Analytical-Literal Translation of the OT - Volume Five - The Apocryphal/ Deuterocanonical Books

This book contains the “extra” books found in Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Bibles as compared to Jewish and Protestant Bibles. There is much debate on whether these books are inspired by God or not. Only by reading them in a literal translation can you make a decision on this controversial issue. These books were written from 200 B. C. to 50 A.D. Therefore, whether inspired or not, they provide insight into Jewish history and thought shortly before and during the time of New Testament events and thus provide important background to the New Testament.

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The “Regular” paperback and hardback versions of the ALT: OT listed above are printed on 8-1/2”x11” pages in double columns using Times New Roman 10-point font. However, there is also available a Personal Size Version. It is printed on 6” x 9” pages in single columns using the same font size, Times 10. Many requested this smaller page size, so I am making it available. However, due to the smaller page size, the number of pages and thus the cost of the book is greater.

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Paperback: 344 pages. $12.50. Order from the publisher via their website: Lulu Publishing.

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Notes: Different formats and publishers might have different covers, but the content is the same in all of them. The newest version of the ALT: OT published in 2023 is a corrected text not a full new edition. Only minor corrections have been made, plus the appendixes and covers have been updated. Look for “2023” in the copyright notices on pages 2 and 4 for the latest version.

The Kindle versions of the ALT listed on both Amazon pages are identical. It has just been duplicated on each page.

Also, I've been asked about reducing the number of volumes of the ALT by combining some of the volumes. That would not be possible due to page limitations with my current method of publishing my books and technical difficulties of working with what would be very large files.

The links to Amazon are advertising links, for which I receive a commission in addition to my royalty if a product is purchased after following the link.

Note: The paperback and hardback versions of the ALT are in double columns. But it is not possible to reproduce that format here.

The Analytical-Literal Translation of the Holy Bible (ALT) is translated by Gary F. Zeolla (www.Zeolla.org). The ALT consists of seven volumes. They are.

Volumes I to IV contain the Old Testament (OT). All 39 of these books are considered canonical by Jews and all Christian groups. The word “canon” means list of authoritative books, so canonical books are those which are included in this list. They are believed to be inspired by God and reliable for basing doctrine and practice upon. As such, all 39 of these OT books are a trustworthy guide to correct faith and practice and to spiritual enrichment.

Volume V is the Apocryphal/ Deuterocanonical (A/D) Books. These are the “extra” books found in the OTs of Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Bibles as compared to Jewish Bibles and the OTs of Protestant Bibles. There is much debate over if these books are canonical or not. They were all written in the period between the end of the OT and the beginning of the New Testament (NT). They are thus included in the ALT as, inspired or not, they are worth reading and provide background to the NT.

Volume VI contains the NT. All 27 of these books are considered canonical by all Christian groups. They are thus the bedrock on which Christian doctrine and practice are built upon and provide much spiritual benefit.

This Volume VII of the ALT contains the Apostolic Fathers (APF). These are the writings of Church leaders of the late first to mid-second centuries, most of whom were direct disciples of the apostles. Some of these books were seriously considered for inclusion in the canon of the NT. These are marked with an asterisk on the Table of Contents. They were ultimately rejected for the canon, but all of these APF books were popular in the early centuries of the Church. They give insight into the mindset of the early Church shortly after the apostles and provide background to the NT. As such, they are very much worth reading.

(Also, Additions to Esther. These were included within the Book of Esther in Volume II of this ALT: OT, after Esther 1:1; 3:13; 4:17; 5:1; 8:12; 10:3.)

(Also, Psalm 151. It was included at the end of the Book of Psalms in Volume III of this ALT: OT.)

Three – Translator’s Web Sites, Newsletters, and Social Sites/ Contacting the Translator

A/D – Apocryphal/ Deuterocanonical. The two terms used to refer to the books in this volume. Their meanings are explained in the “Preface.”

but – Indicates the use of the Greek strong adversative (alla – e.g., Tobit 4:14) instead of the weak adversatives (kai or de, translated as “but” when used in an adversative sense – e.g., Tobit 1:5; 12:7, respectively).

you – Indicates the pronoun is emphasized in the Greek text (also, he, she, etc. – e.g., Tobit 3:14).

you* – Indicates the original is plural (also, your* – e.g., Tobit 6:18). With no asterisk the second person pronoun is singular (e.g., Tobit 5:16).

[The] scroll of the words of Tobit [Heb., Tobhiyah, “The LORD is good”], the [son] of Tobiel, the [son] of Ananiel, the [son] of Aduel, the [son] of Gabael, from the seed [fig., descendants, and throughout book] of Asiel, from the tribe of Naphtali [LXX, Nephthalim], ²who was led captive in [the] days of Shalmaneser [LXX, Enemessar] the king of [the] Assyrians out of Thisbe, which is at [the] right of Kadesh Naphtali in Galilee above Asher [LXX, Aser].

