衣索比亞馬加比二書 第 4 章

And there was a time in the days of Hoshea.

And there was a time in the days of Gideon.

And there was a time in the days of Samson and Barak and Deborah and Judith—whether by women or by men—when He raised up for them judges to deliver them from those who oppressed them, and to save them from the hand of all their enemies.

And according as the Lord desired, He delivered them from those who oppressed them.

And they would greatly rejoice in all the good He did for them—in the seed of their land, in the increase of their cattle, and in all the flocks that were in the field and in the wilderness.

And He would bless for them their cattle and their plantings; and all that they possessed, both of the house and of the field, He would bless for them; and He would not diminish their cattle, for He looked upon them with His own eyes and loved them exceedingly, for they were the offspring of righteous men.

But when they themselves became evil in their deeds, He would deliver them into the hand of their enemies.

And when He slew them, in that day they would seek Him and turn back and return to the Lord their Creator.

And when they returned with all their heart, He would pardon them; and the former transgression He would not remember against them, for He knew that they were flesh and blood, and that they had the deceiving counsel of this world and the demons within them.

And this Meqabis, when he heard this word which the Lord had ordained at the mountain of His sanctuary, strove earnestly in repentance.

And he did not cease from doing the good he had seen and the word he had heard, even all the goodness which the children of Israel used to do, for the Lord had mercy on them; and when the Lord chastised them, when they had transgressed His commandment, they would weep and cry out, and again He would have mercy on them, and they would keep His commandment.

And likewise Meqabis would make straight his ways and keep His commandment and walk in the commandment of the Lord, the God of Israel.

From that day, after he had heard, in all that the children of Israel gloried, he likewise gloried in keeping the commandment of the Lord.

And he ordered his house and his children, that they should walk in all His ways and in the commandments of the Lord.

And whatever the Jews abstained from, he too abstained from; and the commandments which the Jews kept, having heard of them, he likewise kept; and the foods from which the Jews abstained, he abstained from—though he was of another people, a Moabite.

And he gave tithes, and the firstborn of his sheep and his oxen and his asses, and all that he had acquired he gave; and the sacrifices which the Jews offered, he likewise offered, turning his face toward Jerusalem.

And the offering for the vow, and that for sin, and the freewill offering, and the offering of salvation, and the continual offering.

And the firstfruits, and the firstlings which the Jews brought, he likewise brought and gave to the priest whom he had appointed; and all that the Jews do, he likewise did, and he offered sweet incense.

And he made lampstands and basins and tables and tents and lavers and vessels, and pure beaten oil for the lamps of the holy place, and the veil, even as they make in the Holy of Holies of Israel when they serve the Lord.

For just as they abode in His law and His ordinance, and the Lord did not forsake them nor give them over into the hand of their enemies, so likewise did Meqabis do well in all his ways.

And he prayed at all times to the Lord, the God of Israel, that He might be his guide, and that He might not separate him from the congregation of Israel whom He had chosen and who did His will.

And again he prayed that He might grant him offspring in Zion and houses in Jerusalem, and that He might save him from the calamity which He had spoken by the mouth of the prophet, and that He might accept his repentance in all wherein he had repented.

And he wept before the Lord with tears, that He would not destroy his offspring from the earth, and that He would keep him in his going out and in his coming in.

And of the people of Moab also, who were under the hand of Meqabis, they were persuaded to believe, for their ruler walked in the right way; and they observed justice and did his will, and they despised the laws of their own cities, and their country was set in order; and they saw that the way of Meqabis was upright and was far better.

And they would come to him and hear the just judgment and the goodness of Meqabis.

And he had much wealth—menservants and maidservants, and asses and camels; and he had horses that wore armor of iron.

And from the time that he worshipped the Lord, when he went out to battle, there was none who overcame him; he alone was the one who overcame.

And they would come in the power of their idols to fight against him and to curse him in the name of their gods; yet there was none who overcame him, for he had set his trust upon the Lord his God.

And he continued to do thus, and while he overcame his enemies, he brought the nations under his hand.

And he took vengeance on behalf of the oppressed, and he gave just judgment to the orphan.

And he received the widows and the orphans in their distress, and he satisfied the hungry from his own provision, and he clothed the naked from his own raiment.

And he rejoiced in his labor and in the work of his hands, and he gave of what he had without grudging, and he gave tithes to the house of the Lord; and while Meqabis was doing these things, he died in peace.