Alexander and the Diadochoi

1- 1 Alexander of Macedon, son of Philip, had come from the land of Kittim and defeated Darius, king of the Persians and Medes, whom he succeeded as ruler, at first of Hellas. 2 He undertook many campaigns, gained possession of many fortresses, and put the local kings to death. 3 So he advanced to the ends of the earth, plundering nation after nation; the earth grew silent before him, and his ambitious heart swelled with pride. 4 He assembled very powerful forces and subdued provinces, nations and princes, and they became his tributaries. 5 But the time came when Alexander took to his bed, in the knowledge that he was dying. 6 He summoned his comrades, noblemen who had been brought up with him from his youth, and divided his kingdom among them while he was still alive. 7 Alexander had reigned twelve years when he died. 8 Each of his comrades established himself in his own region. 9 All assumed crowns after his death, they and their heirs after them for many years, bringing increasing evils on the world.

Antiochus Epiphanes: Israel infected with Hellenism

10 From these grew a sinful offshoot, Antiochus Epiphanes, son of King Antiochus; once a hostage in Rome, he became king in the one hundred and thirty-seventh year of the kingdom of the Greeks. 11 It was then that there emerged from Israel a set of renegades who led many people astray. "Come," they said, "let us reach understanding with the pagans surrounding us, for since we separated ourselves from them many misfortunes have overtaken us." 12 This proposal proved acceptable, 13 and a number of the people eagerly approached the king, who authorized them to practice the pagan observances. 14 So they built a gymnasium in Jerusalem, such as the pagans have, 15 disguised their circumcision, and abandoned the holy covenant, submitting to the heathen rule as willing slaves of impiety.

Antiochus Epiphanes despoils the Temple, and persecutes Jews remaining faithful to the Law

16 Once Antiochus had seen his authority established, he determined to make himself king of Egypt, and the ruler of both kingdoms. 17 He invaded Egypt in massive strength, with chariots and elephants and a great fleet. 18 He engaged Ptolemy, king of Egypt, i battle, and Ptolemy turned back and fled before his advance, leaving many casualties. 19 The fortified cities of the land of Egypt were captured, and Antiochus plundered the country. 20 After his conquest of Egypt, in the year one hundred and forty-three, Antiochus turned about and advanced on Israel and Jerusalem in massive strength 21 Insolently breaking into the sanctuary, he removed the golden altar and the lampstand for the light with all its fittings, 22 together with the table for the loaves of offering, the libation vessels, the cups, the golden censers, the veil, the crowns, and the golden decoration on the front of the Temple, which he stripped of everything. 23 He made off with the silver and gold and precious vessels, he discovered the secret treasures and seized them, 24 and removing all of these, he went back to his country, leaving the place a shamble and uttering words of extreme arrogance.

25 Then there was a deep mourning for Israel throughout the country:

26 Rulers and elders groaned;

girls and young men wasted away;

the women's beauty suffered a change;

27 every bridegroom took up dirge,

the bride sat grief-stricken on her marriage bed.

28 The very land quaked for its inhabitants

and the whole House of Jacob was clothed with shame.

29 The days passed, and after two years the king sent the mysarch through the cities of Judah. He came to Jerusalem with an impressive force, 30 and addressing them with what appeared to be peaceful words, he gained their confidence; then suddenly he fell on he city dealing a terrible blow, and destroying many of the people of Israel. 31 He pillaged the city and set it on fire, tore down its houses and encircling wall, 32 took the women and the children captive and commandeered the cattle. 33 Then they fortified the City of David with a great strong wall and strong towers, and made tis their Citadel. 34 There they installed an army of sinful men, renegades, who fortified themselves inside it, 35 storing arms and provisions, and depositing there the loot they had collected from Jerusalem; they were to prove a great trouble.

36 It became an ambush for the sanctuary

an evil adversary for Israel at all times.

37 They shed innocent blood all around the sanctuary

they defiled the sanctuary itself.

38 The citizens of Jerusalem fled because of them,

she became a dwelling place of strangers;

estranged from her own offspring,

her children forsook her.

39 Her sanctuary became as deserted as a wilderness,

her feasts were turned into mourning,

her sabbaths into mockery,

her honour into reproach.

40 Her dishonour now fully matched her former glory,

her greatness was turned into grief.

41 Then the king issued a proclamation to his whole kingdom that all were to become a single people, each renouncing his particular customs. 42 All the pagans conformed to the king's decree, 43 and many Israelites chose to accept his religion, sacrificing to idols and profaning the sabbath. 44 The king also sent instructions by messenger to Jerusalem and the towns of Judah directing them to adopt customs foreign to their country, 45 banning holocausts, sacrifices and libations from the sanctuary, profaning sabbaths and feasts, 46 defiling the sanctuary and the sacred ministers, 47 building altars, precincts and shrines for idols, sacrificing pigs and unclean beasts, 48 leaving their sons uncircumcised, and prostituting themselves to all kinds of impurity and abomination, 49 so that they should forget the Law and revoke all observance of it. 50 Anyone not obeying the king's command was to be put to death. 51 Writing in such terms to every part of his kingdom, the king appointed inspectors for the whole people, and directed all the towns of Judah to offer sacrifice one after an other.

52 Many of the people - that is, every apostate from the Law - rallied to them, and so committed evil in the country, 53 forcing Israel into hiding in all their places of refuge. 54 On the fifteenth day of Chislev in the year one hundred and forty-five the king erected the abomination of desolation above the altar; and altars were built in the surrounding towns of Judah 55 and incense offered at the doors of houses and in the streets. 56 Any books of the Law that came to light were torn up and burned. 57 Whenever anyone was discovered possessing a copy of the covenant or practising the Law, the king's decree sentence him to death. 58 Having might on their side they took action month after month against any offenders they discovered in the towns of Israel. 59 On the twenty-fifth day of the month sacrifice was offered on the erected over the altar of holocaust. 60 Women who had had their children circumcised were put to death according to the edict 61 with their babies hung around their necks, and the members of their household and those who had performed the circumcision were executed with them.

62 Yet there were many in Israel who stood firm and found the courage to refuse unclean food. 63 They chose death rather than contamination by such fare of profanation of the holy covenant, and they were executed. 64 It was a dreadful wrath that visited Israel.

Mattathias and his sons

2- 1 In those days Mattathias son of John, son of Simeon, a priest of the line of Joarib, left Jerusalem and settled in Modein. 2 He had five sons, John known as Gaddi, 3 Simeon called Thassi, 4 Judas called Maccabacus, 5 Eleazar called Avaran and Jonathan called Apphus. 6 When he saw the blasphemies being committed in Judah and Jerusalem, 7 he said, "Alas I should have been born to witness the overthrow of my people, and the overthrow of the Holy City, and to sit by while she is delivered over to her enemies, and the sanctuary into the hand of foreigners.

8 "Her Temple has become like a man of no repute,

9 the vessels that were her glory have been carried off as booty,

her babies have been slaughtered in her streets,

her young men by the enemy's sword.

10 Is there a nation that has not claimed a share of her royal prerogatives,

that has not taken some of her spoils?

11 All her ornaments have been snatched from her,

her former freedom has become slavery.

12 See how our Holy Place, our beauty, our glory, is now laid waste,

profaned by the pagans.

13 What have we left to live for?"

14 Mattathias and his sons tore their garments, put on sackcloth, and observed deep mourning.

The ordeal of the sacrifice of Modein

15 The king's commissioners who were enforcing the apostasy came to the town of Modein to make them sacrifice. 16 Many Israelites gathered around them, but Mattathias and his sons drew apart. 17 The king's commissioners then addressed Matathias as follows, "You are a respected leader, a great man in this town; you have sons and brothers to support you. 18 Be the first to step forward and conform to the king's decree, as all the nations have done, and the leaders of Judah and the survivors in Jerusalem; you and your sons shall be reckoned among the Friends of the King, you and your sons shall be honoured with gold and silver and many presents." 19 Raising his voice, Matathias retorted, "Even if every nation living in the king's dominion obeys him, each forsaking its ancestral religion to conform to his decrees, 20 I, my sons and my brothers will still follow the covenant of our ancestors. 21 Heaven preserve us from forsaking the Law and its observances. 22 As for the king's orders, we will not follow them; we will not swerve from our own religion either to right or to left." 23 As he finished speaking, a Jew came forward in the sight of all to offer sacrifice on the altar in Modein as the royal edict required. 24 When Matathias saw this, he was fired with zeal; stirred to the depth of his being, he ave vent to hs legitimate anger, threw himself on the man and slaughtered him on the altar. 25 At the same time he killed the king's commissioners who was there to enforce the sacrifice, and tore down the altar. 26 In his zeal for the Lawhe acted as Phinehas did against Zimri son of Salu. 27 Then Mattathias went through the town, shouting at the top of his voice, "Let everyone who has a fervour for the Law and takes his stand on the covenant come out and follow me." 28 Then he fled with his sons into the hills, leaving all their possessions behind in the town.

