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18 O Israelite children, offspring of the seed of Abraham, obey this law and exercise piety in every way, 2 knowing that pious reason is master of the passions, not only of sufferings from within but also of those from without. 3 Therefore those who gave over their bodies in suffering for the sake of piety were not only admired by mortals but also were deemed worthy to share in a divine inheritance. 4 Because of them the nation gained peace, and by reviving observance of the law in the homeland they ravaged the enemy. 5 The tyrant Antiochus was both punished on earth and is being chastised after his death. Since in no way whatever was he able to compel the Israelites to adopt foreign ways and to abandon their ancestral customs, he left Jerusalem and marched against the Persians. The Mother’s Address to Her Children 6 The mother of seven sons expressed also these principles to her children: 7 “I was a pure virgin and did not go outside my father’s house, but I guarded the rib from which woman was made.[a] 8 No seducer corrupted me on a desert plain, nor did the destroyer, the deceitful serpent, defile the purity of my virginity. 9 In the time of my maturity I remained with my husband, and when these sons had grown up their father died. A fortunate man was he, who lived out his life with good children and did not have the grief of bereavement. 10 While he was still with you, he taught you the Law and the Prophets. 11 He read to you about Abel slain by Cain and Isaac who was offered as a burnt offering and about Joseph in prison. 12 He told you of the zeal of Phinehas, and he taught you about Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael in the fire. 13 He praised Daniel in the den of the lions and blessed him. 14 He reminded you of the scripture of Isaiah, which says, ‘Even though you go through the fire, the flame shall not consume you.’ 15 He sang to you songs of the psalmist David, who said, ‘Many are the afflictions of the righteous.’ 16 He recounted to you Solomon’s proverb, ‘There[b] is a tree of life for those who do his will.’ 17 He confirmed the query of Ezekiel, ‘Shall these dry bones live?’ 18 For he did not forget to teach you the song that Moses taught, which says, 19 ‘I kill, and I make alive; this is your life and the length of your days.’ ” 20 O bitter was that day—and yet not bitter—when that bitter tyrant of the Greeks quenched fire with fire in his cruel caldrons and in his burning rage brought those seven sons of the daughter of Abraham to the catapult and back again to more[c] tortures, 21 pierced the pupils of their eyes and cut out their tongues, and put them to death with various tortures. 22 For these crimes divine justice pursued and will pursue the accursed tyrant. 23 But the sons of Abraham with their victorious mother are gathered together into the chorus of the fathers and have received pure and immortal souls from God, 24 to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Footnotes 18.7 Gk the rib that was built 18.16 Or He 18.20 Other ancient authorities read to all his

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17 Some of the guards said that when she also was about to be seized and put to death she threw herself into the flames so that no one might touch her body. 2 O mother, who with your seven sons nullified the violence of the tyrant, frustrated his evil designs, and showed the nobility of your faith! 3 Nobly set like a roof on the pillars of your sons, you held firm and unswerving against the earthquake of the tortures. 4 Take courage, therefore, O holy-minded mother, maintaining firm an enduring hope in God. 5 The moon in heaven with the stars is not so majestic as you, who, after lighting the way of your star-like seven sons to piety, stand in honor before God and are firmly set in heaven with them. 6 For your children were true descendants of father Abraham.[a] The Effect of the Martyrdoms 7 If it were possible for us to paint the history of your piety as an artist might, would not those who beheld it shudder as they saw the mother of the seven children enduring their varied tortures to death for the sake of piety? 8 Indeed, it would be proper to inscribe on their tomb these words as a reminder to the people of our nation:[b] 9 “Here lie buried an aged priest and an aged woman and seven children because of the violence of the tyrant who wished to destroy the way of life of the Hebrews. 10 They vindicated their nation, looking to God and enduring torture even to death.” 11 Truly the contest in which they were engaged was divine, 12 for on that day virtue gave the awards and tested them for their endurance. The prize was immortality in endless life. 13 Eleazar was the first contestant, the mother of the seven sons entered the competition, and the brothers contended. 14 The tyrant was the antagonist, and the world and the human race were the spectators. 15 Reverence for God was victor and gave the crown to its own athletes. 16 Who did not admire the athletes of the divine[c] legislation? Who were not amazed? 17 The tyrant himself and all his council marveled at their endurance, 18 because of which they now stand before the divine throne and live the life of eternal blessedness. 19 For Moses says, “All who are consecrated are under your hands.” 20 These, then, who have been consecrated for the sake of God are honored not only with this honor but also by the fact that because of them our enemies did not rule over our nation, 21 the tyrant was punished, and the homeland purified—they having become, as it were, a ransom for the sin of our nation. 22 And through the blood of those pious ones and their death as an atoning sacrifice, divine Providence preserved Israel that previously had been mistreated. 23 For the tyrant Antiochus, when he saw the courage of their virtue and their endurance under the tortures, proclaimed their endurance to his soldiers as an example, 24 and this made them high-minded and courageous for infantry battle and siege, and he ravaged and conquered all his enemies. Footnotes 17.6 Gk For your childbearing was from Abraham the father; other ancient authorities read For . . . Abraham the servant 17.8 Or as a memorial to the heroes of our people 17.16 Other ancient authorities read true

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16 If, then, a woman advanced in years and mother of seven sons endured seeing her children tortured to death, it must be admitted that pious reason is sovereign over the passions. 2 Thus I have demonstrated not only that men have ruled over the passions but also that a woman has despised the fiercest tortures. 3 The lions surrounding Daniel were not so savage nor was the raging fiery furnace of Mishael so intensely hot as was her innate parental love consuming her as she saw her seven sons tortured in such varied ways. 4 But the mother quenched so many and such great passions by pious reason. 5 Consider this also: If this woman, though a mother, had been fainthearted, she would have mourned over them and perhaps spoken as follows: 6 “O how wretched am I and thrice-wretched over and over! After bearing seven children, I am now the mother of none! 7 O seven childbirths all in vain, seven profitless pregnancies, fruitless nurturings and wretched nursings! 8 In vain, my sons, I endured many birth pangs for you and the more grievous anxieties of your upbringing. 9 Alas for my children, some unmarried, others married and without offspring.[a] I shall not see your children or have the happiness of being called grandmother. 10 Alas, I who had so many and beautiful children am a widow and alone, with many sorrows.[b] 11 And when I die, I shall have none of my sons to bury me.” 12 Yet that holy and God-fearing mother did not wail with such a lament for any of them, nor did she dissuade any of them from dying, nor did she grieve as they were dying. 13 On the contrary, as though having a mind like adamant and giving rebirth for immortality to the whole number of her sons, she implored them and urged them on to death for the sake of piety. 14 O mother, soldier of God in the cause of piety, elder and woman! By steadfastness you have conquered even a tyrant, and in word and deed you have proved more powerful than a man. 15 For when you and your sons were arrested together, you stood and watched Eleazar being tortured and said to your sons in the Hebrew language, 16 “My sons, noble is the contest to which you are called to bear witness for the nation. Fight zealously for our ancestral law. 17 For it would be shameful if, while an aged man endures such agonies for the sake of piety, you young men were to be terrified by tortures. 18 Remember that it is through God that you have had a share in the world and have enjoyed life, 19 and therefore you ought to endure every suffering for the sake of God. 20 For his sake also our father Abraham was zealous to sacrifice his son Isaac, the ancestor of our nation, and when Isaac saw his father’s hand wielding a knife[c] and descending upon him, he did not cower. 21 Daniel the righteous was thrown to the lions, and Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael were hurled into the fiery furnace and endured it for the sake of God. 22 You, too, must show the same faithfulness toward God and not be grieved. 23 It is unreasonable for people who have knowledge of piety not to withstand pain.” 24 By these words the mother of the seven encouraged and persuaded each of her sons to die rather than violate God’s commandment. 25 They knew also that those who die for the sake of God live to God, as do Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the patriarchs. Footnotes 16.9 Gk without benefit 16.10 Or much to be pitied 16.20 Gk sword

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15 O reason of the children, tyrant over the passions! O piety, more desirable to the mother than her children! 2 Two courses were open to this mother, that of piety and that of preserving her seven sons for a time, as the tyrant had promised. 3 She loved piety more, the piety that preserves them for eternal life according to God’s promise.[a] 4 In what manner might I express the passions of parents who love their children? We impress upon the character of a small child a wondrous likeness both of mind and of form. Especially is this true of mothers, who because of their birth pangs have a deeper sympathy toward their offspring than do the fathers. 5 For to the extent that mothers are of tender spirit and bear more children, so much the more attached are they to their children. 6 The mother of the seven boys, more than any other mother, loved her children. In seven pregnancies she had implanted in herself tender love toward them, 7 and because of the many pains she suffered with each of them she had sympathy for them, 8 yet because of the fear of God she disdained the temporary safety of her children. 9 Not only so, but also because of the nobility of her sons and their ready obedience to the law, she felt a greater tenderness toward them. 10 For they were just and self-controlled and courageous and magnanimous and loved their brothers and their mother so that they obeyed her even to death in keeping the ordinances. 11 Nevertheless, though so many factors influenced the mother to suffer with them out of love for her children, in the case of none of them were the various tortures strong enough to pervert her reason. 12 But each child separately and all of them together the mother urged on to death for piety’s sake. 13 O sacred nature, parental affection, tender love toward offspring, nursing, and indomitable maternal passions! 14 This mother, who saw them tortured and burned one by one, for piety’s sake did not change her attitude. 15 She watched the flesh of her children being consumed by fire, their toes and fingers scattered[b] on the ground, and the flesh of the head to the chin exposed like masks. 16 O mother, tried now by more bitter pains than even the birth pangs you suffered for them! 17 O woman, who alone gave birth to such perfect piety! 18 Neither when the firstborn breathed his last, it did not turn you aside, nor when the second in torments looked at you piteously nor when the third expired, 19 nor did you weep when you looked at the eyes of each one in his tortures gazing boldly at the same agonies and saw in their nostrils the signs of the approach of death. 20 When you saw the flesh of children burned[c] upon the flesh of other children, severed hands upon hands, scalped heads upon heads, and corpses fallen on other corpses, and when you saw the place filled with many spectators because of the children’s torments, you did not shed tears. 21 Neither the melodies of sirens nor the songs of swans attract the attention of their hearers as did the voices of the children in torture calling to their mother. 22 How great and how many torments the mother then suffered as her sons were tortured on the wheel and with the hot irons! 23 But pious reason, giving her heart a man’s courage in the very midst of her passions, strengthened her to disregard, for the time, her parental love. 24 Although she witnessed the destruction of seven children and the ingenious and various rackings, this noble mother disregarded all these[d] because of faith in God. 25 For as in the council chamber of her own soul she saw mighty advocates—nature, family, parental love, and the instruments of torture awaiting her children— 26 this mother held two ballots, one bearing death and the other deliverance for her children. 27 She did not approve the deliverance that would preserve the seven sons for a short time, 28 but as the daughter of God-fearing Abraham she remembered his fortitude. 29 O mother of the nation, vindicator of the law, and defender of piety who carried away the prize of the contest in your heart! 30 O more noble than males in steadfastness and more courageous than men in endurance! 31 Just as Noah’s ark, carrying the world in the universal flood, stoutly endured the waves, 32 so you, O guardian of the law, overwhelmed from every side by the flood of your passions and the violent winds—the torture of your sons—endured nobly and withstood the wintry storms raging on piety’s account. Footnotes 15.3 Gk according to God 15.15 Or quivering 15.20 Other ancient authorities read the amputated flesh of children 15.24 Other ancient authorities read having bidden them farewell, surrendered them

