demetrius had returned to attack him with an even larger army than before.


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contenido:
Jonathan did not want to give them an opportunity to penetrate his own territory, so he left Jerusalem and went to meet them in the region of Hamath.


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contenido:
Jonathan sent spies into the enemy camp, who reported to him that the enemy forces were making plans to attack the Jews by night.


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contenido:
At sunset Jonathan ordered all his soldiers to be on the alert and to have their weapons ready for a surprise attack any time during the night. He also stationed guards all around the camp.


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contenido:
When the enemy soldiers learned that Jonathan and his men were ready for battle, they were panic-stricken and fled, leaving their campfires burning.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
Jonathan and his men saw the campfires but did not realize what had happened until the next morning.


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contenido:
Jonathan then set out after them, but he could not overtake them because they had already crossed the Eleutherus River.


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contenido:
Then Jonathan turned aside and attacked a tribe of Arabs called Zabadeans. He defeated them and plundered their possessions.


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contenido:
Meanwhile, Simon had also set out on a campaign and had advanced as far as Ascalon and the neighboring fortresses. Then he turned aside to Joppa


book: 1Macc
contenido:
and stationed a detachment of soldiers there because he had heard that the people were planning to hand over the fortress of Joppa to the soldiers of Demetrius.


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contenido:
When Jonathan returned, he called the council of the leaders together and made plans with them to build fortresses in Judea,


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contenido:
to increase the height of the walls of Jerusalem, and to build a high wall to separate the fort from the city. This would isolate the fort, making it impossible for the enemy to buy or sell anything.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
The people worked together to strengthen the city's defenses because a part of the east wall along the Kidron Valley had collapsed and the Chaphenatha section was in need of repair.


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contenido:
Simon also rebuilt the town of Adida in the foothills. He fortified it and constructed barred gates for it.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
Trypho Captures Jonathan
Then Trypho plotted a rebellion against King Antiochus so that he could make himself king of Syria.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
He was afraid, however, that Jonathan would not agree to this and would go to war against him to prevent it. So Trypho got his army ready and went to Beth Shan in the hope of capturing Jonathan and putting him to death.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
So he received Jonathan with all honors, presented him to all his advisers, gave him gifts, and ordered his advisers and soldiers to obey Jonathan as they would him.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
Why don't you send them home? Choose a few men to stay with you, and then accompany me to Ptolemais. I will hand the city over to you, as well as the rest of the fortresses, the troops, and all the officials. Then I will turn around and leave. In fact, that's why I am here.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
He took 3,000 men with him, but left 2,000 of them in Galilee, while only 1,000 accompanied him the rest of the way.


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contenido:
But when Jonathan entered Ptolemais, the people of the city locked the gates, arrested him, and killed everyone who had come with him.


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contenido:
Trypho sent infantry and cavalry units to Galilee and Jezreel Valley to kill the rest of Jonathan's soldiers.


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contenido:
The Jewish troops thought that Jonathan had been captured and killed, along with all those who had accompanied him, so they encouraged one another and marched out in battle formation.


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contenido:
When the approaching enemy forces saw that the Jews were ready to fight for their lives, they turned back.


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contenido:
Then the Jewish soldiers returned to Judea safely, but terribly afraid. The whole nation was in deep mourning, assuming that Jonathan and all his men had been killed.


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contenido:
All the surrounding nations now tried to destroy them. They thought that the Jews had no leaders or allies and that the time was ripe to annihilate them and put an end to their history.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
Simon Leads the Jews
Simon learned that Trypho had assembled a large army and that he had plans to invade Judea and devastate it.


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contenido:
He realized that this news had brought panic and fear to the people, so he went to Jerusalem, called the people together,


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contenido:
and tried to encourage them by saying,
You know how much my father's family, my brothers, and I have done for the sake of the Law of Moses and the Temple. You also know about the wars we have fought and the troubles we have had.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
All my brothers have been killed fighting for our Law, our Temple, and our nation, and I am the only one left.


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contenido:
But never let it be said that I tried to save my own life in a time of danger; I do not consider myself better than my brothers.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
Not in the least! It is true that in their hatred all the Gentile nations have gathered together to destroy us, but I will fight to defend my nation, the Temple, and your loved ones.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
and they answered with a loud shout,
You are now our leader in place of your brothers Judas and Jonathan.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
So Simon gathered together all the soldiers and hurried to complete the walls of Jerusalem and to strengthen all its defenses.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
He sent Jonathan son of Absalom to Joppa with a large army. This Jonathan drove out the people who were there and occupied the town.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
Trypho left Ptolemais with a large army to invade Judea, taking Simon's brother Jonathan along with him as a prisoner.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
When Trypho learned that Simon had succeeded his brother Jonathan and that he was ready to meet him in battle, he sent this message to him:


book: 1Macc
contenido:
I am holding your brother Jonathan under arrest because while he was in office he did not pay his debts to the royal treasury.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
However, I will release him if you will pay me 6,000 pounds of silver and send two of his sons as hostages to guarantee that he will not revolt against us when he is released.


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contenido:
Although Simon knew that they were deceiving him, he sent for the money and the two sons because he did not want to arouse the hostility of the Jews.


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contenido:
He was afraid that they might later say that Jonathan was put to death because Simon would not send the money and the boys.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
Then Trypho made his move to invade the land and destroy it, circling around by the road to Adora. But Simon and his army moved along facing him wherever he went.


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contenido:
The enemy soldiers in the fort in Jerusalem kept sending messengers to Trypho urging him to come to them quickly by way of the desert and to send them supplies.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
Trypho got all his cavalry ready for the invasion, but that night there was a heavy snowstorm, and he was not able to move up into the hills. So he withdrew and went into Gilead.


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contenido:
Simon had the body of his brother Jonathan brought to Modein, to be buried in the town of their ancestors.


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contenido:
Everyone in Israel was in deep sorrow at the loss of Jonathan, and they mourned for him a long time.


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contenido:
Over the tomb of his father and his brothers Simon built a high monument that could be seen from a great distance. It was covered front and back with polished stone.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
For the pyramids he created a setting of tall columns on which there were carvings. Some of these carvings were of suits of armor and some were of ships. It was a monument to their victories, which travelers from overseas could visit.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
Simon rebuilt the fortresses of Judea with high towers, strong walls, and barred gates; then he placed stores of supplies there.


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contenido:
He sent ambassadors to King Demetrius the Second to ask for tax relief for the land, since Trypho was doing nothing but robbing them.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
King Demetrius to the High Priest Simon, the friend of kings, to the Jewish nation, and to their leaders, greetings.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
I have received the gold crown and the gold palm branch which you sent, and I am prepared to make a peace treaty with you and to instruct our tax officials to grant you exemptions.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
Our previous agreements with you are confirmed, and the fortresses which you have built are to remain yours.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
I grant you pardon for treaty violations committed up to the present date, and I release you from payment of the special tax still due and any other taxes that have been collected up to this time in Jerusalem.


book: 1Macc
contenido:
People began to date their documents and contracts with these words:
In the first year of Simon, the great High Priest, commander and leader of the Jews.


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contenido:
At that time Simon laid siege to Gezer and surrounded it with his army. He built a movable siege platform, brought it up to the town wall, attacked one of the towers, and captured it.


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contenido:
The men who had been on the siege platform then moved rapidly into the town, and this created great confusion.


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contenido:
The men of the town, their wives, and their children tore their clothes in distress and climbed up on the top of the town wall. They pleaded loudly with Simon for a truce.


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contenido:
So Simon came to terms with them and ended the fighting. He made the people leave the town; then he purified the houses in which there had been idols. When that was done, he and his men entered the town singing hymns and songs of praise.


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He eliminated everything that would make the town ritually unclean and settled it with people who would obey every command contained in the Law of Moses. He strengthened the defenses of the town and built himself a palace there.


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Those in the fort in Jerusalem were now prevented from leaving to buy or sell anything. They were suffering from severe hunger and many of them had died of starvation.


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On the twenty-third day of the second month, in the year 171, there was a great celebration in the city because this terrible threat to the security of Israel had come to an end. Simon and his men entered the fort singing hymns of praise and thanksgiving, while carrying palm branches and playing harps, cymbals, and lyres.


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Simon issued a decree that the day should be joyfully celebrated every year. He strengthened the defenses of the Temple hill on the side facing the fort, and he and his men made their headquarters there.


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Simon's son John was now a grown man, so Simon made him commander of the whole army, and John set up headquarters at Gezer.


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contenido:
In Praise of Simon
In the year 172 King Demetrius the Second gathered his army and went to Media to seek additional help for his war against Trypho.


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contenido:
When King Arsaces the Sixth of Persia and Media heard that Demetrius had entered his territory, he sent one of his commanders with some troops to capture Demetrius alive.


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They attacked and defeated the army of Demetrius, took him captive, and brought him back to King Arsaces, who threw him in prison.


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The land of Judea was at peace as long as Simon lived. During his entire reign, he used his position of power and influence to do what was good for his people, and they were always pleased with him as their ruler.


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He added to his reputation when he captured the port of Joppa and opened up the route to the Greek islands.


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but he brought back many prisoners of war and captured Gezer, Bethzur, and the fort in Jerusalem. He purified the fort, and there was no one to oppose him.


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The young men showed off their splendid military uniforms, while the old men sat around the city squares and talked about the great things that had happened.


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Simon supplied the cities with food and provided them with weapons of defense. His fame spread everywhere.


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In those days all the enemy kings had been defeated, and there was no one left in the land to fight the Jews.


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Simon provided help for all the poor among his people, and guided by the Law of Moses, he eliminated all wicked and lawless men.


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He provided the Temple with splendid furnishings and added a large number of utensils for use in worship.


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But when the Spartans heard that Simon had succeeded his brother as High Priest and that he was in control of the country and its towns,


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they engraved on bronze tablets a renewal of the treaty of friendship which they had made with his brothers Judas and Jonathan and sent the tablets to him.


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What follows is a copy of the letter sent by the Spartans:
The people of Sparta and their rulers to Simon the High Priest, to the leaders and the priests of the Jews, and to all our Jewish brothers, greetings.


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The delegation that you sent to our people has told us how respected and renowned you are. Their visit has been a source of joy for us,


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and a report of their visit has been written down in our public records, as follows:
Numenius son of Antiochus and Antipater son of Jason, honored representatives of the Jews, appeared before us to renew their treaty of friendship.


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The assembly of the people was pleased to receive these men with all honors and to place a copy of their report in the public archives, so that the people of Sparta may have it on record. A copy of this document has been made for the High Priest Simon.


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Later, Simon sent Numenius to Rome with the gift of a large gold shield weighing half a ton, to confirm the Jews' alliance with the Romans.


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When the people of Israel heard about all this, they asked themselves,
How can we express our thanks to Simon and his sons?


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He, his brothers, and his father's whole family have been towers of strength for our nation. They have fought off our enemies and set the nation free.
So they recorded this on bronze tablets and set them up on columns on Mount Zion.


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The inscription read as follows:
On the eighteenth day of the month of Elul in the year 172, that is, in the third year of Simon, the High Priest,


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at a great assembly of priests, people, officials, and national leaders the following facts were made known to us:


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Often when wars broke out in the country, Simon son of Mattathias, a priest of the Jehoiarib family, and his brothers risked their lives in protecting our nation, our Temple, and our Law against our enemies. They have brought great glory to our nation.


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Then Simon assumed command and fought for his country. He spent a large amount of his own money to provide weapons and wages for his nation's armed forces.


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He fortified the towns of Judea, and especially Bethzur on the border, where enemy weapons had previously been stored. He stationed a detachment of soldiers there.


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He fortified the seaport of Joppa and the city of Gezer on the border of Azotus, which was previously occupied by enemy soldiers. He settled Jews there and provided the towns with everything that the people needed.


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When the people saw Simon's patriotism and how he wanted to bring glory to his nation, they made him their leader and High Priest. They did this because of all that he had accomplished through his loyalty and because he had brought about justice and had tried in every way to bring glory to his nation.


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Under his leadership the Gentiles were driven out of the land. Enemy soldiers were forced out of the area north of the Temple, where they had built the fort, from which the soldiers used to go out and defile the holy Temple.


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Simon settled Jews in the fort, strengthened it for the security of the country and the city of Jerusalem, and increased the height of the city walls.


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Demetrius did this because he had heard that the Romans were calling the Jews their friends, allies, and brothers and that they had received Simon's delegation with full honors.


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Therefore, the Jews and their priests are happy to have Simon and his descendants as their leaders and High Priests, until a true prophet appears.


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Simon shall govern their country, have charge of the Temple, and shall be their military commander. He shall be in charge of military supplies, fortifications, and public works.


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The people must obey him in everything. All government contracts shall be drawn up in his name. He shall have the right to wear royal robes with the gold shoulder buckle.


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No one, priest or people, shall have the legal right to annul any of these decisions, to alter or change any of Simon's orders, to convene any assembly in the country without his permission, or to wear royal robes with the gold shoulder buckle.


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The people gave their unanimous approval to grant Simon the right to act in accordance with these regulations.


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Simon consented and agreed to be supreme leader: High Priest, commander of the armies, and governor of the Jews and the priests.


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It was decided that this declaration should be engraved on bronze tablets and set up in a prominent place within the Temple area


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and that copies should be placed in the Temple treasury, where Simon and his sons would have access to them.


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Antiochus the Seventh Asks for Simon's Support
From the Greek islands Antiochus son of King Demetrius wrote the following letter to Simon the High Priest and governor of the Jews and to the whole nation:


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As you know, the kingdom of my ancestors has been seized by traitors. I have decided to reclaim it and restore its former greatness. I have raised a large army of mercenary troops and have fitted out warships.


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I plan to invade the land and to attack those who have destroyed many of the towns and ruined the country.


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Jerusalem and the Temple shall be free of taxation. All the weapons that you have manufactured and the defenses you have built and now occupy shall remain yours.


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In addition, all debts now owed to the royal treasury, or which may in the future fall due, are permanently canceled.


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As soon as I have regained control of my kingdom, I will confer upon you, your nation, and the Temple such great honors that the glory of your country will be evident to the whole world.


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In the year 174 Antiochus invaded the land of his ancestors. Most of the soldiers came over to his side, so that there were very few left with Trypho.


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With his ships joining the attack, he completely surrounded the town and brought such pressure on it that no one was able to enter or leave.


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Rome Supports the Jews
Meanwhile, Numenius and those with him arrived in Jerusalem from Rome with the following letter addressed to various kings and countries:


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A delegation from our friends and allies the Jews has come to us to renew the earlier treaty of friendship and alliance. They were sent by the High Priest Simon and the Jewish people,


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So we have decided to write to various kings and countries urging them not to harm the Jews, their towns, or their country in any way. They must not make war against the Jews or give support to those who attack them.


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Therefore if any traitors escape from Judea and seek refuge in your land, hand them over to Simon the High Priest, so that he may punish them according to Jewish law.


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and to all the following countries: Sampsames, Sparta, Delos, Myndos, Sicyon, Caria, Samos, Pamphylia, Lycia, Halicarnassus, Rhodes, Phaselis, Cos, Side, Aradus, Gortyna, Cnidus, Cyprus, and Cyrene.


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Antiochus the Seventh Breaks with Simon
King Antiochus laid siege to Dor for a second time, keeping it under constant attack. He built siege platforms, and his blockade kept Trypho and his men from going in or out.


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Simon sent 2,000 well-trained soldiers to help Antiochus, as well as silver and gold and a great deal of equipment.


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But Antiochus refused to accept them, canceled all the previous agreements that he had made with Simon, and became his enemy.


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Then Antiochus sent his trusted official Athenobius to negotiate with Simon. He told Simon,
You are occupying Joppa, Gezer, and the fort in Jerusalem, cities that belong to my kingdom.


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You have devastated those regions and brought great trouble to the country. You have seized control of many places in my kingdom.


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Now you must hand back these cities that you have captured, and you must give me the tax money that you have taken from places that you occupied outside the territory of Judea.


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If you are unwilling to do this, then you must pay me 30,000 pounds of silver, and 30,000 additional pounds of silver to compensate me for damages and for lost taxes. If you refuse to do either of these, we will go to war against you.


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When Athenobius came to Jerusalem and saw the splendor of Simon's court, the gold and silver tableware in his banquet hall, and the rest of the display of great wealth, he was amazed. He delivered the king's message to Simon,


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and Simon answered,
We have never taken land away from other nations or confiscated anything that belonged to other people. On the contrary, we have simply taken back property that we inherited from our ancestors, land that had been unjustly taken away from us by our enemies at one time or another.


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As for Joppa and Gezer, which you claim, we will give you 6,000 pounds of silver, in spite of the fact that the people of those cities have done great harm to our nation.
Athenobius made no reply,


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but he returned to the king in a rage. When he told the king what Simon had said, and reported on the splendor of Simon's court and all that he had seen, the king became violently angry.


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John's Victory over Cendebeus
In the meantime, Trypho had boarded a ship and escaped to the town of Orthosia.


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King Antiochus appointed Cendebeus as commander of the coastal area, provided him with infantry and cavalry,


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and gave him orders to move against Judea. He also ordered him to rebuild the town of Kedron and fortify its gates, so that he could fight against the Jewish people. The king himself continued to pursue Trypho.


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Cendebeus then came to Jamnia and began to harass the Jews by invading Judea, capturing people, and murdering them.


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He rebuilt Kedron and stationed some cavalry and infantry units there, so that they could make attacks and patrol the roads of Judea, as the king had ordered.


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Simon said to John and Judas, his two oldest sons,
All my father's family, my brothers, and I have fought Israel's battles all our lives, and many times we have been successful in saving Israel.


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I am old now, but you, thanks to God, are in the prime of life. You must take my place and that of my brother in fighting for our nation. And may God himself be with you.


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Then John raised an Israelite army of 20,000 trained soldiers and cavalry and marched out against Cendebeus. They spent the night in Modein,


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and then early the next morning they moved into the plain. There a large army of infantry and cavalry moved to meet them, but there was a river between the two armies.


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John and his army took up battle positions facing the enemy, but when John saw that his soldiers were afraid to cross the river, he crossed ahead of them, and his men saw him and followed.


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John divided his army and placed his cavalry in the middle of the infantry, because there was a large number of enemy cavalry.


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The trumpets sounded the attack, and Cendebeus and his army were defeated, and many of them were killed. The rest ran back to their fortress at Kedron.


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Judas was wounded in the battle, but his brother John continued to pursue the enemy as far as Kedron, which Cendebeus had rebuilt.


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The escaping soldiers fled to the towers in the fields at Azotus, and John set fire to the city. On that day, 2,000 enemy soldiers were killed, and John returned safely to Judea.


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The Murder of Simon and Two of His Sons
Simon the High Priest had appointed Ptolemy son of Abubus commander for the Plain of Jericho. Ptolemy was very rich,


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But he became too ambitious and wanted to take over the country. So he devised a plan to assassinate Simon and his sons.


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Simon, together with his sons Mattathias and Judas, was visiting the towns in the area, in order to take care of their needs. They arrived in Jericho in the month of Shebat, the eleventh month, in the year 177.


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Ptolemy, still plotting to murder Simon and his two sons, received them in a small fortress called Dok, which he had built. He gave a great banquet for them, but he had men hidden within the fortress.


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When Simon and his sons were drunk, Ptolemy and his men came out of hiding and with swords in hand rushed into the banquet hall, where they killed Simon, his two sons, and some of the servants.


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Then Ptolemy wrote a report of what he had done and sent it to the king. In the letter he requested that troops be sent to help him and that the country and the cities be turned over to him.


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He wrote a letter to the army officers inviting them to join him and promising them silver, gold, and gifts. Then he sent some of his men to Gezer to kill John,


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But someone ran to Gezer ahead of Ptolemy's men and reported to John that his father and his brothers had been killed and that Ptolemy was sending his soldiers to kill him.


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John was horrified at this news, but, because he had been warned in advance, he was able to capture and put to death the men who had been sent to kill him.


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Now the rest of what John did from the time he succeeded his father: his wars, his deeds of courage, his rebuilding of walls, and his other accomplishments,


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A Letter to the Jews in Egypt
From the Jews of Jerusalem and Judea to those in Egypt, warm greetings.


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May God be good to you and keep the covenant he made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, his faithful servants.


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May he fill each of you with the desire to worship him and to do his will eagerly with all your heart and soul.


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In the year 169, when Demetrius the Second was king of Syria, we wrote to tell you about the persecution and the hard times that came upon us in the years after Jason revolted against authority in the Holy Land.


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Jason and his men set fire to the Temple gates and slaughtered innocent people. Then we prayed to the Lord and he answered our prayers. So we sacrificed animals, gave offerings of grain, lit the lamps in the Temple, and set out the sacred loaves.


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This is why we urge you to celebrate in the month of Kislev a festival similar to the Festival of Shelters. Written in the year 188.


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A LETTER TO ARISTOBULUS
The Death of King Antiochus
From the Jews of Jerusalem and Judea, the Jewish Senate, and Judas, to Aristobulus, a descendant of priests and the teacher of King Ptolemy, and to the Jews in Egypt, greetings and good health.


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When King Antiochus arrived in Persia, his army seemed impossible to defeat, but they were cut to pieces in the temple of the goddess Nanea by an act of treachery on the part of her priests.


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King Antiochus had gone to the temple with some of his most trusted advisers, so that he might marry the goddess and then take away most of the temple treasures as a wedding gift.


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After the priests had laid out the treasure, he and a few of his men went into the temple to collect it. But the priests closed the doors behind him


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and stoned him and his men from trap doors hidden in the ceiling. Then they cut up the bodies and threw the heads to the people outside.


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Fire Consumes Nehemiah's Sacrifice
On the twenty-fifth day of the month of Kislev we will celebrate the Festival of Rededication just as we celebrate the Festival of Shelters. We thought it important to remind you of this, so that you too may celebrate this festival. In this way you will remember how fire appeared when Nehemiah offered sacrifices after he had rebuilt the Temple and the altar.


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At the time when our ancestors were being taken to exile in Persia, a few devout priests took some fire from the altar and secretly hid it in the bottom of a dry cistern. They hid the fire so well that no one ever discovered it.


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Years later, when it pleased God, the Persian emperor sent Nehemiah back to Jerusalem, and Nehemiah told the descendants of those priests to find the fire. They reported to us that they had found no fire but only some oily liquid. Nehemiah then told them to scoop some up and bring it to him.


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When everything for the sacrifice had been placed on the altar, he told the priests to pour the liquid over both the wood and the sacrifice.


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After this was done and some time had passed, the sun appeared from behind the clouds, and suddenly everything on the altar burst into flames. Everyone looked on in amazement.


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Then, while the fire was consuming the sacrifice, Jonathan the High Priest led the people in prayer, and Nehemiah and all the people responded.


