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A Disillusioned View of Life

7A good name is better than precious ointment,
   and the day of death, than the day of birth.
² It is better to go to the house of mourning
   than to go to the house of feasting;
for this is the end of everyone,
   and the living will lay it to heart.
³ Sorrow is better than laughter,
   for by sadness of countenance the heart is made glad.
⁴ The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning;
   but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
⁵ It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise
   than to hear the song of fools.
⁶ For like the crackling of thorns under a pot,
   so is the laughter of fools;
   this also is vanity.
⁷ Surely oppression makes the wise foolish,
   and a bribe corrupts the heart.
⁸ Better is the end of a thing than its beginning;
   the patient in spirit are better than the proud in spirit.
⁹ Do not be quick to anger,
   for anger lodges in the bosom of fools.
¹⁰ Do not say, ‘Why were the former days better than these?’
   For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.
¹¹ Wisdom is as good as an inheritance,
   an advantage to those who see the sun.
¹² For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money,
   and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to the one who possesses it.
¹³ Consider the work of God;
   who can make straight what he has made crooked?

14 On the day of prosperity be joyful, and on the day of adversity consider; God has made the one as well as the other, so that mortals may not find out anything that will come after them.

The Early Victories of Judas

3Then his son Judas, who was called Maccabeus, took command in his place. ²All his brothers and all who had joined his father helped him; they gladly fought for Israel.
³ He extended the glory of his people.
   Like a giant he put on his breastplate;
he bound on his armour of war and waged battles,
   protecting the camp by his sword.
⁴ He was like a lion in his deeds,
   like a lion’s cub roaring for prey.
⁵ He searched out and pursued those who broke the law;
   he burned those who troubled his people.
⁶ Lawbreakers shrank back for fear of him;
   all the evildoers were confounded;
   and deliverance prospered by his hand.
⁷ He embittered many kings,
   but he made Jacob glad by his deeds,
   and his memory is blessed for ever.
⁸ He went through the cities of Judah;
   he destroyed the ungodly out of the land;^*
   thus he turned away wrath from Israel.
⁹ He was renowned to the ends of the earth;
   he gathered in those who were perishing.

10 Apollonius now gathered together Gentiles and a large force from Samaria to fight against Israel. ¹¹When Judas learned of it, he went out to meet him, and he defeated and killed him. Many were wounded and fell, and the rest fled. ¹²Then they seized their spoils; and Judas took the sword of Apollonius, and used it in battle for the rest of his life.

13 When Seron, the commander of the Syrian army, heard that Judas had gathered a large company, including a body of faithful soldiers who stayed with him and went out to battle, ¹⁴he said, ‘I will make a name for myself and win honour in the kingdom. I will make war on Judas and his companions, who scorn the king’s command.’ ¹⁵Once again a strong army of godless men went up with him to help him, to take vengeance on the Israelites.

16 When he approached the ascent of Beth-horon, Judas went out to meet him with a small company. ¹⁷But when they saw the army coming to meet them, they said to Judas, ‘How can we, few as we are, fight against so great and so strong a multitude? And we are faint, for we have eaten nothing today.’ ¹⁸Judas replied, ‘It is easy for many to be hemmed in by few, for in the sight of Heaven there is no difference between saving by many or by few. ¹⁹It is not on the size of the army that victory in battle depends, but strength comes from Heaven. ²⁰They come against us in great insolence and lawlessness to destroy us and our wives and our children, and to despoil us; ²¹but we fight for our lives and our laws. ²²He himself will crush them before us; as for you, do not be afraid of them.’

23 When he finished speaking, he rushed suddenly against Seron and his army, and they were crushed before him. ²⁴They pursued them^* down the descent of Beth-horon to the plain; eight hundred of them fell, and the rest fled into the land of the Philistines. ²⁵Then Judas and his brothers began to be feared, and terror fell on the Gentiles all around them. ²⁶His fame reached the king, and the Gentiles talked of the battles of Judas.