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14 Furthermore, they encouraged them to face the torture so that they not only despised their agonies but also mastered the passions of brotherly love. 2 O reason,[a] more royal than kings and freer than the free! 3 O sacred harmony of the seven brothers, well-tuned in regard to piety! 4 None of the seven youths proved coward or shrank from death, 5 but all of them, as though running the course toward immortality, hastened to death by torture. 6 Just as the hands and feet are moved in harmony with the guidance of the mind, so those holy youths, as though moved by an immortal spirit of piety, agreed to go to death for its sake. 7 O most holy seven, brothers in harmony! For just as the seven days of creation move in choral dance around piety, 8 so these youths, forming a chorus of seven,[b] encircled the fear of tortures and dissolved it. 9 Even now, we ourselves shudder as we hear of the suffering of these young men; they not only saw what was happening, not only heard the direct word of threat, but also bore the sufferings steadfastly, and in agonies of fire at that. 10 What could be more excruciatingly painful than this? For the power of fire is intense and swift, and it consumed their bodies quickly. An Encomium on the Mother of the Seven 11 Do not consider it amazing that reason had full command over these men in their tortures, since even the mind of woman despised more diverse agonies, 12 for the mother of the seven young men bore up under the rackings of each one of her children. 13 Observe how complex is a mother’s love for her children, which draws everything toward a sympathy felt in her inmost parts. 14 Even unreasoning animals, as well as humans, have a sympathy and parental love for their offspring. 15 For example, among birds, the ones that are tame protect their young by building on the housetops, 16 and the others, by building at the tops of mountains and the depths of chasms, in holes of trees, and on treetops, hatch the nestlings and ward off the intruder. 17 If they are not able to keep the intruder[c] away, they do what they can to help their young by flying in circles around them in the anguish of love, warning them with their own calls. 18 And why is it necessary to demonstrate sympathy for children by the example of unreasoning animals, 19 since even bees at the time for making honeycombs defend themselves against intruders and, as though with an iron dart, sting those who approach their hive and defend it even to the death? 20 But sympathy for her children did not sway the mother of the young men; she was of the same mind as Abraham. Footnotes 14.2 Or O minds 14.8 Meaning of Gk uncertain 14.17 Gk it

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Reason’s Sovereignty in the Seven 13 Since, then, the seven brothers despised sufferings even unto death, everyone must concede that pious reason is sovereign over the passions. 2 For if they had been slaves to their passions and had eaten defiling food, we would say that they had been conquered by these passions. 3 But in fact it was not so. Instead, by reason, which is praised before God, they prevailed over their passions. 4 The supremacy of the mind over these cannot be overlooked, for the brothers[a] mastered both passions and pains. 5 How, then, can one fail to confess the sovereignty of right reason over passion in those who were not turned back by fiery agonies? 6 For just as towers jutting out over harbors hold back the threatening waves and make it calm for those who sail into the inner basin, 7 so the seven-towered right reason of the youths, by fortifying the harbor of piety, conquered the tempest of the passions. 8 For they constituted a holy chorus of piety and emboldened one another, saying, 9 “Brothers, let us die like brothers for the sake of the law; let us imitate the three youths in Assyria who despised the same ordeal[b] of the furnace. 10 Let us not be cowardly in the demonstration of our piety.” 11 While one said, “Courage, brother,” another said, “Bear up nobly,” 12 and another reminded them, “Remember whence you came, and the father by whose hand Isaac would have submitted to being slain for the sake of piety.” 13 Each of them and all of them together looking at one another, cheerful and undaunted, said, “Let us with all our hearts consecrate ourselves to God, who gave us our lives,[c] and let us use our bodies as a bulwark for the law. 14 Let us not fear him who thinks he is killing us, 15 for great is the soul’s contest and the danger of eternal torment lying before those who transgress the commandment of God. 16 Therefore let us put on the full armor of mastery of the passions that divine reason provides. 17 For if we so die,[d] Abraham and Isaac and Jacob will welcome us, and all the fathers will praise us.” 18 Those who were left behind said to each of the brothers who were being dragged away, “Do not put us to shame, brother, or betray the brothers who have died before us.” 19 You are not ignorant of the affection of family ties, which the divine and all-wise Providence has bequeathed through the fathers to their descendants and which was implanted in the mother’s womb. 20 There the brothers spent the same length of time and were shaped during the same period of time, and growing from the same blood and through the same life, they were brought to the light of day. 21 When they were born after an equal time of gestation, they drank milk from the same fountains. From such embraces brotherly loving souls are nourished, 22 and they grow stronger from this common nurture and daily companionship and from both general education and our discipline in the law of God. 23 Therefore, when sympathy and brotherly affection had been so established, the seven brothers were the more sympathetic to one another. 24 Since they had been educated by the same law and trained in the same virtues and brought up together in right living, they loved one another all the more. 25 A common zeal for nobility strengthened their goodwill toward one another and their concord, 26 because they could make their brotherly love more fervent with the aid of piety. 27 But although nature and companionship and virtuous habits had augmented the affection of family ties, those who were left endured for the sake of piety, watching their brothers being maltreated and tortured to death. Footnotes 13.4 Gk they 13.9 Cn: Gk citizen rights 13.13 Or souls 13.17 Other ancient authorities read suffer

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The Torture of the Seventh Brother 12 When he, too, thrown into the caldron, had died a blessed death, the seventh and youngest of all came forward. 2 Even though the tyrant had been vehemently reproached by the brothers, he felt strong compassion for this child when he saw that he was already in fetters. He summoned him to come nearer and tried to persuade him, saying, 3 “You see the result of your brothers’ stupidity, for they died in torments because of their disobedience. 4 You, too, if you do not obey, will be miserably tortured and die before your time, 5 but if you yield to persuasion you will be my friend and a leader in the government of the kingdom.” 6 When he had thus appealed to him, he sent for the boy’s mother to show compassion on her who had been bereaved of so many sons and to influence her to persuade the surviving son to obey and save himself. 7 But after his mother had exhorted him in the Hebrew language, as we shall tell a little later, 8 he said, “Let me loose, let me speak to the king and to all his Friends who are with him.” 9 Extremely pleased by the boy’s declaration, they freed him at once. 10 Running to the nearest of the braziers, 11 he said, “You profane tyrant, most impious of all the wicked, since you have received good things and also your kingdom from God, were you not ashamed to murder his servants and torture on the wheel the athletes of piety? 12 Because of this, justice[a] has laid up for you a more intense and eternal fire and tortures, and these throughout all time will never let you go. 13 As a man, were you not ashamed, you most savage beast, to cut out the tongues of people who have feelings like yours and are made of the same elements as you and to maltreat and torture them in this way? 14 Surely they by dying nobly fulfilled their pious duty to God, but you will wail bitterly for having killed without cause the contestants for virtue.” 15 Then because he, too, was about to die, he said, 16 “I do not desert the excellent example[b] of my brothers, 17 and I call on the God of our ancestors to be merciful to our nation,[c] 18 but on you he will take vengeance both in this present life and when you are dead.” 19 After he had uttered these imprecations, he flung himself into the braziers and so ended his life.[d] Footnotes 12.12 Another ancient authority reads divine justice 12.16 Other ancient authorities read the witness 12.17 Other ancient authorities read my people 12.19 Gk and so gave up

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The Torture of the Fifth and Sixth Brothers 11 When he, too, died, after being cruelly tortured, the fifth leaped up, saying, 2 “I will not refuse, tyrant, to be tortured for the sake of virtue. 3 I have come of my own accord so that by murdering me you will incur punishment from the heavenly justice for even more crimes. 4 Hater of virtue, hater of humankind, for what act of ours are you destroying us in this way? 5 Is it because[a] we revere the Creator of all things and live according to his virtuous law? 6 But these deeds deserve honors, not tortures.”[b] 9 While he was saying these things, the guards bound him and dragged him to the catapult; 10 they tied him to it on his knees, and fitting iron clamps on them, they twisted his back[c] around the wedge on the wheel,[d] so that he was completely curled back like a scorpion, and all his members were disjointed. 11 In this condition, gasping for breath and in anguish of body, 12 he said, “Tyrant, they are splendid favors that you grant us against your will, because through these noble sufferings you give us an opportunity to show our endurance for the law.” 13 When he, too, had died, the sixth, a mere boy, was led forward. When the tyrant inquired whether he was willing to eat and be released, he said, 14 “I am younger in age than my brothers, but I am their equal in mind. 15 Since to this end we were born and bred, we ought likewise to die for the same principles. 16 So if you intend to torture me for not eating defiling foods, go on torturing!” 17 When he had said this, they led him to the wheel. 18 He was carefully stretched tight upon it, his back was broken, and he was roasted from underneath. 19 To his back they applied sharp spits that had been heated in the fire and pierced his ribs so that his entrails were burned through. 20 While being tortured he said, “O contest befitting holiness, in which so many of us brothers have been summoned to an arena of sufferings for the sake of piety and in which we have not been defeated! 21 For pious knowledge, O tyrant, is invincible. 22 I also, equipped with nobility, will die with my brothers, 23 and I myself will bring a great avenger upon you, you inventor of tortures and enemy of those who are truly pious. 24 We six boys have overthrown your tyranny. 25 Since you have not been able to persuade us to change our mind or to force us to eat defiling foods, is not this your downfall? 26 Your fire is cold to us, and the catapults painless, and your violence powerless. 27 For it is not the guards of the tyrant but those of the divine law that are set over us; therefore we hold fast to invincible reason.” Footnotes 11.5 Other ancient authorities read Or does it seem evil to you that 11.6 Other authorities add 11.7 and 8, If you but understood human feelings and had hope of salvation from God—but, as it is, you are a stranger to God and make war against those who serve him.” 11.10 Gk loins 11.10 Meaning of Gk uncertain