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Nehemiah's Prayer
Nehemiah's prayer went something like this:
Lord God, Creator of all things, you are awesome and strong, yet merciful and just. You alone are king. No one but you is kind;


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no one but you is gracious and just. You are almighty and eternal, forever ready to rescue Israel from trouble. You chose our ancestors to be your own special people.


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Accept this sacrifice which we offer on behalf of all Israel; protect your chosen people and make us holy.


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Free those who are slaves in foreign lands and gather together our scattered people. Have mercy on our people, who are mistreated and despised, so that all other nations will know that you are our God.


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After the sacrifices had been consumed, Nehemiah gave orders for the rest of the liquid to be poured over some large stones.


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News of what had happened spread everywhere. The Persian emperor heard that a liquid had been found in the place where the priests had hidden the altar fire, just before they were taken into exile. He also heard that Nehemiah and his friends had used this liquid to burn the sacrifice on the altar.


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When the emperor investigated the matter and found out that this was true, he had the area fenced off and made into a shrine.


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It became a substantial source of income for him, and he used the money for gifts to anyone who was in his good favor.


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Nehemiah and his friends called the liquid nephthar which means purification, but most people call it naphtha.


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Jeremiah Hides the Tent of the Lord's Presence
We know from the records that Jeremiah the prophet instructed the people who were being taken into exile to hide some of the fire from the altar, as we have just mentioned.


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We also know that he taught them God's Law and warned them not to be deceived by the ornamented gold and silver idols which they would see in the land of their exile.


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These same records also tell us that Jeremiah, acting under divine guidance, commanded the Tent of the Lord's Presence and the Covenant Box to follow him to the mountain where Moses had looked down on the land which God had promised our people.


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When Jeremiah got to the mountain, he found a huge cave and there he hid the Tent of the Lord's Presence, the Covenant Box, and the altar of incense. Then he sealed up the entrance.


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When Jeremiah learned what they had done, he reprimanded them, saying,
No one must know about this place until God gathers his people together again and shows them mercy.


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At that time he will reveal where these things are hidden, and the dazzling light of his presence will be seen in the cloud, as it was in the time of Moses and on the occasion when Solomon prayed that the Temple might be dedicated in holy splendor.


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How Solomon Celebrated the Festival
We are also told how the wise King Solomon offered a sacrifice of dedication at the completion of the Temple,


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and that when he prayed, fire came down from heaven and consumed the sacrifices, just as it had done earlier when Moses prayed.


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Nehemiah's Library
These same facts are found in the royal records and in the memoirs of Nehemiah, who established a library and collected the writings of David, letters of the kings concerning offerings, and books about the kings and prophets.


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An Invitation to Celebrate the Festival
Since we are about to celebrate the Festival of Rededication, we are writing to you, advising you to celebrate it as well.


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God has saved all his people and has restored to all of us our holy land, the kingship, the priesthood, and the Temple services,


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just as he promised in his Law. He has rescued us from terrible evils and has purified the Temple, and we are confident that in his mercy he will soon gather us to his holy Temple from every nation under the sun.


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Author's Preface
Jason of Cyrene has recorded in five volumes the story of Judas Maccabeus and his brothers, the purification of the great Temple, and the dedication of its altar.


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and he has told of the heavenly visions that appeared to those who fought bravely and enthusiastically to defend Judaism. Our forces were few in number, but they plundered the entire country and routed the heathen forces.


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They recaptured the Temple famous throughout the world, liberated Jerusalem, and restored the laws that were in danger of being abolished. They were able to do all these things because the Lord was merciful and kind to them.


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The number of details and the bulk of material can be overwhelming for anyone who wants to read an account of the events.


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But I have attempted to simplify it for all readers; those who read for sheer pleasure will find enjoyment and those who want to memorize the facts will not find it difficult.


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It is as difficult as preparing a banquet that people of different tastes will enjoy. But I am happy to undergo this hardship in order to please my readers.


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I will leave the matter of details to the original author and attempt to give only a summary of the events.


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I am not the builder of a new house who is concerned with every detail of the structure, but simply a painter whose only concern is to make the house look attractive.


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but whoever is merely writing a summary should be permitted to give a brief account without going into a detailed discussion.


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So then, without any further comment, I will begin my story. It would be foolish to write such a long introduction that the story itself would have to be cut short.


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The Argument between Onias and Simon
When Onias was High Priest in Jerusalem, the holy city enjoyed peace and prosperity, and its laws were strictly obeyed, because he was devout and hated evil.


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and King Seleucus, ruler of all Asia, even used to pay the costs of the Temple sacrifices from the revenues he collected.


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But a man by the name of Simon, of the tribe of Bilgah, the chief administrative official of the Temple, lost an argument he had with Onias over the regulations governing the city market.


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and said that there was so much money in the Temple treasury that it could not be counted, and since the money was not needed for sacrifices, it might as well be placed under the king's control.


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Heliodorus Is Sent to Jerusalem
When Apollonius met with the king, he told him about the money, and the king ordered Heliodorus, his chief minister, to get it for him.


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Heliodorus set out at once on his mission, but he claimed that he was only making a tour of inspection of the cities of Greater Syria.


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After he had arrived in Jerusalem and had been warmly received by the High Priest, he explained the real reason for his visit and asked if what he had been told was true.


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The High Priest then stated that Simon, that devil of a man, had not been telling the truth. There was indeed some money in the Temple treasury, but part of it was set aside for widows and orphans and part of it belonged to Hyrcanus son of Tobias, a very important man. He also pointed out that the total amount was only 30,000 pounds of silver and 15,000 pounds of gold.


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He added that it was absolutely impossible that anyone should be permitted to take the money of those people who had placed their trust in the sanctity and safety of this world-famous Temple.


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Heliodorus Plans to Enter the Temple
But Heliodorus insisted that the money should be taken for the royal treasury, as the king had ordered.


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So he set a day and went into the Temple to supervise the counting of the money. This caused an uproar throughout the entire city.


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Priests, wearing their priestly robes, threw themselves face downward before the altar and begged God to keep the money safe, since he had given the laws designed to protect the money that people deposited in the Temple.


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Women, wearing nothing but skirts of sackcloth, crowded the streets. Young girls whose parents had never allowed them to be seen in public ran to the gates or to the walls of the city, or just stared out of their windows.


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What a pitiful sight it was to see the High Priest in such great agony and frustration and to see everyone in the city confused and lying face down on the ground.


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The Lord Protects His Temple
While everyone was begging the Lord Almighty to protect the money that had been entrusted to his care,


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But at the very moment that he and his bodyguards arrived at the treasury, the Lord of all supernatural powers caused such a vision to appear that everyone who had dared to enter with Heliodorus was panic-stricken and weak with fear at this display of the Lord's power.


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In the vision they saw a horse and a rider. The horse had a richly decorated bridle, and its rider, dressed in gold armor, was frightening. Suddenly the horse rushed at Heliodorus, then reared up and struck at him with its hoofs.


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Heliodorus also saw two unusually strong and handsome young men, wearing very fine clothes. They stood on either side of him and beat him unmercifully.


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and carried him out. Only a moment earlier this man had entered the treasury with a large group of men, including all his bodyguards, but now he was being carried away helpless. So they all openly acknowledged the mighty power of God.


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Onias Prays for Heliodorus' Recovery
Heliodorus lay there unable to speak and without hope of recovery from this demonstration of God's power.


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But the Jews praised Almighty God because he had miraculously protected his Temple and had brought great happiness where only minutes before there had been fear and confusion.


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Some of Heliodorus' friends quickly asked Onias the High Priest to pray that the Most High would spare the life of this man who was at the point of death.


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So the High Priest offered a sacrifice in the hope that God would save Heliodorus, for he did not want the king to think that the Jews had done this to the man he had sent.


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While Onias was offering the sacrifice, the two young men, wearing the same clothes as before, again appeared to Heliodorus and said,
Be grateful to the High Priest; the Lord has spared your life because of him.


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Remember that it was the Lord of heaven who punished you. Now go and tell everyone of his great power.
When they had said this, they disappeared.


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Heliodorus Praises God
So Heliodorus offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made many promises, because the Lord had spared his life. Then he said good-bye to Onias and returned with his army to the king.


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When the king asked Heliodorus who would be the best man to send on the next mission to Jerusalem, Heliodorus replied,


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&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;If you have an enemy or know of someone plotting against your government, send him. He will come back badly beaten, if he comes back at all, for some strange power from God is at work there.


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The God of heaven watches over the Temple; he strikes down and destroys anyone who comes to harm it.


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Simon Accuses Onias
But Simon (mentioned earlier as the one who informed Apollonius about the money and brought trouble on the nation) also lied about Onias, claiming that he was responsible for the attack on Heliodorus and for the difficulties that followed.


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He dared to accuse Onias of plotting against the government—Onias who not only had made donations to Jerusalem and had protected the Temple, but who was eager to see that all our laws were obeyed.


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Apollonius son of Menestheus, the governor of Greater Syria, encouraged Simon in every evil thing he did, and Simon's opposition finally grew so strong that one of his trusted followers committed several murders. Onias realized how dangerous the situation had become,


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so he went to the king, not for the purpose of making accusations against his own people, but for the common good of all Jews, both in their private and public lives.


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He realized that without the king's cooperation there was no hope for peace, and Simon would keep on with his foolishness.


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Jason Introduces Greek Customs
Later, when King Seleucus died and Antiochus (known as Epiphanes) became king, Jason the brother of Onias became High Priest by corrupt means.


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He went to see the king and offered him 27,000 pounds of silver with 6,000 more pounds to be paid later.


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Jason also offered him an additional 11,250 pounds of silver for the authority to establish a stadium where young men could train and to enroll the people of Jerusalem as citizens of Antioch.


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The king gave his approval, and just as soon as Jason took over the office of High Priest, he made the people of Jerusalem change to the Greek way of life.


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He began by abolishing the favors that John had secured for the Jews from previous Syrian kings. (John was the father of the Eupolemus who later went to Rome to make an alliance and to establish ties of friendship.) Jason also did away with our Jewish customs and introduced new customs that were contrary to our Law.


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With great enthusiasm he built a stadium near the Temple hill and led our finest young men to adopt the Greek custom of participating in athletic events.


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Because of the unrivaled wickedness of Jason, that ungodly and illegitimate High Priest, the craze for the Greek way of life and for foreign customs reached such a point


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that even the priests lost all interest in their sacred duties. They lost interest in the Temple services and neglected the sacrifices. Just as soon as the signal was given, they would rush off to take part in the games that were forbidden by our Law.


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And this turned out to be the source of all their troubles, for the very people whose ways they admired and whose customs they tried to imitate became their enemies and oppressed them.


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Jerusalem under Syrian Influence
Once when the king was present for the athletic games that were held every five years in the city of Tyre,


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that worthless Jason sent some men there from Jerusalem, who were also enrolled as citizens of Antioch, to take 22,500 pounds of silver to pay for a sacrifice to the god Hercules. But even these men did not think it was fitting to use such a large sum of money for a sacrifice, and


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so the money originally intended as a sacrifice to Hercules was used for the construction of warships.


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When Apollonius son of Menestheus was sent to Egypt to attend the crowning of Philometor as king, Antiochus learned that Philometor was opposed to his policies. Antiochus became concerned about the security of his own kingdom, so he went to Joppa and then on to Jerusalem.


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There he was welcomed with great splendor by Jason and the people of the city who went out to greet him, shouting and carrying torches. From Jerusalem Antiochus led his army to Phoenicia.


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Menelaus Becomes High Priest
Three years later, Jason sent Menelaus (brother of the Simon mentioned earlier) to take some money to the king and to get his decision on several important matters.


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But when he stood before the king, Menelaus impressed him with his show of authority and offered 22,500 pounds of silver more than Jason had offered for his appointment to the office of High Priest.


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As a result Menelaus returned to Jerusalem with papers from the king, confirming him as High Priest. But he possessed no other qualifications; he had the temper of a cruel tyrant and could be as fierce as a wild animal.


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So Jason, who had cheated his own brother out of the office of High Priest, was now forced to flee to the land of Ammon.


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However, Sostratus, the captain of the fort in Jerusalem, kept demanding the money, since it was his responsibility to collect it. So finally, the two men were summoned to appear before the king concerning the matter.


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Menelaus left his brother Lysimachus as acting High Priest, while Sostratus left the fort under the command of Crates, the commander of the mercenary troops from Cyprus.


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The Murder of Onias
Meanwhile, there was a revolt in the Cilician cities of Tarsus and Mallus, because the king had given those cities to Antiochis, his mistress.


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So the king left Andronicus, one of his high officials, in command, while he hurried off to Cilicia to restore order.


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Menelaus took advantage of this opportunity and presented Andronicus with some of the gold objects he had removed from the Temple in Jerusalem. He had already sold some of them to the city of Tyre and to other nearby cities.


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When Onias heard about this, he fled for safety to a temple at Daphne near the city of Antioch and openly accused Menelaus.


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Then Menelaus secretly persuaded Andronicus to kill Onias. So Andronicus went to Onias and deceived him with a friendly greeting and with promises of safety. Although Onias was suspicious, Andronicus finally lured him away from the safety of the temple and immediately murdered him in cold blood.


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So when the king returned from the territory of Cilicia, the Jews of Antioch went to him and protested against this senseless killing. Many Gentiles felt the same way about the crime.


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King Antiochus was deeply grieved and was so filled with sorrow that he was moved to tears when he recalled the wisdom and self-control that Onias had shown throughout his life.


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Antiochus became so angry that he tore off Andronicus' royal robe, stripped him naked, and marched him around the city to the very spot where Onias had been murdered. Then Antiochus had this bloodthirsty murderer put to death. This was how the Lord gave him the punishment he deserved.


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Lysimachus Is Killed
Meanwhile, with the support of his brother Menelaus, Lysimachus had on numerous occasions robbed the Jerusalem Temple and had taken many of its gold objects. When word of this spread around, crowds began to gather in protest against Lysimachus.


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Finally, the crowds were becoming dangerous and were beginning to get out of control, so Lysimachus sent 3,000 armed men to attack them. They were led by Auranus, a man as stupid as he was old.


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When the Jews in the Temple courtyard realized what was happening, they picked up rocks, pieces of wood, or simply handfuls of ashes from the altar and threw them at Lysimachus and his men in the confusion.


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They killed a few of Lysimachus' men, wounded many of them, and all the rest ran for their lives. Lysimachus himself, that temple robber, was killed near the Temple treasury.


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When the king came to the city of Tyre, the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem sent three men to bring charges against Menelaus.


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When Menelaus saw that he was losing the case, he offered Ptolemy son of Dorymenes a large bribe to persuade the king to decide in his favor.


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Ptolemy then asked the king to go outside the courtroom with him, as though to get some fresh air, and there he persuaded him to change his mind


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and declare Menelaus innocent of the charges against him. So Menelaus was set free, although he had caused the trouble; but the three men, whom even the cruel Scythians would have declared innocent, were sentenced to death.


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The three men had spoken in defense of Jerusalem, its people, and the sacred objects stolen from the Temple, but they were quickly and unjustly executed.


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Some of the people of Tyre, however, showed their disgust with this crime and their respect for these men by giving them a splendid funeral.


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Menelaus stayed on in his position because of the greed of those in power. He grew more evil every day and became the worst enemy of his own people.


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For nearly forty days people all over Jerusalem saw visions of cavalry troops in gold armor charging across the sky. The riders were armed with spears and their swords were drawn.


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They were lined up in battle against one another, attacking and counterattacking. Shields were clashing, there was a rain of spears, and arrows flew through the air. All the different kinds of armor and the gold bridles on the horses flashed in the sunlight.


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Jason Attacks Jerusalem
When a false report began to spread that Antiochus had died, Jason took more than a thousand men and suddenly attacked Jerusalem. They drove back those stationed on the city walls and finally captured the city. Menelaus fled for safety to the fort, near the Temple hill,


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while Jason and his men went on slaughtering their fellow Jews without mercy. Jason did not realize that success against one's own people is the worst kind of failure. He even considered his success a victory over enemies, rather than a defeat of his own people.


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But Jason did not take over the government. Instead he was forced to flee once again to the territory of the Ammonites, and in the end his evil plot brought him nothing but shame and disgrace,


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and he died in misery. Aretas, the ruler of the Arabs, imprisoned him; he was looked upon as a criminal and despised because he had betrayed his own people; everyone was hunting for him, and he had to run from town to town. He fled to Egypt for safety,


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then to Greece, hoping to find refuge among the Spartans, who were related to the Jews. Finally, this man, who had forced so many others to flee from their own country, died as a fugitive in a foreign land.


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Jason had killed many people and left their bodies unburied, but now his own death was unmourned. He was not given a funeral or even buried with his ancestors.


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Antiochus Attacks Jerusalem
When the news of what had happened in Jerusalem reached Antiochus, he thought the whole country of Judea was in revolt, and he became as furious as a wild animal. So he left Egypt and took Jerusalem by storm,


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giving his men orders to cut down without mercy everyone they met and to slaughter anyone they found hiding in the houses.


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Three days later Jerusalem had lost 80,000 people: 40,000 killed in the attack and at least that many taken away to be sold as slaves.


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But Antiochus was still not satisfied. He even dared to enter the holiest Temple in all the world, guided by Menelaus, who had become a traitor both to his religion and to his people.


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With his filthy and unholy hands, Antiochus swept away the sacred objects of worship and the gifts which other kings had given to increase the glory and honor of the Temple.


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He was so thrilled with his conquest that he did not realize that the Lord had let his holy Temple be defiled because the sin of the people of Jerusalem had made him angry for a while.


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If the people of Jerusalem had not been involved in so many sins, Antiochus would have been punished immediately and prevented from taking such a foolish action. He would have suffered the same fate as Heliodorus, who was sent by King Seleucus to inspect the treasury.


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But the Lord did not choose his people for the sake of his Temple; he established his Temple for the sake of his people.


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So the Temple shared in the people's suffering but also later shared in their prosperity. The Lord abandoned it when he became angry, but restored it when his anger had cooled down.


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Another Attack against Jerusalem
Antiochus took 135,000 pounds of silver from the Temple and hurried off to Antioch. Such was his arrogance that he felt he could make ships sail across dry land or troops march across the sea.


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He appointed governors to cause trouble for the people. In Jerusalem he placed Philip, a man from Phrygia who was more evil than Antiochus himself.


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At Mount Gerizim he placed Andronicus. In addition to these, there was Menelaus, who mistreated his fellow Jews far worse than the governors did. Antiochus hated the Jews so much


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that he sent an army of 22,000 mercenary troops from Mysia to Jerusalem under the command of a man named Apollonius, with orders to kill every man in the city and to sell the women and boys as slaves.


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Apollonius arrived in Jerusalem, pretending to be on a peace mission. Then on a Sabbath, when all the Jews were observing the day of rest, he led his troops, who were fully armed, in a parade outside the city.


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Suddenly he commanded his men to kill everyone who had come out to see them. They rushed into the city and murdered a great many people.


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But Judas Maccabeus and about nine others escaped into the barren mountains, where they lived like wild animals. In order not to defile themselves, they ate only plants which they found growing there.


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The Jews Are Persecuted Because of Their Faith
Not long after that, the king sent an elderly Athenian to force the Jews to abandon their religion and the customs of their ancestors.


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He was also to defile their Temple by dedicating it to the Olympian god Zeus. The temple on Mount Gerizim was to be officially named
Temple of Zeus the God of Hospitality, as the people who lived there had requested.


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Gentiles filled the Temple with drinking parties and all sorts of immorality. They even had intercourse with prostitutes there. Forbidden objects were brought into the Temple,


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It was impossible to observe the Sabbath, to celebrate any of the traditional festivals, or even so much as to admit to being a Jew.


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Each month when the king's birthday was celebrated, the Jews were compelled by brute force to eat the intestines of sacrificial animals. Then, during the festival in honor of the wine god Dionysus, they were required to wear ivy wreaths on their heads and march in procession.


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On the advice of Ptolemy, the neighboring Greek cities were also instructed to require Jews to eat the sacrifices;


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they were told to put to death every Jew who refused to adopt the Greek way of life. It was easy to see that hard times were ahead.


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For example, two women were arrested for having their babies circumcised. They were paraded around the city with their babies hung from their breasts; then they were thrown down from the city wall.


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On another occasion, Philip was told that some Jews had gathered in a nearby cave to observe the Sabbath in secret. Philip attacked and burned them all alive. They had such respect for the Sabbath that they would not fight to defend themselves.


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The Lord Punishes and Shows Mercy
I beg you not to become discouraged as you read about the terrible things that happened. Consider that this was the Lord's way of punishing his people, not of destroying them.


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In fact, it is a sign of kindness to punish a person immediately for his sins, rather than to wait a long time.


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The Lord does not treat us as he does other nations: he waits patiently until they have become deeply involved in sin before he punishes them,


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So the Lord is always merciful to us, his own people. Although he punishes us with disasters, he never abandons us.


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Eleazar Dies for His Faith
There was an elderly and highly respected teacher of the Law by the name of Eleazar, whose mouth was being forced open to make him eat pork.


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But he preferred an honorable death rather than a life of disgrace. So he spit out the meat and went willingly to the place of torture, showing how people should have courage to refuse unclean food, even if it costs them their lives.


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Those in charge of the sacrifice had been friends of Eleazar for a long time, and because of this friendship they told him privately to bring meat that was lawful for him to eat. He need only pretend to eat the pork, they said, and in this way he would not be put to death.


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But Eleazar made a decision worthy of his gray hair and advanced age. All his life he had lived in perfect obedience to God's holy laws, so he replied,
Kill me, here and now.


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Such deception is not worthy of a man of my years. Many young people would think that I had denied my faith after I was ninety years old.


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If I pretended to eat this meat, just to live a little while longer, it would bring shame and disgrace on me and lead many young people astray.


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For the present I might be able to escape what you could do to me, but whether I live or die, I cannot escape Almighty God.


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It will also set a good example of the way young people should be willing and glad to die for our sacred and respected laws.
As soon as he said these things, he went off to be tortured,


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and the very people who had treated him kindly a few minutes before, now turned against him, because they thought he had spoken like a madman.


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When they had beaten him almost to the point of death, he groaned and said,
The Lord possesses all holy knowledge. He knows I could have escaped these terrible sufferings and death, yet he also knows that I gladly suffer these things, because I fear him.


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So Eleazar died. But his courageous death was remembered as a glorious example, not only by young people, but by the entire nation as well.


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A Mother and Her Sons Die for Their Faith
On another occasion a Jewish mother and her seven sons were arrested. The king was having them beaten to force them to eat pork.


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Then one of the young men said,
What do you hope to gain by doing this? We would rather die than abandon the traditions of our ancestors.


