diff --git a/debian.jsf b/debian.jsf
index 7f2f9ec..0cb7fc7 100644
--- a/debian.jsf
+++ b/debian.jsf
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@
 =Comment	green
 =Keyword	bold
 =Bad		bold red
-=Help		yellow
 
 =URL		cyan
 
diff --git a/ftyperc b/ftyperc
index a1cafbb..96d000f 100644
--- a/ftyperc
+++ b/ftyperc
@@ -781,3 +781,7 @@
  Ant's build.xml
 *build.xml
 -syntax ant
+
+ Java's .properties
+*.properties
+-syntax properties
diff --git a/properties.jsf b/properties.jsf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..06b9c56
--- /dev/null
+++ b/properties.jsf
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+# JOE syntax highlight file for properties files
+
+=Idle
+=Comment	green
+=Bad		bold red
+
+=Key		
+=KeyEscape	bold
+
+=Separator	bold
+
+=Constant	cyan
+=Escape		bold cyan
+
+:line_start Idle
+	*		key		noeat
+	"\n"		line_start
+	" \t\r"		line_start # leading spaces
+	"#!"		line_comment	recolor=-1
+	"=:"		missing_key	recolor=-1
+
+:line_rest Idle
+	*		line_rest
+	"\n"		line_start
+
+:line_comment Comment
+	*		line_comment
+	"\n"		line_start
+
+:missing_key Bad
+	*		value_pre	noeat
+
+:key Key
+	*		key
+	"\\"		key_esc		recolor=-1
+	" \t\r"		key_post	noeat
+	"=:"		sep		recolor=-1
+	"\n"		key_error	recolor=-2
+
+# one escaped char
+:key_esc KeyEscape
+	*		key
+	"\n"		key_error	recolor=-2
+
+:key_post Idle
+	*		value_pre	noeat
+	" \t\r"		key_post
+	"=:"		sep		recolor=-1
+
+:key_error Bad
+	*		key		noeat
+
+:sep Separator
+	*		value_pre	noeat
+
+:value_pre Idle
+	*		value		noeat
+	" \t\r"		value_pre
+
+:value Constant
+	*		value
+	"\\"		value_esc	recolor=-1
+	"\n"		line_start
+
+:value_esc Escape
+	*		value_error	recolor=-2
+	"u"		value_unicode_hex1
+	"\n"		value_cont
+
+:value_unicode_hex1 Escape
+	*		value_error	recolor=-3
+	"A-Fa-f0-9"	value_unicode_hex2
+
+:value_unicode_hex2 Escape
+	*		value_error	recolor=-4
+	"A-Fa-f0-9"	value_unicode_hex3
+
+:value_unicode_hex3 Escape
+	*		value_error	recolor=-5
+	"A-Fa-f0-9"	value_unicode_hex4
+
+:value_unicode_hex4 Escape
+	*		value_error	recolor=-6
+	"A-Fa-f0-9"	value
+
+:value_cont Constant
+	*		value
+	" \t\r"		value_cont # leading spaces
+
+:value_error Bad
+	*		value		noeat