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The Torture of the Third and Fourth Brothers 10 When he, too, had endured a glorious death, the third was brought forward, and many repeatedly urged him to save himself by tasting the meat. 2 But he shouted, “Do you not know that the same father begot me as well as those who died and the same mother bore me and that I was brought up on the same teachings? 3 I do not renounce the noble kinship that binds me to my brothers.”[a] 5 Enraged by the man’s boldness, they disjointed his hands and feet with their instruments, dismembering him by prying his limbs from their sockets, 6 and breaking his fingers and arms and legs and elbows. 7 Since they were unable in any way to break his spirit,[b] they abandoned the instruments[c] and scalped him with their fingernails in a Scythian fashion. 8 They immediately brought him to the wheel, and while his vertebrae were being dislocated by this, he saw his own flesh torn all around and drops of blood flowing from his entrails. 9 When he was about to die, he said, 10 “We, most abominable tyrant, are suffering because of our godly training and virtue, 11 but you, because of your impiety and bloodthirstiness, will undergo unceasing torments.” 12 When he, too, had died in a manner worthy of his brothers, they dragged forward the fourth, saying, 13 “As for you, do not give way to the same insanity as your brothers, but obey the king and save yourself.” 14 But he said to them, “You do not have a fire hot enough to make me play the coward. 15 No, by the blessed death of my brothers, by the eternal destruction of the tyrant, and by the everlasting[d] life of the pious, I will not renounce our noble family ties. 16 Contrive tortures, tyrant, so that you may learn from them that I am a brother to those who have just now been tortured.” 17 When he heard this, the bloodthirsty, murderous, and utterly abominable Antiochus gave orders to cut out his tongue. 18 But he said, “Even if you remove my organ of speech, God hears also those who are mute. 19 See, here is my tongue; cut it off, for in spite of this you will not make our reason speechless. 20 Gladly, for the sake of God, we let our bodily members be mutilated. 21 God will visit you swiftly, for you are cutting out a tongue that has been melodious with divine hymns.” Footnotes 10.3 Other ancient authorities add 10.4, So if you have any instrument of torture, apply it to my body; for you cannot touch my soul, even if you wish.” 10.7 Gk to strangle him 10.7 Other ancient authorities read they tore off his skin 10.15 Another ancient authority reads celebrated

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9 “Why do you delay, O tyrant? For we are ready to die rather than transgress our ancestral commandments; 2 we are obviously putting our forebears to shame unless we should practice ready obedience to the law and to Moses[a] our counselor. 3 Tyrant and counselor of lawlessness, in your hatred for us do not pity us more than we pity ourselves.[b] 4 For we consider this pity of yours, which ensures our safety through transgression of the law, to be more grievous than death itself. 5 You are trying to terrify us by threatening us with death by torture, as though a short time ago you learned nothing from Eleazar. 6 And if, on account of piety, the aged men of the Hebrews fulfilled their pious duty while enduring torture, it would be even more fitting that we young men should die despising your coercive tortures, which our aged instructor also overcame. 7 Therefore, tyrant, put us to the test, and if you take our lives because of our piety, do not suppose that you can injure us by torturing us. 8 For we, through this severe suffering and endurance, shall have the prizes of virtue and shall be with God, on whose account we suffer; 9 but you, because of your bloodthirstiness toward us, will deservedly undergo from the divine justice eternal torment by fire.” The Torture of the First and Second Brothers 10 When they had said these things, the tyrant was not only indignant, as at those who are disobedient, but also infuriated, as at those who are ungrateful. 11 Then at his command the guards brought forward the eldest, and having torn off his tunic, they bound his hands and arms with straps on each side. 12 When they had worn themselves out beating him with scourges, without accomplishing anything, they placed him upon the wheel. 13 When the noble youth was stretched out around this, his limbs were dislocated, 14 and with every member disjointed he denounced the tyrant, saying, 15 “Most abominable tyrant, enemy of heavenly justice, savage of mind, you are mangling me in this manner not because I am a murderer or as one who acts impiously but because I protect the divine law.” 16 And when the guards said, “Agree to eat so that you may be released from the tortures,” 17 he replied, “You abominable lackeys, your wheel is not so powerful as to strangle my reason. Cut my limbs, burn my flesh, and twist my joints; 18 through all these tortures I will convince you that children of the Hebrews alone are invincible when virtue is at stake.” 19 While he was saying these things, they spread fire under him, and while fanning the flames[c] they tightened the wheel further. 20 The wheel was completely smeared with blood, and the heap of coals was being quenched by the drippings of gore, and pieces of flesh were falling off the axles of the machine. 21 Although the ligaments joining his bones were already severed, the courageous youth, worthy of Abraham, did not groan, 22 but as though transformed by fire into immortality he nobly endured the rackings. 23 “Imitate me, brothers,” he said. “Do not leave your post in my struggle[d] or renounce our courageous family ties. 24 Fight the sacred and noble battle for piety. Thereby the just Providence of our ancestors may become merciful to our nation and take vengeance on the accursed tyrant.” 25 When he had said this, the devout youth broke the thread of life. 26 While all were marveling at his courageous spirit, the guards brought forward the next eldest, and after fitting themselves with iron gauntlets having sharp hooks, they bound him to the torture machine and catapult. 27 Before torturing him, they inquired if he were willing to eat, and they heard his noble decision. 28 These leopard-like beasts tore out his sinews with the iron hands, flayed all his flesh up to his chin, and tore away his scalp. But he steadfastly endured this agony and said, 29 “How sweet is any kind of death for our ancestral piety!” 30 To the tyrant he said, “Do you not think, you most savage tyrant, that you are being tortured more than I, as you see the arrogant design of your tyranny being defeated by our endurance for the sake of piety? 31 I lighten my pain by the joys that come from virtue, 32 but you suffer torture by the threats that come from impiety. You will not escape, you most abominable tyrant, the penalties of the divine wrath.” Footnotes 9.2 Other ancient authorities read knowledge 9.3 Meaning of Gk uncertain 9.19 Meaning of Gk uncertain 9.23 Other ancient authorities read post forever

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Seven Brothers Defy the Tyrant 8 For this is why even the very young, by following a philosophy in accordance with pious reason, have prevailed over the most painful instruments of torture. 2 For when the tyrant was conspicuously defeated in his first attempt, being unable to compel an aged man to eat defiling foods, then in violent rage he commanded that others of the Hebrew captives be brought and that any who ate defiling food would be freed after eating, but if any were to refuse, they would be tortured even more cruelly. 3 When the tyrant had given these orders, seven brothers—handsome, modest, noble, and accomplished in every way—were brought before him along with their aged mother. 4 When the tyrant saw them, grouped about their mother as though a chorus, he was pleased with them. And struck by their appearance and nobility, he smiled at them and summoned them nearer and said, 5 “Young men, with favorable feelings I admire each and every one of you and greatly respect the beauty and the number of such brothers. Not only do I advise you not to display the same madness as that of the old man who has just been tortured, but I also exhort you to yield to me and enjoy my friendship. 6 Just as I am able to punish those who disobey my orders, so I can be a benefactor to those who are disposed to obey me. 7 Trust me, then, and you will receive positions of authority in my government if you will renounce the ancestral tradition of your national life. 8 Enjoy your youth by adopting the Greek way of life and by changing your manner of living. 9 But if by disobedience you rouse my anger, you will compel me to destroy each and every one of you with dreadful punishments through tortures. 10 Therefore take pity on yourselves. Even I, your enemy, have compassion for your youth and handsome appearance. 11 Will you not consider this, that if you disobey, nothing remains for you but to die on the rack?” 12 When he had said these things, he ordered the instruments of torture to be brought forward so as to persuade them out of fear to eat the defiling food. 13 When the guards had placed before them wheels and joint-dislocators, rack and hooks[a] and catapults and caldrons, braziers and thumbscrews and iron claws and wedges and bellows, the tyrant resumed speaking: 14 “Be afraid, young fellows; whatever justice you revere will be merciful to you when you transgress under compulsion.” 15 But when they had heard the inducements and saw the dreadful devices, not only were they not afraid, but they also opposed the tyrant with their own philosophy and by their right reasoning nullified his tyranny. 16 Let us consider, on the other hand, what arguments might have been used if some of them had been cowardly and unmanly. Would they not have been the following? 17 “O wretches that we are and so senseless! Since the king has summoned and exhorted us to accept kind treatment if we obey him, 18 why do we take pleasure in vain resolves and venture upon a disobedience that brings death? 19 O men and brothers, should we not fear the instruments of torture and consider the threats of torments and give up this vanity and this arrogance that threatens to destroy us? 20 Let us take pity on our youth and have compassion on our mother’s age, 21 and let us seriously consider that if we disobey we are dead! 22 Also, divine justice will excuse us for fearing the king when we are under compulsion. 23 Why do we banish ourselves from this most pleasant life and deprive ourselves of this delightful world? 24 Let us not struggle against compulsion[b] or take hollow pride in being put to the rack. 25 Not even the law itself would consent to put us to death for fearing the instruments of torture. 26 Why does such contentiousness excite us and such a fatal stubbornness please us, when we can live in peace if we obey the king?” 27 But the youths, though about to be tortured, neither said any of these things nor even seriously considered them. 28 For they were contemptuous of the passions and sovereign over agonies, 29 so that as soon as the tyrant had ceased counseling them to eat defiling food, all with one voice together, as from one mind, said: Footnotes 8.13 Meaning of Gk uncertain 8.24 Or fate

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An Encomium on Eleazar 7 For like a most skillful pilot, the reason of our father Eleazar steered the ship of piety over the sea of the passions, 2 and though buffeted by the stormings of the tyrant and overwhelmed by the mighty waves of tortures, 3 in no way did he turn the rudder of piety until he sailed into the haven of immortal victory. 4 No city besieged with many ingenious war machines has ever held out as did that most holy man. Although his sacred life was consumed by tortures and racks, he conquered the besiegers because reason was shielding his piety. 5 For in setting his mind firm like a jutting cliff, our father Eleazar broke the maddening waves of the passions. 6 O priest, worthy of the priesthood, you neither defiled your sacred teeth nor profaned your stomach, which had room only for reverence and purity, by eating defiling foods. 7 O man in harmony with the law and philosopher of divine life! 8 Such should be those who are administrators of the law, shielding it with their own blood and noble sweat in sufferings even to death. 9 You, father, validated our obedience to the law through your endurance unto glory, and you did not abandon the holiness that you praised, but by your deeds you made your words of divine[a] philosophy credible. 10 O aged man, more powerful than tortures; O elder, fiercer than fire; O supreme king over the passions, Eleazar! 11 For just as our father Aaron, armed with the censer, ran through the multitude of the people and conquered the fiery angel, 12 so the descendant of Aaron, Eleazar, though being consumed by the fire, remained unmoved in his reason. 13 Most amazing, indeed, though he was an old man, his body no longer tense and firm,[b] his muscles flabby, his sinews feeble, he became young again 14 in spirit through reason, and by reason like that of Isaac he rendered the many-headed rack ineffective. 15 O man of blessed age and of venerable gray hair and of law-abiding life, whom the faithful seal of death has perfected! 16 If, therefore, because of piety an aged man despised tortures even to death, most certainly pious reason is governor of the passions. 17 Some perhaps might say, “Not all have full command of their passions, because not all have prudent reason.” 18 But as many as attend to piety with a whole heart, these alone are able to control the passions of the flesh, 19 since they believe that they, like our patriarchs Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, do not die to God but live to God. 20 No contradiction therefore arises when some persons appear to be dominated by their passions because of the weakness of their reason. 21 What person who lives[c] as a philosopher by the whole rule of philosophy and trusts in God 22 and knows that it is blessed to endure any suffering for the sake of virtue would not be able to overcome the passions through godliness? 23 For only the wise[d] and courageous are masters of their passions. Footnotes 7.9 Other ancient authorities lack divine 7.13 Gk the tautness of the body already loosed 7.21 Another ancient authority adds piously 7.23 Another ancient authority adds prudent