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and it was done immediately. Then he told his men to cut off the tongue of the one who had spoken and to scalp him and chop off his hands and feet, while his mother and six brothers looked on.


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After the young man had been reduced to a helpless mass of breathing flesh, the king gave orders for him to be carried over and thrown into one of the pans. As a cloud of smoke streamed up from the pan, the brothers and their mother encouraged one another to die bravely, saying,


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The Lord God is looking on and understands our suffering. Moses made this clear when he wrote a song condemning those who had abandoned the Lord. He said,
The Lord will have mercy on those who serve him.


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After the first brother had died in this way, the soldiers started amusing themselves with the second one by tearing the hair and skin from his head. Then they asked him,
Now will you eat this pork, or do you want us to chop off your hands and feet one by one?


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He replied in his native language,
I will never eat it! So the soldiers tortured him, just as they had the first one,


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but with his dying breath he cried out to the king,
You butcher! You may kill us, but the King of the universe will raise us from the dead and give us eternal life, because we have obeyed his laws.


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The soldiers began entertaining themselves with the third brother. When he was ordered to stick out his tongue, he quickly did so. Then he bravely held out his hands


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and courageously said,
God gave these to me. But his laws mean more to me than my hands, and I know God will give them back to me again.


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but his final words were,
I am glad to die at your hands, because we have the assurance that God will raise us from death. But there will be no resurrection to life for you, Antiochus!


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he looked the king squarely in the eye and said,
You have the power to do whatever you want with us, even though you also are mortal. But do not think that God has abandoned our people.


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Then the soldiers took the sixth boy, and just before he died he said,
Make no mistake. We are suffering what we deserve, because we have sinned against our God. That's why all these terrible things are happening to us.


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The mother was the most amazing one of them all, and she deserves a special place in our memory. Although she saw her seven sons die in a single day, she endured it with great courage because she trusted in the Lord.


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She combined womanly emotion with manly courage and spoke words of encouragement to each of her sons in their native language.


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I do not know how your life began in my womb, she would say,
I was not the one who gave you life and breath and put together each part of your body.


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It was God who did it, God who created the universe, the human race, and all that exists. He is merciful and he will give you back life and breath again, because you love his laws more than you love yourself.


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Antiochus was sure that the mother was making fun of him, so he did his best to convince her youngest son to abandon the traditions of his ancestors. He promised not only to make the boy rich and famous, but to place him in a position of authority and to give him the title
Friend of the King.


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But the boy paid no attention to him, so Antiochus tried to persuade the boy's mother to talk him into saving his life,


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Leaning over her son, she fooled the cruel tyrant by saying in her native language,
My son, have pity on me. Remember that I carried you in my womb for nine months and nursed you for three years. I have taken care of you and looked after all your needs up to the present day.


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So I urge you, my child, to look at the sky and the earth. Consider everything you see there, and realize that God made it all from nothing, just as he made the human race.


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Don't be afraid of this butcher. Give up your life willingly and prove yourself worthy of your brothers, so that by God's mercy I may receive you back with them at the resurrection.


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Before she could finish speaking, the boy said,
King Antiochus, what are you waiting for? I refuse to obey your orders. I only obey the commands in the Law which Moses gave to our ancestors.


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You have thought up all kinds of cruel things to do to our people, but you won't escape the punishment that God has in store for you.


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It is true that our living Lord is angry with us and is making us suffer because of our sins, in order to correct and discipline us. But this will last only a short while, for we are still his servants, and he will forgive us.


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But you are the cruelest and most disgusting thing that ever lived. So don't fool yourself with illusions of greatness while you punish God's people.


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My brothers suffered briefly because of our faithfulness to God's covenant, but now they have entered eternal life. But you will fall under God's judgment and be punished as you deserve for your arrogance.


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I now give up my body and my life for the laws of our ancestors, just as my brothers did. But I also beg God to show mercy to his people quickly and to torture you until you are forced to acknowledge that he alone is God.


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May my brothers and I be the last to suffer the anger of Almighty God, which he has justly brought upon our entire nation.


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These words of ridicule made Antiochus so furious that he had the boy tortured even more cruelly than his brothers.


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But I have said enough about the Jews being tortured and being forced to eat the intestines of sacrificial animals.


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Judas Maccabeus Revolts
Judas Maccabeus and his friends went secretly from village to village until they had gathered a force of about 6,000 Jewish men who had remained faithful to their religion.


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They begged the Lord to help his people, now trampled under foot by all nations, to take pity on the Temple, now defiled by pagans,


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They also asked the Lord to show his hatred of evil by taking revenge on those who were murdering his people, mercilessly slaughtering innocent children, and saying evil things against the Lord.


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When Judas had finally organized his forces, the Gentiles were unable to stand against him, because the Lord's anger against Israel had now turned to mercy.


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Judas would make sudden attacks on towns and villages and burn them. He captured strategic positions and routed many enemy troops, finding that he was most successful at night. People everywhere spoke of his bravery.


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Ptolemy Sends Nicanor to Attack Judas
When Philip, governor of Jerusalem, realized that Judas was gaining ground little by little and that his victories were becoming more and more frequent, he wrote a letter to Ptolemy, governor of Greater Syria, requesting his help in defending the royal interests.


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Ptolemy immediately appointed Nicanor son of Patroclus, who was also in the closest circle of the King's Friends, and sent him with more than 20,000 troops of various nationalities to wipe out the entire Jewish race. Ptolemy also appointed Gorgias, a general of wide military experience, to go with him.


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King Antiochus owed the Romans 150,000 pounds of silver; Nicanor planned to pay off the debt by selling Jewish prisoners of war as slaves.


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So he at once sent word to the towns along the coast, informing them that he would be selling Jews for less than a pound of silver each. But he did not know of the judgment that Almighty God had in store for him.


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Judas Learns of Nicanor's Plans
Judas learned that Nicanor was advancing with his army toward Judea, so he informed his men.


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Some were cowardly and did not believe in the justice of God, and they ran away as fast as they could.


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But others sold all their remaining possessions so that the Lord would consider them worthy to be saved from the godless Nicanor, who had sold them as slaves even before the battle had taken place.


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They prayed that if God was not willing to do this for their sake alone, he might be willing to rescue them because of the covenants he had made with their ancestors, and because he, the great and wonderful God, had called them to be his people.


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Judas brought together all 6,000 of his men and encouraged them not to be frightened or to flee in panic at the sight of the large number of Gentile troops who were marching against them without cause. Instead they should fight bravely,


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never forgetting the crimes the Gentiles had committed against the Temple and how they had made Jerusalem suffer terribly and had done away with Jewish traditions.


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They rely on their weapons and their daring, Judas said,
but we trust in Almighty God, who is able to destroy not only these troops, but, if necessary, the entire world, with a mere nod of his head.


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Then Judas went on to remind them of the ways God had helped their ancestors: during the time of Sennacherib 185,000 of the enemy had been destroyed;


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and once in Babylonia 8,000 Jews came to the aid of 4,000 Macedonians, defeating 120,000 Galatians and taking a great deal of loot, all because of God's help.


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Judas Defeats Nicanor
Judas' words encouraged his men and made them willing to die for their religion and their country. He then divided his army into four divisions


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of about 1,500 men each, with himself and his brothers Simon, Joseph, and Jonathan each in charge of a division.


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After ordering Eleazar to read aloud from the holy book, he gave his men the battle cry:
God will help us, and personally led the attack against Nicanor.


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Almighty God fought on their side, and they killed more than 9,000 of the enemy. They wounded many others and put the entire enemy army to flight.


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They seized the money from the people who had come to buy them as slaves. Then they pursued the enemy a long way, until they had to return,


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When they had collected the enemy's weapons and looted the dead, they celebrated the Sabbath, praising the Lord and giving thanks to him, because he had brought them safely to that day and had given them the first sign of his mercy.


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When the Sabbath was over, they gave some of the loot to the victims of persecution and to the widows and orphans; then they divided the rest among their own families.


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Afterward they joined together in prayer to the merciful Lord, asking him to look favorably upon his servants.


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Judas Defeats Timothy and Bacchides
The Jews later fought against the forces of Timothy and Bacchides and killed more than 20,000 of them. They captured some very high fortresses and took a lot of loot, which they divided equally among themselves and the widows, orphans, old men, and the victims of persecution.


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They carefully collected all the enemy's weapons and stored them in strategic places, but the rest of the loot was taken to Jerusalem.


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They executed the commanding officer of Timothy's forces, a godless man who had caused the Jews much suffering.


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While celebrating their victory in the city of their ancestors, they burned alive those men who had set fire to the Temple gates. The dead included Callisthenes, who had hidden in a small house; and so he received the punishment he deserved for his evil deeds.


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was defeated with the help of the Lord by the very people he despised so much. He threw off his splendid uniform and fled all alone like a runaway slave, until he reached Antioch. He had succeeded only in destroying his entire army.


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This man, who had tried to pay a debt to Rome by selling the people of Jerusalem, showed that the Jews could not be defeated. God was their mighty Defender, because they obeyed the laws he had given them.


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where he had entered the city of Persepolis and had attempted to rob a temple and take control of the city. The people took up arms and attacked Antiochus, forcing his army to retreat in disgrace.


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He became furious and decided to make the Jews pay for the defeat he had suffered. So he ordered his chariot driver not to stop until they reached Jerusalem. With great arrogance he said,
I will turn Jerusalem into a graveyard full of Jews.
But he did not know that he was heading straight for God's judgment.


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In fact, as soon as he had said these words, the all-seeing Lord, the God of Israel, struck him down with an invisible but fatal blow. He was seized with sharp intestinal pains for which there was no relief—


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But this in no way caused him to give up his pride. Instead he became more arrogant than ever, and breathing out fiery threats against the Jews, he gave orders to drive even faster. As a result he fell out of his chariot with such a thud that it made every bone in his body ache.


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His arrogant pride made him think he had the superhuman strength to make ocean waves obey him and to weigh high mountains on a pair of scales. But suddenly he fell flat on the ground and had to be carried off on a stretcher, a clear sign to everyone of God's power.


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Even the eyes of this godless man were crawling with worms and he lived in terrible pain and agony. The stink was so bad that his entire army was sickened,


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and no one was able to come close enough to carry him around. Yet only a short while before, he thought he could take hold of the stars.


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Antiochus Makes a Promise to God
Antiochus was deeply depressed and suffered constant pain because of the punishment that God had brought on him, so he finally came to his senses and gave up his arrogant pride.


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Then, when he could no longer endure his own stink, he said,
It is right that all mortals should be subject to God and not think that they are his equal.


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The time of the Lord's mercy had come to an end for Antiochus, but this worthless man made the Lord a promise:


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I once intended to level Jerusalem to the ground and make that holy city a graveyard full of Jews, he said,
but now I declare it a free city.


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I had planned to throw out the dead bodies of the Jews and their children for the wild animals and the birds to eat, for I did not consider them worth burying. But now I intend to grant them the same privileges as the citizens of Athens enjoy.


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I once looted the Temple and took its sacred utensils, but I will fill it with splendid gifts and with better utensils than before, and I will pay the cost of the sacrifices from my own resources.


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Besides all this, I will become a Jew myself and go wherever people live, telling them of God's power.


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Antiochus' Letter to the Jews
Antiochus was in despair and could find no relief from his pain, because God was punishing him as he deserved, so he wrote the following letter to the Jews:


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King Antiochus to the Jews, my most distinguished subjects. Warm greetings and best wishes for your health and prosperity.


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I hope that you and your families are in good health and that all goes well with you. My hope is in God,


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and I remember with a deep sense of joy the respect and kindness that you have shown me.
On my way home from Persia I fell violently ill, and so I thought it best to begin making plans for the general welfare of the people.


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But I recall that my father used to appoint a successor whenever he went on a military campaign east of the Euphrates.


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He did this so that if something unexpected happened, or if some bad news came back, then his subjects would not be afraid, for they knew who had been left in command.


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Also, I know how the rulers along the frontiers of my kingdom are constantly on the lookout for any opportunity that may come along. That is why I have appointed my son Antiochus to succeed me as king. I have frequently entrusted him to your care and recommended him to you when I went on my regular visits to the provinces east of the Euphrates. (He is receiving a copy of the letter which follows.)


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Now I strongly urge each of you to keep in mind the good things that I have done for you, both individually and as a nation, and to continue in your good will toward me and my son.


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And so, this murderer, who had cursed God, suffered the same terrible agonies he had brought on others, and then died a miserable death in the mountains of a foreign land.


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One of his close friends, Philip, took his body home; but, because he was afraid of Antiochus' son, he went on to King Ptolemy Philometor of Egypt.


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The Rededication of the Temple
Judas Maccabeus and his followers, under the leadership of the Lord, recaptured the Temple and the city of Jerusalem.


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They tore down the altars which foreigners had set up in the marketplace and destroyed the other places of worship that had been built.


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They purified the Temple and built a new altar. Then, with new fire started by striking flint, they offered sacrifice for the first time in two years, burned incense, lighted the lamps, and set out the sacred loaves.


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After they had done all this, they lay face down on the ground and prayed that the Lord would never again let such disasters strike them. They begged him to be merciful when he punished them for future sins and not hand them over any more to barbaric, pagan Gentiles.


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They rededicated the Temple on the twenty-fifth day of the month of Kislev, the same day of the same month on which the Temple had been desecrated by the Gentiles.


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The happy celebration lasted eight days, like the Festival of Shelters, and the people remembered how only a short time before, they had spent the Festival of Shelters wandering like wild animals in the mountains and living in caves.


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But now, carrying green palm branches and sticks decorated with ivy, they paraded around, singing grateful praises to him who had brought about the purification of his own Temple.


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Now we will tell about Antiochus Eupator, the son of this godless man, and give a summary of the evil effects of his wars.


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When he became king he appointed a man by the name of Lysias to be in charge of the affairs of state and to be chief governor of Greater Syria,


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replacing Ptolemy Macron, who had been the first governor to treat the Jews fairly. Macron had established peaceful relations with them in an attempt to make up for the wrongs they had suffered.


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As a result the King's Friends went to Eupator and accused Macron of treachery, because he had abandoned the island of Cyprus, which King Philometor of Egypt had placed under his command, and had gone over to Antiochus Epiphanes. In fact, everyone called Macron a traitor. No longer able to maintain the respect that his office demanded, he committed suicide by taking poison.


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Judas Maccabeus Defeats the Idumeans
When Gorgias became governor of Idumea, he kept a force of mercenaries and attacked the Jews at every opportunity.


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Not only this, but the Idumeans themselves controlled certain strategic fortresses and were constantly harassing the Jews. They welcomed those who fled from Jerusalem and did everything they could to keep the country in a perpetual state of war.


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So Judas Maccabeus and his men, after offering prayers for God's help, rushed out and made a vigorous attack against the Idumean fortresses.


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They beat back those who were defending the walls and captured the fortresses, killing everyone they found, a total of about 20,000 people.


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About 9,000 of the enemy, however, managed to take refuge in two easily defended forts, with everything they needed to withstand a siege.


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Judas had to go on to some other places in the country, where he was more urgently needed, but he left behind Simon and Joseph, together with Zacchaeus and his men. This force was large enough to continue the siege,


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but some of Simon's men were greedy, and when they were offered 140 pounds of silver, they let some of the enemy escape from the forts.


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When Judas heard what had happened, he called together the leaders of his troops and accused those men of selling their brothers by setting their enemies free to fight against them.


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Judas was always successful in battle, and in his assault on those two forts he killed more than 20,000 men.


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Judas Defeats Timothy
Timothy, who had been defeated by the Jews once before, had gathered a large number of cavalry from Asia and a tremendous force of mercenary troops and was now advancing to take Judea by armed attack.


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But as the enemy forces were approaching, Judas and his men prayed to God. They put on sackcloth, threw dirt on their heads,


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and lay face downward on the steps of the altar, begging God to help them by fighting against their enemies, as he had promised in his Law.


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When they had finished praying, they took up their weapons, went out a good distance from Jerusalem, and stopped for the night not far from the enemy.


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At daybreak the two armies joined in battle. The Jewish forces depended upon both their bravery and their trust in the Lord for victory, while the enemy relied only on their ability to fight fiercely.


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When the fighting was at its worst, the enemy saw five handsome men riding on horses with gold bridles and leading the Jewish forces.


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These five men surrounded Judas, protecting him with their own armor and showering the enemy with arrows and thunderbolts. The enemy forces then became so confused and bewildered that they broke ranks, and the Jews cut them to pieces,


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Timothy himself escaped to the strongly defended fort of Gezer, where his brother Chaereas was in command.


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but those inside trusted to the security of their positions and shouted all sorts of terrible insults against the Jews and their God.


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At dawn on the fifth day, twenty of Judas' men, burning with anger at these insults, bravely climbed the wall and with savage fury chopped down everyone they met.


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At the same time, others climbed the walls on the other side of the fort and set the towers on fire. Many of the enemy were burned to death as the flames spread. A third force broke down the gates and let in the rest of Judas' men to capture the city.


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Timothy had hidden in a cistern, but they killed him, as well as his brother Chaereas and Apollophanes.


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When it was over, the Jews celebrated by singing hymns and songs of thanksgiving to the Lord, who had shown them great kindness and had given them victory.


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Judas Maccabeus Defeats Lysias
Not long after Timothy was defeated, Lysias, the King's guardian and relative, and head of the government, heard what had happened. He became angry


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and led 80,000 infantry and all his cavalry against the Jews with the intention of turning Jerusalem into a Greek city.


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The Temple would be taxed, as were all Gentile places of worship, and the office of High Priest would be up for sale each year.


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Lysias was so pleased with his tens of thousands of infantry, his thousands of cavalry, and his eighty elephants that he failed to take into account the power of God.


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When Judas and his men heard that Lysias was laying siege to their forts, they and all the people cried and wept, begging the Lord to send a good angel to save them.


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Judas was the first to take up his weapons, and he urged the others to join him in risking their lives to help the other Jews. So with great eagerness they all set out together.


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But they had not gone far from Jerusalem, when suddenly they noticed they were being led by a horseman dressed in white and carrying gold weapons.


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Immediately all of them together thanked God for his mercy; he had made them brave enough to attack not only men, but even the most savage animals or even walls of iron.


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So they marched in battle formation, and with them went the one whom the Lord in his mercy had sent to fight on their side.


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Then they charged into the enemy like lions, killing 11,000 infantry and 1,600 cavalry, and forcing the rest to run for their lives.


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Most of those who ran were wounded and had lost their weapons, and Lysias himself managed to escape only because he ran away like a coward.


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Lysias Makes Peace with the Jews
Lysias was no fool. As he thought about the defeat he had suffered, he realized it was because the mighty God had fought for the Jews, making it impossible for them to be defeated. So he sent a message to the Jews,


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trying to persuade them to agree to a just settlement and promising to do all he could to make the king friendly toward them.


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Judas Maccabeus considered what would be best for the people, and so he agreed to all the proposals Lysias had made, since the king had granted every written request that Judas had presented to Lysias.


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The Letter of Lysias to the Jews
Here is a copy of the letter which Lysias wrote to the Jews:
Lysias to the Jewish people, greetings.


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Your representatives John and Absalom have delivered to me the official document you sent with them, and they have asked me to agree to what is contained in it.


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I have informed the king of the matters that needed to be brought to his attention, and he has agreed to do whatever is possible.


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If you continue to be loyal to the government, I will do everything I can in the future to benefit your nation.


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I have instructed your representatives and mine to meet with you to discuss the details of these matters.


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May all go well with you. Dated the twenty-fourth day of the month of Dioscorinthius in the year 148.


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The King's Letter to Lysias
Here is a copy of the King's letter:
King Antiochus to the honorable Lysias, greetings.


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Now that my father has gone to be with the gods, I want the subjects of my kingdom to conduct their own affairs without interference.


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I understand that the Jews do not wish to adopt the Greek way of life, as my father had intended, but prefer their own way of life and have requested that they be allowed to live according to their own customs.


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Since I desire that they live undisturbed like the other nations in my empire, I hereby decree that their Temple be restored to them and that they be allowed to live according to the customs of their ancestors.


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Please inform them of this decision and assure them of my friendship, so that they may conduct their own affairs in peace, without anything to worry about.


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Here is a copy of the king's letter to the Jewish people:
King Antiochus to the Jewish leaders and all the Jews, greetings.


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So then, those of you who return home by the thirtieth of the month of Xanthicus may rest assured that you have nothing to fear.


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You may continue to observe your food laws and other laws, as you used to do, and no Jew will be punished for any crime done in ignorance.


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The Letter of the Romans to the Jews
The Romans also sent the Jews the following letter:
Quintus Memmius and Titus Manius, representatives of the Romans, to the Jews, greetings.


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We are now on our way to Antioch, so please examine carefully those matters that Lysias referred to the king. Then send a reply to us immediately so that we can represent your best interests before him. Do this as soon as you can,


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The Jews of Joppa Are Murdered
When the peace agreement between the Jews and the Syrians was completed, Lysias returned to the king, and the Jews went back to their farming.


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But some of the local governors, Timothy and Apollonius son of Gennaeus, as well as Hieronymus and Demophon, would not let them live in peace; and neither would Nicanor, the commander of the mercenaries from Cyprus.


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About this time, the people of Joppa did a cruel thing to the Jews of their city. They pretended to be friendly to the Jews and invited them and their families to go sailing with them on ships they had provided.


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Since all the people of the town had decided to do this, the Jews suspected nothing and accepted the invitation out of a feeling of good will. But when they were out at sea, the people of Joppa drowned all two hundred of them.


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After they had prayed to God, the just judge, they attacked the murderers. Under cover of darkness they set fire to the harbor, burning all the ships, and killing everyone they found hiding there.


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The gates of the city were locked, so Judas withdrew; but he was determined to return at some other time and wipe out everyone living there.


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So he attacked Jamnia at night, setting fire to its harbor and the ships there. The flames could be seen as far as Jerusalem, thirty miles away.


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Judas' Victories in the Region of Gilead
When Judas and his men were about a mile away from Jamnia on their way to meet Timothy in battle, they were attacked by more than 5,000 Arabs, supported by 500 cavalry.


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It was a hard fight, but with the help of God they defeated these desert tribesmen, who then asked to be on friendly terms with the Jews, promising to give them some livestock and offering to help them in other ways as well.


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Judas thought their friendship might prove useful in many ways, so he agreed to make peace with them; after that the Arabs returned to their tents.


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Judas also attacked the heavily fortified walled city of Caspin. The people who lived there were a mixed population of Gentiles


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who relied on the strength of their walls and felt confident that they had enough food stored up to last through a siege. So they made fun of Judas and his men, shouting out insults against them and profanities against their God.