The ordeal of the sabbath in the desert

29 At this many who were concerned for virtue and justice went down to the desert and stayed there, 30 taking with hem their sons, their wives and their daughters, for the burden of their wrongs had become unendurable. 31 But word was brought to the king's men and the garrison in Jerusalem, in the City of David, that the men who had repudiated the king's edict had gone down to hiding places in he desert. 32 A strong detachment went after them, and when it came up with them ranged itself against them in battle formation, preparing o attack them on the sabbath day. 33 But first they challenged them, "Enough of this! Come out and do as the king orders and you shall be spared." 34 But they answered, "We refuse to come out, and we are not going to obey the king's orders and so profane the sabbath day." 35 The others at once went into action, 36 but they offered no opposition; not a stone was thrown, there was no barricading of the hiding places. 37 They only said, "Let us die innocent; let heaven and earth bear witness that you are massacring us wit no pretence of justice." 38 The attack was pressed home on the sabbath itself, and they were slaughtered, with their wives and children and cattle, to the number of one thousand persons.

The activity of Matathias and his associates

39 When the news reached Matathias and his friends, they mourned bitterly for the victims, 40 and said to one another, "If we all do as our brothers have done, and refuse to fight the pagans for our lives and institutions, they will only destroy us sooner from the earth." 41 So then and there they came to this decision, "If anyone attacks us on the sabbath day, whoever he may be, we will resist him; we must not all be killed, as our brothers were in the hiding places."

42 Soon they were joined by a community of Hasidaeans, stout fighting men of Israel, each one a volunteer on the side of the Law. 43 All the refugees from the persecution rallied to them, giving them added support. 44 They organized themselves into armed force, striking down sinners in their anger, and the renegades in their fury, and those who escaped them fled to the pagans for safety. 45 Mattathias and his friends made a tour, overthrowing the altars 46 and forcibly circumcising all the boys they found uncircumcised in the territories of Israel. 47 They hunted down the upstarts, and managed their campaign to good effect. 48 They wrested the Law out of the control of the pagans and the kings, and robbed sinful men of their advantage.

The testament and death of Matathias

49 As the days of Mattathias were drawing to a close, he said to his sons, "Arrogance and outrage are now in the ascendant; it is a period of turmoil and bitter hatred. 50 This is the time, my children, for you to have a burning fervour for the Law and to give your lives for the covenant of or ancestors.

51 "Remember the deeds performed by our ancestors, each in his generation,

and you shall win great honour and everlasting renown.

52 Was not Abraham tried and found faithful,

was that not counted as making him just?

53 Joseph in the time of his distress maintained the Law,

and so became lord of Egypt.

54 Phineas, our father, in return for his burning fervour

received a covenant of everlasting priesthood.

55 Joshua, for carrying out his task,

became judge of Israel.

56 Caleb, for his testimony before the assembled people,

received an inheritance in the land.

57 David for his generous heart

inherited the throne of an everlasting kingdom.

58 Elijah for his consuming fervour for the Law

was caught up to heaven itself.

59 Hannaniah, Azariah and Michael, for their fidelity,

were saved from the flame.

60 Daniel for his singleness of heart

was rescued from the lion's jaw.

61 Consider, then, how in generation after generation

all who hope in him not be found to falter.

62 Do not fear the threats of the sinner,

all his brave show must come to the dunghill and the worms.

63 Exalted today, tomorrow he is nowhere to be found,

for he has returned to the dust he came from

and his scheming is brought to nothing.

64 My children, play the man and be courageous for the Law,

for it will bring you glory.

65 "Here is your brother Simeon, I know he is a man of sound judgment. Listen to hi all your lives; let him take your father's place. 66 Judas Maccabaeus, strong and brave from his youth, let him be your general and conduct the war against the pagans. 67 The rest of you are to enroll in your ranks all those who keep the Law, and to exact vengeance for your people. 68 Pay back the pagans to the full, and hold fast to the ordinance of the Law." 69 Then he blessed them and was laid with his ancestors. 70 He died in the year one hundred and forty-six and was buried in his ancestral tomb at Modein, and all Israel mourned him deeply.

The eulogy of Judas Maccabaeus

3- 1 Then his son Judas, called Maccabaeus, took over the command. 2 All his brothers, and all who had attached themselves to his father, supported him, and they fought for Israel with a will.

3 He extended the fame of his people.

He put on the breastplate like a giant

and girdled on his war harness;

he engaged in battle after battle,

protecting the ranks with his sword.

4 He was like a lion in his exploits,

like a lion's whelp roaring over its prey.

5 He pursued and tracked down he renegades,

he consigned those who troubled his people to the flames.

6 Renegades were abashed for terror of him,

all evildoers were utterly confounded.

And deliverance went forward under his leadership.

7 He brought bitterness to many a king

and rejoicing to Jacob by his deeds,

his memory is blessed for ever and ever.

8 He went through the towns of Judah

and utterly destroyed the infidels in them,

turning wrath away from Israel.

9 His name resounded to the ends of the earth

and he rallied those who were on the point of perishing.

The first success of Judas

10 But Apollonius mustered the pagans and a large force from Samaria to fight against Israel. 11 When Judas learned of it, he went out to meet him and routed and killed him. Many fell wounded, and the survivors took flight. 12 Their spoils were seized and the sword of Apollonius was taken by Judas, who used it to fight with throughout his life. 13 On hearing that Judas had raised a mixed force of believers and seasoned fighters, 14 Seron, commander of the Syrian troops, said, "I will make a name for myself and gain honour in the kingdom if I fight Judas and those supporters of his who are so contemptuous of the king's orders." 15 He therefore launched another expedition, with a strong arm of infidels to support him in taking revenge on the Israelites. 16 He had nearly reached the ascent of Beth-horon when Judas went out to confront him with a handful of men. 17 But as soon as these saw the force advancing to meet them they said to Judas, "How can we, few as we are, engage such overwhelming number? We are exhausted as it is, not having had anything to eat today." 18 "It is very easy," Judas answered, "for a great number to be routed by a few; indeed in the sight of heaven deliverance, whether by many or by few, is all one; 19 for victory in war does not depend on the size of the fighting force; it is from heaven that strength comes. 20 They are coming against us in full-blown insolence and lawlessness to destroy us, our wives and children, and to plunder us; 21 but we are fighting for our lives and our laws, 22 and he will crush them before our eyes; do not be afraid of them." 23 When he had finished speaking, he made a sudden sally against Seron and his force and overwhelmed them. 24 Judas pursued him down from Beth-horon as far as the plain. About eight hundred of their men fell, and the rest took refuge in the country of the Philistines. 25 Judas and his brothers began to be feared, and alarm seized the surrounding peoples. 26 His name even reached the king's ears, and every nation there was talk of Judas and his battles.

Preparations for expeditions in Persia and Judaea. The regency of Lysias

27 The news of these events infuriated Antiochus, and he ordered mobilization of all the forces in his kingdom, a very powerful army. 28 Opening his treasury, he distributed a year's pay to his troops, telling them to be prepared for any eventuality. 29 He then found that the money in his coffers had run short and that the tribute of the province had decreased, as a result of the dissension and disaster brought upon the country by his own abrogation of laws that had been in force from antiquity. 30 He began to fear that, as had happened more than once, he would not have enough to cover the expenses and the lavish bounties he had previously been accustomed to make on a large scale than his predecessors on the throne. 31 In this grave quandary he resolved to visit Persia, in order to levy tribute on the provinces and accumulate substantial funds. 32 Lysias, a nobleman belonging to the royal family, was left in charge of the king's affairs from the river Euphrates to the Egyptian frontier, 33 and was responsible for the education of his son Antiochus until he return. 34 Antiochus made over to him half his forces, with the elephants, and gave him instructions about all his policies, particularly about the inhabitants of Judaea and Jerusalem, 35 against whom he was to send a force, to crush and destroy the power of Israel and the remnant of Jerusalem, to wipe out their very memory from the place, 36 to settle the sons of foreigners in all parts of their territory and to distribute their land by lot. 37 The king took with him the remaining half of his forces and set out from Antioch, the capital of his kingdom, in the year one hundred and forty-seven; he crossed the river Euphrates and made his way along the upper provinces.

Gorgias and Nicanor lead the Syrian army into Judaea

38 Lysias chose Ptolemy son of Dorymenes, with Nicanor and Gorgias, influential men from among te Friends of the King, 39 and dispatched under their command forty thousand foot and seven thousand horse to invade the land of Judah and devastate it, as the king had ordered. 40 The entire force set out and reached the neighbourhood of Emmaus in the Lowlands, where they pitched camp. 41 When the merchants of the province heard who they were, they came to the camp, bringing them a large amount of gold and silver, and fetters as well, proposing to buy the Israelites as slaves; they were accompanied by a contingent from Idumaea and the Philistine country. 42 Judas and his brothers sw that the situation was going from bad to worse and the armies were camping in their territory; they were also aware that the king had ordered the people's total destruction. 43 So they said to each other, "Let us restore the ruins of our people and fight for our people and our sanctuary." 44 They mustered their people to prepare for war, and to offer prayer and implore compassion and mercy.