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Martyrdom of Eleazar 6 When Eleazar in this manner had made eloquent response to the exhortations of the tyrant, the guards who were standing by dragged him violently to the instruments of torture. 2 First they stripped the old man, though he remained adorned with the gracefulness of his piety. 3 After they had tied his arms behind him, they flogged him from both sides, 4 while a herald who faced him cried out, “Obey the king’s commands!” 5 But the courageous and noble man, like a true Eleazar,[a] was unmoved, as though being tortured in a dream, 6 yet while the old man’s eyes were raised to heaven, his flesh was being torn by scourges, his blood flowing, and his sides were being cut to pieces. 7 Although he fell to the ground because his body could not endure the agonies, he kept his reason upright and unswerving. 8 One of the cruel guards rushed at him and began to kick him in the side to make him get up again after he fell. 9 But he bore the pains and scorned the punishment and endured the tortures. 10 Like a noble athlete the old man, while being beaten, was victorious over his torturers; 11 in fact, with his face bathed in sweat and gasping heavily for breath, he amazed even his torturers by his courageous spirit. 12 At that point, partly out of pity for his old age, 13 partly out of sympathy from their acquaintance with him, partly out of admiration for his endurance, some of the king’s retinue came to him and said, 14 “Eleazar, why are you so irrationally destroying yourself through these evil things? 15 We will set before you some cooked meat; save yourself by pretending to eat pork.” 16 But Eleazar, as though more bitterly tormented by this counsel, cried out, 17 “Never may we, the children of Abraham, think so basely that out of cowardice we feign a role unbecoming to us! 18 For it would be irrational if, having lived in accordance with truth up to old age and having guarded the reputation of a life lived lawfully, we should now change our course 19 and ourselves become a pattern of impiety to the young by setting them an example in the eating of defiling food. 20 It would be shameful if we should survive for a little while and during that time be a laughingstock to all for our cowardice 21 and be despised by the tyrant as unmanly by not contending even to death for our divine law. 22 Therefore, O children of Abraham, die nobly for the sake of piety! 23 And you, guards of the tyrant, why do you delay?” 24 When they saw that he was so courageous in the face of the afflictions and that he had not been changed by their compassion, the guards brought him to the fire. 25 There they burned him with maliciously contrived instruments, threw him down, and poured stinking liquids into his nostrils. 26 When he was now burned to his very bones and about to expire, he lifted up his eyes to God and said, 27 “You know, O God, that, though I might have saved myself, I am dying in burning torments for the sake of the law. 28 Be merciful to your people, and let our punishment suffice for them. 29 Make my blood their purification, and take my life in exchange for theirs.” 30 After he said this, the holy man died nobly in his tortures; even in the tortures of death he resisted, by virtue of reason, for the sake of the law. 31 Admittedly, then, pious reason is sovereign over the passions. 32 For if the passions had prevailed over reason, we would have testified to their domination. 33 But now that reason has conquered the passions, we properly attribute to it the power to govern. 34 It is right for us to acknowledge the dominance of reason when it masters even external agonies. It would be ridiculous to deny it.[b] 35 I have proved not only that reason has mastered agonies but also that it masters pleasures and in no respect yields to them. Footnotes 6.5 Eleazar means God helps 6.34 Syr: Meaning of Gk uncertain

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Antiochus’s Encounter with Eleazar 5 The tyrant Antiochus, sitting in state with his counselors on a certain high place and with his armed soldiers standing around him, 2 ordered the guards to seize each and every Hebrew and to compel them to eat pork and food sacrificed to idols. 3 If any were not willing to eat defiling food, they were to be broken on the wheel and killed. 4 When many persons had been rounded up, one[a] man, Eleazar by name, leader of the flock, was brought[b] before the king. He was a man of priestly family, learned in the law, advanced in age, and known to many in the tyrant’s court because of his long career. 5 When Antiochus saw him he said, 6 “Before I begin to torture you, old man, I would advise you to save yourself by eating pork, 7 for I respect your age and your gray hairs. Although you have had them for so long a time, it does not seem to me that you are a philosopher when you observe the religion of the Jews. 8 When nature has granted it to us, why should you abhor eating the very excellent meat of this animal? 9 It is senseless not to enjoy delicious things that are not shameful and wrong to spurn the gifts of nature. 10 It seems to me that you will do something even more senseless if, by holding a vain opinion concerning the truth, you continue to despise me to your own hurt. 11 Will you not awaken from your foolish philosophy, dispel the emptiness of your reasonings, adopt a mind appropriate to your years, philosophize according to the truth of what is beneficial, 12 and have compassion on your old age by honoring my humane advice? 13 For consider this: if there is some power watching over this religion of yours, it will excuse you from any transgression that arises out of compulsion.” 14 When the tyrant urged him in this fashion to eat meat unlawfully, Eleazar asked to have a word. 15 When he had received permission to speak, he began to address the people as follows: 16 “We, O Antiochus, who have been persuaded to govern our lives by the divine law think that there is no compulsion more powerful than our obedience to the law. 17 Therefore we consider that we should not transgress it in any respect. 18 Even if, as you suppose, our law were not truly divine and we had wrongly held it to be divine, not even so would it be right for us to invalidate our reputation for piety. 19 Therefore do not suppose that it would be a petty sin if we were to eat defiling food; 20 to transgress the law in matters either small or great is of equal seriousness, 21 for in either case the law is equally despised. 22 You scoff at our philosophy as though living by it were irrational, 23 but it teaches us self-control, so that we master all pleasures and desires, and it also trains us in courage, so that we endure any suffering willingly; 24 it instructs us in justice, so that in all our dealings we give what is due;[c] and it teaches us piety, so that with proper reverence we worship the only living God. 25 “Therefore we do not eat defiling food, for since we believe that the law was established by God, we know that the Creator of the world in giving us the law has shown sympathy toward us in accordance with nature. 26 He has permitted us to eat what will be most suitable for our lives,[d] but he has forbidden us to eat meats that would be contrary to this. 27 It would be tyrannical for you to compel us not only to transgress the law but also to eat in such a way that you may deride us for eating defiling foods, which are most hateful to us. 28 But you shall have no such occasion to laugh at me, 29 nor will I transgress the sacred oaths of my ancestors concerning the keeping of the law, 30 not even if you gouge out my eyes and burn my entrails. 31 I am not so old and cowardly as not to be young in reason on behalf of piety. 32 Therefore get your torture wheels ready and fan the fire more vehemently! 33 I do not so pity my old age as to overthrow the ancestral law by my own act. 34 I will not play false to you, O law that trained me, nor will I renounce you, beloved self-control. 35 I will not put you to shame, philosophical reason, nor will I reject you, honored priesthood and knowledge of the law. 36 You, O king,[e] shall not defile the honorable mouth of my old age nor my long life lived lawfully. 37 My ancestors will receive me as pure, as one who does not fear your violence even to death. 38 You will tyrannize the ungodly, but you shall not dominate my reasonings on behalf of piety, either by words or through deeds.” Footnotes 5.4 Other ancient authorities add Hebrew 5.4 Or was the first of the flock to be brought 5.24 Or so that we hold in balance all our habitual inclinations 5.26 Or souls 5.36 Gk lacks O king

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4 Now there was a certain Simon, a political opponent of the noble and good man Onias, who then held the high priesthood for life. When, despite bringing charges against him on behalf of the nation, he was unable to injure Onias, he fled the country with the purpose of betraying it. 2 So he came to Apollonius, governor of Syria, Phoenicia, and Cilicia, and said, 3 “I have come here because I am loyal to the king’s government, to report that in the Jerusalem treasuries there are deposited tens of thousands in private funds that are not the property of the temple but belong to King Seleucus.” 4 When Apollonius learned the details of these things, he praised Simon for his service to the king and went up to Seleucus to inform him of the rich treasure. 5 On receiving authority to deal with this matter, he proceeded quickly to our country accompanied by the accursed Simon and a very strong military force. 6 He said that he had come with the king’s authority to seize the private funds in the treasury. 7 The people indignantly protested his words, considering it outrageous that those who had committed deposits to the sacred treasury should be deprived of them, and did all that they could to prevent it. 8 But, uttering threats, Apollonius went on to the temple. 9 While the priests together with women and children were imploring God in the temple to shield the holy place that was being treated so contemptuously, 10 and while Apollonius was going up with his armed forces to seize the money, angels on horseback with lightning flashing from their weapons appeared from heaven, instilling in them great fear and trembling. 11 Then Apollonius fell down half-dead in the temple area that was open to all, stretched out his hands toward heaven, and with tears begged the Hebrews to pray for him and propitiate the wrath of the heavenly army. 12 For he said that he had committed a sin deserving of death and that if he were spared he would praise the blessedness of the holy place before all people. 13 Moved by these words, although otherwise cautious lest King Seleucus suppose that Apollonius had been overcome by human treachery and not by divine justice, the high priest Onias prayed for him. 14 So Apollonius,[a] having been saved beyond all expectations, went away to report to the king what had happened to him. Antiochus’s Persecution of the Jews 15 When King Seleucus died, his son Antiochus Epiphanes succeeded to the throne, an arrogant and terrible man 16 who removed Onias from the priesthood and appointed Onias’s[b] brother Jason as high priest. 17 Jason[c] agreed that if the office were conferred on him he would pay the king three thousand six hundred sixty talents annually. 18 So the king appointed him high priest and ruler of the nation. 19 Jason[d] changed the nation’s customs and altered its form of government in complete violation of the law, 20 so that he not only constructed a gymnasium at the very citadel[e] of our native land but also abolished the temple service. 21 The divine justice was angered by these acts and caused Antiochus himself to make war on them. 22 For when he was warring against Ptolemy in Egypt, he heard that a rumor of his death had spread and that the people of Jerusalem had rejoiced greatly. He speedily marched against them, 23 and after he had ravaged them he issued a decree that if any of them were found observing the ancestral law they should die. 24 When, by means of his decrees, he had not been able in any way to put an end to the people’s observance of the law but saw that all his threats and punishments were being disregarded, 25 even to the extent that women, because they had circumcised their sons, were thrown headlong from heights along with their infants, though they had known beforehand that they would suffer this, 26 when, I say, his decrees were despised by the people, he himself tried through torture to compel everyone in the nation to renounce Judaism by eating defiling foods. Footnotes 4.14 Gk he 4.16 Gk his 4.17 Gk He 4.19 Gk He 4.20 Or high place