³I, Tobit, was walking in [the] ways of truth and righteousness all the days of my life, and I gave many alms [or, did many acts of charity] to my brothers [and sisters] and to [my] nation, having come along with me into [the] country of [the] Assyrians, into Nineveh [LXX, Nineve]. ⁴And when I was in my [own] country, in the land of Israel, my being [fig., when I was] young, all [the] tribe of Naphtali my father [fig., ancestor, and elsewhere in book] departed from the house of Jerusalem, having been chosen from all of the tribes of Israel, for all the tribes to be sacrificing [there], and [where] the temple of the habitation of the Most High was consecrated and was built into all the generations of the age [fig., for all generations to come].

⁵But all the tribes having revolted together, and the house of my father Naphtali, were sacrificing to the heifer Baal. ⁶But I alone was going frequently to Jerusalem in the feasts, just as it had been written to all Israel by an everlasting decree, having the first fruits and the tenths of the harvests and the first shearings [of the sheep]. ⁷And I was giving them to the priests, to the sons of Aaron at the altar. I was giving the tenth of all the harvests to the sons of Levi, ministering in Jerusalem. And the second tenth I was selling, and I was going and was spending them in Jerusalem according to each year [fig., every year]. ⁸And the third I was giving to who is suitable [fig., needed it], just as Deborah the mother of my father commanded, because I was left an orphan by my father.

⁹And when I become a man, I took Anna [as] a wife, from the seed of our father, and by her I fathered Tobias. ¹⁰And when we were led captive into Nineveh, all my brothers [and sisters] and the [ones] from my race were eating from the bread of the Gentiles [i.e., non-Jews]. ¹¹But I preserved my soul not to eat [fig., kept myself from eating], ¹²because I had remembered God with my whole soul. ¹³And the Most High gave [me] favor and [good] appearance before Shalmaneser [LXX, Enemessaros], and I was his purveyor [or, buyer of provisions].

¹⁴And I was going into Media and entrusted to Gabael, the brother of Gabrias, at Rages [a city] of Media, ten talents [about 950 pounds or 420 kilograms] of silver. ¹⁵And when Shalmaneser died, Sennacherib his son reigned in his place. And his roads were unsettled, so no longer was I enabled to go into Media.

¹⁶And in the days of Shalmaneser I was giving many alms to [or, performing many acts of charity for] my brothers [and sisters]. ¹⁷And I was giving my bread to ones hungering and my clothes to the naked [people]. And if I was observing any from my race having died and having been cast out behind the walls of Nineveh, I was burying him. ¹⁸And if Sennacherib the king killed any, when he came, fleeing from Judea, I buried them stealing [fig., in secret], for he killed many in his wrath; and the bodies were sought for by the king, but were not found.

¹⁹But one of the [people] in Nineveh having gone, made known to the king concerning me, that I am burying them, so I hid myself. But having known that I was sought to be put to death, having feared, I withdrew. ²⁰Then all the [things] existing of me [fig., all of my possessions] were plundered, so there was not anything left to me, except Anna my wife and Tobias my son.

²¹But fifty days did not pass until which [time] two of his [i.e., Shalmaneser’s] sons killed him, and they fled into the mountains of Ararat, and Esarhaddon [LXX, Sacherdonus] his son reigned in his place. And he appointed Ahikar [LXX, Achiacharus] the son of my brother Anael over all the accounts of his kingdom and over all the administration. ²²And Ahikar entreated concerning me, so I came to Nineveh. Now Ahikar was the cupbearer and over the signet-ring and administrator and accountant, and Esarhaddon set him in charge from second [fig., next to him]. And he was my nephew.

And when I went down into my home, and Anna my wife was given back to me, and Tobias my son, at the Pentecost feast, which is [the] holy seven of sevens [fig., weeks], there was a good dinner to [fig., prepared for] me, and I reclined to eat. ²And I observed many cooked meats, and I said to my son, “Go, and bring whatever poor [people] you shall find of our brothers [and sisters], who has remembered the Lord; and behold, I will wait for you.” [cp. Luke 14:12-14,21]

³But having come, he said, “Father, one from our race, having been strangled, has been cast out in the marketplace!” ⁴Then I, before to taste me [fig., I tasted, and similarly elsewhere in book] anything, having jumped up, took him [i.e., the dead body] up into a room until which [time] the sun set. ⁵Then having returned, I washed myself and was eating my bread with grief. ⁶And I was reminded of the prophecy of Amos, just as he said, “Your* feasts will be turned into mourning and all your* gladness into a dirge [or, lamentation].” [Amos 8:10] And I wept. ⁷And when the sun set, I was going; and having dug [a grave], I buried him. ⁸And the neighbors were laughing approvingly, saying, “He is no longer afraid to be put to death concerning this matter, and he fled away; and behold, he again buries the dead!”