45 Jerusalem was left uninhabited like a desert,

there was none left to go in or out, of all her children.

He sanctuary was trodden underfoot,

with men of an alien race in the Citadel,

now a lodging place for pagans.

There was no more rejoicing for Jacob,

flute and zither were mute.

The Jews mustered at Mizpah

46 After mustering, they made their way to Mizpah, opposite Jerusalem, since Mizpah was traditionally a place of prayer for Israel. 47 That day they fasted and put sackcloth, covering their heads with ashes and tearing their garments. 48 For the guidance that the heathen would have sought from the images of their false gods, they opened the Book of the Law. 49 They also brought out the priestly vestments, with first fruits and tithes, and marshalled the Nazirites who had completed the period of their vow. 50 Then, raising their voices to heaven, they cried, "What shall we do with these peop, and where are we to take them? 51 Your sacred precincts have been trampled underfoot and defiled, your priests mourn in their humiliation, 52 and now the pagans are allied together to destroy us; you know what they have in mind for us. 53 How can we stand up and face them if you do not come t our aid?" 54 Then they sounded the trumpets and made a great outcry.

55 Next Judas appointed leaders for the people, to command a thousand, a hundred, fifty or ten men. 56 He told those who were building houses, or about to be married, or planting vineyards, or who simply afraid, to go home everyone of them, as the Law ALLOWED. 57 Then the formation marched off and took up a position south of Emmaus. 58 "Stand to your arms," Judas told them, "acquit yourselves bravely, be ready to fight in the morning against these pagans massed against us to destroy us and our sanctuary. 59 Better for s to die in battle than to watch the ruin of our nation and our holy place. 60 Whatever be the will of heaven, he will perform it."

The battle of Emmaus

4- 1 Gorgias took with him five thousand foot and a thousand picked cavalry, and the force moved off by night 2 with the object of attacking the Jewish position and dealing them an unexpected blow; the men of the Citadel were there to guide him. 3 Judas got wind of it and himself moved off with his fighters to strike at the king's forces in Emmaus, 4 while their fighting troops had been moved away from the encampment. 5 And so, when Gorgias reached the camp of Judas, he found nobody and he began to search for the Jews in the mountains, exclaiming, "They are running away from us." 6 First light found Judas in the plain with three thousand men, although these lacked the armour and swords they could have wished. 7 They could now see the heathen encampment with its strong fortifications and cavalry surrounding it clearly people who understood warfare.

8 Judas said to his men, "Do not be afraid of their numbers, and do not flinch at their attack. 9 Remember how our ancestors were delivered at the Red Sea when Pharaoh was pursuing them in force. 10 And now let us implore heaven to be kind to us and to remember his covenant with our ancestors and to destroy this army confronting us today; 11 then all the nations will know for certain that there is one who saves and delivers Israel."

12 The foreigners looked up and, seeing the Jews advancing against them, 13 came out of the camp to join battle. Judas' men sounded the trumpet 14 and engaged them. The pagans were routed and fled toward the plain 15and all the stragglers fell by the sword. The pursuit continued as far as Gezer and the plains of Idumaea, Azotus and Jamnia, an the enemy lost about three thousand men.

16 Breaking the pursuit, Judas returned with his men 17 and said to the people, "Never mind the booty, for we have another battle ahead of us. 18 Gorgias and his forces are still in the mountains not far from us. First stand up to our enemies and fight them, and then you can collect as much booty as you like." 19 The words were hardly out of Judas's mouth when an enemy patrol appeared on the mountainside. 20 This patrol, observing that their own troops had been routed and that the camp had been fired, for the smoke, which was clearly visible, told them what had happened, 21 were panic-stricken at the sight; and they also saw the forces of Judas drawn up on the plain in battle formation, 22 they all fled into Philistine territory. 23 Judas now turned back to plunder the camp, and they carried off a large sum in gold and silver, with violet and sea-purple stuffs, and many valuables. 24 On their return, the Jews chanted praises to heaven, "For he is good, and is mercy is everlasting." 25 That day had seen a remarkable deliverance in Israel.

The first campaign of Lysias

26 Those of the foreigners who had escaped came and gave Lysias an account of all that had happened. 27 The news shocked and dismayed him, for affairs in Israel had not gone as he intended, and the results were very different from the instructions given him by the king. 28 he next year he mobilized sixty thousand picked troops and five thousand cavalry with the intention of putting the Jews out of action. 29 They advanced into Idumaea and made their base at Bethzur, where Judas met them with ten thousand men. 30 When he saw their military strength he offered this prayer, "Blessed are you, saviour of Israel, who shattered the might of the Philistine champion by the hand of your servant David, and delivered their camp into he hands of Jonathan son of Saul, and his armour-bearer. 31 Crush this expedition in the same way at the hands of your people Israel; make them ashamed of their forces and their cavalry. 32 Make cowards of them, undermine their confidence in their own strength, and may they reel at their defeat. 33 Overthrow them by the sword of those who love you, and all who acknowledge your name will sing your praises." 34 The two forces engaged, and five thousand men of Lysias' troops fell in hand-to-hand fighting. 35 Seeing he rout of his army and the courage of Judas's troops and their readiness to live or die as soldiers should, Lysias withdrew to Antioch, where he recruited mercenaries for a further invasion of Judaea in even greater strength.

The purification of the Temple and its dedication

36 Then Judas and his brothers said, "Now that our enemies have been defeated, let us go up to purify the sanctuary and dedicate it." 37 So they marshalled the whole army, and went up to Mount Zion. 38 There they found the sanctuary a wilderness, the altar desecrated, the gates burned down, and vegetation growing in the courts as it might in a wood or on some mountain, while the storerooms were in ruins. 39 They tore their garments and mourned bitterly, putting dust on their heads. 40 They prostrated themselves on the ground, and when the trumpets gave the signal they cried aloud to heaven.

41 Then Judas ordered his men to engage the garrison in the Citadel until he had purified the sanctuary. 42 Next, he selected priests who were blameless in the observance of the Law 43 to purify the sanctuary and remove the stones of the abomination to an unclean place.

44 They discussed what should be done about the altar of holocausts which had been profaned, 45 and very properly decided to pull it down, that it might never become a reproach to them, from its defilement by the pagans. They therefore demolished it 46 and deposited the stones in a suitable place on the Temple hill to await the appearance of a prophet who should give ruling about them. 47 They took unhewn stones, as the Law prescribed, and built a new altar on the lines of the old one. 48 They restored the Holy Place and the interior of the house, and purified the courts. 49 They made new sacred vessel, and brought the lampstand, the altar of incense, and the table into the Temple. 50 They burned incense on the altar and lit the lamps on the lampstand, and these shone inside the Temple. 51 They set out the loaves on the table and hung the curtains and completed all the tasks they had undertaken.

52 On the twenty-fifth of the nine month, Chislev, in the year one hundred and forty-eight, they rose at dawn 53 and offered a lawful sacrifice on the new altar of holocausts which they had made. 54 The altar was dedicated, to the sound of zithers, harps and cymbals, at the same time of year and on the same day on which the pagans had originally profaned it. 55 The whole people fell prostrated in adoration, praising to the skies him who had made them so successful. 56 For eight days they celebrated the dedication of the altar, joyfully offering holocausts, communion sacrifices and thanksgivings. 57 They ornamented the front of the Temple with crowns and bosses of gld, repaired the gates and the storerooms and fitted them with doors. 58 There was no end to the rejoicing among the people, and the reproach of the pagans was lifted from them. 59 Judas, with his brothers and the whole assembly of Israel, made it a law that day of the dedication of the altar should be celebrated yearly at the proper season, for eight days beginning on the twenty-fifth of the month of Chislev, with rejoicing and gladness. 60 They proceeded to build high wall with strong towers around Mont Zion, to prevent the pagans from coming and riding roughshod over it as in the past. 61 Judas stationed a garrison there to guard the mount; he also fortified Bethzur, to give the people a fortress against Idumaea.

The expedition against the Idumaeans and Ammonites

5- 1 When the surrounding nations heard that the altar had been rebuilt and the sanctuary restored to what it had been before, they became very angry, 2 and determined to destroy the whole race of Jacob living among them; they began murdering and evicting Jewish citizens.

3 Judas made war on the sons of Esau in Idumaea, in the region of Akrabattene where the held the Israelites under siege. He inflicted a crushing defeat on them, and plundered them. 4 He also remembered the wickedness of the sons of Baean who were a menace and a trap for the people with their ambushes on the roads. 5 Having blockaded them in their towers and besieged them, he vowed them to the ban; then he set fire to their towers and burned them down with everyone inside. 6 Next, he crossed over to the Ammonites where he found a strong fighting force and a numerous people with Timotheus for their leader. 7 He engaged them in many encounters, routed them and cut them to pieces. 8 After capturing Jazer and its outlying villages, he retired to Judaea.