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3 1 But this argument is entirely ridiculous, for it is evident that reason rules not over its own passions but over those of the body. 2 No one of us can eradicate that kind of desire, but reason can provide a way for us not to be enslaved by desire. 3 No one of you can eradicate anger from the mind, but reason can help to deal with anger. 4 No one of us can eradicate malice, but reason can fight at our side so that we are not overcome by malice. 5 For reason does not uproot the passions but is their antagonist. King David’s Thirst 6 Now this can be explained more clearly by the story of King David’s thirst. 7 David had been attacking the Philistines all day long and together with the soldiers of his nation had killed many of them. 8 Then when evening fell, he[a] came, sweating and quite exhausted, to the royal tent, around which the whole army of our ancestors had encamped. 9 Now all the rest were at dinner, 10 but the king was extremely thirsty, and though springs were plentiful there, he could not satisfy his thirst from them. 11 But a certain irrational desire for the water in the enemy’s territory tormented and inflamed him, undid and consumed him. 12 When his guards complained bitterly because of the king’s craving, two staunch young soldiers, respecting[b] the king’s desire, armed themselves fully and taking a pitcher climbed over the enemy’s ramparts. 13 Eluding the sentinels at the gates, they went searching throughout the enemy camp 14 and found the spring and from it boldly brought the king a drink. 15 But David,[c] though he was burning with thirst, considered it an altogether fearful danger to his soul to drink what was regarded as equivalent to blood. 16 Therefore, opposing reason to desire, he poured out the drink as an offering to God. 17 For the temperate mind can conquer the drives of the passions and quench the flames of frenzied desires; 18 it can overthrow bodily agonies even when they are extreme and by nobility of reason spurn all domination by the passions. An Attempt on the Temple Treasury 19 The present occasion now invites us to a narrative demonstration of temperate reason. 20 At a time when our ancestors were enjoying profound peace because of their observance of the law and were prospering, so that even Seleucus Nicanor, king of Asia, had both appropriated money to them for the temple service and recognized their way of life— 21 just at that time certain persons attempted a revolution against the public harmony and caused many and various disasters. Footnotes 3.8 Other ancient authorities read he hurried and 3.12 Or embarrassed because of 3.15 Gk he

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Compatibility of the Law with Reason 2 And why is it amazing that the desires of the soul for the enjoyment of beauty are rendered powerless? 2 It is for this reason, certainly, that the temperate Joseph is praised, because by mental effort[a] he overcame the prospect of pleasure. 3 For when he was young and in his prime for intercourse, by reason he nullified the frenzy[b] of the passions. 4 Reason is proved to rule not only over the frenzied urge of sexual desire but also over every desire.[c] 5 Thus the law says, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or anything that is your neighbor’s.” 6 In fact, since the law has told us not to covet, I could prove to you all the more that reason is able to control desires. Just so it is with the passions that hinder one from justice. 7 Otherwise how could it be that someone who is habitually a solitary eater, a glutton, or even a drunkard can learn a better way, unless reason is clearly lord of the passions? 8 Thus, as soon as one adopts a way of life in accordance with the law, even though a lover of money, one is forced to act contrary to natural ways and to lend without interest to those who plead for assistance and to cancel the debt when the seventh year arrives. 9 If one is greedy, one is ruled by the law through reason so that one neither gleans the harvest nor gathers the last grapes from the vineyard. In other matters we can recognize that reason rules the passions. 10 For the law prevails even over affection for parents, so that virtue is not abandoned for their sakes. 11 It overrules love for one’s wife so that one rebukes her when she breaks the law. 12 It overrules love for children so that one punishes them for misdeeds. 13 It is sovereign over the relationship of friends so that one rebukes friends when they act wickedly. 14 Do not consider it paradoxical when reason, through the law, can prevail even over enmity. The fruit trees of the enemy are not cut down, but one preserves the property of enemies from marauders and helps raise up what has fallen.[d] 15 It is evident that reason rules even[e] the more violent passions: lust for power, vanity, boasting, arrogance, and malice. 16 For the temperate mind repels all these malicious passions, just as it repels anger—for it is sovereign over even this. 17 When Moses was angry with Dathan and Abiram, he did nothing against them in anger but controlled his anger by reason. 18 For, as I have said, the temperate mind is able to get the better of the passions, to correct some and to render others powerless. 19 Why else did Jacob, our most wise father, censure the households of Simeon and Levi for their irrational slaughter of the entire tribe of the Shechemites, saying, “Cursed be their anger”? 20 For if reason could not control anger, he would not have spoken thus. 21 Now when God fashioned humans, he planted in them passions and inclinations, 22 but at the same time he enthroned the mind among the senses as a sacred governor over them all. 23 To the mind he gave the law, and one who lives subject to this will rule a kingdom that is temperate, just, good, and courageous. 24 How is it then, one might say, that if reason is master of the passions, it does not control forgetfulness and ignorance? Footnotes 2.2 Another ancient authority adds in reasoning 2.3 Gk he swatted the gadfly 2.4 Or all covetousness 2.14 Or the beasts that have fallen 2.15 Other ancient authorities read through

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The Author’s Definition of His Task 1 The subject that I am about to discuss is most philosophical, that is, whether pious reason is sovereign over the passions. So it is right for me to advise you to pay earnest attention to philosophy. 2 For the subject is essential to everyone who is seeking knowledge, and in addition it includes the praise of the highest virtue—I mean, of course, rational judgment. 3 If, then, it is evident that reason rules over those passions that hinder self-control, namely, gluttony and lust, 4 it is also clear that it masters the passions that hinder one from justice, such as malice, and those that stand in the way of courage, namely, anger, fear, and pain. 5 Some might perhaps ask, “If reason rules the passions, why is it not sovereign over forgetfulness and ignorance?” Their attempt at argument is ridiculous! 6 For reason does not rule its own passions but those that are opposed to justice, courage, and self-control,[a] and it is not for the purpose of destroying them but so that one may not give way to them. 7 I could prove to you from many and various examples that reason[b] is absolute ruler over the passions, 8 but I can demonstrate it best from the noble bravery of those who died for the sake of virtue: Eleazar and the seven brothers and their mother. 9 All of these, by despising sufferings that bring death, demonstrated that reason controls the passions. 10 On the anniversary of these events it is fitting for me to praise for their virtues those who, with their mother, died for the sake of nobility and goodness, and I would also call them blessed for the honor in which they are held. 11 All people, even their torturers, marveled at their courage and endurance, and they became the cause of the downfall of tyranny over their nation. By their endurance they conquered the tyrant, and thus their native land was purified through them. 12 I shall shortly have an opportunity to speak of this, but, as my custom is, I shall begin by stating my main principle, and then I shall turn to their story, giving glory to the all-wise God. The Supremacy of Reason 13 Our inquiry, accordingly, is whether reason is sovereign over the passions. 14 We shall decide just what reason is and what passion is, how many kinds of passions there are, and whether reason rules over all these. 15 Now reason is the mind that with sound logic prefers the life of wisdom. 16 Wisdom, next, is the knowledge of divine and human matters and the causes of these. 17 This, in turn, is education in the law, by which we learn divine matters reverently and human affairs to our advantage. 18 Now the kinds of wisdom are rational judgment, justice, courage, and self-control. 19 Rational judgment is supreme over all of these, since by means of it reason rules over the passions. 20 The two most comprehensive types of the passions are pleasure and pain, and each of these is by nature concerned with both body and soul. 21 There are many sequences of passions with both pleasure and pain. 22 Thus desire precedes pleasure, and delight follows it. 23 Fear precedes pain, and sorrow comes after. 24 Anger, as a person will see by reflecting on this experience, is a passion embracing pleasure and pain. 25 In pleasure there exists even a malevolent tendency, which is the most complex of all the passions. 26 In the soul it is boastfulness, love of money, thirst for honor, rivalry, and malice; 27 in the body, indiscriminate eating, gluttony, and eating alone. 28 Just as pleasure and pain are two plants growing from the body and the soul, so there are many offshoots of these plants,[c] 29 each of which the master cultivator, reason, weeds and prunes and ties up and waters and thoroughly irrigates and so tames the jungle of habits and passions. 30 For reason is the guide of the virtues, but over the passions it is sovereign. Observe now, first of all, that rational judgment is sovereign over the passions by virtue of the restraining power of self-control. 31 Self-control, then, is dominance over the desires. 32 Some desires belong to the soul, others to the body, and reason obviously rules over both. 33 Otherwise, how is it that when we are attracted to forbidden foods we abstain from the pleasure to be had from them? Is it not because reason is able to rule over appetites? I for one think so. 34 Therefore when we crave seafood and fowl and animals and all sorts of foods that are forbidden to us by the law, we abstain because of domination by reason. 35 For the passions of the appetites are restrained, checked by the temperate mind, and all the impulses of the body are bridled by reason. Footnotes 1.6 Other ancient authorities add and rational judgment 1.7 Other ancient authorities read devout reason 1.28 Another reading is these passions