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But the Jews prayed to the Almighty Lord of the universe, who had torn down the walls of Jericho in the days of Joshua without using battering rams or siege weapons. Then they made a fierce attack against the wall


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and because it was God's will, they captured the city. The Jews slaughtered so many people that a nearby lake, which was about a quarter of a mile wide, seemed to be overflowing with blood.


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Judas Defeats Timothy's Army
From the city of Caspin, Judas and his men marched about 95 miles, until they came to the Jewish settlement of Charax, near the city of Tob.


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But they did not find Timothy there, because he had already left the region. He had been able to do nothing there except leave behind a strong garrison in one place.


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Two of Judas' generals, Dositheus and Sosipater, attacked the garrison and killed all 10,000 men stationed there.


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Then Judas divided his army into several divisions, placing Dositheus and Sosipater each in command of a division, and hurried after Timothy, who had a force of 120,000 infantry and 2,500 cavalry.


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When Timothy found out that Judas was coming after him, he sent the women and the children on ahead with the baggage to the city of Karnaim, which was almost impossible to besiege or even to reach, because of the narrow passes that led up to it.


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But at the moment that Judas' first division came into sight, the enemy forces were thrown into panic by a vision sent by God, who sees everything. In terror they began to run wildly about and many of them were wounded by the swords of their own men.


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Timothy himself was captured by the troops of Dositheus and Sosipater. But he was very shrewd and managed to convince them that many of their relatives were his prisoners and would be put to death if anything happened to him.


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Judas Wins Other Victories
Next, Judas attacked the city of Karnaim and the temple of the goddess Atargatis there, killing 25,000 people


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and completely destroying both the city and the temple. Then he attacked the fortified city of Ephron where Lysias and people of all nationalities were living. Strong young men took up their positions in front of the walls and fought bravely, while inside the city were stored large quantities of military supplies and weapons.


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But the Jews prayed for help to the Lord, who crushes the power of his enemies. So they captured the city and killed about 25,000 people.


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The Jews there told Judas how kindly the people of the city had treated them, especially during hard times.


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So Judas and his men thanked the people and urged them to show the same good will toward the Jews in the future. Then they left for Jerusalem, where they arrived shortly before the Harvest Festival.


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Judas Defeats Gorgias
After Pentecost (as the Harvest Festival is called in Greek) Judas and his men quickly marched out against Gorgias, the governor of Idumea,


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Then a Jew from the city of Tob, a powerful cavalry soldier by the name of Dositheus, grabbed Gorgias by his cloak and started dragging him away by brute force, intending to take the worthless man alive. But suddenly one from the Thracian cavalry rushed at Dositheus and chopped off his arm, allowing Gorgias to escape to the city of Marisa.


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By now the Jewish men under the command of Esdrias had been fighting for a long time and were exhausted. So Judas prayed that the Lord would show that he was on their side and in command of their troops.


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Then, while Judas sang a hymn in his native language as a battle cry, the Jews made a surprise attack against Gorgias and his men and put them to flight.


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Prayers for Those Killed in Battle
After the battle Judas led his men to the town of Adullam. It was the day before the Sabbath, so they purified themselves according to Jewish custom and then observed the holy day.


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By the following day it was urgent that they gather up the bodies of the men who had been killed in battle and bury them in their family tombs.


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But on each of the dead, hidden under their clothes, they found small images of the gods worshiped in Jamnia, which the Law forbids Jews to wear. Everyone then knew why these men had been killed.


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and they begged him that this sin might be completely blotted out. Then, Judas, that great man, urged the people to keep away from sin, because they had seen for themselves what had happened to those men who had sinned.


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He also took up a collection from all his men, totaling about four pounds of silver, and sent it to Jerusalem to provide for a sin offering. Judas did this noble thing because he believed in the resurrection of the dead.


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contenido:
If he had not believed that the dead would be raised, it would have been foolish and useless to pray for them.


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contenido:
In his firm and devout conviction that all of God's faithful people would receive a wonderful reward, Judas made provision for a sin offering to set free from their sin those who had died.


book: 2Macc
contenido:
Menelaus Is Put to Death
In the year 149 Judas Maccabeus and his followers found out that Antiochus Eupator was marching against Judea with a large army


book: 2Macc
contenido:
and that Lysias, the young king's guardian and the head of his government, was with him. They had a force of Greek troops consisting of 110,000 infantry, 5,300 cavalry, 22 elephants, and 300 chariots with sharp blades attached to their wheels.


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contenido:
Menelaus, trying to take advantage of the situation, went over to their side and urged them on, not because he was concerned for the country, but because he hoped to be confirmed as High Priest.


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contenido:
But God, the King of kings, made Antiochus furious with Menelaus. Lysias proved to Antiochus that this criminal had been the source of all his troubles, so Antiochus ordered him to be taken to the city of Berea and put to death in the way that it was done there.


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contenido:
In that city there is a tower about 75 feet high. It is filled with ashes, and all around the inside of the tower is a platform sloping down into the ashes.


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contenido:
People accused of crimes against the gods or of any other serious crime are taken there and thrown down to their death.


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contenido:
and that was just what he deserved. He had often profaned the sacred ashes of the altar fire in the Temple, and now he met his death in ashes.


book: 2Macc
contenido:
A Battle Near the City of Modein
King Antiochus arrogantly continued his barbaric invasion of Judah, intending to deal with the Jews more harshly than his father had ever done.


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contenido:
When Judas learned of this, he told the people to pray to the Lord day and night, because they were in danger of losing their Law, their country, and their holy Temple. As never before, they needed his help and protection


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contenido:
For three days the people did nothing but lie face down on the ground, fasting and crying, begging the merciful Lord for his help. Then Judas spoke words of encouragement to the people, urging them to get ready for action.


book: 2Macc
contenido:
Afterward, Judas met privately with the Jewish leaders and decided to march out with God's help to battle against the king, rather than to wait for Antiochus to invade Judea and besiege Jerusalem.


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contenido:
Then, leaving the outcome of the battle to the Creator of the world, Judas encouraged his men to fight bravely and to be willing to die for their laws, the Temple, Jerusalem, their country, and their whole way of life. They set up camp near the city of Modein.


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contenido:
Judas gave his men the battle cry,
Victory comes from God, and that night, with a picked force of his bravest young men, he attacked the area near the king's tent and killed as many as 2,000 men. They also stabbed to death the lead elephant and its keeper.


book: 2Macc
contenido:
Antiochus the Fifth Makes a Treaty with the Jews
This taste of Jewish daring was enough to convince King Antiochus that he had to find some better way of capturing the Jewish positions.


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contenido:
but a Jewish soldier by the name of Rhodocus gave some secret information to the enemy. He was found out, however, caught, and put to death.


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contenido:
The king made a second attempt to come to terms with the people of Bethzur, and when he had reached an agreement with them, he withdrew his forces. Then he went to attack Judas, but again he was defeated.


book: 2Macc
contenido:
Meanwhile, Philip had been left at Antioch in charge of the government, but King Antiochus learned that he had revolted. The king did not know what to do, so he initiated peace talks with the Jews, agreed to their terms, and promised to be just in his treatment of them. To put the treaty into effect, he offered a sacrifice, gave a generous gift to show his respect for the Temple,


book: 2Macc
contenido:
and graciously received Judas Maccabeus. After that, the king appointed Hegemonides to be governor of the territory between the cities of Ptolemais and Gerar,


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contenido:
and then he himself went on to Ptolemais. The people there were angry because of the treaty he had made with the Jews—so angry, in fact, that they wanted the treaty canceled.


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contenido:
But Lysias made a public speech, defending the treaty as well as he could. After he had calmed the people down and convinced them that he was right, he returned to Antioch.
In this way King Antiochus' invasion was turned into a retreat.


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contenido:
Alcimus Speaks against Judas
Three years later, Judas and his men learned that Demetrius son of Seleucus had sailed into the port of Tripolis with a powerful army and a fleet.


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contenido:
It was reported that he had killed King Antiochus and his guardian Lysias and had taken over the country.


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contenido:
There was a man by the name of Alcimus, who had formerly been High Priest but who had gladly adopted the Greek way of life during the revolt. Realizing that he could never again be High Priest and fearful of what the Jews might do to him,


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contenido:
he went to see King Demetrius in the year 151. On this occasion he presented the king with a gold crown and a palm branch, together with some olive branches traditionally presented to the Temple, but he said nothing about his plans.


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contenido:
Later, however, he got the chance to put his foolish plans into effect when Demetrius summoned him to a meeting of his advisers and asked him what the Jews were intending to do.
Alcimus said,


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contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The followers of Judas Maccabeus think of themselves as devout and patriotic; they love war and are constantly inciting the people to rebellion and will never leave the nation in peace.


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contenido:
It is their fault that I no longer hold the glorious position of High Priest, to which I am entitled by birth. And so I have come here,


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contenido:
primarily out of a genuine concern for your interests as king, but also out of consideration for my own people, for the foolish policies of Judas and his followers have brought terrible suffering on our entire nation.


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contenido:
When Your Majesty has examined all the details of these matters, please act in your usual kind and generous manner to relieve the oppression of our nation and its people.


book: 2Macc
contenido:
Demetrius Sends Nicanor to Attack Judas
As soon as Alcimus had finished his speech, the other advisers quickly seized this opportunity to arouse Demetrius' anger against Judas, because they also hated him.


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contenido:
So King Demetrius immediately appointed Nicanor, who was the commander of his elephant forces, to be governor of Judea, and sent him there


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contenido:
with orders to kill Judas, scatter his followers, and make Alcimus High Priest of the greatest Temple in all the world.


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contenido:
All the foreigners in Judea, who had fled from Judas' attacks, now rushed to join forces with Nicanor, because they thought that any defeat or trouble that came to the Jews would be to their own advantage.


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contenido:
The Jews heard that Nicanor was attacking and that the foreigners in their country were giving him their support. So they threw dirt on themselves and prayed to their God, who had chosen their nation as his possession forever and had never failed to help them in time of need.


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contenido:
Then Judas, their leader, gave the orders, and they immediately marched out to engage the enemy in battle near the village of Adasa.


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contenido:
Judas' brother Simon was fighting Nicanor but was gradually losing the battle because of an unexpected move on the part of the enemy.


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contenido:
However, when Nicanor heard how bravely and courageously Judas and his men were fighting for their country, he decided not to settle the matter in battle.


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contenido:
After the terms of the treaty had been worked out in detail, Nicanor informed his troops, and they unanimously agreed.


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contenido:
Then a day was set on which the leaders would meet in private. Ceremonial chairs were brought out from each camp and set up.


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contenido:
Judas had taken the precaution of placing battle-ready troops in strategic places, in case of sudden treachery on the part of the enemy. But the two leaders had a friendly meeting.


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contenido:
Nicanor stayed on in Jerusalem for some time after that. He did not mistreat the Jews in any way, and even sent away the people who had come over to his side.


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contenido:
Nicanor urged him to marry and start a family. So Judas did this and settled down to a peaceful life.


book: 2Macc
contenido:
Nicanor Turns against Judas
When Alcimus noticed how well Nicanor and Judas were getting along, he obtained a copy of the treaty and went to see King Demetrius. He told the king that Nicanor was disloyal to the government, because he had appointed the traitor Judas to be his successor.


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contenido:
These false accusations infuriated the king, and in his anger he wrote to Nicanor, informing him that he was dissatisfied with the treaty and ordering him to arrest Judas Maccabeus and send him to Antioch at once.


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contenido:
When this message reached Nicanor, he was hurt and didn't know what to do, because he did not like having to break an agreement with a man who had kept his part of the bargain.


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contenido:
Yet it was impossible for him to ignore the king's command, so he began looking for a way to trap Judas.


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contenido:
Judas, however, noticed that Nicanor was becoming hostile and rude toward him, and he knew that this was a bad sign. So he gathered a large number of his followers and went into hiding.


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contenido:
When Nicanor realized that Judas had outsmarted him, he went to the great and holy Temple at the time when the priests were offering sacrifice and ordered them to surrender Judas to him.


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contenido:
Then Nicanor raised his right arm in the direction of the Temple and made a solemn threat:
If you do not hand Judas over to me as a prisoner, I will level God's Temple to the ground, demolish this altar, and on this spot build a glorious temple to Dionysus.


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contenido:
Then he left, and immediately the priests lifted their arms toward heaven and prayed to God, the faithful Defender of our nation:


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contenido:
Lord, you are in need of nothing, yet it has pleased you to place your Temple here and to live among us.


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contenido:
You alone are holy, and your Temple has only recently been purified, so now protect its holiness forever.


book: 2Macc
contenido:
Razis Dies for His Country
One of the leaders in Jerusalem, a man by the name of Razis, was denounced to Nicanor. It was said that he had helped his people in many ways and was so highly respected by them that he was known as
the Father of the Jews.


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contenido:
During the early days of the revolution he had risked his life for Judaism and had been brought to trial because of his loyalty.


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contenido:
Wanting to show clearly how much he disliked the Jews, Nicanor sent more than 500 soldiers to arrest Razis,


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contenido:
The soldiers were about to capture the tower where Razis had gone. They were forcing open the gates to the courtyard, and the order had been given to set the door on fire. Razis realized there was no escape, so he tried to commit suicide with his sword,


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contenido:
Under the pressure of the moment, Razis misjudged the thrust of the sword, and it did not kill him. So, while the soldiers were swarming into the room, he rushed to the wall and jumped off like a brave hero into the crowd below.


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contenido:
Still alive, and burning with courage, he got up, and with blood gushing from his wounds, he ran through the crowd and finally climbed a steep rock.


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contenido:
Now completely drained of blood, he tore out his intestines with both hands and threw them at the crowd, and as he did so, he prayed for the Lord of life and breath to give them back to him. That was how he died.


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contenido:
Nicanor's Cruel Plan
Nicanor learned that Judas and his men were in the region of Samaria, and so he decided to attack them on a Sabbath, when he could do so without any danger to himself.


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contenido:
The Jews who were forced to accompany his army begged him not to do such a cruel and savage thing, but to respect the day that the all-seeing God had honored and made the most holy of all days.


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contenido:
Then Nicanor, the lowest creature on earth, asked if there was some sovereign ruler in heaven who had commanded them to honor the Sabbath.


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contenido:
But Nicanor answered,
I am the ruler on earth, and I order you to take up your weapons and to do what the king commands. However, he did not succeed in carrying out his cruel plan.


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contenido:
Judas Prepares His Troops for Battle
In his arrogance Nicanor had boasted that he would set up a monument in honor of his victory over Judas.


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contenido:
so he urged his men not to be afraid of the enemy. He encouraged them to remember how the Almighty had helped them in times past and to rest assured that he would give them victory this time also.


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contenido:
He renewed their hope by reading to them from the Law and the Prophets and by reminding them of the battles they had already won.


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contenido:
When his men were ready for battle, he gave them their orders and at the same time pointed out how the Gentiles could not be trusted, because they never kept their treaties.


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contenido:
He armed all his men, not by encouraging them to trust in shields and spears, but by inspiring them with courageous words. He also lifted their morale by telling them about his dream, a kind of vision that they could trust in.


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contenido:
He told them that he had seen a vision of Onias, the former High Priest, that great and wonderful man of humble and gentle disposition, who was an outstanding orator and who had been taught from childhood how to live a virtuous life. With outstretched arms Onias was praying for the entire Jewish nation.


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contenido:
Onias said:
This is God's prophet Jeremiah, who loves the Jewish people and offers many prayers for us and for Jerusalem, the holy city.


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contenido:
The eloquent words that Judas spoke encouraged everyone to be brave, and inspired boys to fight like men. Their city, their religion, and their Temple were in danger. So the Jews made up their minds not to waste any time, but to make a daring attack against the enemy and bravely decide their fate in hand-to-hand combat.


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contenido:
They were not so concerned about their own families and relatives as they were about their sacred Temple.


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contenido:
And the people who had to stay in Jerusalem were deeply concerned about how a battle on open ground would turn out.


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contenido:
The Defeat and Death of Nicanor
Everyone was waiting to see who would win the battle. The enemy troops were already moving forward, with their cavalry on each side of them, and their elephants placed in strategic positions.


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contenido:
Judas Maccabeus looked at the huge enemy force, the variety of their weapons, and their fierce elephants. Then he raised his hands toward heaven and prayed to the Lord, who works miracles, because he knew that the Lord gives victory to those who deserve it, not to those who have a strong army.


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Judas said:
Lord, when Hezekiah was king of Judah, you sent your angel, who killed 185,000 of King Sennacherib's men.


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contenido:
Now once again, Lord of heaven, send your good angel to make our enemies shake and tremble with fear.


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contenido:
With your great power, destroy these people who have slandered you and have come out to attack your chosen people.
So Judas ended his prayer.


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contenido:
So by fighting with their hands and praying to God in their hearts, the Jews killed more than 35,000 of the enemy. How grateful they were for the help they had received from God!


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contenido:
When the battle was over and they were going home celebrating their victory, they noticed Nicanor in full armor lying dead on the battlefield.


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contenido:
Judas Maccabeus, who had always fought with all his body and soul for his own people, never losing the patriotism of his youth, ordered his men to cut off Nicanor's head and right arm and to take them to Jerusalem.


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contenido:
When they arrived in the city, he called together all the people, stationed the priests before the altar, and sent for the men in the fort.


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contenido:
He showed them the head of the evil Nicanor and the arm which that wicked man had arrogantly stretched out against the sacred Temple of the Almighty God.


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contenido:
Then he cut out the tongue of that godless man, promising to feed it bit by bit to the birds and to hang up his head opposite the Temple, as evidence of what his foolishness did for him.


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contenido:
Everyone there looked up to heaven and praised the Lord, who had revealed his power and had kept his Temple from being defiled.


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contenido:
Judas hung Nicanor's head from the wall of the fort, as a clear proof to everyone of the Lord's help.


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contenido:
By unanimous vote it was decided that this day would never be forgotten, but would be celebrated each year on the eve of Mordecai's Day, which is the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, called Adar in Aramaic.


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contenido:
Concluding Words
That is how things turned out for Nicanor. The city of Jerusalem remained in the possession of the Jewish people from that time on, so I will end my story here.


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contenido:
If it is well written and to the point, I am pleased; if it is poorly written and uninteresting, I have still done my best.


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contenido:
We know it is unhealthy to drink wine or water alone, whereas wine mixed with water makes a delightfully tasty drink. So also a good story skillfully written gives pleasure to those who read it. With this I conclude.


book: Job
contenido:
Satan Tests Job
There was a man named Job, living in the land of Uz, who worshiped God and was faithful to him. He was a good man, careful not to do anything evil.


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contenido:
and owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, one thousand head of cattle, and five hundred donkeys. He also had a large number of servants and was the richest man in the East.


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contenido:
Job's sons used to take turns giving a feast, to which all the others would come, and they always invited their three sisters to join them.


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contenido:
The morning after each feast, Job would get up early and offer sacrifices for each of his children in order to purify them. He always did this because he thought that one of them might have sinned by insulting God unintentionally.


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contenido:
The Lord asked him, “What have you been doing?”
Satan answered, “I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth.”


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contenido:
“Did you notice my servant Job?” the Lord asked. “There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil.”


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contenido:
You have always protected him and his family and everything he owns. You bless everything he does, and you have given him enough cattle to fill the whole country.


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contenido:
“All right,” the Lord said to Satan, “everything he has is in your power, but you must not hurt Job himself.” So Satan left.


book: Job
contenido:
Job's Children and Wealth Are Destroyed
One day when Job's children were having a feast at the home of their oldest brother,


book: Job
contenido:
a messenger came running to Job. “We were plowing the fields with the oxen,” he said, “and the donkeys were in a nearby pasture.


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contenido:
Suddenly the Sabeans attacked and stole them all. They killed every one of your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”


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contenido:
Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, “Lightning struck the sheep and the shepherds and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”


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contenido:
Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, “Three bands of Chaldean raiders attacked us, took away the camels, and killed all your servants except me. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”


book: Job
contenido:
Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, “Your children were having a feast at the home of your oldest son,


book: Job
contenido:
when a storm swept in from the desert. It blew the house down and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”


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contenido:
Then Job got up and tore his clothes in grief. He shaved his head and threw himself face downward on the ground.


book: Job
contenido:
He said, “I was born with nothing, and I will die with nothing. The Lord gave, and now he has taken away. May his name be praised!”


book: Job
contenido:
Satan Tests Job Again
When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord again, Satan was there among them.


book: Job
contenido:
The Lord asked him, “Where have you been?”
Satan answered, “I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth.”


book: Job
contenido:
“Did you notice my servant Job?” the Lord asked. “There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil. You persuaded me to let you attack him for no reason at all, but Job is still as faithful as ever.”


book: Job
contenido:
His wife said to him, “You are still as faithful as ever, aren't you? Why don't you curse God and die?”


book: Job
contenido:
Job answered, “You are talking nonsense! When God sends us something good, we welcome it. How can we complain when he sends us trouble?” Even in all this suffering Job said nothing against God.


book: Job
contenido:
Job's Friends Come
Three of Job's friends were Eliphaz, from the city of Teman, Bildad, from the land of Shuah, and Zophar, from the land of Naamah. When they heard how much Job had been suffering, they decided to go and comfort him.


book: Job
contenido:
While they were still a long way off they saw Job, but did not recognize him. When they did, they began to weep and wail, tearing their clothes in grief and throwing dust into the air and on their heads.


book: Job
contenido:
Then they sat there on the ground with him for seven days and nights without saying a word, because they saw how much he was suffering.


book: Job
contenido:
I have seen people plow fields of evil
and plant wickedness like seed;
now they harvest wickedness and evil.


book: Job
contenido:
I could see something standing there;
I stared, but couldn't tell what it was.
Then I heard a voice out of the silence:


book: Job
contenido:
Hungry people will eat the fool's crops—
even the grain growing among thorns—
and thirsty people will envy his wealth.


book: Job
contenido:
He upsets the plans of cunning people,
and traps the wise in their own schemes,
so that nothing they do succeeds;


book: Job
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;when famine comes, he will keep you alive,
and in war protect you from death.


book: Job
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;they would weigh more than the sands of the sea,
so my wild words should not surprise you.


book: Job
contenido:
Almighty God has shot me with arrows,
and their poison spreads through my body.
God has lined up his terrors against me.


book: Job
contenido:
If I knew he would, I would leap for joy,
no matter how great my pain.
I know that God is holy;
I have never opposed what he commands.


book: Job
contenido:
Like a cloud that fades and is gone,
we humans die and never return;
we are forgotten by all who knew us.


book: Job
contenido:
Are you harmed by my sin, you jailer?
Why use me for your target practice?
Am I so great a burden to you?


book: Job
contenido:
Can't you ever forgive my sin?
Can't you pardon the wrong I do?
Soon I will be in my grave,
and I'll be gone when you look for me.


book: Job
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;if you are so honest and pure,
then God will come and help you
and restore your household as your reward.