The opening campaigns in Galilee and Gilead

9 The pagans in Gilead now banded together against the Israelites living on their territory, to destroy them. But they took refuge in the fortress of Dathema, 10 and sent the following letter to Judas ans his brothers. "The pagans around us have banded themselves together against us to wipe us out, 11 and they are preparing to storm the fortress in which we have taken refuge; Timotheus is in command of their forces. 12 Come at once and rescue us from their clutches, for we have already suffered great losses. 13 All our countrymen living among the Tubians have been put to death, their women and children have been taken into captivity, their property has been seized, and a force about a thousand strong has been wiped out there." 14 While the letter was being read, other messengers arrived from Galilee with their garments torn bearing similar news. 15 "The people of Ptolemais, Tyre and Sidon have joined forces with the whole of heathen Galilee to destroy us!" 16 When Judas and the people heard this, a great assembly was held to decide what should be done for their oppressed countrymen who were under attack from their enemies. 17 Judas said to his brother Simon, "Pick your men and go and relieve your countrymen in Galilee, while my brother Jonathan and I make our way into Gilead." 18 He left Joseph son of Zechariah and the people's leader Azariah with the remainder of the army in Judaea to guard it, and gave them these orders: "Take charge of this people, and do not engage the pagans until we return." 20 Simon was allotted three thousand men for the expedition into Galilee, Judas eight thousand for Gilead.

The expedition in Galilee and Gilead

21 Simon advanced into Galilee, engaged the pagans in several battles and drove them off in disorder; 22 he pursued them to the gate of Ptolemais, and they lost about three thousand men, whose spoils he collected. 23 He took away with him the Jews of Galilee and Arbatta, with their wives and children and all their possessions, and brought them back into Judaea with great rejoicing.

24 Meanwhile Judas Maccabaeus and his brother Jonathan crossed the Jordan and made a three days' march through the desert, 25 where they encountered the Nabataeans, who came to an understanding with them and gave them an account of all that had happened to their brothers in Gilead. 26 Many of them, they said, were shut up in Bozrah and Bosor, Alema, Chaspo, Maked and Carmain, all large fortified towns. 27 Others were blockaded in the other towns of Gilead, and the enemy planned to attack and capture these strongholds the very next day, and wipe out all the people inside them in a single day.

28 Judas and his army at once turned off by the desert road to Bozrah; having captured the town, he put the entire male population to the sword, plundered the town and set it on fire. 29 When night came, he left the place, and they continued their march until they reached the fortress. 30 In the light of dawn they saw an innumerable horde, setting up leaders and engines to capture the fortress; the assault was just beginning. 31 When Judas saw that the attack had begun and that the war cry was rising to heaven, mingled with trumpet calls and a great clamour, 32 he said to the men of his army, "You must fight today, fight for your countrymen." 33 Dividing them into three commands, he advanced on the enemy's rear, with trumpets sounding and prayers shouted aloud. 34 The troops of Timotheus, recogniing that this was Maccabaeus, fled before his advance; Maccabaeus dealt them a crusing defeat; about eight thousand of their men fell that day. 35 Then, wheeling on Alema, he attacked and captured it, put its male population to death, plundered it and burned the place down. 36 From there he moved on and took Chaspho, Maked, Bosor and the remaining towns of Gilead. 37 After these events, Timotheus mustered another force and pitched camp opposite Raphon, on the far side of the wadi. 38 Judas sent men to reconnoiter the camp, and these reported back as follows, "With him are massed all the pagans surrounding us, making a very numerous army, 39 with Arab mercenaries as auxiliaries; they are encamped on the far side of the wadi, and ready to launch an attack on you." Judas then advanced to engage them, 40 and was approaching the watercourse with his troops when Timotheus told the commanders of his army, "It he crosses first we shall not be able to resist him, because he will have the advantage of us. 41 But if he is afraid and camps on the other side of the stream we will cross over to him and the advantage will then be ours."

42 As soon as he reached the watercourse Judas posted the scribes of the people along the wadi, giving them this order: "Do not let anyone pitch his tent; all are to go into battle!" 43 He was himself the first across to the enemy side, with all the people following. Driven before them, the pagans all tore off their armour and ran for refuge in the sacred precinct of Carmain. 44 The Jews first captured the town, and then burned down the precinct with everyone inside. And so Carmain was overthrown, and the enemy could offer no further resistance to Judas.

45 Next, Judas assembled all the Israelites living in Gilead, from the least to the greatest, with their wives, children and belongings, an enormous muster, to take them into the land of Judah. 46 They reached Ephron, a large town straddling the road and strongly fortified. As it was impossible to bypass it on the right or the left, there was nothing for it but to march straight through. 47 But the people of the town denied them passage and barricaded the gates with stones. 48 Judas sent them a conciliatory message, "Let us go through your territory to reach our own; no one will do you any harm, we only want to march through." But they would not open up for him. 49 So Judas sent an order down the column for everyone to halt where he stood. 50 The fighting men took up their positions; Judas attacked the town all day and night, and it was delivered into his hands. 51 He put all the male inhabitants to the sword, razed it to the ground, plundered it and marched through the town over the bodies of the dead. 52 The Jews now crossed the Jordan into the great plain, opposite Bethshan, 53 Judas all the time rallying the stragglers and encouraging the people the whole way until they reached the land of Judah. 54 They climbed Mount Zion in joy and gladness, and offered holocausts because they had returned safe and sound without having lost a single man.

A setback at Jamnia

55 While Judas and Jonathan were in the land of Gilead and Simon his brother in Galilee before Ptolemais, 56 Joseph sn of Zachariah, Azariah, who were in command of the army, heard of their exploits and how well they had done in battle, 57 and said, "Let us make a name for ourselves too and go and fightthe nations around us." 58 So they issued orders to the men of the forces under them and marched on Jamnia. 59 But Gogias came out from the town with his men to engage them. 60 Joseph and Azariah were routed and pursued as far as the frontiers of Judaea. That day about two thousand Israelite lost their lives. 61 And so the people met with great reverse, because they had not listened to Judas and his brothers, but had relied on their own prowess. 62 These were not the same mould as those to whom the deliverance of Israel had been entrusted.

Success in Idumaea and Philistia

63 But that hero Judas and his brothers were held in high honour throughout Israel and among all nations wherever their name was heard, 64 and men gathered around them to acclaim them. 65 Judas marched out with his brothers to fight the Edomites i the country toward the south; he stormed Hebron and its outlying villages, threw down its fortifications and burned its circle towers. 66 Leaving there, he made for the country of the Philistines and passed through Marsia. 67 Among the fallen in that day's fighting were some priests who sought to prove their courage there by joining in the battle, a foolhardy venture. 68 Judas next turned toward Azotus, a Philistine district; he overthrew their altars, burned down the carved images of their gods, and withdrew to the land of Judah, leaving their towns utterly despoiled.

The last days of Antiochus Epiphanes

6- 1 Meanwhile King Antiochus was making his way across the upper provinces; he had heard that in Persia there was a city called Elymais, renowned for its riches, its silver and gold, 2 and its very wealthy temple containing golden armour, breastplates and weapons, left there by Alexander son of Philip, the king of Macedon, the first to reign over the Greeks. 3 He therefore went and attempted to take the city and pillage it, but without success, since the citizens learned of his intention, 4 and offered him a stiff resistance, whereupon he turned about and retreated, disconsolate, in the direction of Babylon. 5 But while he was still in Persia news reached him that the armies that had invaded the land of Judah had been defeated, 6 and that Lysias in particular had advanced in massive strength, only to be forced to turn and flee before the Jews; these had been strengthened by the acquisition of arms, supplies and abundant spoils from the armies they had cut to pieces; 7 they had overthrown the abomination he had erected over the altar in Jerusalem, and had encircled the sanctuary with high walls as in the past, and had fortified Bethzur, one of His cities. 8 When the king heard this news he was amazed and profoundly shaken; he threw himself on his bed and fell into a lethargy from acute disappointment, because things had not turned out for him as he had planned. 9 And there he remained for many days, subject to deep and recurrent fits of melancholy, until he understood that he was dying. 10 Then summoning all his Friends, he said to them, "Sleep evades my eyes, and my heart is cowed by anxiety. 11 I have been asking myself how I could have come to such a pitch of distress, so great a flood as that which now engulfs me - I who was so generous and well loved in my heyday. 12 But now I remember the wrong I did i Jerusalem when I seized all the vessels of silver and gold there, and ordered the extermination of the inhabitants of Judah for no reason at all. 13 This, I am convinced, is why these misfortunes have overtaken me, and why I am dying of melancholy in a foreign land."

The accession of Antiochus V

14 He summoned Philip, one of his Friends, and made him regent of his whole kingdom. 15 He entrusted him wit his diadem, his robe and his signet, on the understanding that he was to educate his son Antiochus and train him for the throne. 16 Then King Antiochus died, in the year one hundred and forty-nine. 17 Lysias, learning that the king was dead, established his son Antiochus on the throne in succession to him, having brought him up from childhood - and styled him Eupator.