2 Esdras 16

Further Denunciations 16 Woe to you, Babylon and Asia! Woe to you, Egypt and Syria! 2 Bind on sackcloth and cloth of goats’ hair,[a] and wail for your children, and lament for them, for your destruction is at hand. 3 The sword has been sent upon you, and who is there to turn it back? 4 A fire has been sent upon you, and who is there to quench it? 5 Calamities have been sent upon you, and who is there to drive them away? 6 Can one drive off a hungry lion in the forest or quench a fire in the stubble once it has started to burn?[b] 7 Can one turn back an arrow shot by a strong archer? 8 The Lord God sends calamities, and who will drive them away? 9 Fire will go forth from his wrath, and who is there to quench it? 10 He will flash lightning, and who will not be afraid? He will thunder, and who will not be terrified? 11 The Lord will threaten, and who will not be utterly shattered at his presence? 12 The earth and its foundations quake, the sea is churned up from the depths, and its waves and the fish with them shall be troubled at the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power. 13 For his right hand that bends the bow is strong, and his arrows that he shoots are sharp, and when they are shot to the ends of the world they will not miss once. 14 Calamities are sent forth and shall not return until they come over the earth. 15 The fire is kindled and shall not be put out until it consumes the foundations of the earth. 16 Just as an arrow shot by a mighty archer does not return, so the calamities that are sent upon the earth shall not return. 17 Alas for me! Alas for me! Who will deliver me in those days? The Horror of the Last Days 18 The beginning of sorrows, when there shall be much lamentation; the beginning of famine, when many shall perish; the beginning of wars, when the powers shall be terrified; the beginning of calamities, when all shall tremble. 19 What shall they do when the calamities come? 20 Famine and plague, tribulation and anguish are sent as scourges for the correction of humankind. 21 Yet for all this they will not turn from their iniquities or ever be mindful of the scourges. 22 Indeed, provisions will be so cheap upon earth that people will imagine that peace is assured for them, and then calamities shall spring up on the earth—the sword, famine, and great confusion. 23 For many of those who live on the earth shall perish by famine, and those who survive the famine shall die by the sword. 24 And the dead shall be thrown out like dung, and there shall be no one to console them, for the earth shall be left desolate, and its cities shall be demolished. 25 No one shall be left to cultivate the earth or to sow it. 26 The trees shall bear fruit, but who will gather it? 27 The grapes shall ripen, but who will tread them? For in all places there shall be great solitude; 28 a person will long to see another human or even to hear a human voice. 29 For ten shall be left out of a city, and two out of the field, those who have hidden themselves in thick groves and clefts in the rocks. 30 Just as in an olive orchard three or four olives may be left on every tree, 31 or just as, when a vineyard is gathered, some clusters may be left[c] by those who search carefully through the vineyard, 32 so in those days three or four shall be left by those who search their houses with the sword. 33 The earth shall be left desolate, and its fields shall be plowed up,[d] and its roads and all its paths shall bring forth thorns, because no sheep will go along them. 34 Virgins shall mourn because they have no bridegrooms; women shall mourn because they have no husbands; their daughters shall mourn because they have no help. 35 Their bridegrooms shall be killed in war, and their husbands shall perish of famine. God’s People Must Prepare for the End 36 Listen now to these things, and understand them, you who are servants of the Lord. 37 This is the word of the Lord; receive it and do not disbelieve what the Lord says.[e] 38 The calamities draw near and are not delayed. 39 Just as a pregnant woman, in the ninth month when the time of her delivery draws near, has great pains around her womb for two or three hours beforehand, but when the child comes forth from the womb, there will not be a moment’s delay, 40 so the calamities will not delay in coming upon the earth, and the world will groan, and pains will seize it on every side. 41 Hear my words, O my people; prepare for battle, and in the midst of the calamities be like strangers on the earth. 42 Let the one who sells be like one who will flee; let the one who buys be like one who will lose; 43 let the one who does business be like one who will not make a profit; and let the one who builds a house be like one who will not live in it; 44 let the one who sows be like one who will not reap; so also the one who prunes the vines, like one who will not gather the grapes; 45 those who marry, like those who will have no children; and those who do not marry, like those who are widowed. 46 Because of this, those who labor, labor in vain, 47 for strangers shall gather their fruits and plunder their goods, overthrow their houses, and take their children captive, for in captivity and famine they will produce their children.[f] 48 Those who conduct business do so only to have it plundered; the more they adorn their cities, their houses and possessions, and their persons, 49 the more angry I will be with them for their sins, says the Lord. 50 Just as a respectable and virtuous woman abhors a prostitute, 51 so righteousness shall abhor iniquity when she decks herself out and shall accuse her to her face when he comes to defend the one who searches out every sin on earth. The Power and Wisdom of God 52 Therefore do not be like her or her works. 53 For in a very short time iniquity will be removed from the earth, and righteousness will reign over us. 54 Sinners must not say that they have not sinned,[g] for coals of fire will burn on the head of everyone who says, “I have not sinned before God and his glory.” 55 The Lord[h] certainly knows everything that people do; he knows their imaginations and their thoughts and their hearts. 56 He said, “Let the earth be made,” and it was made, and “Let the heaven be made,” and it was made. 57 At his word the stars were fixed in their places, and he knows the number of the stars. 58 He searches the abyss and its treasures; he has measured the sea and its contents; 59 he has confined the sea in the midst of the waters;[i] and by his word he has suspended the earth over the water. 60 He has spread out the heaven like a dome and made it secure upon the waters; 61 he has put springs of water in the desert and pools on the tops of the mountains, so as to send rivers from the heights to water the earth. 62 He formed humans and put a heart in the midst of each body and gave each person breath and life and understanding 63 and the spirit[j] of Almighty God,[k] who surely made all things and searches out hidden things in hidden places. 64 He knows your imaginations and what you think in your hearts! Woe to those who sin and want to hide their sins! 65 The Lord will strictly examine all their works and will make a public spectacle of all of you. 66 You shall be put to shame when your sins come out before others, and your own iniquities shall stand as your accusers on that day. 67 What will you do? Or how will you hide your sins before the Lord and his glory? 68 Indeed, God[l] is the judge; fear him! Cease from your sins and forget your iniquities, never to commit them again, so God[m] will lead you forth and deliver you from all tribulation. Impending Persecution of God’s People 69 The burning wrath of a great multitude is kindled over you; they shall drag some of you away and force you to eat what was sacrificed to idols. 70 And those who consent to eat shall be held in derision and contempt and shall be trampled under foot. 71 For in many places[n] and in neighboring cities there shall be a great uprising against those who fear the Lord. 72 They shall[o] be like maniacs, sparing no one, but plundering and destroying those who continue to fear the Lord.[p] 73 For they shall destroy and plunder their goods and drive them out of house and home. 74 Then the tested quality of my elect shall be manifest, like gold that is tested by fire. Promise of Divine Deliverance 75 Listen, my elect ones, says the Lord; the days of tribulation are at hand, but I will deliver you from them. 76 Do not fear or doubt, for God[q] is your guide. 77 You who keep my commandments and precepts, says the Lord God, must not let your sins weigh you down or your iniquities prevail over you. 78 Woe to those who are choked by their sins and overwhelmed by their iniquities! They are like a field choked with underbrush and its path[r] overwhelmed with thorns, so that no one can pass through. It is shut off and given up to be consumed by fire. Footnotes 16.2 Other ancient authorities lack cloth of goats’ hair 16.6 Other ancient authorities read fire when dry straw has been set on fire 16.31 Other ancient authorities read a cluster may remain exposed 16.33 Other ancient authorities read be for briers 16.37 Cn: Lat do not believe the gods of whom the Lord speaks 16.47 Other ancient authorities read therefore those who are married may know that they will produce children for captivity and famine 16.54 Other ancient authorities add or the unjust done injustice 16.55 Other ancient authorities read Lord God 16.59 Other ancient authorities read confined the world between the waters and the waters 16.63 Or breath 16.63 Other ancient authorities read of the Lord Almighty 16.68 Other ancient authorities read the Lord 16.68 Other ancient authorities read the Lord 16.71 Meaning of Lat uncertain 16.72 Other ancient authorities read For people, because of their misfortunes, shall 16.72 Other ancient authorities read fear God 16.76 Other ancient authorities read the Lord 16.78 Other ancient authorities read seed

2 Esdras 15

Vengeance on the Wicked 15 [a]Speak in the ears of my people the words of the prophecy that I will put in your mouth, says the Lord, 2 and cause them to be written on paper, for they are trustworthy and true. 3 Do not fear the plots against you, and do not be troubled by the unbelief of those who oppose you. 4 For all unbelievers shall die in their unbelief.[b] 5 Beware, says the Lord, I am bringing evils upon the world, the sword and famine, death and destruction, 6 because iniquity has spread throughout every land, and their harmful doings have reached their limit. 7 Therefore, says the Lord, 8 I will be silent no longer concerning their ungodly acts that they impiously commit, neither will I tolerate their wicked practices. Innocent and righteous blood cries out to me, and the souls of the righteous cry out continually. 9 I will surely avenge them, says the Lord, and will receive to myself all the innocent blood from among them. 10 See, my people are being led like a flock to the slaughter; I will not allow them to live any longer in the land of Egypt, 11 but I will bring them out with a mighty hand and with an uplifted arm and will strike Egypt with plagues, as before, and will destroy all its land. 12 Let Egypt mourn and its foundations, because of the plague of chastisement and castigation that the Lord will bring upon it. 13 Let the farmers that who the ground mourn because their seed shall fail to grow[c] and their trees shall be ruined by blight and hail and by a terrible tempest. 14 Alas for the world and for those who live in it! 15 For the sword and misery draw near them, and nation shall rise up to fight against nation, with swords in their hands. 16 For there shall be unrest among people; growing strong against one another, they shall in their might have no respect for their king or the chief of their leaders. 17 For a person will desire to go into a city and shall not be able to do so. 18 Because of their pride the cities shall be in confusion, the houses shall be destroyed, and people shall be afraid. 19 People shall have no pity for their neighbors but shall make an assault upon[d] their houses with the sword and plunder their goods because of hunger for bread and because of great tribulation. 20 See how I am calling together all the kings of the earth to turn to me, says God, from the rising sun and from the south, from the east and from Lebanon, to turn and repay what they have given them. 21 Just as they have done to my elect until this day, so I will do and will pay it back into their laps. Thus says the Lord God: 22 My right hand will not spare the sinners, and my sword will not cease from those who shed innocent blood on earth. 23 And a fire went forth from his wrath and consumed the foundations of the earth and the sinners, like burnt straw. 24 Alas for those who sin and do not observe my commandments, says the Lord;[e] 25 I will not spare them. Depart, you faithless children! Do not pollute my sanctuary. 26 For God[f] knows all who sin against him; therefore he will hand them over to death and slaughter. 27 Already calamities have come upon the whole earth, and you shall remain in them; God[g] will not deliver you, because you have sinned against him. A Terrifying Vision of Warfare 28 What a terrifying sight, appearing from the east! 29 The nations of the dragons of Arabia shall come out with many chariots, and from the day that they set out their hissing shall spread over the earth, so that all who hear them will fear and tremble. 30 Also the Carmonians, raging in wrath, shall go forth like wild boars[h] from the forest, and with great power they shall come and engage them in battle, and with their tusks they shall devastate a portion of the land of the Assyrians with their teeth. 31 And then the dragons,[i] remembering their origin, shall become still stronger, and if they combine in great power and turn to pursue them, 32 then these shall be disorganized and silenced by their power and shall turn and flee.[j] 33 And from the land of the Assyrians an enemy in ambush shall attack them and destroy one of them, and fear and trembling shall come upon their army and indecision upon their kings. Judgment on Babylon 34 See the clouds from the east and from the north to the south! Their appearance is exceedingly threatening, full of wrath and storm. 35 They shall clash against one another and shall pour out a heavy tempest on the earth and their own tempest,[k] and there shall be blood from the sword as high as a horse’s belly 36 and a man’s thigh and a camel’s hock. 37 And there shall be fear and great trembling on the earth; those who see that wrath shall be horror-stricken, and they shall be seized with trembling. 38 After that, heavy storm clouds shall be stirred up from the south and from the north and another part from the west. 39 But the winds from the east shall prevail over the cloud that was[l] raised in wrath and shall dispel it, and the tempest[m] that was to cause destruction by the east wind shall be driven violently toward the south and west. 40 Great and mighty clouds full of wrath and tempest[n] shall rise and destroy all the earth and its inhabitants and shall pour out upon every high and lofty place[o] a terrible tempest,[p] 41 fire and hail and flying swords and floods of water, so that all the fields and all the streams shall be filled with the abundance of those waters. 42 They shall destroy cities and walls, mountains and hills, trees of the forests, and grass of the meadows and their grain. 43 They shall go on steadily to Babylon and blot it out. 44 They shall come to it and surround it; they shall pour out on it the tempest[q] and all its fury;[r] then the dust and smoke shall reach the sky, and all who are around it shall mourn for it. 45 And those who survive shall serve those who have destroyed it. Judgment on Asia 46 And you, Asia, who share in the splendor of Babylon and the glory of her person, 47 woe to you, miserable wretch! For you have made yourself like her; you have decked out your daughters for prostitution to please and glory in your lovers, who have always lusted after you. 48 You have imitated that hateful one in all her deeds and devices.[s] Therefore, God[t] says, 49 I will send evils upon you: widowhood, poverty, famine, sword, and pestilence, bringing ruin to your houses, bringing destruction and death. 50 And the glory of your strength shall wither like a flower when the heat shall rise that is sent upon you. 51 You shall be weakened like a wretched woman who is beaten and wounded, so that you cannot receive your mighty lovers. 52 Would I have dealt with you so violently, says the Lord, 53 if you had not killed my chosen people continually, exulting and clapping your hands and talking about their death when you were drunk? 54 Beautify your face! 55 The reward of a prostitute is in your lap; therefore you shall receive your recompense. 56 As you will do to my chosen people, says the Lord, so God will do to you and will hand you over to adversities. 57 Your children shall die of hunger, and you shall fall by the sword; your cities shall be wiped out, and all your people who are in the open country shall fall by the sword. 58 Those who are in the mountains and highlands[u] shall perish of hunger, and they shall eat their own flesh in hunger for bread and drink their own blood in thirst for water. 59 Unhappy above all others, you shall come and suffer fresh miseries. 60 As they pass by they shall crush the hateful[v] city and shall destroy a part of your land and abolish a portion of your glory, when they return from devastated Babylon. 61 You shall be broken down by them like stubble,[w] and they shall be like fire to you. 62 They shall devour you and your cities, your land and your mountains; they shall burn with fire all your forests and your fruitful trees. 63 They shall carry your children away captive, plunder your wealth, and mar the glory of your face. Footnotes 15.1 Chapters 15 and 16 (except 15.57–59, which has been found in Greek) are extant only in Lat 15.4 Other ancient authorities add and all who believe shall be saved by their faith 15.13 Lat lacks to grow 15.19 Cn: Lat shall empty 15.24 Other ancient authorities read God 15.26 Other ancient authorities read the Lord 15.27 Other ancient authorities read the Lord 15.30 Other ancient authorities lack like wild boars 15.31 Cn: Lat dragon 15.32 Other ancient authorities read turn their face to the north 15.35 Meaning of Lat uncertain 15.39 Lat that he 15.39 Lat star 15.40 Lat star 15.40 Or eminent person 15.40 Lat star 15.44 Lat star 15.44 Other ancient authorities add until they destroy it to its foundations 15.48 Other ancient authorities read devices, and you have followed after that one about to gratify her magnates and leaders so that you may be made proud and be pleased by her fornications 15.48 Other ancient authorities read the Lord 15.58 Gk: Lat omits and highlands 15.60 Other ancient authorities read idle or tranquil 15.61 Other ancient authorities read like dry straw