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contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;If they lean on a web, will it hold them up?
If they grab for a thread, will it help them stand?”


book: Job
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;but he will bring disgrace on those who hate you,
and the homes of the wicked will vanish.


book: Job
contenido:
I am innocent, but I no longer care.
I am sick of living. Nothing matters;
innocent or guilty, God will destroy us.


book: Job
contenido:
If I smile and try to forget my pain,
all my suffering comes back to haunt me;
I know that God does hold me guilty.


book: Job
contenido:
Is it right for you to be so cruel?
To despise what you yourself have made?
And then to smile on the schemes of wicked people?


book: Job
contenido:
As soon as I sin, I'm in trouble with you,
but when I do right, I get no credit.
I am miserable and covered with shame.


book: Job
contenido:
You always have some witness against me;
your anger toward me grows and grows;
you always plan some new attack.


book: Job
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;a land of darkness, shadows, and confusion,
where the light itself is darkness.


book: Job
contenido:
He would tell you there are many sides to wisdom;
there are things too deep for human knowledge.
God is punishing you less than you deserve.


book: Job
contenido:
The sky is no limit for God,
but it lies beyond your reach.
God knows the world of the dead,
but you do not know it.


book: Job
contenido:
Then all your troubles will fade from your memory,
like floods that are past and remembered no more.


book: Job
contenido:
Your life will be brighter than sunshine at noon,
and life's darkest hours will shine like the dawn.


book: Job
contenido:
But the wicked will look around in despair
and find that there is no way to escape.
Their one hope is that death will come.


book: Job
contenido:
But I have as much sense as you have;
I am in no way inferior to you;
everyone knows all that you have said.


book: Job
contenido:
Even my friends laugh at me now;
they laugh, although I am righteous and blameless;
but there was a time when God answered my prayers.


book: Job
contenido:
Old people have wisdom,
but God has wisdom and power.
Old people have insight;
God has insight and power to act.


book: Job
contenido:
Everything you say, I have heard before.
I understand it all; I know as much as you do.
I'm not your inferior.


book: Job
contenido:
If God looks at you closely, will he find anything good?
Do you think you can fool God the way you fool others?


book: Job
contenido:
The length of our lives is decided beforehand—
the number of months we will live.
You have settled it, and it can't be changed.


book: Job
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;people die, never to rise.
They will never wake up while the sky endures;
they will never stir from their sleep.


book: Job
contenido:
I wish you would hide me in the world of the dead;
let me be hidden until your anger is over,
and then set a time to remember me.


book: Job
contenido:
If a man dies, can he come back to life?
But I will wait for better times,
wait till this time of trouble is ended.


book: Job
contenido:
Water will wear down rocks,
and heavy rain will wash away the soil;
so you destroy our hope for life.


book: Job
contenido:
Those who are wise have taught me truths
which they learned from their ancestors,
and they kept no secrets hidden.


book: Job
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;and vultures are waiting to eat their corpses.
They know their future is dark;


book: Job
contenido:
They are the ones who captured cities
and seized houses whose owners had fled,
but war will destroy those cities and houses.


book: Job
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;and they will not escape from darkness.
They will be like trees
whose branches are burned by fire,
whose blossoms are blown away by the wind.


book: Job
contenido:
If you were in my place and I in yours,
I could say everything you are saying.
I could shake my head wisely
and drown you with a flood of words.


book: Job
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;You have seized me; you are my enemy.
I am skin and bones,
and people take that as proof of my guilt.


book: Job
contenido:
I was living in peace,
but God took me by the throat
and battered me and crushed me.
God uses me for target practice


book: Job
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;and shoots arrows at me from every side—
arrows that pierce and wound me;
and even then he shows no pity.


book: Job
contenido:
You are only hurting yourself with your anger.
Will the earth be deserted because you are angry?
Will God move mountains to satisfy you?


book: Job
contenido:
Those who were guests in my house have forgotten me;
my servant women treat me like a stranger and a foreigner.


book: Job
contenido:
But now, be afraid of the sword—
the sword that brings God's wrath on sin,
so that you will know there is one who judges.


book: Job
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;but they will be blown away like dust.
Those who used to know them
will wonder where they have gone.


book: Job
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;because they oppressed and neglected the poor
and seized houses someone else had built.


book: Job
contenido:
Arrows stick through their bodies;
the shiny points drip with their blood,
and terror grips their hearts.


book: Job
contenido:
Everything they have saved is destroyed;
a fire not lit by human hands
burns them and all their family.


book: Job
contenido:
Was a wicked person's light ever put out?
Did one of them ever meet with disaster?
Did God ever punish the wicked in anger


book: Job
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;and blow them away like straw in the wind,
or like dust carried away in a storm?


book: Job
contenido:
You claim God punishes a child for the sins of his father.
No! Let God punish the sinners themselves;
let him show that he does it because of their sins.


book: Job
contenido:
Some people stay healthy till the day they die;
they die happy and at ease,
their bodies well-nourished.


book: Job
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;thousands join the funeral procession,
and even the earth lies gently on their bodies.


book: Job
contenido:
To make a brother repay you the money he owed,
you took away his clothes and left him nothing to wear.


book: Job
contenido:
Now, Job, make peace with God
and stop treating him like an enemy;
if you do, then he will bless you.


book: Job
contenido:
I have searched in the East, but God is not there;
I have not found him when I searched in the West.


book: Job
contenido:
Almighty God has destroyed my courage.
It is God, not the dark, that makes me afraid—
even though the darkness has made me blind.


book: Job
contenido:
So the poor, like wild donkeys,
search for food in the dry wilderness;
nowhere else can they find food for their children.


book: Job
contenido:
They are drenched by the rain that falls on the mountains,
and they huddle beside the rocks for shelter.


book: Job
contenido:
Evil people make slaves of fatherless infants
and take the children of the poor in payment for debts.


book: Job
contenido:
But the poor must go out with no clothes to protect them;
they must go hungry while harvesting wheat.


book: Job
contenido:
[Zophar]
The wicked are swept away by floods,
and the land they own is under God's curse;
they no longer go to work in their vineyards.


book: Job
contenido:
For a while the wicked prosper,
but then they wither like weeds,
like stalks of grain that have been cut down.


book: Job
contenido:
But these are only hints of his power,
only the whispers that we have heard.
Who can know how truly great God is?


book: Job
contenido:
Miners explore the deepest darkness.
They search the depths of the earth
And dig for rocks in the darkness.


book: Job
contenido:
Far from where anyone lives
Or human feet ever travel,
They dig the shafts of mines.
There they work in loneliness,
Clinging to ropes in the pits.


book: Job
contenido:
God said to us humans,
“To be wise, you must have reverence for the Lord.
To understand, you must turn from evil.”


book: Job
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;young men stepped aside as soon as they saw me,
and old men stood up to show me respect.


book: Job
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;they had nothing to add when I had finished.
My words sank in like drops of rain;


book: Job
contenido:
I took charge and made the decisions;
I led them as a king leads his troops,
and gave them comfort in their despair.


book: Job
contenido:
But men younger than I am make fun of me now!
Their fathers have always been so worthless
that I wouldn't let them help my dogs guard sheep.


book: Job
contenido:
If I have turned from the right path
or let myself be attracted to evil,
if my hands are stained with sin,


book: Job
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;I would give him clothing made of wool
that had come from my own flock of sheep.
Then he would praise me with all his heart.


book: Job
contenido:
I have never feared what people would say;
I have never kept quiet or stayed indoors
because I feared their scorn.


book: Job
contenido:
Will no one listen to what I am saying?
I swear that every word is true.
Let Almighty God answer me.
If the charges my opponent brings against me
were written down so that I could see them,


book: Job
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;if I have eaten the food that grew there
but let the farmers that grew it starve—


book: Job
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;then instead of wheat and barley,
may weeds and thistles grow.
The words of Job are ended.


book: Job
contenido:
The Speeches of Elihu
Because Job was convinced of his own innocence, the three men gave up trying to answer him.


book: Job
contenido:
But a bystander named Elihu could not control his anger any longer, because Job was justifying himself and blaming God. (Elihu was the son of Barakel, a descendant of Buz, and belonged to the clan of Ram.)


book: Job
contenido:
He was also angry with Job's three friends. They could not find any way to answer Job, and this made it appear that God was in the wrong.


book: Job
contenido:
Perhaps an angel may come to their aid—
one of God's thousands of angels,
who remind us of our duty.


book: Job
contenido:
In mercy the angel will say, “Release them!
They are not to go down to the world of the dead.
Here is the ransom to set them free.”


book: Job
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;when they pray, God will answer;
they will worship God with joy;
God will set things right for them again.


book: Job
contenido:
We may suddenly die at night.
God strikes us down and we perish;
he kills the mighty with no effort at all.


book: Job
contenido:
If God decided to do nothing at all,
no one could criticize him.
If he hid his face, we would be helpless.


book: Job
contenido:
Since you object to what God does,
can you expect him to do what you want?
The decision is yours, not mine;
tell us now what you think.


book: Job
contenido:
He protects those who are righteous;
he allows them to rule like kings
and lets them be honored forever.


book: Job
contenido:
Then the roar of his voice is heard,
the majestic sound of thunder,
and all the while the lightning flashes.


book: Job
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;as they move at God's will.
They do all that God commands,
everywhere throughout the world.


book: Job
contenido:
And now the light in the sky is dazzling,
too bright for us to look at it;
and the sky has been swept clean by the wind.


book: Job
contenido:
God's power is so great that we cannot come near him;
he is righteous and just in his dealings with us.


book: Job
contenido:
Who decided how large it would be?
Who stretched the measuring line over it?
Do you know all the answers?


book: Job
contenido:
Daylight makes the hills and valleys stand out
like the folds of a garment,
clear as the imprint of a seal on clay.


book: Job
contenido:
At each blast of the trumpet they snort;
they can smell a battle before they get near,
and they hear the officers shouting commands.


book: Job
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;but what strength there is in his body,
and what power there is in his muscles!


book: Job
contenido:
The scales on his belly are like jagged pieces of pottery;
they tear up the muddy ground like a threshing sledge.


book: Job
contenido:
You ask how I dare question your wisdom
when I am so very ignorant.
I talked about things I did not understand,
about marvels too great for me to know.


book: Job
contenido:
Conclusion
After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you did not speak the truth about me, the way my servant Job did.


book: Job
contenido:
Now take seven bulls and seven rams to Job and offer them as a sacrifice for yourselves. Job will pray for you, and I will answer his prayer and not disgrace you the way you deserve. You did not speak the truth about me as he did.”


book: Job
contenido:
Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar did what the Lord had told them to do, and the Lord answered Job's prayer.


book: Job
contenido:
Then, after Job had prayed for his three friends, the Lord made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had had before.


book: Job
contenido:
All Job's brothers and sisters and former friends came to visit him and feasted with him in his house. They expressed their sympathy and comforted him for all the troubles the Lord had brought on him. Each of them gave him some money and a gold ring.


book: Job
contenido:
The Lord blessed the last part of Job's life even more than he had blessed the first. Job owned fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, two thousand head of cattle, and one thousand donkeys.


book: Job
contenido:
There were no other women in the whole world as beautiful as Job's daughters. Their father gave them a share of the inheritance along with their brothers.


book: Job
contenido:
Job lived a hundred and forty years after this, long enough to see his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.


book: Ps
contenido:
BOOK ONE
True Happiness
Happy are those
who reject the advice of evil people,
who do not follow the example of sinners
or join those who have no use for God.


book: Ps
contenido:
They are like trees that grow beside a stream,
that bear fruit at the right time,
and whose leaves do not dry up.
They succeed in everything they do.


book: Ps
contenido:
“I will announce,” says the king, “what the Lord has declared.
He said to me: ‘You are my son;
today I have become your father.


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;and bow down to him;
or else his anger will be quickly aroused,
and you will suddenly die.
Happy are all who go to him for protection.


book: Ps
contenido:
Evening Prayer for Help
Answer me when I pray,
O God, my defender!
When I was in trouble, you helped me.
Be kind to me now and hear my prayer.


book: Ps
contenido:
How long will you people insult me?
How long will you love what is worthless
and go after what is false?


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;you hear my voice in the morning;
at sunrise I offer my prayer
and wait for your answer.


book: Ps
contenido:
But because of your great love
I can come into your house;
I can worship in your holy Temple
and bow down to you in reverence.


book: Ps
contenido:
What my enemies say can never be trusted;
they only want to destroy.
Their words are flattering and smooth,
but full of deadly deceit.


book: Ps
contenido:
Condemn and punish them, O God;
may their own plots cause their ruin.
Drive them out of your presence
because of their many sins
and their rebellion against you.


book: Ps
contenido:
But all who find safety in you will rejoice;
they can always sing for joy.
Protect those who love you;
because of you they are truly happy.


book: Ps
contenido:
A Prayer for Help in Time of Trouble
Lord, don't be angry and rebuke me!
Don't punish me in your anger!


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;and my whole being is deeply troubled.
How long, O Lord, will you wait to help me?


book: Ps
contenido:
I am worn out with grief;
every night my bed is damp from my weeping;
my pillow is soaked with tears.


book: Ps
contenido:
A Prayer for Justice
O Lord, my God, I come to you for protection;
rescue me and save me from all who pursue me,


book: Ps
contenido:
or else like a lion they will carry me off
where no one can save me,
and there they will tear me to pieces.


book: Ps
contenido:
O Lord, my God, if I have wronged anyone,
if I have betrayed a friend
or without cause done violence to my enemy—
if I have done any of these things—


book: Ps
contenido:
then let my enemies pursue me and catch me,
let them cut me down and kill me
and leave me lifeless on the ground!


book: Ps
contenido:
Rise in your anger, O Lord!
Stand up against the fury of my enemies;
rouse yourself and help me!
Justice is what you demand,


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;so bring together all the peoples around you,
and rule over them from above.


book: Ps
contenido:
You are a righteous God
and judge our thoughts and desires.
Stop the wickedness of evildoers
and reward those who are good.


book: Ps
contenido:
God's Glory and Human Dignity
O Lord, our Lord,
your greatness is seen in all the world!
Your praise reaches up to the heavens;


book: Ps
contenido:
it is sung by children and babies.
You are safe and secure from all your enemies;
you stop anyone who opposes you.


book: Ps
contenido:
When I look at the sky, which you have made,
at the moon and the stars, which you set in their places—


book: Ps
contenido:
Thanksgiving to God for His Justice
I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart;
I will tell of all the wonderful things you have done.


book: Ps
contenido:
Our enemies are finished forever;
you have destroyed their cities,
and they are completely forgotten.


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;that I may stand before the people of Jerusalem
and tell them all the things for which I praise you.
I will rejoice because you saved me.


book: Ps
contenido:
The Lord has revealed himself by his righteous judgments,
and the wicked are trapped by their own deeds.


book: Ps
contenido:
Come, Lord! Do not let anyone defy you!
Bring the heathen before you
and pronounce judgment on them.


book: Ps
contenido:
A Prayer for Justice
Why are you so far away, O Lord?
Why do you hide yourself when we are in trouble?


book: Ps
contenido:
The wicked succeed in everything.
They cannot understand God's judgments;
they sneer at their enemies.


book: Ps
contenido:
They hide themselves in the villages,
waiting to murder innocent people.
They spy on their helpless victims;


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;they wait in their hiding place like lions.
They lie in wait for the poor;
they catch them in their traps and drag them away.


book: Ps
contenido:
But you do see; you take notice of trouble and suffering
and are always ready to help.
The helpless commit themselves to you;
you have always helped the needy.


book: Ps
contenido:
Break the power of wicked and evil people;
punish them for the wrong they have done
until they do it no more.


book: Ps
contenido:
You will hear the cries of the oppressed and the orphans;
you will judge in their favor,
so that mortal men may cause terror no more.


book: Ps
contenido:
Confidence in the Lord
I trust in the Lord for safety.
How foolish of you to say to me,
“Fly away like a bird to the mountains,


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;because the wicked have drawn their bows and aimed their arrows
to shoot from the shadows at good people.


book: Ps
contenido:
The Lord is in his holy temple;
he has his throne in heaven.
He watches people everywhere
and knows what they are doing.


book: Ps
contenido:
He sends down flaming coals and burning sulfur on the wicked;
he punishes them with scorching winds.


book: Ps
contenido:
A Prayer for Help
Help us, Lord!
There is not a good person left;
honest people can no longer be found.


book: Ps
contenido:
“But now I will come,” says the Lord,
“because the needy are oppressed
and the persecuted groan in pain.
I will give them the security they long for.”


book: Ps
contenido:
The promises of the Lord can be trusted;
they are as genuine as silver
refined seven times in the furnace.


book: Ps
contenido:
The wicked are everywhere,
and everyone praises what is evil.
Keep us always safe, O Lord,
and preserve us from such people.


book: Ps
contenido:
A Prayer for Help
How much longer will you forget me, Lord? Forever?
How much longer will you hide yourself from me?


book: Ps
contenido:
How long must I endure trouble?
How long will sorrow fill my heart day and night?
How long will my enemies triumph over me?


book: Ps
contenido:
Human Wickedness
Fools say to themselves,
“There is no God!”
They are all corrupt,
and they have done terrible things;
there is no one who does what is right.


book: Ps
contenido:
The Lord looks down from heaven at us humans
to see if there are any who are wise,
any who worship him.


book: Ps
contenido:
But they have all gone wrong;
they are all equally bad.
Not one of them does what is right,
not a single one.


book: Ps
contenido:
“Don't they know?” asks the Lord.
“Are all these evildoers ignorant?
They live by robbing my people,
and they never pray to me.”


book: Ps
contenido:
How I pray that victory
will come to Israel from Zion.
How happy the people of Israel will be
when the Lord makes them prosperous again!


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;and who do not slander others.
They do no wrong to their friends
nor spread rumors about their neighbors.


book: Ps
contenido:
They despise those whom God rejects,
but honor those who obey the Lord.
They always do what they promise,
no matter how much it may cost.


book: Ps
contenido:
They make loans without charging interest
and cannot be bribed to testify against the innocent.
Whoever does these things will always be secure.


book: Ps
contenido:
Those who rush to other gods
bring many troubles on themselves.
I will not take part in their sacrifices;
I will not worship their gods.


book: Ps
contenido:
because you protect me from the power of death.
I have served you faithfully,
and you will not abandon me to the world of the dead.


book: Ps
contenido:
You will show me the path that leads to life;
your presence fills me with joy
and brings me pleasure forever.


book: Ps
contenido:
The Prayer of an Innocent Person
Listen, O Lord, to my plea for justice;
pay attention to my cry for help!
Listen to my honest prayer.


book: Ps
contenido:
You know my heart.
You have come to me at night;
you have examined me completely
and found no evil desire in me.
I speak no evil,


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;save me from those who in this life have all they want.
Punish them with the sufferings you have stored up for them;
may there be enough for their children
and some left over for their children's children!


book: Ps
contenido:
But I will see you, because I have done no wrong;
and when I awake, your presence will fill me with joy.


book: Ps
contenido:
The Lord is my protector;
he is my strong fortress.
My God is my protection,
and with him I am safe.
He protects me like a shield;
he defends me and keeps me safe.


book: Ps
contenido:
Then the earth trembled and shook;
the foundations of the mountains rocked and quivered,
because God was angry.


book: Ps
contenido:
Hailstones and flashes of fire
came from the lightning before him
and broke through the dark clouds.


book: Ps
contenido:
The floor of the ocean was laid bare,
and the foundations of the earth were uncovered,
when you rebuked your enemies, Lord,
and roared at them in anger.


book: Ps
contenido:
O Lord, you are faithful to those who are faithful to you;
completely good to those who are perfect.


book: Ps
contenido:
This God—how perfect are his deeds!
How dependable his words!
He is like a shield
for all who seek his protection.


book: Ps
contenido:
I crush them, so that they become like dust
which the wind blows away.
I trample on them like mud in the streets.


book: Ps
contenido:
You saved me from a rebellious people
and made me ruler over the nations;
people I did not know have now become my subjects.


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;and saves me from my foes.
O Lord, you give me victory over my enemies
and protect me from violent people.


book: Ps
contenido:
God's Glory in Creation
How clearly the sky reveals God's glory!
How plainly it shows what he has done!


book: Ps
contenido:
yet their message goes out to all the world
and is heard to the ends of the earth.
God made a home in the sky for the sun;


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;it comes out in the morning like a happy bridegroom,
like an athlete eager to run a race.


book: Ps
contenido:
The Law of the Lord
The law of the Lord is perfect;
it gives new strength.
The commands of the Lord are trustworthy,
giving wisdom to those who lack it.


book: Ps
contenido:
The laws of the Lord are right,
and those who obey them are happy.
The commands of the Lord are just
and give understanding to the mind.


book: Ps
contenido:
Reverence for the Lord is good;
it will continue forever.
The judgments of the Lord are just;
they are always fair.


book: Ps
contenido:
Keep me safe, also, from willful sins;
don't let them rule over me.
Then I shall be perfect
and free from the evil of sin.


book: Ps
contenido:
A Prayer for Victory
May the Lord answer you when you are in trouble!
May the God of Jacob protect you!


book: Ps
contenido:
Then we will shout for joy over your victory
and celebrate your triumph by praising our God.
May the Lord answer all your requests.


book: Ps
contenido:
Now I know that the Lord gives victory to his chosen king;
he answers him from his holy heaven
and by his power gives him great victories.


book: Ps
contenido:
Some trust in their war chariots
and others in their horses,
but we trust in the power of the Lord our God.


book: Ps
contenido:
Praise for Victory
The king is glad, O Lord, because you gave him strength;
he rejoices because you made him victorious.


book: Ps
contenido:
The king trusts in the Lord Almighty;
and because of the Lord's constant love
he will always be secure.


book: Ps
contenido:
He will destroy them like a blazing fire
when he appears.
The Lord will devour them in his anger,
and fire will consume them.


book: Ps
contenido:
A Cry of Anguish and a Song of Praise
My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
I have cried desperately for help,
but still it does not come.


book: Ps
contenido:
“You relied on the Lord,” they say.
“Why doesn't he save you?
If the Lord likes you,
why doesn't he help you?”


book: Ps
contenido:
Many enemies surround me like bulls;
they are all around me,
like fierce bulls from the land of Bashan.


book: Ps
contenido:
My strength is gone,
gone like water spilled on the ground.
All my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like melted wax.


book: Ps
contenido:
My throat is as dry as dust,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.
You have left me for dead in the dust.


book: Ps
contenido:
“Praise him, you servants of the Lord!
Honor him, you descendants of Jacob!
Worship him, you people of Israel!


book: Ps
contenido:
He does not neglect the poor or ignore their suffering;
he does not turn away from them,
but answers when they call for help.”


book: Ps
contenido:
In the full assembly I will praise you for what you have done;
in the presence of those who worship you
I will offer the sacrifices I promised.


book: Ps
contenido:
The poor will eat as much as they want;
those who come to the Lord will praise him.
May they prosper forever!


book: Ps
contenido:
All nations will remember the Lord.
From every part of the world they will turn to him;
all races will worship him.


book: Ps
contenido:
Even if I go through the deepest darkness,
I will not be afraid, Lord,
for you are with me.
Your shepherd's rod and staff protect me.


book: Ps
contenido:
You prepare a banquet for me,
where all my enemies can see me;
you welcome me as an honored guest
and fill my cup to the brim.


book: Ps
contenido:
I know that your goodness and love will be with me all my life;
and your house will be my home as long as I live.


book: Ps
contenido:
The Great King
The world and all that is in it belong to the Lord;
the earth and all who live on it are his.