The siege of the Citadel of Jerusalem by Judas Maccabaeus

18 The men from the Citadel were a treat to Israel in the neighbourhood of the sanctuary, seeking every opportunity of harming them, and proving a strong support to the pagans. 19 Judas decided that they must be destroyed, and he mobilized the whole people to besiege them. 20 They assembled, and laid siege to the Citadel in the year one hundred and fifty, building firing platforms and siege engines. 21 But some of the besieged broke through the blockade, and to these a number of renegades from Israel attached themselves. 22 They made their way to the king and said, "How much longer are you going to wait before you see justice done and avenge our fellows? 23 We were content to serve your father, to comply with his orders, and to obey his edicts. 24 As a result our own people will have nothing to do with us; what is more, they have killed all those of s they could catch, and have plundered our heritage. 25 Nor is it on us alone that their blows have fallen, but on all your dominations. 26 At this moment they are laying siege to the Citadel of Jerusalem, to capture it, and they have fortified the sanctuary and Bethzur. 27 Unless you forestall them at once, they will go on to even bigger things, and then you will never be able to control them."

The expedition of Antiochus V and Lysias. The battle of Bethzehariah

28 The king was furious when he heard this, and summoned all his Friends, the generals of his forces and the cavalry commanders. 29 He recruited mercenaries from other kingdoms and the islands of the seas. 30 His forces numbered a hundred thousand foot soldiers, twenty thousand cavalry and thirty-two elephants with experience of battle conditions. 31 They advanced through Idumaea and besieged Bethzur, pressing the attack for days on end; they also constructed siege engines, but the defenders made a sortie and set these on fire, putting up a brave resistance.

32 At this, Judas raised the siege of the Citadel and pitched camp at Bethzechariah opposite the royal encampment. 33 The king rose at daybreak and marched his army at top speed down the road to Bethzechariah, where his forces took up their battle formations and sounded the trumpets. 34 The elephants were shown a syrup of grapes and mulberries to prepare them for the battle. 35 They distributed these animals among the phalanxes, allocating to each elephant a thousand men dressed in coats on mail with bronze helmet on their heads; five hundred picked horsemen were also assigned to each beast. 36 The horsemen anticipated every move their elephant made; wherever it went they went with it, and never separated from it. 37 On each elephant, to protect it, was a stout wooden tower, kept in position by girths, each with its team fighting from their mounted position, as well as its driver. 38 The remainder of the cavalry was stationed on one or other of the flanks of the army, to harass the enemy and cover the phalanxes.

39 When the sun glinted on the bronze shields the mountains caught the glint and gleamed like fiery torches. 40 One part of the king's army was deployed high up in the mountains and others on the valley floor, all advancing confidently and in good order. 41 Everyone trembled at the noise made by this vast multitude, the thunder of the troops on the march and the clanking of their armour, for it was an immense and mighty army. 42 Judas and is army advanced to give battle, and six hundred of the king's army were killed. 43 Eleazar, called Avaran, noticing that one of the elephants was royally caparisoned and was also taller than all the others, and supposing that the king was mounted on it, 44 sacrificed himself to save the people and win an imperishable name. 45 Boldly charging toward the creature through the thick of the phalanx, dealing death to right and left, so that the enemy scattered on either side at the onslaught, 46 he darted in under the elephant, ran his sword into it and killed it. The beast collapsed on top of him, and he died on the spot. 47 The Jews saw how strong the king was, and the ferocity of the royal troops, and retired before them.

The capture of Bethzur and siege of Mount Zion by the Syrians

48 The royal army moved up to encounter them before Jerusalem, and the king began to blockade Judaea and Mount Zion. 49 He granted peace terms to the people of Bethzur, who evacuated the town; it lacked store of provisions to withstand a siege, since the land was enjoying a sabbatical year. 50 Having occupied Bethzur, the king stationed a garrison there to hold it. 51 He besieged the sanctuary for a long time, erecting platforms and siege engines, fire throwers and ballistas scorpions to discharge arrows, and catapults. 52 The defenders countered these by constructing their own engines, and were thus able to prolong their resistance. 53 But they had no stocks of provisions, because it was the seventh year, and those who ad taken refuge in Judaea from the pagans had eaten up the last of their reserves. 54 Only a few men were left in the Holy Place, owing to the severity of the famine; the rest had dispersed and gone home.

The king grants the Jews religious freedom

55 Meanwhle Philip, whom King Antiochus before his death had appointed to train his son Antiochus for the throne, 56 had returned from Persia and Media with the forces that had accompanied the king, and was planning to seize control of affairs. 57 On hearing this, Lysias at once decided to leave, and said to the king, the generals of the army and the men, "e are growing weaker every day, we are short of food, and the place we are besieging is well fortified; moreover the affairs of the kingdom demand our attention. 58 Let us offer the hand of friendship to these men and make peace with them and with their whole nation. 59 Let us grant them permission to follow their own customs as before, since it is our abolition of these customs that provoked them into acting like this." 60 The king and his commanders approved this argument, and he sent the Jews an offer of peace, which they accepted. 61 The king and the generals ratified the treaty by oath, and the besieged accordingly left the fortress. 62 The king then entered Mount Zion, but on seeing how impregnable the place was, he broke the oath he had sworn and gave orders for the encircling wall to be demolished. 63 He then hurried struck camp and retired to Antioche, where he found Philip already master of the city. Antiochus fought him and took the city by storm.

Demetrius I becomes king, and sends Bacchides and Alcimus to Judaea

7- 1 In the year one hundred and fifty, Demetrius, son fo Seleucus, escaped from Rome and arrived with a few men at a town on the coast, where he began to hold court. 2 As he was entering the crown lands of his ancestors his army arrested Antiochus and Lysias, intending to bring them before him. 3 But when he heard of this he said, "Keep them out of my sight." 4 So the army killed them and Demetrius ascended the throne of his kingdom. 5 Then there came to him all the renegades and godless men of Israel, led by Alcimus, whose ambition it was to become high priest. 6 They denounced the people before the king. "Judas and his brothers," they said, "have killed all your friends, and he has driven us out of our country. 7 Send someone now whom you can trust; let him go and see the wholesale ruin Judas has brought on us and on the king's dominions, and let him punish the wretches and all who assist them."

8 The king chose Bacchides, one of the Friends of the King, governor of the country beyond the river, a great man in the kingdom and loyal to the king. 9 He sent him with the godless Alcimus, whom he established as high priest, with orders to exact retribution from the Israelites. 10 So they set out with a large force, and on reaching the land of Judah they sent messengers to Judas and his brothers with treacherous proposals of peace. 11 But these did not trust them, seeing that they had come wit a large force. 12 Nevertheless a commission of scribes presented themselves before Alcimus and Baccides, to sue for just terms. 13 The first among the Israelites to ask them for peace terms were the Hasidaeans, 14 who reasoned like this, "This is a priest of Aaron's line who has come with armed forces; he will not wrong us." 15 He did in fact discuss peace terms with them and gave them his oath, "We will not attempt to injure you or your friends." 16 They believed him, but he arrested sixty of them and put them to death in one day, fulfilling the words of the scripture: 17 They have scattered the flesh of your devout, and they shed their blood all around Jerusalem, and no one to dig a grave! 18 At this, fear and dread gripped the whole people. "There is no truth or virtue in them," they said, "they have broken their agreement and their sworn oath."

19 Bacchides then left Jerusalem and encamped at Bethzaith, and from there sent and arrested many of them who had deserted him, and some of the people, and killed them, throwing them into the great cistern. 20 Then he pt Alcimus in charge of the province, leaving an army with him to support him; Bacchides himself returned to the king. 21 Alcimus continued his struggle to become high priest, 22 and all who were disturbing the peace of their own people rallied to him; gaining control of the land of Judah, they work great havoc in Israel. 23 Seeing that all the wrongs done to the Israelites by Alcimus and his supporters exceeded what the pagans had done, 24 Judas went right around the whole territory of Judaea to take vengeance on those who had deserted him and prevent their free movement about the country.

25 When Alcimus saw how strong Judas and his supporters had grown, he realized that he had not the strength to resist them, and returned to the king where he laid criminal charges against them.

Nicanor in Judaea. The battle of Capharsalama

26 The king sent Nicanor, one of his generals ranking as Illustrious and a bitter enemy of Israel, with orders to exterminate the people. 27 Reaching Jerusalem with a large force, Nicanor sent envoys to Judas and his brothers with treacherous proposals of peace: 28 "Let us have no fighting," he said, "between me and you; I will come with a small escort and meet you face to face in peace." 29 And he came to Judas and they greeted each other peacably enough; however, the enemy had made preparations to abduct Judas. 30 When Judas became aware of Nicanor's treacherous purpose in coming to see him, he took fright and refused any further meeting. 31 Nicanor then realized that his plan had been discovered, and went out to meet Judas in the battle near Capharsalama. 32 About five hundred of Nicanor's men fell; the rest took refuge in the city of David.