2 Esdras 14

The Lord Commissions Ezra 14 On the third day, while I was sitting under an oak, suddenly a voice came out of a bush opposite me and said, “Ezra, Ezra!” 2 And I answered, “Here I am, Lord,” and I rose to my feet. 3 Then he said to me, “I revealed myself in a bush and spoke to Moses when my people were in bondage in Egypt, 4 and I sent him and led[a] my people out of Egypt, and I led him up on Mount Sinai, where I kept him with me many days. 5 I told him many wondrous things and showed him the secrets of the times and declared to him[b] the end of the times. Then I commanded him, saying, 6 ‘These words you shall publish openly, and these you shall keep secret.’ 7 And now I say to you: 8 Lay up in your heart the signs that I have shown you, the dreams that you have seen, and the interpretations that you have heard, 9 for you shall be taken up from among humankind, and henceforth you shall live with my Son and with those who are like you, until the times are ended. 10 The age has lost its youth, and the times begin to grow old. 11 For the age is divided into twelve parts, and nine[c] of its parts have already passed, 12 as well as half of the tenth part; so two of its parts remain, besides half of the tenth part.[d] 13 Now, therefore, set your house in order, and reprove your people; comfort the lowly among them, and instruct those who are wise.[e] And now renounce the life that is corruptible, 14 and put away from you mortal thoughts; cast away from you the burdens of humankind, and divest yourself now of your weak nature; 15 lay to one side the thoughts that are most grievous to you, and hurry to escape from these times. 16 For evils worse than those that you have now seen happen shall take place hereafter. 17 For the weaker the world becomes through old age, the more shall evils be increased upon its inhabitants. 18 Truth shall go farther away, and falsehood shall come near. For the eagle[f] that you saw in the vision is already hurrying to come.” Ezra’s Concern to Restore the Scriptures 19 Then I answered and said, “Let me speak[g] in your presence, Lord. 20 For I will go, as you have commanded me, and I will reprove the people who are now living, but who will warn those who will be born hereafter? For the world lies in darkness, and its inhabitants are without light. 21 For your law has been burned, so no one knows the things that have been done or will be done by you. 22 If then I have found favor with you, send the holy spirit into me, and I will write everything that has happened in the world from the beginning, the things that were written in your law, so that people may be able to find the path and that those who want to live in the last days may do so.” 23 He answered me and said, “Go and gather the people, and tell them not to seek you for forty days. 24 But prepare for yourself many writing tablets, and take with you Sarea, Dabria, Selemia, Ethanus, and Asiel—these five, who are trained to write rapidly, 25 and you shall come here, and I will light in your heart the lamp of understanding, which shall not be put out until what you are about to write is finished. 26 And when you have finished, some things you shall make public, and some you shall deliver in secret to the wise; tomorrow at this hour you shall begin to write.” Ezra’s Last Words to the People 27 Then I went as he commanded me, and I gathered all the people together and said, 28 “Hear these words, O Israel. 29 At first our ancestors lived as aliens in Egypt, and they were liberated from there 30 and received the law of life, which they did not keep, which you also have transgressed after them. 31 Then land was given to you for a possession in the land of Zion, but you and your ancestors committed iniquity and did not keep the ways that the Most High commanded you. 32 And since he is a righteous judge, in due time he took from you what he had given. 33 And now you are here, and your people[h] are farther in the interior.[i] 34 If you, then, will rule over your minds and discipline your hearts, you shall be kept alive, and after death you shall obtain mercy. 35 For after death the judgment will come, when we shall live again, and then the names of the righteous shall become manifest, and the deeds of the ungodly shall be disclosed. 36 But let no one come to me now, and let no one seek me for forty days.” The Restoration of the Scriptures 37 So I took the five men, as he had commanded me, and we proceeded to the field and remained there. 38 And on the next day a voice called me, saying, “Ezra, open your mouth and drink what I give you to drink.” 39 So I opened my mouth, and a full cup was offered to me; it was full of something like water, but its color was like fire. 40 I took it and drank, and when I had drunk it, my heart poured forth understanding, and wisdom increased in my breast, for my spirit retained its memory, 41 and my mouth was opened and was no longer closed. 42 Moreover, the Most High gave understanding to the five men, and by turns they wrote what was dictated, using characters that they did not know.[j] They sat forty days; they wrote during the daytime and ate their bread at night. 43 But as for me, I spoke in the daytime and was not silent at night. 44 So during the forty days, ninety-four[k] books were written. 45 And when the forty days were ended, the Most High spoke to me, saying, “Make public the twenty-four[l] books that you wrote first, and let the worthy and the unworthy read them, 46 but keep the seventy that were written last, in order to give them to the wise among your people. 47 For in them is the spring of understanding, the fountain of wisdom, and the river of knowledge.” 48 And I did so.[m] Footnotes 14.4 Syr Arab 1 Arab 2 he led 14.5 Syr Ethiop Arab Arm: Lat lacks declared to him 14.11 Cn: Lat Ethiop ten 14.12 Syr lacks 14.11, 12: Ethiop For the world is divided into ten parts, and has come to the tenth, and half of the tenth remains. Now . . . 14.13 Lat lacks and . . . wise 14.18 Syr Ethiop Arab Arm: Meaning of Lat uncertain 14.19 Most Lat mss lack Let me speak 14.33 Lat brothers 14.33 Syr Ethiop Arm: Lat are among you 14.42 Syr Compare Ethiop Arab 2 Arm: Meaning of Lat uncertain 14.44 Syr Ethiop Arab 1 Arm: Meaning of Lat uncertain 14.45 Syr Arab 1: Lat lacks twenty-four 14.48 Syr adds in the seventh year of the sixth week, five thousand years and three months and twelve days after creation. At that time Ezra was caught up, and taken to the place of those who are like him, after he had written all these things. And he was called the scribe of the knowledge of the Most High for ever and ever. Ethiop Arab 1 Arm have a similar ending