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;in you, my God, I trust.
Save me from the shame of defeat;
don't let my enemies gloat over me!


book: Ps
contenido:
The Prayer of a Good Person
Declare me innocent, O Lord,
because I do what is right
and trust you completely.


book: Ps
contenido:
A Prayer of Praise
The Lord is my light and my salvation;
I will fear no one.
The Lord protects me from all danger;
I will never be afraid.


book: Ps
contenido:
Even if a whole army surrounds me,
I will not be afraid;
even if enemies attack me,
I will still trust God.


book: Ps
contenido:
I have asked the Lord for one thing;
one thing only do I want:
to live in the Lord's house all my life,
to marvel there at his goodness,
and to ask for his guidance.


book: Ps
contenido:
In times of trouble he will shelter me;
he will keep me safe in his Temple
and make me secure on a high rock.


book: Ps
contenido:
So I will triumph over my enemies around me.
With shouts of joy I will offer sacrifices in his Temple;
I will sing, I will praise the Lord.


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Don't hide yourself from me!
Don't be angry with me;
don't turn your servant away.
You have been my help;
don't leave me, don't abandon me,
O God, my savior.


book: Ps
contenido:
A Prayer for Help
O Lord, my defender, I call to you.
Listen to my cry!
If you do not answer me,
I will be among those who go down to the world of the dead.


book: Ps
contenido:
Do not condemn me with the wicked,
with those who do evil—
those whose words are friendly,
but who have hatred in their hearts.


book: Ps
contenido:
Punish them for what they have done,
for the evil they have committed.
Punish them for all their deeds;
give them what they deserve!


book: Ps
contenido:
They take no notice of what the Lord has done
or of what he has made;
so he will punish them
and destroy them forever.


book: Ps
contenido:
The Lord protects and defends me;
I trust in him.
He gives me help and makes me glad;
I praise him with joyful songs.


book: Ps
contenido:
Save your people, Lord,
and bless those who are yours.
Be their shepherd,
and take care of them forever.


book: Ps
contenido:
The Voice of the Lord in the Storm
Praise the Lord, you heavenly beings;
praise his glory and power.


book: Ps
contenido:
The voice of the Lord is heard on the seas;
the glorious God thunders,
and his voice echoes over the ocean.


book: Ps
contenido:
The Lord's voice shakes the oaks
and strips the leaves from the trees
while everyone in his Temple shouts, “Glory to God!”


book: Ps
contenido:
A Prayer of Thanksgiving
I praise you, Lord, because you have saved me
and kept my enemies from gloating over me.


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;you kept me from the grave.
I was on my way to the depths below,
but you restored my life.


book: Ps
contenido:
Sing praise to the Lord,
all his faithful people!
Remember what the Holy One has done,
and give him thanks!


book: Ps
contenido:
His anger lasts only a moment,
his goodness for a lifetime.
Tears may flow in the night,
but joy comes in the morning.


book: Ps
contenido:
You were good to me, Lord;
you protected me like a mountain fortress.
But then you hid yourself from me,
and I was afraid.


book: Ps
contenido:
“What will you gain from my death?
What profit from my going to the grave?
Are dead people able to praise you?
Can they proclaim your unfailing goodness?


book: Ps
contenido:
You have changed my sadness into a joyful dance;
you have taken away my sorrow
and surrounded me with joy.


book: Ps
contenido:
So I will not be silent;
I will sing praise to you.
Lord, you are my God;
I will give you thanks forever.


book: Ps
contenido:
A Prayer of Trust in God
I come to you, Lord, for protection;
never let me be defeated.
You are a righteous God;
save me, I pray!


book: Ps
contenido:
I will be glad and rejoice
because of your constant love.
You see my suffering;
you know my trouble.


book: Ps
contenido:
Be merciful to me, Lord,
for I am in trouble;
my eyes are tired from so much crying;
I am completely worn out.


book: Ps
contenido:
I am exhausted by sorrow,
and weeping has shortened my life.
I am weak from all my troubles;
even my bones are wasting away.


book: Ps
contenido:
All my enemies, and especially my neighbors,
treat me with contempt.
Those who know me are afraid of me;
when they see me in the street, they run away.


book: Ps
contenido:
I hear many enemies whispering;
terror is all around me.
They are making plans against me,
plotting to kill me.


book: Ps
contenido:
I call to you, Lord;
don't let me be disgraced.
May the wicked be disgraced;
may they go silently down to the world of the dead.


book: Ps
contenido:
How wonderful are the good things
you keep for those who honor you!
Everyone knows how good you are,
how securely you protect those who trust you.


book: Ps
contenido:
You hide them in the safety of your presence
from the plots of others;
in a safe shelter you hide them
from the insults of their enemies.


book: Ps
contenido:
I was afraid and thought
that he had driven me out of his presence.
But he heard my cry,
when I called to him for help.


book: Ps
contenido:
Love the Lord, all his faithful people.
The Lord protects the faithful,
but punishes the proud as they deserve.


book: Ps
contenido:
Day and night you punished me, Lord;
my strength was completely drained,
as moisture is dried up by the summer heat.


book: Ps
contenido:
Then I confessed my sins to you;
I did not conceal my wrongdoings.
I decided to confess them to you,
and you forgave all my sins.


book: Ps
contenido:
So all your loyal people should pray to you in times of need;
when a great flood of trouble comes rushing in,
it will not reach them.


book: Ps
contenido:
You are my hiding place;
you will save me from trouble.
I sing aloud of your salvation,
because you protect me.


book: Ps
contenido:
Don't be stupid like a horse or a mule,
which must be controlled with a bit and bridle
to make it submit.”


book: Ps
contenido:
You that are righteous, be glad and rejoice
because of what the Lord has done.
You that obey him, shout for joy!


book: Ps
contenido:
A Song of Praise
All you that are righteous,
shout for joy for what the Lord has done;
praise him, all you that obey him.


book: Ps
contenido:
A king does not win because of his powerful army;
a soldier does not triumph because of his strength.


book: Ps
contenido:
May those who try to kill me
be defeated and disgraced!
May those who plot against me
be turned back and confused!


book: Ps
contenido:
But destruction will catch them before they know it;
they will be caught in their own trap
and fall to their destruction!


book: Ps
contenido:
With all my heart I will say to the Lord,
“There is no one like you.
You protect the weak from the strong,
the poor from the oppressor.”


book: Ps
contenido:
But when they were sick, I dressed in mourning;
I deprived myself of food;
I prayed with my head bowed low,


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;as I would pray for a friend or a brother.
I went around bent over in mourning,
as one who mourns for his mother.


book: Ps
contenido:
But when I was in trouble, they were all glad
and gathered around to make fun of me;
strangers beat me
and kept striking me.


book: Ps
contenido:
How much longer, Lord, will you just look on?
Rescue me from their attacks;
save my life from these lions!


book: Ps
contenido:
Don't let my enemies, those liars,
gloat over my defeat.
Don't let those who hate me for no reason
smirk with delight over my sorrow.


book: Ps
contenido:
They do not speak in a friendly way;
instead they invent all kinds of lies about peace-loving people.


book: Ps
contenido:
May those who gloat over my suffering
be completely defeated and confused;
may those who claim to be better than I am
be covered with shame and disgrace.


book: Ps
contenido:
May those who want to see me acquitted
shout for joy and say again and again,
“How great is the Lord!
He is pleased with the success of his servant.”


book: Ps
contenido:
Human Wickedness
Sin speaks to the wicked deep in their hearts;
they reject God and do not have reverence for him.


book: Ps
contenido:
Because they think so highly of themselves,
they think that God will not discover their sin and condemn it.


book: Ps
contenido:
They make evil plans as they lie in bed;
nothing they do is good,
and they never reject anything evil.


book: Ps
contenido:
The Goodness of God
Lord, your constant love reaches the heavens;
your faithfulness extends to the skies.


book: Ps
contenido:
Your righteousness is towering like the mountains;
your justice is like the depths of the sea.
People and animals are in your care.


book: Ps
contenido:
The Destiny of the Wicked and of the Good
Don't be worried on account of the wicked;
don't be jealous of those who do wrong.


book: Ps
contenido:
Be patient and wait for the Lord to act;
don't be worried about those who prosper
or those who succeed in their evil plans.


book: Ps
contenido:
The wicked draw their swords and bend their bows
to kill the poor and needy,
to slaughter those who do what is right;


book: Ps
contenido:
But the wicked will die;
the enemies of the Lord will vanish like wild flowers;
they will disappear like smoke.


book: Ps
contenido:
Those who are blessed by the Lord will possess the land,
but those who are cursed by him will be driven out.


book: Ps
contenido:
I am old now; I have lived a long time,
but I have never seen good people abandoned by the Lord
or their children begging for food.


book: Ps
contenido:
for the Lord loves what is right
and does not abandon his faithful people.
He protects them forever,
but the descendants of the wicked will be driven out.


book: Ps
contenido:
but the Lord will not abandon them to their enemy's power
or let them be condemned when they are on trial.


book: Ps
contenido:
Put your hope in the Lord and obey his commands;
he will honor you by giving you the land,
and you will see the wicked driven out.


book: Ps
contenido:
He helps them and rescues them;
he saves them from the wicked,
because they go to him for protection.


book: Ps
contenido:
My friends and neighbors will not come near me,
because of my sores;
even my family keeps away from me.


book: Ps
contenido:
Those who want to kill me lay traps for me,
and those who want to hurt me threaten to ruin me;
they never stop plotting against me.


book: Ps
contenido:
The Confession of a Sufferer
I said, “I will be careful about what I do
and will not let my tongue make me sin;
I will not say anything
while evil people are near.”


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;and I was overcome with anxiety.
The more I thought, the more troubled I became;
I could not keep from asking:


book: Ps
contenido:
How short you have made my life!
In your sight my lifetime seems nothing.
Indeed every living being is no more than a puff of wind,


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;no more than a shadow.
All we do is for nothing;
we gather wealth, but don't know who will get it.


book: Ps
contenido:
You punish our sins by your rebukes,
and like a moth you destroy what we love.
Indeed we are no more than a puff of wind!


book: Ps
contenido:
Hear my prayer, Lord,
and listen to my cry;
come to my aid when I weep.
Like all my ancestors
I am only your guest for a little while.


book: Ps
contenido:
He pulled me out of a dangerous pit,
out of the deadly quicksand.
He set me safely on a rock
and made me secure.


book: Ps
contenido:
He taught me to sing a new song,
a song of praise to our God.
Many who see this will take warning
and will put their trust in the Lord.


book: Ps
contenido:
You have done many things for us, O Lord our God;
there is no one like you!
You have made many wonderful plans for us.
I could never speak of them all—
their number is so great!


book: Ps
contenido:
You do not want sacrifices and offerings;
you do not ask for animals burned whole on the altar
or for sacrifices to take away sins.
Instead, you have given me ears to hear you,


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;and so I answered, “Here I am;
your instructions for me are in the book of the Law.


book: Ps
contenido:
In the assembly of all your people, Lord,
I told the good news that you save us.
You know that I will never stop telling it.


book: Ps
contenido:
I have not kept the news of salvation to myself;
I have always spoken of your faithfulness and help.
In the assembly of all your people I have not been silent
about your loyalty and constant love.


book: Ps
contenido:
Lord, I know you will never stop being merciful to me.
Your love and loyalty will always keep me safe.


book: Ps
contenido:
A Prayer for Help
I am surrounded by many troubles—
too many to count!
My sins have caught up with me,
and I can no longer see;
they are more than the hairs of my head,
and I have lost my courage.


book: Ps
contenido:
May those who try to kill me
be completely defeated and confused.
May those who are happy because of my troubles
be turned back and disgraced.


book: Ps
contenido:
May all who come to you
be glad and joyful.
May all who are thankful for your salvation
always say, “How great is the Lord!”


book: Ps
contenido:
I am weak and poor, O Lord,
but you have not forgotten me.
You are my savior and my God—
hurry to my aid!


book: Ps
contenido:
A Prayer in Sickness
Happy are those who are concerned for the poor;
the Lord will help them when they are in trouble.


book: Ps
contenido:
The Lord will protect them and preserve their lives;
he will make them happy in the land;
he will not abandon them to the power of their enemies.


book: Ps
contenido:
Those who come to see me are not sincere;
they gather bad news about me
and then go out and tell it everywhere.


book: Ps
contenido:
BOOK TWO
The Prayer of Someone in Exile
As a deer longs for a stream of cool water,
so I long for you, O God.


book: Ps
contenido:
Day and night I cry,
and tears are my only food;
all the time my enemies ask me,
“Where is your God?”


book: Ps
contenido:
My heart breaks when I remember the past,
when I went with the crowds to the house of God
and led them as they walked along,
a happy crowd, singing and shouting praise to God.


book: Ps
contenido:
Why am I so sad?
Why am I so troubled?
I will put my hope in God,
and once again I will praise him,
my savior and my God.


book: Ps
contenido:
Here in exile my heart is breaking,
and so I turn my thoughts to him.
He has sent waves of sorrow over my soul;
chaos roars at me like a flood,
like waterfalls thundering down to the Jordan
from Mount Hermon and Mount Mizar.


book: Ps
contenido:
May the Lord show his constant love during the day,
so that I may have a song at night,
a prayer to the God of my life.


book: Ps
contenido:
To God, my defender, I say,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go on suffering
from the cruelty of my enemies?”


book: Ps
contenido:
The Prayer of Someone in Exile
O God, declare me innocent,
and defend my cause against the ungodly;
deliver me from lying and evil people!


book: Ps
contenido:
You are my protector;
why have you abandoned me?
Why must I go on suffering
from the cruelty of my enemies?


book: Ps
contenido:
Send your light and your truth;
may they lead me
and bring me back to Zion, your sacred hill,
and to your Temple, where you live.


book: Ps
contenido:
Then I will go to your altar, O God;
you are the source of my happiness.
I will play my harp and sing praise to you,
O God, my God.


book: Ps
contenido:
A Prayer for Protection
With our own ears we have heard it, O God—
our ancestors have told us about it,
about the great things you did in their time,
in the days of long ago:


book: Ps
contenido:
how you yourself drove out the heathen
and established your people in their land;
how you punished the other nations
and caused your own to prosper.


book: Ps
contenido:
Your people did not conquer the land with their swords;
they did not win it by their own power;
it was by your power and your strength,
by the assurance of your presence,
which showed that you loved them.


book: Ps
contenido:
All this has happened to us,
even though we have not forgotten you
or broken the covenant you made with us.


book: Ps
contenido:
But it is on your account that we are being killed all the time,
that we are treated like sheep to be slaughtered.


book: Ps
contenido:
A Royal Wedding Song
Beautiful words fill my mind,
as I compose this song for the king.
Like the pen of a good writer
my tongue is ready with a poem.


book: Ps
contenido:
Ride on in majesty to victory
for the defense of truth and justice!
Your strength will win you great victories!


book: Ps
contenido:
The kingdom that God has given you
will last forever and ever.
You rule over your people with justice;


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;you love what is right and hate what is evil.
That is why God, your God, has chosen you
and has poured out more happiness on you
than on any other king.


book: Ps
contenido:
The perfume of myrrh and aloes is on your clothes;
musicians entertain you in palaces decorated with ivory.


book: Ps
contenido:
Among the women of your court are daughters of kings,
and at the right of your throne stands the queen,
wearing ornaments of finest gold.


book: Ps
contenido:
In her colorful gown she is led to the king,
followed by her bridesmaids,
and they also are brought to him.


book: Ps
contenido:
You, my king, will have many sons
to succeed your ancestors as kings,
and you will make them rulers over the whole earth.


book: Ps
contenido:
“Stop fighting,” he says, “and know that I am God,
supreme among the nations,
supreme over the world.”


book: Ps
contenido:
The rulers of the nations assemble
with the people of the God of Abraham.
More powerful than all armies is he;
he rules supreme.


book: Ps
contenido:
Zion, the City of God
The Lord is great and is to be highly praised
in the city of our God, on his sacred hill.


book: Ps
contenido:
Zion, the mountain of God, is high and beautiful;
the city of the great king brings joy to all the world.


book: Ps
contenido:
We have heard what God has done,
and now we have seen it
in the city of our God, the Lord Almighty;
he will keep the city safe forever.


book: Ps
contenido:
You are praised by people everywhere,
and your fame extends over all the earth.
You rule with justice;


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;let the people of Zion be glad!
You give right judgments;
let there be joy in the cities of Judah!


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;take notice of the walls and examine the fortresses,
so that you may tell the next generation:


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;“This God is our God forever and ever;
he will lead us for all time to come.”


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;because the payment for a human life is too great.
What we could pay would never be enough


book: Ps
contenido:
Anyone can see that even the wise die,
as well as the foolish and stupid.
They all leave their riches to their descendants.


book: Ps
contenido:
Their graves are their homes forever;
there they stay for all time,
though they once had lands of their own.


book: Ps
contenido:
See what happens to those who trust in themselves,
the fate of those who are satisfied with their wealth—


book: Ps
contenido:
they are doomed to die like sheep,
and Death will be their shepherd.
The righteous will triumph over them,
as their bodies quickly decay
in the world of the dead far from their homes.


book: Ps
contenido:
Our God is coming, but not in silence;
a raging fire is in front of him,
a furious storm around him.


book: Ps
contenido:
He says, “Gather my faithful people to me,
those who made a covenant with me by offering a sacrifice.”


book: Ps
contenido:
But God says to the wicked,
“Why should you recite my commandments?
Why should you talk about my covenant?


book: Ps
contenido:
You have done all this, and I have said nothing,
so you thought that I am like you.
But now I reprimand you
and make the matter plain to you.


book: Ps
contenido:
A Prayer for Forgiveness
Be merciful to me, O God,
because of your constant love.
Because of your great mercy
wipe away my sins!


book: Ps
contenido:
I have sinned against you—only against you—
and done what you consider evil.
So you are right in judging me;
you are justified in condemning me.


book: Ps
contenido:
Let me hear the sounds of joy and gladness;
and though you have crushed me and broken me,
I will be happy once again.


book: Ps
contenido:
Then you will be pleased with proper sacrifices
and with our burnt offerings;
and bulls will be sacrificed on your altar.


book: Ps
contenido:
So God will ruin you forever;
he will take hold of you and snatch you from your home;
he will remove you from the world of the living.


book: Ps
contenido:
“Look, here is someone who did not depend on God for safety,
but trusted instead in great wealth
and looked for security in being wicked.”


book: Ps
contenido:
But I am like an olive tree growing in the house of God;
I trust in his constant love forever and ever.


book: Ps
contenido:
I will always thank you, God, for what you have done;
in the presence of your people
I will proclaim that you are good.


book: Ps
contenido:
Human Wickedness
Fools say to themselves,
“There is no God.”
They are all corrupt,
and they have done terrible things;
there is no one who does what is right.


book: Ps
contenido:
But they have all turned away;
they are all equally bad.
Not one of them does what is right,
not a single one.


book: Ps
contenido:
“Don't they know?” God asks.
“Are these evildoers ignorant?
They live by robbing my people,
and they never pray to me.”


book: Ps
contenido:
But then they will become terrified,
as they have never been before,
for God will scatter the bones of the enemies of his people.
God has rejected them,
and so Israel will totally defeat them.


book: Ps
contenido:
How I pray that victory
will come to Israel from Zion.
How happy the people of Israel will be
when God makes them prosperous again!


book: Ps
contenido:
Proud people are coming to attack me;
cruel people are trying to kill me—
those who do not care about God.


book: Ps
contenido:
I am terrified by the threats of my enemies,
crushed by the oppression of the wicked.
They bring trouble on me;
they are angry with me and hate me.


book: Ps
contenido:
If it were an enemy making fun of me,
I could endure it;
if it were an opponent boasting over me,
I could hide myself from him.


book: Ps
contenido:
May my enemies die before their time;
may they go down alive into the world of the dead!
Evil is in their homes and in their hearts.


book: Ps
contenido:
God, who has ruled from eternity,
will hear me and defeat them;
for they refuse to change,
and they do not fear him.


book: Ps
contenido:
His words were smoother than cream,
but there was hatred in his heart;
his words were as soothing as oil,
but they cut like sharp swords.


book: Ps
contenido:
But you, O God, will bring those murderers and liars to their graves
before half their life is over.
As for me, I will trust in you.


book: Ps
contenido:
A Prayer of Trust in God
Be merciful to me, O God,
because I am under attack;
my enemies persecute me all the time.


book: Ps
contenido:
I trust in God and am not afraid;
I praise him for what he has promised.
What can a mere human being do to me?


book: Ps
contenido:
because you have rescued me from death
and kept me from defeat.
And so I walk in the presence of God,
in the light that shines on the living.


book: Ps
contenido:
A Prayer for Help
Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful,
because I come to you for safety.
In the shadow of your wings I find protection
until the raging storms are over.


book: Ps
contenido:
He will answer from heaven and save me;
he will defeat my oppressors.
God will show me his constant love and faithfulness.


book: Ps
contenido:
I am surrounded by enemies,
who are like lions hungry for human flesh.
Their teeth are like spears and arrows;
their tongues are like sharp swords.


book: Ps
contenido:
My enemies have spread a net to catch me;
I am overcome with distress.
They dug a pit in my path,
but fell into it themselves.


book: Ps
contenido:
A Prayer for God to Punish the Wicked
Do you rulers ever give a just decision?
Do you judge everyone fairly?


book: Ps
contenido:
May they be like snails that dissolve into slime;
may they be like a baby born dead that never sees the light.


book: Ps
contenido:
Before they know it, they are cut down like weeds;
in his fierce anger God will blow them away
while they are still living.


book: Ps
contenido:
The righteous will be glad when they see sinners punished;
they will wade through the blood of the wicked.


book: Ps
contenido:
Look! They are waiting to kill me;
cruel people are gathering against me.
It is not because of any sin or wrong I have done,


book: Ps
contenido:
Rise, Lord God Almighty, and come to my aid;
see for yourself, God of Israel!
Wake up and punish the heathen;
show no mercy to evil traitors!


book: Ps
contenido:
Listen to their insults and threats.
Their tongues are like swords in their mouths,
yet they think that no one hears them.


book: Ps
contenido:
Do not kill them, O God, or my people may forget.
Scatter them by your strength and defeat them,
O Lord, our protector.


book: Ps
contenido:
Sin is on their lips; all their words are sinful;
may they be caught in their pride!
Because they curse and lie,


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;destroy them in your anger;
destroy them completely.
Then everyone will know that God rules in Israel,
that his rule extends over all the earth.


book: Ps
contenido:
But I will sing about your strength;
every morning I will sing aloud of your constant love.
You have been a refuge for me,
a shelter in my time of trouble.


book: Ps
contenido:
A Prayer for Deliverance
You have rejected us, God, and defeated us;
you have been angry with us—but now turn back to us.


book: Ps
contenido:
You have made the land tremble, and you have cut it open;
now heal its wounds, because it is falling apart.


book: Ps
contenido:
From his sanctuary God has said,
“In triumph I will divide Shechem
and distribute Sukkoth Valley to my people.


book: Ps
contenido:
But I will use Moab as my washbowl,
and I will throw my sandals on Edom,
as a sign that I own it.
Did the Philistines think they would shout in triumph over me?”


book: Ps
contenido:
You only want to bring him down from his place of honor;
you take pleasure in lies.
You speak words of blessing,
but in your heart you curse him.


book: Ps
contenido:
Human beings are all like a puff of breath;
great and small alike are worthless.
Put them on the scales, and they weigh nothing;
they are lighter than a mere breath.


book: Ps
contenido:
Don't put your trust in violence;
don't hope to gain anything by robbery;
even if your riches increase,
don't depend on them.


book: Ps
contenido:
Longing for God
O God, you are my God,
and I long for you.
My whole being desires you;
like a dry, worn-out, and waterless land,
my soul is thirsty for you.