⁹Now in the same night, I returned, having buried [fig., having completed the burial], and I slept, having been defiled, by the wall of the courtyard, and my face was uncovered. ¹⁰And I did not know that there are sparrows on the wall, and my eyes having opened, the sparrows discharged warm excrement into my eyes, and white spots [lit., whitenesses, and throughout book] became in my eyes. So I was walked to [the] physicians, but they did not help me. But Ahikar was nourishing [fig., taking care of] me, until which [time] I was walked into Elymais.

¹¹So my wife Anna began working in the female [works] [i.e., such as spinning wool or weaving cloth]. ¹²And she was sending to the lords, and they paid to her, and they having given over the wage and a young goat. ¹³Now when it came to me, it began to be bleating, and I said to her, “From where [is] the young goat? It is not stolen, is it? Give it back to the lords, for it is not lawful to eat a stolen [animal]!”

¹⁴But she said, “A gift has been given to me in addition to the wage.” But I was not believing her, but was saying to be giving it back to the lords; and I was flushing [with anger] towards her. But having answered, she said to me, “Where are your alms [or, acts of charity] and your righteous deeds? Behold, all [thing are] known against you!”

Then having been grieved, I wept, and I prayed with sorrow, saying, ²“You are righteous, O Lord, and all Your works and all Your ways [are] alms [or, acts of charity] and truth, and You judge a true and just judgment into the age [fig., always judge truly and justly]. ³Be reminded of me and look with care upon me; do not punish me for my sins and for my sins committed in ignorance and [the sins] of my fathers, which [things] they sinned before You. ⁴For they refused to listen to Your commandments; You gave us for plunder and captivity and death and a parable [or, symbol] of reproach to all the nations among whom we have been scattered.

⁵“And now Your many judgments are true; from me to do [fig., deal with me] concerning my sins and the [sins] of my fathers; because we did not do Your commandments, for we were not walked [or, did not walk] in truth before You. ⁶So now do with me according to the pleasing [thing] before You; command to take up my spirit [or, breath], in order that I should be released and become earth; for it is better to me to die than to be living, because I heard false reproaches, and there is much grief in me. Command [for] me to be released of the distress now into the everlasting place. Do not turn Your face away from me.”

⁷It happened in the same day to the daughter of Raguel, to Sarah [LXX, Sara] in Ecbatane the [city] of Media, and this [woman] to be reproached by [the] female-servants [or, slaves, and throughout book] of her father. ⁸Because she was having been given [fig., married] to seven husbands, but Asmodeus the evil demon killed them, before to become them with her as with a wife [fig., before they had consummated the marriage with her]. And they said to her, “You were understanding, one choking your husbands [fig., You understand, you are the one choking your husbands], do you not? You already had seven, and you were not benefitted [by] one of them. [cp., Matt 22:23-28] ⁹Why do you beat [or, punish] us? If they died, be going with them. May we not see a son or a daughter of you into the age [fig., May we never see a son or a daughter of yours]!” ¹⁰These [things] having heard, she was exceedingly sorrowful so [as] to hang herself. But she said, “I am indeed [the] only [daughter] to my father; if I do this, it is a disgrace to him, and I will bring his old age with sorrow down into the realm of the dead [Gr., hades].”

¹¹Then she prayed toward the window and said, “Blessed are You, O Lord my God, and Your holy and precious name [is] blessed into the age [fig., forever]! May all Your works bless You into the age [fig., forever]. ¹²And now, O Lord, I have given [fig., set] my eyes and my face to You. ¹³Say [fig., Command] to release me from the earth, for [lit., and, and elsewhere in book] me not to hear reproach any longer. ¹⁴You know, O Lord, that I am innocent from all [or, any] sin with a man. ¹⁵And I did not defile my name or the name of my father in the land of my captivity. I am [the] only begotten [daughter] to my father, and there does not exist to him a child who will inherit [from] him, neither a near brother [fig., relative], nor a son existing to him [i.e., to the relative], that I should preserve myself for him [for] a wife. Seven [husbands] already perished to me, that why to me to be living [fig., why should I be living]? But if it does not seem [good] to You to kill me, command [the female-servants] to look upon me with care and to pity me, so no longer [for] me to hear a reproach.”

¹⁶So the prayers of both were heard before the glory of the great Raphael [or, the great [God] of Raphael]. ¹⁷And he was sent to heal the two [eyes] of Tobit, to peel away the white spots, and to give Sarah the [daughter] of Raguel to Tobias the son of Tobit [for] a wife, and to bind Asmodeus the wicked demon, because she falls to Tobit to inherit her. At [the] same time, having returned, Tobit came into his house, and Sarah the [daughter] of Raguel came down from her upstairs room.

Wisdom of Solomon 1-2

Love righteousness, the ones judging the earth; think about the Lord in [or, with] goodness, and seek Him in sincerity of heart. ²For He is found by the ones not testing Him, and He appears to the ones not refusing to believe in Him. ³For perverse thoughts separate from God, and [His] power being tested reproves the foolish [people]. ⁴For wisdom will not enter into a malicious soul nor dwell in a body involved in sin. ⁵For a holy spirit of discipline [fig., a holy and disciplined spirit] will flee deceit and will rise and will depart from senseless thoughts and will reprove having come unrighteousness [or, rebuke when injustice occurs].