Threats against the Temple

33 After these events Nicanor went up to Mount Zion. Some of the priests came out from the Holy Place with some elders, to welcome him peacefully and to show him the holocaust that was offered for the king. 34 But he mocked them and laughed in their faces, defiled them and used insolent language, 35 swearing in his rage, "Unless Judas id handed over to me this time with his army, as soon as I am safely back, I promise you, I will burn this building down!" Then he went off in fury. 36 At this the priests went in again, and stood in tears before the altar and the sanctuary, saying, 37 "You chose this house to be called by your name, to be a house of prayer and petition for your people. 38 Take vengeance on this man and on his army, and let them fall by the sword; remember their blasphemies and give them no respite."

The "Day of Nicanor" at Adasa

39 Nicanor left Jerusalem and encamped at Beth-horon, where he was joined by an army from Syria. 40 Meanwhile Judas camped at Adasa with three thousand men, and offered this prayer, 41 "When the Assyrian king's envoys blasphemed, your angel went out and struck down one hundred and eighty-five thousand of his men. 42 In the same way let us see you crush this army today, so that the rest may know that this man has spoken blasphemously against the sanctuary: judge him according to his wickedness."

43 The armies met in battle on the thirteenth of the month Adar, and Nicanor's army was crushed, he himself being the first to fall in the battle. 44 When his troops saw that Nicanor had fallen, they threw down their arms and fled. 45 The Jews pursued them a day's journey, from Adasa to the approaches of Gezer; they sounded their trumpets in warning ad they followed them, 46 and people came out from all the surrounding villages of Judaea and blocked their flight, so that they turned back on their own men, and all fell by the sword, not one being left alive. 47 Collecting the spoils and booty, they cut off Nicanor's head and the right hand he had stretched out in a display of insolence; these were taken and displayed within sight of Jerusalem. 48 The people were overjoyed, and kept that day as a great holiday; 49 indeed they decided to celebrate it annually on the thirteenth of Adar. 50 The land of Judah was at peace for a short time.

A eulogy of the Romans

8- 1 Now, Judas had heard of the reputation of the Romans, the military strength and their benevolence toward all who made common cause with them; they wanted to establish friendly relations with anyone who approached them, 2 because of their military strength. He was told of their wars and of their prowess among the Gauls, whom they had conquered and put under tribute; 3 and of all they had done in the province of Spain to gain possession of the silver and gold mines there, 4 making themselves masters of the whole country by their determination and perseverance, despite its great distance from their own; of the kings who came from the ends of the earth to attack them, only to be crushed by them and overwhelmed with disaster, and of others who paid them annual tribute; 5 Philip, Perseus king of the Kittim, and others who had dared to make war on them, had been defeated and reduced to subjection, 6 while Antichus the Great, king of Asia, who had advanced to attack them with hundred and twenty elephants, cavalry, chariots and a very large army, had also suffered defeat at their hands; 7 they had taken him alive and imposed on him and his successors the payment of an enormous tribute, the surrender of hostages, and the cession 8 of the Indian territory, with Media, Lydia, and some of their best provinces, which they took from him and gave to King Eumenes. 9 Judas was also told how, when the Greeks planned an expedition to destroy them, 10 the Romans got wind of it and sent against them a single general, fought a campaign in which they inflicted heavy casualties, carried off their women and children into captivity, pillaged their goods, subdued their country, tore down their fortresses and reduced them to a slavery lasting to this very day; 11 and how all other kingdoms and islands that had ever resisted them were also destroyed and enslaved.

12 But where their friends and those who relied on them were concerned, they had always stood by their friendship. They had subdued kings far and near, and all who heard their name went in terror of them. 13 One man, if they determined to help him and advance him to a throne, would certainly occupy it, while another, if they so determined, would find himself deposed; their influence was paramount. 14 In spite of all this not one of them had assumed a crown or put on the purple for his own aggrandizement. 15 They had set up a senate, where three hundred and twenty councilors deliberated daily, constantly debating how best to regulate public affairs. 16 They entrusted their government to one man for a year at a time, with absolute power over their whole empire, and this man was obeyed by all without any envy or jealousy.

The alliance between the Jews and Romans

17 Having chosen Eupolemus son of John, of the family of Accos, and Jason son of Eleazar, Judas sent them to Rome to make a treaty of friendship and alliance with these people, 18 who would surely lift the yoke from their shoulders once they understood that the kingdom of the Greeks was reducing Israel to slavery. 19 The envoys made the lengthy journey to Rome and presented themselves before the Senate with their formal proposal. 20 "Judas Maccabaeus and his brothers, with the Jewish people, have sent us to you to conclude a treaty of alliance and peace with you, and to enroll ourselves as your allies and friends." 21 The proposal met with the approval of the senators, 22 and this is a copy of the rescript which they engraved on bronze tablets and sent to Jerusalem to be kept there by the Jews as a record of peace and alliance;

23 "Good fortune attend the Romans and the Jewish nation by sea and land for ever; may sword or enemy be far from them! 24 If war comes first to Rome or any of her allies throughout her dominions, 25 The Jewish nation is to take action as her ally, as occasion may require, and do it wholeheartedly. 26 They are not to give or supply to the aggressor any grain, arms, money or ships; this is the Roman decision, and they are to honour their obligations without recompense. 27 In the same way, if war comes first to the Jewish nation the Romans are to support them energetically as occasion may offer, 28 and the aggressor shall not be furnished with grain, arms, money or ships; this is the Roman decision, and they will honour these obligations unreservedly. 29 These are the terms laid down by the Romans for the Jewish people. 30 If when they have come into force either partly should wish to make addition or deletion, they shall be free to do so, and any such addition or deletion shall be binding.

31 "As regards the wrongs done to them by King Demetrius, we have written to him in these terms: Why have you made your yoke lie heavy on our friends and allies the Jews? If they appeal against you again we will uphold their rights and make war on you by sea and land."

The battle of Beerzeth and death of Judas Macccabaeus

9- 1 Demetrius heard that Nicanor and his army had fallen in battle, and sent Bacchides and Alcimus a second time into the land of Judah, and with them the right wing of his army. 2 They took the road to Galilee andbesieged Mesaloth in Arbela, and captured it, putting many people to death. 3 In the first month of the year one hundredand fifty-two they set p camp before Jerusalem; 4 they then moved on, making their way to Beerzeth with twenty thousand foot and two thousand horse. 5 Judas lay in camp at Elasa, with three thousand picked men. 6 When they saw the huge size of the enemy forces they were terrified, and many slipped out of the camp, until no more than eight hundred of the force were left. 7 When Judas saw that his army had melted away and that the attack was imminent, he was aghast, for he had no time to rally them. 8 Yet, dismayed has he was, he said to those who were left, "Up! Let us face the enemy; we may have the strength to fight them." 9 His men tried to dissuade him, declaring, "We have no strength for anything but to escape with our lives this time; then we can come back with our brothers to fight them; by ourselves we are to few." 10 "God forbid," Judas retorted, "That I should do such a thing as run away from them! If our time has come, at least let us die like me for our countrymen, and leave nothing to tarnish our reputation."

11 The enemy forces then marched out of the camp, and the Jews took up their position in readiness to engage them. The cavalry was ordered into two squadrons; the slingers and the archers marched in the van of the army with shock troops, all stout fighters; 12 Bacchides was on the right wing. The phalanx advanced from between the two squadrons, sounding trumpets; the men of Judas' side blew their trumpets also, 13 and the earth shook with the noise of the armies. The engagement lasted from morning until evening.

14 Judas saw that Bacchides and the main strength of his army lay on the right; all the stouthearted rallied to him, 15 and they broke the right wing and pursued them to the furthest foothills of the range. 16 But when the Syrians on the left wing saw that the right had been broken, they turned and followed hot on the heels of Judas and his men to take tem in the rear. 17 The fight became desperate, and there were many casualties on both sides. 18 Judas himself fell, and the remnant fled.

The funeral of Judas Maccabaeus

19 Jonathan and Simon took up their brother Judas nd buried him in his ancestral tomb at Modein. 20 All Israel wept and mourned him deeply, and for many days they repeated the dirge. 21 "What a downfall for a strong man, the man who saved Israel singlehanded!" 22 The other deeds of Judas, the battles he fought, the exploits he performed, and all his titles to greatness have not been recorded; but they were very many.

The triumph of the Greeks party. Jonathan leads the resistance

23 After the death of Judas the renegades came out of hiding throughout Israel and all the evildoers reappeared. 24 At that time there was a severe famine, and the country went over to their side. 25 Bacchides deliberately chose the enemies of religion and set them up as governors of the country. 26 These traced and searched out the friends of Judas and brought them before Bacchides, who took revenge on them and humiliated them. 27 A terrible oppression began in Israel; there had been nothing like it since the disappearance of prophecy among them.