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;because you have always been my help.
In the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.


book: Ps
contenido:
Because God gives him victory,
the king will rejoice.
Those who make promises in God's name will praise him,
but the mouths of liars will be shut.


book: Ps
contenido:
A Prayer for Protection
I am in trouble, God—listen to my prayer!
I am afraid of my enemies—save my life!


book: Ps
contenido:
They encourage each other in their evil plots;
they talk about where they will place their traps.
“No one can see them,” they say.


book: Ps
contenido:
They make evil plans and say,
“We have planned a perfect crime.”
The human heart and mind are a mystery.


book: Ps
contenido:
All righteous people will rejoice
because of what the Lord has done.
They will find safety in him;
all good people will praise him.


book: Ps
contenido:
Praise and Thanksgiving
O God, it is right for us to praise you in Zion
and keep our promises to you,


book: Ps
contenido:
Happy are those whom you choose,
whom you bring to live in your sanctuary.
We shall be satisfied with the good things of your house,
the blessings of your sacred Temple.


book: Ps
contenido:
You answer us by giving us victory,
and you do wonderful things to save us.
People all over the world
and across the distant seas trust in you.


book: Ps
contenido:
The whole world stands in awe
of the great things that you have done.
Your deeds bring shouts of joy
from one end of the earth to the other.


book: Ps
contenido:
You show your care for the land by sending rain;
you make it rich and fertile.
You fill the streams with water;
you provide the earth with crops.
This is how you do it:


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;you send abundant rain on the plowed fields
and soak them with water;
you soften the soil with showers
and cause the young plants to grow.


book: Ps
contenido:
The fields are covered with sheep;
the valleys are full of wheat.
Everything shouts and sings for joy.


book: Ps
contenido:
Say to God, “How wonderful are the things you do!
Your power is so great
that your enemies bow down in fear before you.


book: Ps
contenido:
He changed the sea into dry land;
our ancestors crossed the river on foot.
There we rejoiced because of what he did.


book: Ps
contenido:
You let our enemies trample us;
we went through fire and flood,
but now you have brought us to a place of safety.


book: Ps
contenido:
I will offer sheep to be burned on the altar;
I will sacrifice bulls and goats,
and the smoke will go up to the sky.


book: Ps
contenido:
May the nations be glad and sing for joy,
because you judge the peoples with justice
and guide every nation on earth.


book: Ps
contenido:
A National Song of Triumph
God rises up and scatters his enemies.
Those who hate him run away in defeat.


book: Ps
contenido:
As smoke is blown away, so he drives them off;
as wax melts in front of the fire,
so do the wicked perish in God's presence.


book: Ps
contenido:
Sing to God, sing praises to his name;
prepare a way for him who rides on the clouds.
His name is the Lord—be glad in his presence!


book: Ps
contenido:
He gives the lonely a home to live in
and leads prisoners out into happy freedom,
but rebels will have to live in a desolate land.


book: Ps
contenido:
the earth shook, and the sky poured down rain,
because of the coming of the God of Sinai,
the coming of the God of Israel.


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;figures of doves covered with silver,
whose wings glittered with fine gold.
(Why did some of you stay among the sheep pens on the day of battle?)


book: Ps
contenido:
Why from your mighty peaks do you look with scorn
on the mountain on which God chose to live?
The Lord will live there forever!


book: Ps
contenido:
He goes up to the heights,
taking many captives with him;
he receives gifts from rebellious people.
The Lord God will live there.


book: Ps
contenido:
The Lord has said, “I will bring your enemies back from Bashan;
I will bring them back from the depths of the ocean,


book: Ps
contenido:
The singers are in front, the musicians are behind,
in between are the young women beating the tambourines.


book: Ps
contenido:
First comes Benjamin, the smallest tribe,
then the leaders of Judah with their group,
followed by the leaders of Zebulun and Naphtali.


book: Ps
contenido:
Rebuke Egypt, that wild animal in the reeds;
rebuke the nations, that herd of bulls with their calves,
until they all bow down and offer you their silver.
Scatter those people who love to make war!


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;to him who rides in the sky,
the ancient sky.
Listen to him shout with a mighty roar.


book: Ps
contenido:
How awesome is God as he comes from his sanctuary—
the God of Israel!
He gives strength and power to his people.
Praise God!


book: Ps
contenido:
I am sinking in deep mud,
and there is no solid ground;
I am out in deep water,
and the waves are about to drown me.


book: Ps
contenido:
I am worn out from calling for help,
and my throat is aching.
I have strained my eyes,
looking for your help.


book: Ps
contenido:
Those who hate me for no reason
are more numerous than the hairs of my head.
My enemies tell lies against me;
they are strong and want to kill me.
They made me give back things I did not steal.


book: Ps
contenido:
Don't let me bring shame on those who trust in you,
Sovereign Lord Almighty!
Don't let me bring disgrace to those who worship you,
O God of Israel!


book: Ps
contenido:
But as for me, I will pray to you, Lord;
answer me, God, at a time you choose.
Answer me because of your great love,
because you keep your promise to save.


book: Ps
contenido:
Insults have broken my heart,
and I am in despair.
I had hoped for sympathy, but there was none;
for comfort, but I found none.


book: Ps
contenido:
They persecute those whom you have punished;
they talk about the sufferings of those you have wounded.


book: Ps
contenido:
May their names be erased from the book of the living;
may they not be included in the list of your people.


book: Ps
contenido:
He will save Jerusalem
and rebuild the towns of Judah.
His people will live there and possess the land;


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;the descendants of his servants will inherit it,
and those who love him will live there.


book: Ps
contenido:
May those who try to kill me
be defeated and confused.
May those who are happy because of my troubles
be turned back and disgraced.


book: Ps
contenido:
May all who come to you
be glad and joyful.
May all who are thankful for your salvation
always say, “How great is God!”


book: Ps
contenido:
I have relied on you all my life;
you have protected me since the day I was born.
I will always praise you.


book: Ps
contenido:
May those who attack me
be defeated and destroyed.
May those who try to hurt me
be shamed and disgraced.


book: Ps
contenido:
I will tell of your goodness;
all day long I will speak of your salvation,
though it is more than I can understand.


book: Ps
contenido:
Now that I am old and my hair is gray,
do not abandon me, O God!
Be with me while I proclaim your power and might
to all generations to come.


book: Ps
contenido:
You have sent troubles and suffering on me,
but you will restore my strength;
you will keep me from the grave.


book: Ps
contenido:
I will indeed praise you with the harp;
I will praise your faithfulness, my God.
On my harp I will play hymns to you,
the Holy One of Israel.


book: Ps
contenido:
I will speak of your righteousness all day long,
because those who tried to harm me
have been defeated and disgraced.


book: Ps
contenido:
A Prayer for the King
Teach the king to judge with your righteousness, O God;
share with him your own justice,


book: Ps
contenido:
May your people worship you as long as the sun shines,
as long as the moon gives light, for ages to come.


book: Ps
contenido:
May righteousness flourish in his lifetime,
and may prosperity last as long as the moon gives light.


book: Ps
contenido:
The peoples of the desert will bow down before him;
his enemies will throw themselves to the ground.


book: Ps
contenido:
The kings of Spain and of the islands will offer him gifts;
the kings of Sheba and Seba will bring him offerings.


book: Ps
contenido:
Long live the king!
May he be given gold from Sheba;
may prayers be said for him at all times;
may God's blessings be on him always!


book: Ps
contenido:
May there be plenty of grain in the land;
may the hills be covered with crops,
as fruitful as those of Lebanon.
May the cities be filled with people,
like fields full of grass.


book: Ps
contenido:
May the king's name never be forgotten;
may his fame last as long as the sun.
May all nations ask God to bless them
as he has blessed the king.


book: Ps
contenido:
They laugh at other people and speak of evil things;
they are proud and make plans to oppress others.


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;until I went into your Temple.
Then I understood what will happen to the wicked.


book: Ps
contenido:
They are like a dream that goes away in the morning;
when you rouse yourself, O Lord, they disappear.


book: Ps
contenido:
But as for me, how wonderful to be near God,
to find protection with the Sovereign Lord
and to proclaim all that he has done!


book: Ps
contenido:
A Prayer for National Deliverance
Why have you abandoned us like this, O God?
Will you be angry with your own people forever?


book: Ps
contenido:
Remember your people, whom you chose for yourself long ago,
whom you brought out of slavery to be your own tribe.
Remember Mount Zion, where once you lived.


book: Ps
contenido:
Your enemies have shouted in triumph in your Temple;
they have placed their flags there as signs of victory.


book: Ps
contenido:
All our sacred symbols are gone;
there are no prophets left,
and no one knows how long this will last.


book: Ps
contenido:
God the Judge
We give thanks to you, O God, we give thanks to you!
We proclaim how great you are
and tell of the wonderful things you have done.


book: Ps
contenido:
Though every living creature tremble
and the earth itself be shaken,
I will keep its foundations firm.


book: Ps
contenido:
The Lord holds a cup in his hand,
filled with the strong wine of his anger.
He pours it out, and all the wicked drink it;
they drink it down to the last drop.


book: Ps
contenido:
How glorious you are, O God!
How majestic, as you return from the mountains
where you defeated your foes.


book: Ps
contenido:
Their brave soldiers have been stripped of all they had
and now are sleeping the sleep of death;
all their strength and skill was useless.


book: Ps
contenido:
Human anger only results in more praise for you;
those who survive the wars will keep your festivals.


book: Ps
contenido:
Give the Lord your God what you promised him;
bring gifts to him, all you nearby nations.
God makes everyone fear him;


book: Ps
contenido:
In times of trouble I pray to the Lord;
all night long I lift my hands in prayer,
but I cannot find comfort.


book: Ps
contenido:
The crash of your thunder rolled out,
and flashes of lightning lit up the world;
the earth trembled and shook.


book: Ps
contenido:
We will not keep them from our children;
we will tell the next generation
about the Lord's power and his great deeds
and the wonderful things he has done.


book: Ps
contenido:
He gave laws to the people of Israel
and commandments to the descendants of Jacob.
He instructed our ancestors
to teach his laws to their children,


book: Ps
contenido:
In this way they also will put their trust in God
and not forget what he has done,
but always obey his commandments.


book: Ps
contenido:
They will not be like their ancestors,
a rebellious and disobedient people,
whose trust in God was never firm
and who did not remain faithful to him.


book: Ps
contenido:
It is true that he struck the rock,
and water flowed out in a torrent;
but can he also provide us with bread
and give his people meat?”


book: Ps
contenido:
And so the Lord was angry when he heard them;
he attacked his people with fire,
and his anger against them grew,


book: Ps
contenido:
Whenever he killed some of them,
the rest would turn to him;
they would repent and pray earnestly to him.


book: Ps
contenido:
But God was merciful to his people.
He forgave their sin
and did not destroy them.
Many times he held back his anger
and restrained his fury.


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;and performed his mighty acts and miracles
in the plain of Zoan in the land of Egypt.


book: Ps
contenido:
He caused them great distress
by pouring out his anger and fierce rage,
which came as messengers of death.


book: Ps
contenido:
He drove out the inhabitants as his people advanced;
he divided their land among the tribes of Israel
and gave their homes to his people.


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;but were rebellious and disloyal like their ancestors,
unreliable as a crooked arrow.


book: Ps
contenido:
There he built his Temple
like his home in heaven;
he made it firm like the earth itself,
secure for all time.


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;where he looked after his flocks,
and he made him king of Israel,
the shepherd of the people of God.


book: Ps
contenido:
A Prayer for the Nation's Deliverance
O God, the heathen have invaded your land.
They have desecrated your holy Temple
and left Jerusalem in ruins.


book: Ps
contenido:
They left the bodies of your people for the vultures,
the bodies of your servants for wild animals to eat.


book: Ps
contenido:
They shed your people's blood like water;
blood flowed like water all through Jerusalem,
and no one was left to bury the dead.


book: Ps
contenido:
Why should the nations ask us,
“Where is your God?”
Let us see you punish the nations
for shedding the blood of your servants.


book: Ps
contenido:
Then we, your people, the sheep of your flock,
will thank you forever
and praise you for all time to come.


book: Ps
contenido:
A Prayer for the Nation's Restoration
Listen to us, O Shepherd of Israel;
hear us, leader of your flock.
Seated on your throne above the winged creatures,


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;reveal yourself to the tribes of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh.
Show us your strength;
come and save us!


book: Ps
contenido:
He gave it to the people of Israel
when he attacked the land of Egypt.
I hear an unknown voice saying,


book: Ps
contenido:
When you were in trouble, you called to me, and I saved you.
From my hiding place in the storm, I answered you.
I put you to the test at the springs of Meribah.


book: Ps
contenido:
God the Supreme Ruler
God presides in the heavenly council;
in the assembly of the gods he gives his decision:


book: Ps
contenido:
“How ignorant you are! How stupid!
You are completely corrupt,
and justice has disappeared from the world.


book: Ps
contenido:
A Prayer for the Defeat of Israel's Enemies
O God, do not keep silent;
do not be still, do not be quiet!


book: Ps
contenido:
Assyria has also joined them
as a strong ally of the Ammonites and Moabites, the descendants of Lot.


book: Ps
contenido:
Do to their leaders what you did to Oreb and Zeeb;
defeat all their rulers as you did Zebah and Zalmunna,


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;How I want to be there!
I long to be in the Lord's Temple.
With my whole being I sing for joy
to the living God.


book: Ps
contenido:
Even the sparrows have built a nest,
and the swallows have their own home;
they keep their young near your altars,
Lord Almighty, my king and my God.


book: Ps
contenido:
How happy are those whose strength comes from you,
who are eager to make the pilgrimage to Mount Zion.


book: Ps
contenido:
As they pass through the dry valley of Baca,
it becomes a place of springs;
the autumn rain fills it with pools.


book: Ps
contenido:
One day spent in your Temple
is better than a thousand anywhere else;
I would rather stand at the gate of the house of my God
than live in the homes of the wicked.


book: Ps
contenido:
The Lord is our protector and glorious king,
blessing us with kindness and honor.
He does not refuse any good thing
to those who do what is right.


book: Ps
contenido:
A Prayer for the Nation's Welfare
Lord, you have been merciful to your land;
you have made Israel prosperous again.


book: Ps
contenido:
I am listening to what the Lord God is saying;
he promises peace to us, his own people,
if we do not go back to our foolish ways.


book: Ps
contenido:
All the nations that you have created
will come and bow down to you;
they will praise your greatness.


book: Ps
contenido:
Teach me, Lord, what you want me to do,
and I will obey you faithfully;
teach me to serve you with complete devotion.


book: Ps
contenido:
Proud people are coming against me, O God;
a cruel gang is trying to kill me—
people who pay no attention to you.


book: Ps
contenido:
Turn to me and have mercy on me;
strengthen me and save me,
because I serve you just as my mother did.


book: Ps
contenido:
Show me proof of your goodness, Lord;
those who hate me will be ashamed
when they see that you have given me comfort and help.


book: Ps
contenido:
“I will include Egypt and Babylonia
when I list the nations that obey me;
the people of Philistia, Tyre, and Ethiopia
I will number among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.”


book: Ps
contenido:
I am abandoned among the dead;
I am like the slain lying in their graves,
those you have forgotten completely,
who are beyond your help.


book: Ps
contenido:
You have caused my friends to abandon me;
you have made me repulsive to them.
I am closed in and cannot escape;


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;my eyes are weak from suffering.
Lord, every day I call to you
and lift my hands to you in prayer.


book: Ps
contenido:
Ever since I was young, I have suffered and been near death;
I am worn out from the burden of your punishments.


book: Ps
contenido:
A Hymn in Time of National Trouble
O Lord, I will always sing of your constant love;
I will proclaim your faithfulness forever.


book: Ps
contenido:
Your kingdom is founded on righteousness and justice;
love and faithfulness are shown in all you do.


book: Ps
contenido:
God's Promise to David
In a vision long ago you said to your faithful servants,
“I have given help to a famous soldier;
I have given the throne to one I chose from the people.


book: Ps
contenido:
Lament over the Defeat of the King
But you are angry with your chosen king;
you have deserted and rejected him.


book: Ps
contenido:
A Prayer for Deliverance
Lord, will you hide yourself forever?
How long will your anger burn like fire?


book: Ps
contenido:
Before you created the hills
or brought the world into being,
you were eternally God,
and will be God forever.


book: Ps
contenido:
A thousand years to you are like one day;
they are like yesterday, already gone,
like a short hour in the night.


book: Ps
contenido:
You carry us away like a flood;
we last no longer than a dream.
We are like weeds that sprout in the morning,


book: Ps
contenido:
Seventy years is all we have—
eighty years, if we are strong;
yet all they bring us is trouble and sorrow;
life is soon over, and we are gone.


book: Ps
contenido:
God Our Protector
Whoever goes to the Lord for safety,
whoever remains under the protection of the Almighty,


book: Ps
contenido:
He will cover you with his wings;
you will be safe in his care;
his faithfulness will protect and defend you.


book: Ps
contenido:
When they call to me, I will answer them;
when they are in trouble, I will be with them.
I will rescue them and honor them.


book: Ps
contenido:
A Song of Praise
How good it is to give thanks to you, O Lord,
to sing in your honor, O Most High God,


book: Ps
contenido:
God the King
The Lord is king.
He is clothed with majesty and strength.
The earth is set firmly in place
and cannot be moved.


book: Ps
contenido:
The Lord rules supreme in heaven,
greater than the roar of the ocean,
more powerful than the waves of the sea.


book: Ps
contenido:
He will punish them for their wickedness
and destroy them for their sins;
the Lord our God will destroy them.


book: Ps
contenido:
He is our God;
we are the people he cares for,
the flock for which he provides.
Listen today to what he says:


book: Ps
contenido:
“Don't be stubborn, as your ancestors were at Meribah,
as they were that day in the desert at Massah.


book: Ps
contenido:
For forty years I was disgusted with those people.
I said, ‘How disloyal they are!
They refuse to obey my commands.’


book: Ps
contenido:
I was angry and made a solemn promise:
‘You will never enter the land
where I would have given you rest.’”


book: Ps
contenido:
Say to all the nations, “The Lord is king!
The earth is set firmly in place and cannot be moved;
he will judge the peoples with justice.”


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;be glad, fields, and everything in you!
The trees in the woods will shout for joy


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;when the Lord comes to rule the earth.
He will rule the peoples of the world
with justice and fairness.


book: Ps
contenido:
The Lord loves those who hate evil;
he protects the lives of his people;
he rescues them from the power of the wicked.


book: Ps
contenido:
All you that are righteous be glad
because of what the Lord has done!
Remember what the holy God has done,
and give thanks to him.


book: Ps
contenido:
God the Ruler of the World
Sing a new song to the Lord;
he has done wonderful things!
By his own power and holy strength
he has won the victory.


book: Ps
contenido:
He kept his promise to the people of Israel
with loyalty and constant love for them.
All people everywhere have seen the victory of our God.


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;because he comes to rule the earth.
He will rule the peoples of the world
with justice and fairness.


book: Ps
contenido:
God the Supreme King
The Lord is king,
and the people tremble.
He sits on his throne above the winged creatures,
and the earth shakes.


book: Ps
contenido:
Mighty king, you love what is right;
you have established justice in Israel;
you have brought righteousness and fairness.


book: Ps
contenido:
Moses and Aaron were his priests,
and Samuel was one who prayed to him;
they called to the Lord, and he answered them.


book: Ps
contenido:
O Lord, our God, you answered your people;
you showed them that you are a God who forgives,
even though you punished them for their sins.


book: Ps
contenido:
Acknowledge that the Lord is God.
He made us, and we belong to him;
we are his people, we are his flock.


book: Ps
contenido:
Enter the Temple gates with thanksgiving;
go into its courts with praise.
Give thanks to him and praise him.


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;and will never tolerate evil.
I hate the actions of those who turn away from God;
I will have nothing to do with them.


book: Ps
contenido:
I will get rid of anyone
who whispers evil things about someone else;
I will not tolerate anyone
who is proud and arrogant.


book: Ps
contenido:
I will approve of those who are faithful to God
and will let them live in my palace.
Those who are completely honest
will be allowed to serve me.


book: Ps
contenido:
Day after day I will destroy
the wicked in our land;
I will expel all who are evil
from the city of the Lord.


book: Ps
contenido:
Because of your anger and fury,
ashes are my food,
and my tears are mixed with my drink.
You picked me up and threw me away.


book: Ps
contenido:
You will rise and take pity on Zion;
the time has come to have mercy on her;
this is the right time.


book: Ps
contenido:
Your servants love her,
even though she is destroyed;
they have pity on her,
even though she is in ruins.


book: Ps
contenido:
Write down for the coming generation what the Lord has done,
so that people not yet born will praise him.


book: Ps
contenido:
They will disappear, but you will remain;
they will all wear out like clothes.
You will discard them like clothes,
and they will vanish.


book: Ps
contenido:
But for those who honor the Lord, his love lasts forever,
and his goodness endures for all generations


book: Ps
contenido:
In Praise of the Creator
Praise the Lord, my soul!
O Lord, my God, how great you are!
You are clothed with majesty and glory;


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;and built your home on the waters above.
You use the clouds as your chariot
and ride on the wings of the wind.