⁶For wisdom [is] a humane spirit and will not let go unpunished a blasphemous [person] from [the guilt of] his lips, for God [is] witness of his kidneys [fig., thoughts] and a true overseer [or, observer] of his heart and a hearer of [his] tongue. ⁷For [the] Spirit of the Lord has filled the inhabited earth, and the [One] keeping all [things] together [or, from dispersing] has knowledge of [every] voice.

⁸Because of this, one speaking unrighteous [things] shall by no means escape notice, and by no means shall the convicting justice pass by him. ⁹For a close examination with deliberations will be [made] of an ungodly [person], and a report of his words will come to the Lord for verification of his lawless actions. ¹⁰For an ear of jealousy hears all [things], and a noise of complaints is not hid. ¹¹Therefore guard against useless complaining, and refrain [your] tongue from slander, for [the] secret sound of the voice will not go without results, and a mouth telling lies kills a soul.

¹²Stop being zealous [for] death by [the] error of your* life, and stop drawing yourselves [to] ruin by the works of your* hands. ¹³For God did not make death, nor does He delight upon [the] destruction of living ones. ¹⁴For He created all [things] to be existing and the saving origins [or, generations] of the world, and there is no poison of destruction in them, nor [is the] palace of the realm of the dead [Gr., hades] upon [the] earth, ¹⁵for righteousness is immortal. ¹⁶But ungodly [people] by [their] hands and words summoned it [i.e., death] to themselves, having regarded [it as] a friend; they were dissolved and made an agreement with it, for they are worthy [fig., they deserve] to be part of that.

For they said within themselves, having reasoned not rightly, “Our life is short and painful, and there is no remedy at [the] end [of the life] of a person, and we do not know the one having returned from the realm of the dead [Gr., hades]. ²For we became [or, were born] by chance, and after this we will be as not having existed, for the breath in our nostrils [is] smoke, and the word [or, reason] [is] a spark [kindled] by [the] moving [or., beating] of our heart; ³which having been extinguished, the body will end by being ash, and the spirit will be dissolved as empty air. ⁴And our name will be forgotten in time, and no one will remember our works, and our life will pass away as a traces of a cloud and will be dispersed as a mist, having been driven away by [the] rays of [the] sun and having been weighed down [fig., overcome] by its heat. ⁵For our appointed time [is] a passage of a shadow, and there is no return from our end [or, the end of our [life]], for it was sealed, so no one returns.

⁶“Come then, and let us enjoy the existing good [things], and let us earnestly make use of the creation as in [our] youth. ⁷Let us be filled [or, fill ourselves] with costly wine and ointments, and let no flower of spring pass us by. ⁸Let us crown ourselves with roses in buds [or, rosebuds], before [they] be withered away. ⁹Let none of us be without share of our bragging; everywhere let us leave signs of [our] gladness, for this [is] our portion, and this [is our] lot.

¹⁰“Let us oppress a poor righteous [person]; let us not spare a widow nor respect an elderly man [with] long-existing gray hairs. ¹¹Let our strength be a law of justice, for the weak [person] is proved worthless.

¹²“Let us lie in wait for the righteous [person], because he is useless to us and is opposed to our works. [cp. Isa 3:10] And he denounces sins of [or, against] [the] Law by us and accuses sins of [or, against] our education by us. ¹³He professes to be having knowledge of God, and he calls himself a child of the Lord. [cp. 1John 3:1,2] ¹⁴He became to us for a disproof of our thoughts. Even [fig., Merely] seeing [him] is burdensome to us, ¹⁵for his manner of life [is] unlike others and his paths having been completely changed. ¹⁶We were accounted by him for adulterated [or, as fraudulent], and he abstains from our ways as from impurities; he considers [the] end of just [people] blessed [or, fortunate], and he makes false pretenses [that] God [is his] father.

¹⁷“Let us see if his words [are] true, and let us test the [things] at [the] outcome of him [fig., what will happen at the end of his life]; ¹⁸for if the righteous [person] is a son of God, He will help him and will deliver him from [the] hand of ones having resisted [fig., his enemies]. ¹⁹Let us examine him with insult and torture, that we shall know his gentleness and prove his patient endurance. ²⁰Let us condemn him to an unseemly death, for a visitation [of God] will be his, by his [own] words.”

²¹They considered these [things] and were deceived, for their wickedness blinded them. ²²And they did not know [the] secrets [or, mysteries] of God, nor hoped for [or, confidently expected] [the] wages of devoutness [or, piety], nor discerned [the] honor of blameless souls. ²³For God created humanity [or, man] with immortality and made him an image of His own eternity. ²⁴But by [the] envy of [the] Devil death entered into the world, and the ones being a part of that [one] test [fig., experience] it.