2 Edras 13

The Man from the Sea 13 After seven days I dreamed a dream in the night. 2 And behold, a wind arose from the sea and stirred up[a] all its waves. 3 As I kept looking the wind made something like the figure of a man come up out of the heart of the sea. And I saw[b] that this man flew[c] with the clouds of heaven, and wherever he turned his face to look, everything under his gaze trembled, 4 and whenever his voice issued from his mouth, all who heard his voice melted as wax melts when it feels the fire. 5 After this I looked and saw that an innumerable multitude of people were gathered together from the four winds of heaven to make war against the man who came up out of the sea. 6 And I looked and saw that he carved out for himself a great mountain and flew up on to it. 7 And I tried to see the region or place from which the mountain was carved, but I could not. 8 After this I looked and saw that all who had gathered together against him to wage war with him were filled with fear, yet they dared to fight. 9 When he saw the onrush of the approaching multitude, he neither lifted his hand nor held a spear or any weapon of war, 10 but I saw only how he sent forth from his mouth something like a stream of fire and from his lips a flaming breath and from his tongue he shot forth a storm of sparks. All these were mingled together, the stream of fire and the flaming breath and the great storm, 11 and fell on the onrushing multitude that was prepared to fight and burned up all of them, so that suddenly nothing was seen of the innumerable multitude but only the dust of ashes and the smell of smoke. When I saw it, I was amazed. 12 After this I saw the same man come down from the mountain and call to himself another multitude that was peaceable. 13 Then the forms of many people appeared to him, some of whom were joyful and some sorrowful; some of them were bound, and some were bringing others as offerings. The Interpretation of the Vision Then I woke up in great terror and prayed to the Most High and said, 14 “From the beginning you have shown your servant these wonders and have deemed me worthy to have my prayer heard by you; 15 now show me the interpretation of this dream also. 16 For as I consider it in my mind, alas for those who will be left in those days! And still more, alas for those who are not left! 17 For those who are not left will be sad 18 because they understand the things that are reserved for the last days but cannot attain them. 19 But alas for those also who are left and for that very reason! For they shall see great dangers and much distress, as these dreams show. 20 Yet it is better[d] to come into these things,[e] though incurring peril, than to pass from the world like a cloud and not to see what will happen in the last days.” He answered me and said, 21 “I will tell you the interpretation of the vision, and I will also explain to you the things that you have mentioned. 22 As for what you said about those who survive, and concerning those who do not survive,[f] this is the interpretation: 23 The one who brings the peril at that time will protect those who fall into peril, who have works and faith toward the Almighty. 24 Understand, therefore, that those who are left are more blessed than those who have died. 25 “This is the interpretation of the vision: As for your seeing a man come up from the heart of the sea, 26 this is he whom the Most High has been keeping for many ages, who will himself deliver his creation, and he will direct those who are left. 27 And as for your seeing wind and fire and a storm coming out of his mouth 28 and as for his not holding a spear or weapon of war, yet destroying the onrushing multitude that came to conquer him, this is the interpretation: 29 The days are coming when the Most High will deliver those who are on the earth. 30 And bewilderment of mind shall come over those who inhabit the earth. 31 They shall plan to make war against one another, city against city, place against place, people against people, and kingdom against kingdom. 32 When these things take place and the signs occur that I showed you before, then my Son will be revealed, whom you saw as a man coming up from the sea.[g] 33 “Then, when all the nations hear his voice, all the nations shall leave their own lands and the warfare that they have against one another, 34 and an innumerable multitude shall be gathered together, as you saw, wishing to come and conquer him. 35 But he shall stand on the top of Mount Zion. 36 And Zion shall come and be made manifest to all people, prepared and built, as you saw the mountain carved out without hands. 37 Then he, my Son, will reprove the assembled nations for their ungodliness (this was symbolized by the storm) 38 and will reproach them to their face with their evil thoughts and the torments with which they are to be tortured (which were symbolized by the flames) and will destroy them without effort by means of the law[h] (which was symbolized by the fire). 39 “And as for your seeing him gather to himself another multitude that was peaceable, 40 these are the nine[i] tribes that were taken away from their own land into exile in the days of King Hoshea, whom Shalmaneser, king of the Assyrians, made captives; he took them across the river, and they were taken into another land. 41 But they formed this plan for themselves, that they would leave the multitude of the nations and go to a more distant region where no humans had ever lived, 42 so that there at least they might keep their statutes that they had not kept in their own land. 43 And they went in by the narrow passages of the River Euphrates. 44 For at that time the Most High performed signs for them and stopped the channels of the river until they had crossed over. 45 Through that region there was a long way to go, a journey of a year and a half, and that country is called Arzareth. 46 “Then they lived there until the last times, and now, when they are about to come again, 47 the Most High will stop[j] the channels of the river again, so that they may be able to cross over. Therefore you saw the multitude gathered together in peace. 48 But those who are left of your people, who are found within my holy borders, shall be saved.[k] 49 Therefore when he destroys the multitude of the nations that are gathered together, he will defend the people who remain. 50 And then he will show them very many wonders.” 51 I said, “O sovereign Lord, explain this to me: Why did I see the man coming up from the heart of the sea?” 52 He said to me, “Just as no one can explore or know what is in the depths of the sea, so no one on earth can see my Son or those who are with him, except in the time of his day.[l] 53 This is the interpretation of the dream that you saw. And you alone have been enlightened about this, 54 because you have forsaken your own ways and have applied yourself to mine and have searched out my law, 55 for you have devoted your life to wisdom and called understanding your mother. 56 Therefore I have shown you these things, for there is a reward laid up with the Most High. For it will be that after three more days I will tell you other things and explain weighty and wondrous matters to you.” 57 Then I got up and walked in the field, giving great glory and praise to the Most High for the wonders that he did from time to time 58 and because he governs the times and whatever things come to pass in their seasons. And I stayed there three days. Footnotes 13.2 Other ancient authorities read I saw a wind arise from the sea and stir up 13.3 Syr: Lat lacks the wind . . . I saw 13.3 Syr Ethiop Arab Arm: Lat grew strong 13.20 Ethiop Compare Arab 2: Lat easier 13.20 Syr: Lat this 13.22 Syr Arab 1: Lat lacks and . . . not survive 13.32 Syr and most Lat mss lack from the sea 13.38 Syr: Lat effort and the law 13.40 Other Lat mss ten; Syr Ethiop Arab 1 Arm nine and a half 13.47 Syr: Lat stops 13.48 Syr: Lat lacks shall be saved 13.52 Syr: Ethiop except when his time and his day have come; Lat lacks his

2 Esdras 12

12 While the lion was saying these words to the eagle, I looked 2 and saw that the remaining head had disappeared. The two wings that had gone over to it rose up and[a] set themselves up to reign, and their reign was brief and full of tumult. 3 When I looked again, they were already vanishing. The whole body of the eagle was burned, and the earth was exceedingly terrified. Then I woke up in great perplexity of mind and great fear, and I said to my spirit, 4 “You have brought this upon me because you search out the ways of the Most High. 5 I am still weary in mind and very weak in my spirit, and not even a little strength is left in me because of the great fear with which I have been terrified tonight. 6 Therefore I will now entreat the Most High that he may strengthen me to the end.” The Interpretation of the Vision 7 Then I said, “O sovereign Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, and if I have been accounted righteous before you beyond many others, and if my prayer has indeed come up before your face, 8 strengthen me and show me, your servant, the interpretation and meaning of this terrifying vision so that you may fully comfort my soul. 9 For you have judged me worthy to be shown the end of the times and the last events of the times.” 10 He said to me, “This is the interpretation of this vision that you have seen: 11 The eagle that you saw coming up from the sea is the fourth kingdom that appeared in a vision to your brother Daniel. 12 But it was not explained to him as I now explain to you or have explained it. 13 The days are coming when a kingdom shall rise on earth, and it shall be more terrifying than all the kingdoms that have been before it. 14 And twelve kings shall reign in it, one after another. 15 But the second that is to reign shall hold sway for a longer time than any other one of the twelve. 16 This is the interpretation of the twelve wings that you saw. 17 “As for your hearing a voice that spoke, coming not from the eagle’s[b] heads but from the midst of its body, 18 this is the interpretation: In the midst of[c] the time of that kingdom great struggles shall arise, and it shall be in danger of falling; nevertheless, it shall not fall then but shall regain its former power.[d] 19 As for your seeing eight little wings[e] clinging to its wings, this is the interpretation: 20 Eight kings shall arise in it whose times shall be short and their years swift; 21 two of them shall perish when the middle of its time draws near, and four shall be kept for the time when its end approaches, but two shall be kept until the end. 22 “As for your seeing three heads at rest, this is the interpretation: 23 In its last days the Most High will raise up three kings,[f] and they[g] shall renew many things in it and shall rule the earth 24 and its inhabitants more oppressively than all who were before them. Therefore they are called the heads of the eagle, 25 because it is they who shall sum up his wickedness and perform his last actions. 26 As for your seeing that the large head disappeared, one of the kings[h] shall die in his bed but in agonies. 27 But as for the two who remained, the sword shall devour them. 28 For the sword of one shall devour him who was with him, but he also shall fall by the sword in the last days. 29 “As for your seeing two little wings[i] passing over to[j] the head that was on the right side, 30 this is the interpretation: It is these whom the Most High has kept for the eagle’s[k] end; this was the reign that was brief and full of tumult, as you have seen. 31 “And as for the lion whom you saw rousing up out of the forest and roaring and speaking to the eagle and reproving him for his unrighteousness, and as for all his words that you have heard, 32 this is the Messiah whom the Most High has kept until the end of days, who will arise from the offspring of David and will come and speak[l] with them. He will denounce them for their ungodliness and for their wickedness and will display before them their contemptuous dealings. 33 For first he will bring them alive before his judgment seat, and when he has reproved them, then he will destroy them. 34 But in mercy he will set free the remnant of my people, those who have been saved throughout my borders, and he will make them joyful until the end comes, the day of judgment, of which I spoke to you at the beginning. 35 This is the dream that you saw, and this is its interpretation. 36 And you alone were worthy to learn this secret of the Most High. 37 Therefore write all these things that you have seen in a book, put it[m] in a hidden place, 38 and you shall teach them to the wise among your people, whose hearts you know are able to comprehend and keep these secrets. 39 But as for you, wait here seven days more, so that you may be shown whatever it pleases the Most High to show you.” Then he left me. The People Come to Ezra 40 When all the people heard that the seven days were past and I had not returned to the city, they all gathered together, from the least to the greatest, and came to me and spoke to me, saying, 41 “How have we offended you, and what harm have we done you, that you have forsaken us and sit in this place? 42 For of all the prophets you alone are left to us, like a cluster of grapes from the vintage and like a lamp in a dark place and like a haven for a ship saved from a storm. 43 Are not the disasters that have befallen us enough? 44 Therefore if you forsake us, how much better it would have been for us if we also had been consumed in the burning of Zion. 45 For we are no better than those who died there.” And they wept with a loud voice. Then I answered them and said, 46 “Take courage, O Israel, and do not be sorrowful, O house of Jacob, 47 for the Most High has you in remembrance, and the Mighty One has not forgotten you in your struggle. 48 As for me, I have neither forsaken you nor withdrawn from you, but I have come to this place to pray on account of the desolation of Zion and to seek mercy on account of the humiliation of our[n] sanctuary. 49 Now go to your homes, every one of you, and after these days I will come to you.” 50 So the people went into the city, as I told them to do. 51 But I sat in the field seven days, as the angel[o] had commanded me, and I ate only of the flowers of the field, and plants were my food plants during those days. Footnotes 12.2 Ethiop: Lat lacks rose up and 12.17 Lat his 12.18 Syr Arm: Lat After 12.18 Ethiop Arab 1 Arm: Lat Syr its beginning 12.19 Syr: Lat underwings 12.23 Syr Ethiop Arab Arm: Lat kingdoms 12.23 Syr Ethiop Arm: Lat he 12.26 Lat them 12.29 Arab 1: Lat underwings 12.29 Syr Ethiop: Lat lacks to 12.30 Lat his 12.32 Syr: Lat lacks of days . . . and speak 12.37 Ethiop Arab 1 Arab 2 Arm: Lat Syr them 12.48 Syr Ethiop: Lat your 12.51 Lat he