¹In the days of Joshua, there was a day when the LORD delivered them.

²In the days of Gideon, there was a day when He delivered them.

³In the days of Samson, and in the days of Deborah, Barak, and Judith, there were days when He delivered them. Whether by a son or a daughter, He would raise up princes for them that they might be saved from the hands of their enemies who brought tribulation upon them.

⁴And because God loved them, He would deliver them from those who brought tribulation upon them.

⁵And they would be wholly at peace in all the work He wrought for them; they were at peace in their land, in their seed, and in the increase of all their flocks in the wilderness and their cattle.

⁶He would bless their plantings and their cattle for them, for He looked upon them with an Eye of Mercy. He would not diminish their cattle, for they were the children of godly men, and He loved them altogether.

⁷But at the time they were evil in their works, He would cast them into the hands of their enemies.

⁸And when He afflicted them, they would seek Him in worship; they would turn from transgression and walk toward God in repentance.

⁹And when they returned with their whole understanding, He would make atonement for their iniquities. He would not remember their former transgressions against them, for He knew they were flesh and blood, that they had the deceiving thoughts of this world, and that they had devils within them.

¹⁰But when Meqabees heard of this Ordinance that the LORD wrought in His place of worship, the Temple, he was moved unto repentance.

¹¹After he beheld and heard this, he scorned not to do good works; he scorned not to do all the good works that the children of Israel did when the LORD forgave them. After they trespassed against His Law, they would weep and cry when the LORD chastised them, and again He would forgive them, and they would keep His Law.

¹²Meqabees likewise made straight his works; he kept His Law, and he walked steadfastly in the commandments of the LORD, the Creator of Israel.

¹³At that time, after he heard all the works wherein the children of Israel glory, he gloried likewise in keeping the Law of the LORD.

¹⁴He urged his kindred and his children to walk steadfastly in the commandments of the LORD and all His Law.

¹⁵He forbade what Israel forbade, and he heard and kept the Law that Israel kept. Though his kindred were of the people of Moab, he forbade the food that Israel forbade.

¹⁶He sent forth tithes; he gave the firstborn of all he possessed of his oxen, sheep, and asses. Turning his face toward Jerusalem, he offered the sacrifices that Israel offered.

¹⁷He offered sin offerings and vow offerings—sacrifices by which welfare is wrought, peace offerings, and the continual offering.

¹⁸He gave his firstfruits; he trod and poured out the grapes as Israel poureth them. He gave these unto the priest whom he had appointed, and likewise he did all that Israel doeth, and he offered sweet incense.

¹⁹He builded a candlestick, a bowl, a seat, a tent, and the four links of rings. He provided pure oil for the lamps of the Holy of Holies and the veil that Israel made in the Holy of Holies when they served the LORD.

²⁰Even as they wrought good works while they walked steadfastly in His Ordinance and Law—and the LORD forsook them not nor cast them into the hands of their enemies—Meqabees also wrought good works like unto them.

²¹He prayed unto the LORD, the Creator of Israel, at every season, that He might be his Teacher and not separate him from the children of Israel whom He chose and who kept His Covenant.

²²Again he prayed that He might give his children a place in Zion and a house in Jerusalem—that He might give them a Heavenly Seed of Virtue in Zion and a Heavenly House of the Soul in Jerusalem—and that He might deliver him from the destruction spoken by the tongue of the prophets, accepting his repentance and the mourning he wept before the LORD.

²³He prayed that the LORD would not destroy his children in this world and that He would keep him in his going out and his coming in.

²⁴And the kindred of the Moabite people under the dominion of Meqabees were well pleased to believe, for their chief walked steadfastly in upright works. They observed his judgment and fulfilled his covenant; they forsook the tongue and the laws of their own country, perceiving that the work of Meqabees was the more excellent and righteous.

²⁵And they would come to hear the charity and truthful judgments of Meqabees.

²⁶He had great substance; he had maidservants and menservants, camels and asses. He had five hundred horses that wore breastplates. He utterly defeated the Amalekites, the Philistines, and the Syrians; yet aforetime, when he worshipped idols, they defeated him.

²⁷He prevailed from the time he began to worship the LORD; when he went forth to battle, none could overcome him.

²⁸His enemies would come in the might of their idols to fight against him; they would call upon the names of their idols and curse him. Howbeit none overcame him, for he put his trust in the LORD his Creator.

²⁹When he did these things and overcame his enemies, he ruled the people under his dominion.

³⁰He would take vengeance and destroy the enemies of the wronged; he judged with truth for the fatherless child.

³¹He would receive widows in their season of trouble; he gave his bread to satisfy the hungry and clothed the naked with his own garments.

³²He was well pleased with the work of his hands; he gave silver without grudging and gave tithes unto the Temple. And Meqabees died, having lived in righteousness while doing these things.