1Maccabees 1

And it happened, after to strike Alexander, the [son] of Philip, an Macedonian, who came out from [the] land of Kittim [LXX, Chettiim], and he struck Darius king of [the] Persians and of [the] Medes, and he reigned in his place, [the] first [ruler] over Greece. ²And he waged many battles and seized fortresses and slaughtered [the] kings of the earth. ³And he went through as far as [the] ends of the earth and took spoils of many nations, and the earth was silent before him; and he was exalted, and his heart was lifted up. ⁴And he gathered an exceedingly strong army [lit., power, and elsewhere in book] and ruled over countries, nations, and monarchs [Gr., tyrannon], and they became to him for tribute [or, taxation].

⁵And after these [things] he fell down [sick] upon his bed, and he knew that he [would] die. ⁶So he summoned his servants, the honorable [men], the [men] reared with him from youth, and he divided his kingdom to them, yet him living [fig., while he was yet alive]. ⁷So Alexander reigned twelve years, and he died [i.e., 336-323 B.C.]. ⁸And his servants ruled, each in his [own] place. ⁹And after to die him [fig., he died], they all put diadems [or, crowns] upon themselves, and their sons after them [for] many years. And evil [deeds] were multiplied in the earth.

¹⁰And there came out from them a sinful root, Antiochus Epiphanes, son of King Antiochus, who [once] was a hostage in Rome, and he reigned in the hundredth and thirtieth and seventh [i.e., 137th] year of [the] kingdom of [the] Greeks [i.e., 175 B.C.].

¹¹In those days, lawless sons [fig., men] went out from Israel, and they persuaded many, saying, “Let us go and make a covenant with the Gentiles [or, nations, and throughout book] around us, for from which [time] we were separated [or, we departed] from them we found many evils [or, many troubles found us].” ¹²And the word found favor in their eyes.

¹³Then some from the people were eager, and they went to the king. And he gave to them authority to do [or, observe] the ordinances of the Gentiles: ¹⁴So they built a place for training athletes [Gr., gymnasion] in Jerusalem according to the customs of the Gentiles. ¹⁵And they made themselves uncircumcised [fig., disguised their circumcision], and they departed from the holy covenant and were joined to the Gentiles and were sold to do the wicked [thing].

¹⁶Now the kingdom was prepared [or, established] before Antiochus, and he imagined [or, determined] to reign [over the] land of Egypt, in order that he shall reign over the two kingdoms. ¹⁷So he entered into Egypt with a well-armed army [lit., heavy crowd, and throughout book], with chariots and elephants [Gr., elephansin] and with horsemen and with a large fleet [of ships]. ¹⁸And he waged war against Ptolemy [LXX, Ptolemaios] king of Egypt, and Ptolemy was turned about from his face and fled, and many wounded men fell. ¹⁹So they overtook the strong cities in [the] land to Egypt, and he took the spoils of [the] land of Egypt.

²⁰And after to strike [or, he struck] Egypt, Antiochus returned in the hundredth and fortieth and third [i.e., 143rd] year [i.e., 169 B.C.], and he went up against Israel and went up into Jerusalem with a well-armed army. ²¹And he entered into the sanctuary with arrogance and took the golden altar and the lampstand of light, and all the vessels of it, ²²and the table of the [bread] of the presentation [fig., the consecrated bread] and the cups and the bowls and the golden censers and the veil and the crowns and the golden ornaments opposite [the] face of the temple. And he peeled off all [or, stripped it all off]. ²³And he took the silver and the gold and the precious vessels, and he took the hidden treasures which he found.

²⁴And having taken all, he departed into his [own] land, and he made a massacre and spoke [with] great arrogance. ²⁵So there became a great mourning upon Israel in their every place. ²⁶And [the] rulers and elders groaned; [the] virgins and young men were sick, and the beauty of the women was changed [fig., disfigured]. ²⁷Every bridegroom took up a dirge, and [every woman] sitting in the bridal chamber was mourning. ²⁸Even the land trembled for the ones inhabiting it, and all the house of Jacob put on shame.

²⁹After two years of days [fig., two full years], the king sent [his] ruler of tribute [fig., chief tax-collector] into the cities of Judah [LXX, Juda], and he came into Jerusalem with a well-armed army. ³⁰And he spoke peaceable words to them with deceit, but they trusted in him, and he fell suddenly upon the city and struck it [with] a great blow and destroyed many people from Israel. ³¹And he took the spoils of the city and burned it with fire, and he pulled down the houses of it and the walls round about. ³²But they took the women and the children captive and gained possession of the beasts of burden.