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;and produce wine to make us happy,
olive oil to make us cheerful,
and bread to give us strength.


book: Ps
contenido:
Lord, you have made so many things!
How wisely you made them all!
The earth is filled with your creatures.


book: Ps
contenido:
When you turn away, they are afraid;
when you take away your breath, they die
and go back to the dust from which they came.


book: Ps
contenido:
May sinners be destroyed from the earth;
may the wicked be no more.
Praise the Lord, my soul!
Praise the Lord!


book: Ps
contenido:
God and His People
Give thanks to the Lord,
proclaim his greatness;
tell the nations what he has done.


book: Ps
contenido:
You descendants of Abraham, his servant;
you descendants of Jacob, the man he chose:
remember the miracles that God performed
and the judgments that he gave.


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;until what he had predicted came true.
The word of the Lord proved him right.


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;with power over the king's officials
and authority to instruct his advisers.


book: Ps
contenido:
Then he led the Israelites out;
they carried silver and gold,
and all of them were healthy and strong.


book: Ps
contenido:
The Lord's Goodness to His People
Praise the Lord!
Give thanks to the Lord, because he is good;
his love is eternal.


book: Ps
contenido:
Let me see the prosperity of your people
and share in the happiness of your nation,
in the glad pride of those who belong to you.


book: Ps
contenido:
Our ancestors in Egypt did not understand God's wonderful acts;
they forgot the many times he showed them his love,
and they rebelled against the Almighty at the Red Sea.


book: Ps
contenido:
When God said that he would destroy his people,
his chosen servant, Moses, stood up against God
and kept his anger from destroying them.


book: Ps
contenido:
At the springs of Meribah the people made the Lord angry,
and Moses was in trouble on their account.


book: Ps
contenido:
Many times the Lord rescued his people,
but they chose to rebel against him
and sank deeper into sin.


book: Ps
contenido:
Save us, O Lord our God,
and bring us back from among the nations,
so that we may be thankful
and praise your holy name.


book: Ps
contenido:
Praise the Lord, the God of Israel;
praise him now and forever!
Let everyone say, “Amen!”
Praise the Lord!


book: Ps
contenido:
BOOK FIVE
In Praise of God's Goodness
“Give thanks to the Lord, because he is good;
his love is eternal!”


book: Ps
contenido:
Repeat these words in praise to the Lord,
all you whom he has saved.
He has rescued you from your enemies


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;and has brought you back from foreign countries,
from east and west, from north and south.


book: Ps
contenido:
The ships were lifted high in the air
and plunged down into the depths.
In such danger the sailors lost their courage;


book: Ps
contenido:
They must proclaim his greatness in the assembly of the people
and praise him before the council of the leaders.


book: Ps
contenido:
A Prayer for Help against Enemies
I have complete confidence, O God!
I will sing and praise you!
Wake up, my soul!


book: Ps
contenido:
But I will use Moab as my washbowl,
and I will throw my sandals on Edom,
as a sign that I own it.
I will shout in triumph over the Philistines.”


book: Ps
contenido:
That man never thought of being kind;
he persecuted and killed
the poor, the needy, and the helpless.


book: Ps
contenido:
He cursed as naturally as he dressed himself;
may his own curses soak into his body like water
and into his bones like oil!


book: Ps
contenido:
But my Sovereign Lord, help me as you have promised,
and rescue me because of the goodness of your love.


book: Ps
contenido:
They may curse me, but you will bless me.
May my persecutors be defeated,
and may I, your servant, be glad.


book: Ps
contenido:
The Lord and His Chosen King
The Lord said to my lord,
“Sit here at my right side
until I put your enemies under your feet.”


book: Ps
contenido:
On the day you fight your enemies,
your people will volunteer.
Like the dew of early morning
your young men will come to you on the sacred hills.


book: Ps
contenido:
The Lord made a solemn promise and will not take it back:
“You will be a priest forever
in the priestly order of Melchizedek.”


book: Ps
contenido:
He will pass judgment on the nations
and fill the battlefield with corpses;
he will defeat kings all over the earth.


book: Ps
contenido:
In Praise of the Lord
Praise the Lord!
With all my heart I will thank the Lord
in the assembly of his people.


book: Ps
contenido:
How wonderful are the things the Lord does!
All who are delighted with them want to understand them.


book: Ps
contenido:
The way to become wise is to honor the Lord;
he gives sound judgment to all who obey his commands.
He is to be praised forever.


book: Ps
contenido:
The Happiness of a Good Person
Praise the Lord!
Happy is the person who honors the Lord,
who takes pleasure in obeying his commands.


book: Ps
contenido:
He honors the childless wife in her home;
he makes her happy by giving her children.
Praise the Lord!


book: Ps
contenido:
A Passover Song
When the people of Israel left Egypt,
when Jacob's descendants left that foreign land,


book: Ps
contenido:
The One True God
To you alone, O Lord, to you alone,
and not to us, must glory be given
because of your constant love and faithfulness.


book: Ps
contenido:
The Lord remembers us and will bless us;
he will bless the people of Israel
and all the priests of God.


book: Ps
contenido:
Someone Saved from Death Praises God
I love the Lord, because he hears me;
he listens to my prayers.


book: Ps
contenido:
The danger of death was all around me;
the horrors of the grave closed in on me;
I was filled with fear and anxiety.


book: Ps
contenido:
In the assembly of all your people,
in the sanctuary of your Temple in Jerusalem,
I will give you what I have promised.
Praise the Lord!


book: Ps
contenido:
A Prayer of Thanks for Victory
Give thanks to the Lord, because he is good,
and his love is eternal.


book: Ps
contenido:
They swarmed around me like bees,
but they burned out as quickly as a brush fire;
by the power of the Lord I destroyed them.


book: Ps
contenido:
Listen to the glad shouts of victory in the tents of God's people:
“The Lord's mighty power has done it!


book: Ps
contenido:
The Lord is God; he has been good to us.
With branches in your hands, start the festival
and march around the altar.


book: Ps
contenido:
The Law of the Lord
Happy are those whose lives are faultless,
who live according to the law of the Lord.


book: Ps
contenido:
Obedience to the Law of the Lord
How can young people keep their lives pure?
By obeying your commands.


book: Ps
contenido:
Happiness in the Law of the Lord
Be good to me, your servant,
so that I may live and obey your teachings.


book: Ps
contenido:
Determination to Obey the Law of the Lord
I lie defeated in the dust;
revive me, as you have promised.


book: Ps
contenido:
A Prayer for Understanding
Teach me, Lord, the meaning of your laws,
and I will obey them at all times.


book: Ps
contenido:
Trusting the Law of the Lord
Show me how much you love me, Lord,
and save me according to your promise.


book: Ps
contenido:
The Value of the Law of the Lord
You have kept your promise, Lord,
and you are good to me, your servant.


book: Ps
contenido:
The Justice of the Law of the Lord
You created me, and you keep me safe;
give me understanding, so that I may learn your laws.


book: Ps
contenido:
A Prayer for Deliverance
I am worn out, Lord, waiting for you to save me;
I place my trust in your word.


book: Ps
contenido:
Safety in the Law of the Lord
I hate those who are not completely loyal to you,
but I love your law.


book: Ps
contenido:
Obedience to the Law of the Lord
I have done what is right and good;
don't abandon me to my enemies!


book: Ps
contenido:
A Prayer for Deliverance
With all my heart I call to you;
answer me, Lord, and I will obey your commands!


book: Ps
contenido:
I wander about like a lost sheep;
so come and look for me, your servant,
because I have not neglected your laws.


book: Ps
contenido:
This is where the tribes come,
the tribes of Israel,
to give thanks to the Lord
according to his command.


book: Ps
contenido:
As a servant depends on his master,
as a maid depends on her mistress,
so we will keep looking to you, O Lord our God,
until you have mercy on us.


book: Ps
contenido:
The Security of God's People
Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,
which can never be shaken, never be moved.


book: Ps
contenido:
The wicked will not always rule over the land of the righteous;
if they did, the righteous themselves might do evil.


book: Ps
contenido:
How we laughed, how we sang for joy!
Then the other nations said about us,
“The Lord did great things for them.”


book: Ps
contenido:
Those who wept as they went out carrying the seed
will come back singing for joy,
as they bring in the harvest.


book: Ps
contenido:
In Praise of God's Goodness
If the Lord does not build the house,
the work of the builders is useless;
if the Lord does not protect the city,
it does no good for the sentries to stand guard.


book: Ps
contenido:
It is useless to work so hard for a living,
getting up early and going to bed late.
For the Lord provides for those he loves,
while they are asleep.


book: Ps
contenido:
Happy is the man who has many such arrows.
He will never be defeated
when he meets his enemies in the place of judgment.


book: Ps
contenido:
Your wife will be like a fruitful vine in your home,
and your children will be like young olive trees around your table.


book: Ps
contenido:
A Prayer against Israel's Enemies
Israel, tell us how your enemies have persecuted you
ever since you were young.


book: Ps
contenido:
A Prayer of Humble Trust
Lord, I have given up my pride
and turned away from my arrogance.
I am not concerned with great matters
or with subjects too difficult for me.


book: Ps
contenido:
Instead, I am content and at peace.
As a child lies quietly in its mother's arms,
so my heart is quiet within me.


book: Ps
contenido:
You made a solemn promise to David—
a promise you will not take back:
“I will make one of your sons king,
and he will rule after you.


book: Ps
contenido:
If your sons are true to my covenant
and to the commands I give them,
their sons, also, will succeed you for all time as kings.”


book: Ps
contenido:
Here I will make one of David's descendants a great king;
here I will preserve the rule of my chosen king.


book: Ps
contenido:
In Praise of Living in Peace
How wonderful it is, how pleasant,
for God's people to live together in harmony!


book: Ps
contenido:
It is like the precious anointing oil
running down from Aaron's head and beard,
down to the collar of his robes.


book: Ps
contenido:
It is like the dew on Mount Hermon,
falling on the hills of Zion.
That is where the Lord has promised his blessing—
life that never ends.


book: Ps
contenido:
He brings storm clouds from the ends of the earth;
he makes lightning for the storms,
and he brings out the wind from his storeroom.


book: Ps
contenido:
A Lament of Israelites in Exile
By the rivers of Babylon we sat down;
there we wept when we remembered Zion.


book: Ps
contenido:
May I never be able to sing again
if I do not remember you,
if I do not think of you as my greatest joy!


book: Ps
contenido:
Remember, Lord, what the Edomites did
the day Jerusalem was captured.
Remember how they kept saying,
“Tear it down to the ground!”


book: Ps
contenido:
A Prayer of Thanksgiving
I thank you, Lord, with all my heart;
I sing praise to you before the gods.


book: Ps
contenido:
I face your holy Temple,
bow down, and praise your name
because of your constant love and faithfulness,
because you have shown that your name and your commands are supreme.


book: Ps
contenido:
When I am surrounded by troubles,
you keep me safe.
You oppose my angry enemies
and save me by your power.


book: Ps
contenido:
You will do everything you have promised;
Lord, your love is eternal.
Complete the work that you have begun.


book: Ps
contenido:
If I went up to heaven, you would be there;
if I lay down in the world of the dead, you would be there.


book: Ps
contenido:
but even darkness is not dark for you,
and the night is as bright as the day.
Darkness and light are the same to you.


book: Ps
contenido:
I praise you because you are to be feared;
all you do is strange and wonderful.
I know it with all my heart.


book: Ps
contenido:
When my bones were being formed,
carefully put together in my mother's womb,
when I was growing there in secret,
you knew that I was there—


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;you saw me before I was born.
The days allotted to me
had all been recorded in your book,
before any of them ever began.


book: Ps
contenido:
Protect me, Lord, from the power of the wicked;
keep me safe from violent people
who plot my downfall.


book: Ps
contenido:
The proud have set a trap for me;
they have laid their snares,
and along the path they have set traps to catch me.


book: Ps
contenido:
Keep me from wanting to do wrong
and from joining evil people in their wickedness.
May I never take part in their feasts.


book: Ps
contenido:
Good people may punish me and rebuke me in kindness,
but I will never accept honor from evil people,
because I am always praying against their evil deeds.


book: Ps
contenido:
Like wood that is split and chopped into bits,
so their bones are scattered at the edge of the grave.


book: Ps
contenido:
When I am ready to give up,
he knows what I should do.
In the path where I walk,
my enemies have hidden a trap for me.


book: Ps
contenido:
When I look beside me,
I see that there is no one to help me,
no one to protect me.
No one cares for me.


book: Ps
contenido:
Listen to my cry for help,
for I am sunk in despair.
Save me from my enemies;
they are too strong for me.


book: Ps
contenido:
Set me free from my distress;
then in the assembly of your people I will praise you
because of your goodness to me.


book: Ps
contenido:
A Prayer for Help
Lord, hear my prayer!
In your righteousness listen to my plea;
answer me in your faithfulness!


book: Ps
contenido:
My enemies have hunted me down
and completely defeated me.
They have put me in a dark prison,
and I am like those who died long ago.


book: Ps
contenido:
Answer me now, Lord!
I have lost all hope.
Don't hide yourself from me,
or I will be among those who go down to the world of the dead.


book: Ps
contenido:
Remind me each morning of your constant love,
for I put my trust in you.
My prayers go up to you;
show me the way I should go.


book: Ps
contenido:
A King Thanks God for Victory
Praise the Lord, my protector!
He trains me for battle
and prepares me for war.


book: Ps
contenido:
He is my protector and defender,
my shelter and savior,
in whom I trust for safety.
He subdues the nations under me.


book: Ps
contenido:
Reach down from above,
pull me out of the deep water, and rescue me;
save me from the power of foreigners,


book: Ps
contenido:
Save me from my cruel enemies;
rescue me from the power of foreigners,
who never tell the truth
and lie even under oath.


book: Ps
contenido:
May our sons in their youth
be like plants that grow up strong.
May our daughters be like stately columns
which adorn the corners of a palace.


book: Ps
contenido:
May our barns be filled
with crops of every kind.
May the sheep in our fields
bear young by the tens of thousands.


book: Ps
contenido:
May our cattle reproduce plentifully
without miscarriage or loss.
May there be no cries of distress in our streets.


book: Ps
contenido:
A Hymn of Praise
I will proclaim your greatness, my God and king;
I will thank you forever and ever.


book: Ps
contenido:
What you have done will be praised from one generation to the next;
they will proclaim your mighty acts.


book: Ps
contenido:
Your rule is eternal,
and you are king forever.
The Lord is faithful to his promises;
he is merciful in all his acts.


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;he judges in favor of the oppressed
and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;and gives sight to the blind.
He lifts those who have fallen;
he loves his righteous people.


book: Ps
contenido:
He protects the strangers who live in our land;
he helps widows and orphans,
but takes the wicked to their ruin.


book: Ps
contenido:
In Praise of God the Almighty
Praise the Lord!
It is good to sing praise to our God;
it is pleasant and right to praise him.


book: Ps
contenido:
A Call for the Universe to Praise God
Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from heaven,
you that live in the heights above.


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;by his command they were fixed in their places forever,
and they cannot disobey.


book: Ps
contenido:
Let them all praise the name of the Lord!
His name is greater than all others;
his glory is above earth and heaven.


book: Ps
contenido:
He made his nation strong,
so that all his people praise him—
the people of Israel, so dear to him.
Praise the Lord!


book: Ps
contenido:
A Hymn of Praise
Praise the Lord!
Sing a new song to the Lord;
praise him in the assembly of his faithful people!


book: Ps
contenido:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;to punish the nations as God has commanded.
This is the victory of God's people.
Praise the Lord!


book: Prov
contenido:
Here are proverbs that will help you recognize wisdom and good advice, and understand sayings with deep meaning.


book: Prov
contenido:
Advice to the Young
To have knowledge, you must first have reverence for the Lord. Stupid people have no respect for wisdom and refuse to learn.


book: Prov
contenido:
Their teaching will improve your character as a handsome turban or a necklace improves your appearance.


book: Prov
contenido:
Suppose they say, “Come on; let's find someone to kill! Let's attack some innocent people for the fun of it!


book: Prov
contenido:
“Foolish people! How long do you want to be foolish? How long will you enjoy making fun of knowledge? Will you never learn?


book: Prov
contenido:
I have been calling you, inviting you to come, but you would not listen. You paid no attention to me.


book: Prov
contenido:
when it comes on you like a storm, bringing fierce winds of trouble, and you are in pain and misery.


book: Prov
contenido:
Then you will call for wisdom, but I will not answer. You may look for me everywhere, but you will not find me.


book: Prov
contenido:
Inexperienced people die because they reject wisdom. Stupid people are destroyed by their own lack of concern.


book: Prov
contenido:
and prevent you from doing the wrong thing. They will keep you away from people who stir up trouble by what they say—


book: Prov
contenido:
If you go to her house, you are traveling the road to death. To go there is to approach the world of the dead.


book: Prov
contenido:
But God will snatch the wicked from the land and pull sinners out of it like plants from the ground.


book: Prov
contenido:
Never let yourself think that you are wiser than you are; simply obey the Lord and refuse to do wrong.


book: Prov
contenido:
Wise people will gain an honorable reputation, but stupid people will only add to their own disgrace.


book: Prov
contenido:
The Benefits of Wisdom
My children, listen to what your father teaches you. Pay attention, and you will have understanding.


book: Prov
contenido:
my father would teach me. He would say, “Remember what I say and never forget it. Do as I tell you, and you will live.


book: Prov
contenido:
Wicked people cannot sleep unless they have done something wrong. They lie awake unless they have hurt someone.


book: Prov
contenido:
The road the righteous travel is like the sunrise, getting brighter and brighter until daylight has come.


book: Prov
contenido:
The road of the wicked, however, is dark as night. They fall, but cannot see what they have stumbled over.


book: Prov
contenido:
If you do, others will gain the respect that you once had, and you will die young at the hands of merciless people.


book: Prov
contenido:
Son, why should you give your love to another woman? Why should you prefer the charms of another man's wife?


book: Prov
contenido:
Well then, my child, you are in that person's power, but this is how to get out of it: hurry to him, and beg him to release you.


book: Prov
contenido:
There are seven things that the Lord hates and cannot tolerate:
A proud look,
a lying tongue,
hands that kill innocent people,
a mind that thinks up wicked plans,
feet that hurry off to do evil,
a witness who tells one lie after another,
and someone who stirs up trouble among friends.


book: Prov
contenido:
Warning against Adultery
Son, do what your father tells you and never forget what your mother taught you.


book: Prov
contenido:
A man can hire a prostitute for the price of a loaf of bread, but adultery will cost him all he has.


book: Prov
contenido:
Do what I say, and you will live. Be as careful to follow my teaching as you are to protect your eyes.


book: Prov
contenido:
He was walking along the street near the corner where a certain woman lived. He was passing near her house


book: Prov
contenido:
Suddenly he was going with her like an ox on the way to be slaughtered, like a deer prancing into a trap


book: Prov
contenido:
where an arrow would pierce its heart. He was like a bird going into a net—he did not know that his life was in danger.


book: Prov
contenido:
and ordered the waters of the sea
to rise no further than he said.
I was there when he laid the earth's foundations.


book: Prov
contenido:
Those who listen to me will be happy—
those who stay at my door every day,
waiting at the entrance to my home.


book: Prov
contenido:
If you correct conceited people, you will only be insulted. If you reprimand evil people, you will only get hurt.


book: Prov
contenido:
Never correct conceited people; they will hate you for it. But if you correct the wise, they will respect you.


book: Prov
contenido:
Anything you say to the wise will make them wiser. Whatever you tell the righteous will add to their knowledge.


book: Prov
contenido:
To be wise you must first have reverence for the Lord. If you know the Holy One, you have understanding.


book: Prov
contenido:
You are the one who will profit if you have wisdom, and if you reject it, you are the one who will suffer.


book: Prov
contenido:
Her victims do not know that the people die who go to her house, that those who have already entered are now deep in the world of the dead.


book: Prov
contenido:
Solomon's Proverbs
These are Solomon's proverbs:
Wise children make their fathers proud of them; foolish ones bring their mothers grief.


book: Prov
contenido:
The Lord will not let good people go hungry, but he will keep the wicked from getting what they want.


book: Prov
contenido:
A sensible person gathers the crops when they are ready; it is a disgrace to sleep through the time of harvest.


book: Prov
contenido:
People who listen when they are corrected will live, but those who will not admit that they are wrong are in danger.


book: Prov
contenido:
Never get a lazy person to do something for you; he will be as irritating as vinegar on your teeth or smoke in your eyes.


book: Prov
contenido:
If you are good, you are guided by honesty. People who can't be trusted are destroyed by their own dishonesty.


book: Prov
contenido:
Righteousness rescues those who are honest, but those who can't be trusted are trapped by their own greed.


book: Prov
contenido:
A city is happy when honest people have good fortune, and there are joyful shouts when the wicked die.


book: Prov
contenido:
A city becomes great when the righteous give it their blessing; but a city is brought to ruin by the words of the wicked.


book: Prov
contenido:
No one who gossips can be trusted with a secret, but you can put confidence in someone who is trustworthy.


book: Prov
contenido:
If you promise to pay a stranger's debt, you will regret it. You are better off if you don't get involved.


book: Prov
contenido:
A gracious woman is respected, but a woman without virtue is a disgrace.
Lazy people will never have money, but aggressive people will get rich.


book: Prov
contenido:
Wicked people do not really gain anything, but if you do what is right, you are certain to be rewarded.


book: Prov
contenido:
What good people want always results in good; when the wicked get what they want, everyone is angry.


book: Prov
contenido:
Some people spend their money freely and still grow richer. Others are cautious, and yet grow poorer.


book: Prov
contenido:
People curse someone who hoards grain, waiting for a higher price, but they praise the one who puts it up for sale.


book: Prov
contenido:
If your goals are good, you will be respected, but if you are looking for trouble, that is what you will get.


book: Prov
contenido:
Those who depend on their wealth will fall like the leaves of autumn, but the righteous will prosper like the leaves of summer.


book: Prov
contenido:
Those who bring trouble on their families will have nothing at the end.
Foolish people will always be servants to the wise.


book: Prov
contenido:
Those who are good are rewarded here on earth, so you can be sure that wicked and sinful people will be punished.


book: Prov
contenido:
A good wife is her husband's pride and joy; but a wife who brings shame on her husband is like a cancer in his bones.


book: Prov
contenido:
The words of the wicked are murderous, but the words of the righteous rescue those who are threatened.