³³Then they built the City of David with a great and strong wall, with strong towers, and it became to them for a citadel. ³⁴And they put there a sinful nation, unlawful men, and strengthened [themselves] in it. ³⁵And they put weapons and food; and having gathered together the spoils of Jerusalem, they stored [them] there, and they became into a great snare [fig., threat]. ³⁶And it became into an ambush against the sanctuary and a wicked slanderer [fig., adversary; Gr., diabolos] to Israel through all [fig., continually].

³⁷And they shed innocent blood around the sanctuary and defiled the sanctuary: ³⁸And the settlers of Jerusalem fled on account of them, and she [i.e., Jerusalem, a feminine noun] became a dwelling-place of strangers [or, foreigners] and became strange [or, a foreigner] to her offspring [fig., native dwellers], and her children left her. ³⁹Her sanctuary was laid waste like a wilderness; her feasts were turned into mourning; her Sabbaths into a reproach; her honor into contempt. ⁴⁰According to her glory, her dishonor was increased, and her height was turned into mourning.

⁴¹Then the king wrote to all his [or, his entire] kingdom to be all into one people and each to forsake his laws [or, customs], and all the Gentiles received according to the word of the king. ⁴³And many from Israel delighted in [or, consented to] his sacred service [or, religion] and sacrificed to the idols and profaned the Sabbath.

⁴⁴And the king sent scrolls [fig., letters] by [the] hand of messengers into Jerusalem and the cities of Judah to go after [the] strange laws [or, customs] of the land, ⁴⁵and to forbid whole-burnt offerings and a sacrifice and a drink offering from the sanctuary, and to profane [the] Sabbaths and feasts, ⁴⁶and to defile [the] sanctuary and holy [men] [fig., priests], ⁴⁷to build altars [of idols] and sacred precincts and idol temples, and to be sacrificing pigs and [other] unclean animals, ⁴⁸and to be leaving their sons uncircumcised, to corrupt their souls with every[thing] unclean and a profanation, ⁴⁹so as to forget the Law and to change all the ordinances; ⁵⁰and whoever would not do according to the word of the king would die. ⁵¹According to all of these words he wrote to all his kingdom, and he made overseers over all the people and commanded to the cities of Judah to be sacrificing, according to city and city [fig., each city in turn].

⁵²Then many from the people were gathered to them, every one forsaking the Law, and they did evil [things] in the land. ⁵³And they placed [fig., drove] Israel into hiding-places, to every place of refuge of them.

⁵⁴Now on the fifteenth day of [the month] of Chislev [LXX, Casleu], in the fifth and fortieth and hundredth [i.e., 145th] year [i.e., 167 B.C.], he erected [the] abomination of desolation upon the altar [of God] and built altars [of idols] in [the] cities of Judah round about. [see Daniel 9:27, 11:31; 12:11; Matt 24:15; Mark 13:14]; ⁵⁵And they began burning incense at the doors of the houses and in the streets.

⁵⁶And having torn apart the scrolls of the Law which they found, they burned [them] with fire. ⁵⁷And where a scroll of the covenant was found with anyone, or if anyone consented to the Law, the decree of the king was to be putting him to death. ⁵⁸They were doing by their strength to Israel in every month and month [fig., month after month] to the ones being found in the cities, ⁵⁹and on the fifth and twentieth day of the month sacrificing upon the [idol] altar what was on the altar [of God].

⁶⁰And the women having circumcised their children they put to death according to the ordinance. ⁶¹And they hanged the infants from their necks and their house[holds] and the ones having circumcised them. ⁶²But many in Israel were strengthened and were fortified in themselves not to eat unclean [meats]. ⁶³And they accepted to die, that they should not be defiled with foods and [that] they should not desecrate [the] holy covenant, so they died. ⁶⁴And great wrath became exceedingly upon Israel.

Odes of the Bible 1

[First Ode of Moses (Exodus 15:1–19)]

¹[The] song of Moses in the Exodus. “Let us sing to the Lord, for He has been gloriously glorified [fig., very greatly glorified]! Horse and rider He threw into [the] sea. ²He became a Helper and a Protector to me for salvation. This [is] my God, and I will glorify Him; [the] God of my father, and I will exalt Him! ³The LORD [is] crushing wars [or, bringing wars to naught]. The LORD [is the] name to Him.

⁴“He cast [the] chariots of Pharaoh and his force [fig., army] into [the] sea; [the] chosen mounted captains sank in [the] Red Sea. ⁵He covered them with [the] open sea; they sank into [the] deep like a stone. ⁶Your right [hand], O LORD, has been glorified in strength; Your right hand, O LORD, broke [the] enemies in pieces. ⁷And in the abundance of Your glory You broke the adversaries in pieces. You sent Your anger, and it devoured them as stubble. ⁸And by [the] breath of Your wrath the water parted. The waters were put together like a wall; the waves were put together in the midst of the sea. ⁹The enemy said, ‘Having pursued, I will overtake. I will divide [the] spoils. I will satisfy my soul. I will kill with my sword. My hand will lord over [them].’ ¹⁰You sent out Your wind; [the] sea covered them; they sank like lead in [the] violent water.

¹¹“Who [is] like to You among [the] gods, O LORD? Who [is] like to You, having been glorified in holy [things] [fig., holiness], marvelous in glories, doing wonders? ¹²You stretched out Your right [hand], and the earth swallowed them. ¹³You guided by Your righteousness this Your people whom You redeemed. By Your strength You urged [them] into Your holy lodging place.

¹⁴“[The] nations heard and were enraged; agonies seized [the] ones inhabiting Philistia. Then [the] leaders of Edom and [the] rulers of [the] Moabites hurried; trembling took hold of them; all the ones inhabiting Canaan were melted away. ¹⁶May fear and trembling fall upon them; by [the] greatness of Your arm, let them become as stone, until Your people pass over, O LORD, until this Your people pass over, whom You acquired. ¹⁷Having brought in, plant them in [the] mountain of Your inheritance, in Your prepared habitation, which You, O LORD, produced, [the] sanctuary, O LORD, which Your hands prepared. ¹⁸The LORD [is] reigning [to] the age and to age and yet [fig., forever and ever and ever]!”

¹⁹For [the] horse [fig., cavalry] of Pharaoh went in with [the] chariots and horsemen into [the] sea, and the LORD brought upon them the water of the sea, but the sons [and daughters] of Israel walked through dry [land] in the midst of the sea.

4Maccabees 4-5

For a certain Simon, at one time holding the high priesthood through [or, for] life, being a political opponent to Onias, a honorable and good man. After bringing charges [in] every way, he was not able to harm [Onias] on behalf of the nation, he was escaping [as] a fugitive [to] be betraying his fatherland.

²From where, having come to Apollonius, the governor of Syria and Phoenicia and Cilicia, he was saying, ³“Being well disposed to the affairs of the king, I am come, making known much private sums of money, myriads, to have been stored up in the treasuries in Jerusalem, not being shared with the sacred [places], but these to be belonging to King Seleucus.”

⁴Apollonius, having learned of each of these [things], on the one hand praised Simon for his concern for the king, on the other hand having gone up to Seleucus, he informed [him] of the storehouse of the sums of money. ⁵And having received authority about these [things], having come quickly into our fatherland with the accursed Simon and a heavy [fig., impressive] army, ⁶he was saying to be present with the commands of the king, in order that he might take the private sums of money of the treasury. ⁷And the nation, complaining bitterly at the word, speaking against, having supposed [it] to be outrageous if the ones having entrusted the deposits to the sacred treasury would be deprived [of them], they were trying to prevent [him], as such as it was [fig., as well as they could]. ⁸But Apollonius was going away with threats into the temple.

⁹And the priests, with women and children, having supplicated God in the temple to protect the sacred place being despised, ¹⁰and Apollonius approaching with his having been armed army to the seizure of the sums of money, angels on horseback from heaven appeared, flashing with their weapons and inciting both much fear and trembling in them. ¹¹And Apollonius having fallen half dead upon the mingled tribes enclosure of the temple [fig., the part of the temple open to all nationalities], he extended his hands to heaven and began begging the Hebrews, with tears, in order that, having prayed concerning him, he should propitiate the heavenly army. ¹²For he was saying, having sinned, so as also to be worthy to die; and [if] having been saved, [he] would sing praises to the blessedness of the sacred place to all peoples.

¹³Onias the high priest, having been induced by these words, although otherwise having been cautious lest perhaps King Seleucus might suppose Apollonius to have been killed by a human plot and not by Divine Justice, he prayed concerning him. ¹⁴And on the one hand having unexpectedly been brought through safely, he departed to be declaring to the king the [things] having happened to him, ¹⁵on the other hand King Seleucus having died, his son Antiochus Epiphanes succeeds the rule, an arrogant and terrible man, ¹⁶who having dissolved Onias of the high priesthood, appointed his brother Jason high priest, ¹⁷having agreed, if the rule might be permitted to him, [he] would give according to year [fig., yearly] three thousand six hundred sixty talents [about 173 tons or 156 metric tons of gold or silver].

¹⁸So he permitted to him both to be continually high priest and to be leading the nation. ¹⁹And he changed the manner of living [of] the nation and changed their form of government toward every lawlessness [or, transgression of the Law], ²⁰so as not only to build a place for training athletes [Gr., gymnasion] on the very citadel of our fatherland, but also to disband the care of the temple. ²¹At which [things] the Divine Justice having become indignant, instigated Antiochus himself against them. ²²For when he was waging war against Ptolemy in Egypt, he heard that a report concerning him to have died having been spread, and how being within the Jerusalemites might especially rejoice, he quickly broke camp [fig., marched] against them. ²³And when he plundered them, he established a decree in order that if any of them might appear living by the ancestral law they would [lit., might, and elsewhere in book] die.

²⁴And when he was not being able by any manner to destroy by his decrees the good laws of the nation, but was seeing all his threats and punishments having been neglected, ²⁵so that even women, because they circumcised their children, to be thrown down from a cliff along with their babies, having seen [or, known] beforehand that they would suffer this. ²⁶When therefore his decrees were being despised by the people, he tried compelling through tortures each one of the nation, [by] tasting defiled foods, to be denying Judaism.

Indeed, the tyrant Antiochus, sitting in public state with his advisors on a certain high place and with the soldiers to him having stood by armed in a circle around [him], ²was ordering to the spear-bearers to seize each one of [the] Hebrews and to be compelling [them] to be tasting meats of pigs and [foods] offered to idols. ³And if any would not be willing to eat unclean food, these having tortured on the wheel, to be killed.

⁴And many having been seized, one prominent [man] from the herd [or, assembly], by name Eleazar, a priest by family, knowledgeable pertaining to the Law and advancing in age, and because of his age, well-known to many of the [ones] about the tyrant, was brought near to him.

⁵And Antiochus seeing him, said, ⁶“Before I begin the tortures against you, Oh old man, might I advise to you these [things], in order that having tasted of the pig [meats], you might save yourself? ⁷For I feel ashamed of your age and gray hair, which having with so great a time, you do not appear to me to be philosophizing, making use of [the] religion of the Jews. ⁸For because of what [or, why], the good eating flesh of this living creatures being bestowed by nature, should you abhor [it]? ⁹For even this [is] foolish and unjust, to not be having benefit of pleasant [things] without disgrace, to turn away from the graces [or, gifts] of nature.

¹⁰“And it seems to me, you also would do a foolish [thing], if holding a false opinion about the truth, you would yet even despise [me] to your own punishment. ¹¹Will you not awake from your* nonsense philosophy and dispel the gibberish of your reasoning? And having taken up a mind worthy of your age, you will philosophize the truth of the being beneficial [course]. ¹²And having prostrated in reverenced [to] my humane encouragement, you will have compassion upon your old age. ¹³For consider also how, if there is any overseer power of this religion of yours*, it would make allowance to you over every lawlessness [or, transgression of the Law] having become through compulsion.”

¹⁴[In] this manner being urged to the horrible eating of [pig] flesh by the tyrant, Eleazar asked [to speak] a word. ¹⁵And having received authority to be speaking, he began thus to be publically speaking: ¹⁶“We, O Antiochus, having been persuaded to be conducting our lives by Divine Law, consider no compulsion to be [as] forcible [as] our ready obedience to the Law. ¹⁷Therefore indeed we consider [it] not worthy to be acting contrary to the Law [in] any manner. ¹⁸And yet if (as you suppose) our Law is not by divine truth, but otherwise we are considering it to be divine, not even thus is it being permitted to us to invalidate against honor with godliness. ¹⁹Therefore you shall not consider [it] to be a small sin if we would eat unclean food. ²⁰For to be acting contrary to the Law over small and great [matters] is of equal value [or, seriousness], ²¹for through either the Law is likewise treated disdainfully.

²²“But you mock our philosophy, as though living not with prudence in it. ²³Yet it thoroughly teaches us self-control, so as to be restraining all of the pleasures and desires; and it trains [us in] manliness, so as to be willingly enduring every toil [or, suffering]. ²⁴And it teaches [us] justice, so as to be acting impartially through all of our customs; and it thoroughly teaches godliness, so as to be magnificently reverencing the only One being God. ²⁵Therefore we do not eat unclean food, for believing the Law to have been established by God, we know that the Creator of the world ordaining the Law sympathizes with us according to [our] nature. ²⁶On the one hand the [things] being appropriate to our souls [or, lives], He permitted to be eating; on the other hand the [things] opposing, He forbid to be eating the flesh.

²⁷“But [it is] tyrannical not only to be forcing us to be breaking the Law, but also to be eating, in order that you shall ridicule this eating of unclean food, with hatred of us. ²⁸But you will not laugh this laughter against me, ²⁹nor will I neglect the sacred oaths of my forefathers to keep the Law. ³⁰Not even if you would gouge out my eyes and dissolve my entrails. ³¹I am not so old and unmanly, so as not to be always young [in] the reasoning for the sake of godliness.

³²“Be preparing these torture wheels and be fanning the excessive fire! ³³I will not thus have compassion on my old age, so as to dismiss on my account the ancestral Law. ³⁴I will not be false [to] you, O instructor, O Law, nor will I forsake you, O beloved self-control! ³⁵Nor will I put you to shame, O philosopher reason; nor will I utterly deny you, O honored priesthood and knowledge of [the] legislation. ³⁶Nor will you defile my worthy of respect mouth of old age, nor my maturity of a lawful life.

³⁷“The fathers will receive me pure, not having feared your compulsion as far as death! ³⁸For on the one hand you will tyrannize ungodly [people]; on the other hand you will not be master over my reasonings on behalf of godliness, neither by word nor through deeds.”