28 Then all the friends of Judas came together and said to Jonathan, 29 "Since your brother Judas died, there as been no one like him to head the resistance to the enemy. Bacchides and those who hate our nation. 30 Accordingly, we have today chosen you to take his place as our ruler and to fight our campaigns." 31 From that day Jonathan accepted the leadership and took over the command from his brother Judas.

Jonathan in the desert of Tekoa. Bloody encounter around Medeba

32 Bacchides, when he heard the news, made plans to kill Jonathan. 33 But this became known to Jonathan, his brother Simon and all his supporters, and they took refuge in the desert of Tekoa, camping by the water of the cistern at Asphar. 34 (Bacchides came to know of this on the sabbath day, and he too crossed the Jordan with his entire army.)

35 Jonathan sent his brother, who was in charge of the convoy, to request his friends the Nabataeans to store their considerable baggage for them. 36 But the sons of Jambri from Madeba raided them, capturing John and everything he had and made off with the prize. 37 After this had happened it was reported to Jonathan and his brother Simon that the sons of Jambri were celebrating a great wedding, and were escorting the bride, a daughter of one of the great notables of Canaan, from Nadabath with a large retinue. 38 Remembering the bloody end of their brother John, they went up and hid under cover of the mountain. 39 As they were keeping watch, there came into sight a noisy procession with a great deal of baggage, and the bridegroom, with his groomsmen and his family, came out to meet it with tambourines and a band, and military display. 40 The Jews rushed down on them from their ambush and killed them, inflicting heavy casualties; the survivors escaped to the mountain, leaving their entire baggage train to be captured. 41 And so the wedding was turned into mourning and the music of their band into a dirge. 42 Having in this way avenged in ful the blood of their brother they returned to the marshes of the Jordan.

Crossing the Jordan

43 As soon as Bacchides heard this, he came on the sabbath day with a considerable force to the steep banks of the Jordan. 44 Jonathan said to his men, "Up! Let us fight for our lives, for today is not like yesterday and the day before. 45 You can see, we shall have to fight on our front and to our rear, we have the waters of the Jordan on one side, the marsh and scrub on the other, and we have no line of withdrawal. 46 This is the moment to call on heaven for your deliverance from the hand of our enemies." 47 The engagement was begun by Jonathan, who aimed a blow at Bacchides, but the Syrian disengaged himself and withdrew, 48 whereupon Jonathan and his men leaped into the Jordan and swam to the other bank, but the enemy did not cross the Jordan in pursuit. 49 That day Bacchides lost about a thousand men.

Bacchides builds fortifications. The death of Alcimus

50 Bacchides returned to Jerusalem and built strongholds in Judaea, the fortress in Jericho, Emmaus, Beth-horon, Timnath, Pharathon and Tephon, with high walls and barred gates, 51 and stationed a garrison in each of them to harass Israel. 52 He also fortified the town of Bethzur, Gezer and the Citadel, and placed troops in them with supplies of provisions. 53 He took the sons of the leading men of the country as hostages, and had them placed under guard in the Citadel of Jerusalem.

54 In the year one hundred and fifty-three, in the second month, Alcimus ordered the demolition of the wall of the inner court of the sanctuary, destroying the work of the prophets. Actimus had just begun the demolition 55 when he suffered a stroke, and his work was interrupted. His mouth became obstructed, and his paralysis made him incapable of speaking at all or giving directions to is household; 56 it was not long before he died in great agony. 57 When Bacchides saw that Alcimus was dead he returned to the king; and the land of Judah was left in peace for two years.

The siege of Bethbasi

58 All the renegades then agreed on a plan. 'Now is the time," they said, "While Jonathan and his supporters are living in peace and are full of confidence, for us to bring back Bacchides; he can arrest them all in one night." 59 So they went to him and reached an understanding. 60 Bacchides at once set out with a large force, and sent secret instruction to all his allies in Juaea to seize Jonathan and his supporters. But the were unable to do this because their plan became known, 61 and Jonathan and his men arested some fifty of the men of the country who were ringleaders in the plot, and put them to death.

62 Jonathan and Simon then retired with their partisans into the wilderness to Bethbasi; they rebuilt the ruins parts of the place and fortified it. 63 When Bacchides heard this, he mustered his whole force and notified his adherents in Judaea. 64 He then proceeded to lay siege to Bethbasi, attacking it for many days and constructing siege engines. 65 But Jonathan, leaving his brother Simon in the town, broke out into the countryside with a handful of men. 66 He attacked Odomera and his brothers, and the sons of Phasiron in their tens; and these went over to the attack, joining forces with him. 67 Meanwhile Simon and his people made a sortie from the town and set fire to the siege engines. 68 Taking the offensive against Bacchides, they routed him. He was greatly disconcerted to find that his plan and his assault had come to nothing, 69 and vented his anger on those renegades who had induced him to enter the country, putting many of them to death; then he decided to return to his own country. 70 Discovering this, Jonathan sent envoys to negotiate peace terms and the release of the prisoners with him. 71 Bacchides agreed to this, accepting his proposals and swearing never to seek occasion to harm him all the days of his life. 72 After surrendering to Jonathan the prisoners he had earlier taken in the land of Judah, he returned about and withdrew to his own country, and never again came near their frontiers. 73 The sword no longer hung over Israel, and Jonathan settled in Michmash, where he began to judge the people and rid Israel of he godless.

Alexander Balas competes for Jonathan's support, and appoints him high priest

10- 1 In the year one hundred and sixty, Alexander, styled Epiphanes, son of Antiochus, landed at Ptolemais and occupied it. He was well received, and held court there. 2 On hearing this, King Demetrius assembled a very large army and marched out to meet him in battle. 3 Demetrus furthermore sent Jonathan a conciliatory letter designed to enhance his dignity, 4 for, as he said, "We had better move first to come to terms with these people before he makes common cause with Alexander against us; 5 he will not have forgotten all the wrongs we inflicted on him and his brothers, and on his nation." 6 He therefore authorized him to raise an army and to manufacture arms, and to describe himself as his ally, and ordered the hostages in the Citadel to be surrendered to him.

7 Jonathan went straight to Jerusalem and read the letter in the hearing of the whole people and of the men in the Citadel. 8 Everyone was awe--struck when they heard that the king had given him authority to raise an army. 9 The men in the Citadel surrendered the hostages to Jonathan, who handed them back to their parents. 10 Jonathan then took up residence in Jerusalem and began the rebuilding and restoration of the city. 11 He ordered those responsible for the work to build the walls and the defences around Mount Zion in square hewn stones to make them stronger, and this was done. 12 The foreigners in the fortresses built by Bacchides abandoned them, 13 one after another leaving his post to go back to his own country. 14 Only at Bethzur were a few left of those who had forsaken the Law and the commandments, since this served them as a place of refuge.

15 King Alexander heard of all the promises Demetrius had sent to Jonathan, and he was also given an account of the battles and exploits of this man and his brothers and the trials they had endured. 16 "Shall we ever find another man like him?" He exclaimed. "Let us be quick to make friend and ally of him!" 17 He therefore wrote him a letter, addressing him in these terms, 18 "King Alexander to his brother Jonathan, greetings. 19 Yo have been brought to our notice as a strong man of action, and one disposed to be our friend. 20 Accordingly we have today appointed you high priest of your nation, with the title of Friend of the king" - he also sent him a purple robe and a golden crown -" and you are to study our interest and maintain friendly relations with us."

21 Jonathan put on the sacred vestments in the seventh month of the year one hundred and sixty, on the feast of Tabernacles; he then set about raising troops and manufacturing arms in quantity.

A letter from Demetrius I to Jonathan

22 Demetrius was displeased when he heard what had happened. 23 "What have we done," he said, " that Alexander should have forestalled us in gaining the friendship of the Jews to strengthen his position? 24 I will address an appeal to them too, offering them advancement and riches as an inducement to support me." 25 And he wrote them as follows:

"King Demetrius to the Jewish nation, greetings. 26 We have heard how you have kept your agreement with us and have maintained friendly relations with us and have not gone over to our enemies, and it has given us great satisfaction. 27 If you now continue o keep faith with us, we will make you a handsome return for what you do on our behalf. 28 We will accord you many exemptions and grant you privileges. 29 Henceforth I release you and exempt all the Jews from the tribute, the salt dues and the crown levies, 30 and whereas I am entitled to levy the equivalent of one third of the sowing and one half of the fruit of the trees, I release from this levy, from today and for the future, the land of Judah and the three districts annexed to it from Samaria-Galilee, from this day in perpetuity. 31 Jerusalem shall be sacred and exempt, with its territory, tithes and dues. 32 I relinquish control of the Citadel in Jerusalem and make it over to the high priest, so that he may man it with a garrison of hi own choosing. 33 Every Jewish person taken from te land of Judah into captivity in any part of my kingdom I set free without ransom, and decreed that all shall be exempt from taxes, even on their livestock. 34 All festivals, sabbaths, new moons and days of special observance, and the three days before and three days after a festival, shall be days of exemption and quittance for all the Jews in my kingdom, 35 and no one shall have the right to pursue or molest any of them for any matter whatsoever. 36 Jews shall be enrolled in the king's forces to the number of thirty thousand men, and receive maintenance on the same scale as the rest of the king's forces. 37 Some of them shall be stationed in the king's major fortress, and from among others appointments shall be made to positions of trust in the kingdom. Their officers and commanders shall be appointed from their own number, and shall live under their own laws, as the king has prescribed for the land Of Judah. 38 As regards the three districts annexed to Judaea from the province of Samaria, they shall be integrated into Judaea and considered as coming under one governor, obeying the high priest's authority and no other. 39 I have made over Ptolemais and its environs as a free gift to the sanctuary in Jerusalem, to meet the necessary expenses of public worship. 40 nd I make a personal grant of fifteen thousand silver shekels annually chargeable to the royal revenue from appropriate places. 41 And the entire surplus, which has not been paid in by the officials as in previous years, shall henceforth be paid over by them for work on the Temple. 42 In addition, the sum of five thousand silver shekels, levied annually on the profits of the sanctuary, as shown in the annual accounts, is also relinquished as the perquisite of the priests who perform the liturgy. 43 Anyone who takes refuge in the Temple in Jerusalem or any of its precincts, when in debt to the royal exchequer or otherwise, shall be discharged in full possession of all goods he owns in my kingdom. 44 As regards the building and restoration of the sanctuary, the expense of the work shall be met from royal exchequer. 45 The reconstruction of the walls of Jerusalem and the fortification of the perimeter shall also be a charge on the royal exchequer, ans so also the reconstruction of other city walls in Judaea."

Jonathan rejects Demetrius' offers

46 When Jonathan and the people heard these proposals they put no faith in them and refused to accept them, because they remembered the great wrongs Demetrius had done in Israel and how cruelly he had oppressed them. 47 They decided in favour of Alexander, since they regarded him as their outstanding benefactor, and they became his constant allies. 48 King Alexander now mustered large forces and took up position confronting Demetrius, 49 and the two kings met in battle. Alexander's army was routed, and Demetrius pursued him and defeated his troops. 50 He continued the battle with vigour until sunset, but Demetrius himself was killed that day.

Alexander's marriage with Cleopatra. Jonathan as military commissioner and governor general

51 Alexander sent ambassadors to Ptolemy king of Egypt, with this message, 52 "Now that I have returned to my kingdom and ascended the throne of my ancestors, and have established my authority by crushing Demetrius, so gaining control of our country - 53 for I fought him and we destroyed both him and his army and now occupy the throne of his kingdom - 54 now, therefore, let us make a treaty of mutual friendship. Give me your daughter in marriage, and I will become your son-in-law and give you, presents which are worthy of you."

55 King Ptolemy replied as follows, " Happy the day when you returned to the land of your ancestors and ascended their royal throne! 56 I will do at once for you what your letter proposes; but meet me at Ptolemais, so that we can see one another, and I will become your father-in-law, as you have asked."

57 Ptolemy left Egypt with his daughter Cleopatra, and reach Ptolemais in the year one hundred and sixty-two. 58 King Alexander went to meet him, and Ptolemy gave him the hand of his daughter Cleopatra and celebrated her wedding in Ptolemais with great magnificence, as kings do. 59 King Alexander then wrote to Jonathan to come and meet him. 60 Jonathan made his way in state to Ptolemais, and met the two kings; he gave them and their friends silver and gold, and many gifts, and made a favourable impression on them. 61 A number of scoundrels from Israel combined to denounce him, but the king paid no attention to them. 62 In fact the king commanded that Jonathan should be divested of his own garments and clothed in the purple, which was done. 63 The king then seated him by his side and said to his officers, "Escort him into the centre of the city and proclaim that no one is to bring charges against him on any account; no one is to molest him for any reason." 64 And so, when his accusers saw the honour done him by this proclamation, and Jonathan in the purple, they all fled. 65 The king did him the honour of enrolling him among the First Friends, and appointed him military commissioner and governor general. 66 Jonathan then returned to Jerusalem in peace and gladness.

Demetrius II. Appolonius, governor of Coele-Syria, defeated by Jonathan

67 In the year one hundred and sixty-five, Demetrius son of Demetrius came from Crete to the land of his ancestors. 68 When King Alexander heard of it he was plunged in gloom and retired to Antioch. 69 Demetrius appointed Appolonius as governor of Coele-Syria; the latter assembled a lare force, and from his camp at Jamnia sent the following message to Jonathan the high priest:

70 "You are entirely alone in rising against us, and now I find myself ridiculed and reproached on your account. Why do you use your authority to our disadvantage in the mountains? 71 If you are confident in your forces, come down now to meet us on the plain and let us take each other's measure there; o my side I have the strength of the towns. 72 Ask and learn who I am and who are the others supporting us. Men will tell you that you cannot stand up to us, because your ancestors were twice routed on their own ground, 73 nor will you now be able to withstand the cavalry or so great an army on the plain, where there is neither stone nor outcrop nor cover of any kind."

74 When Jonathan heard the message of Appolonius his spirit was roused; he picked ten thousand men and left Jerusalem, and his brother Simon joined him with reinforcements. 75 He drew up his forces before Joppa; the citizens had shut him out as Appolonius had a garrison in Joppa. When they began the attack, 76 the citizens took fright and opened the gates, and Jonathan occupied Joppa. 77 Hearing this, Appolonius marshalled three thousand cavalry and a large army and made his way to Ozotus as though intending to march through, while in fact pressing on into the plain, since he had a great number of cavalry on which he was relying. 78 Jonathan pursued him as far as Azotus, where the armies joined battle. 79 Now Appolonius had left a thousand horsemen in concealment behind him. 80 Jonathan knew of this ambush behind him; the horsemen surrounded his army and shot their arrows into the people from morning till evening. 81 But the people stood firm, as Jonathan had ordered, while the enemy's horses tired. 82 So Simon was able to throw in his farce and close with the phalanx, which he cut to pieces and routed. 83 The cavalry scattered over the plain and fled to Azotus, where they entered Beth-dagon, the temple of their idol, to take shelter there. 84 But Jonathan set fire to Azotus and the surrounding towns, plundered them, and burned the temple of Dagon, with all the fugitives who had crowded into it. 85 The enemy loses, counting those who fell by the sword and those burned to death, totalled about eight thousand men. 86 Then Jonathan left there and encamped opposite Askalon, whose citizens came out to meet him with great ceremony. 87 Jonathan then returned to Jerusalem with his followers, laden with booty. 88 I the event, when King Alexander heard what had happened, he awarded Jonathan fresh honours; 89 he sent him a golden brooch, of the kind customarily to the Cosins of the King, and gave him proprietary rights over Ekron with all its lands.

Ptolemy VI supports Demetrius II but dies at the same time as Alexander Balas

11- 1 The king of Egypt then assembled an army as numerous as the sands of the seashore, with many ships, and attempted to take possession of Alexander's kingdom by a ruse and add it to his own kingdom. 2 He set off for Syria with protestations of peace, and the people of the towns opened their gates to him and came out to meet him, since Alexander's orders were to welcome him, Ptolemy being his father-in-law. 3 On entering the towns, however, Ptolemy quartered troops as a garrison in each one. 4 When he reached Azotus he was shown the burned-out temple of Dagon, with Azotus and its suburbs in ruins, corpses scattered here and there, and the charred remains of those whom Jonathan had burned to death in the battle, piled into heaps along his route. 5 They explained to the king what Jonathan had done, hoping for his disapproval; but the king said nothing. 6 Jonathan then went and received the king in state at Joppa, where they greeted each other and spent the night. 7 Jonathan accompanied the king as far as the river called Euphrates, and then returned to Jerusalem. 8 King Ptolemy for his part occupied the coastal towns as far as the maritime quarter of Seleucia, all the while maturing his wicked designs against Alexander. 9 He sent envoys to king Demetrius, saying, "Come, let us make a treaty with each other; I will give you my daughter, whom Alexander now has, and you shall rule your father's kingdom. 10 I regret having given my daughter to that man, who has attempted to kill me." 11 He made this accusation because he coveted his kingdom. 12 Having carried off his daughter and bestowed her on Demetrius, he broke with Alexander, and their enmity became open. 13 Ptolemy next entered Antioch and assumed the crown of Asia; he now wore on his head the two crowns of Egypt and Asia. 14 Meanwhile Alexander was in Cilicia, since the people of those parts had risen in revolt, 15 but when he heard the news, he advanced on his rival to give battle, while Ptolemy for his part also took the field, met him with a strong force and routed him. 16 Alexander fled t Arabia for refuge, and King Ptolemy held victory celebrations. 17 Zabdiel the Arab cut off Alexander's head and sent it to Ptolemy. 18 Three days later King Ptolemy died, and the Egyptians garrisons in the stronghold were killed by the local inhabitants. 19 So Demetrius became king in the year one hundred and sixty-seven.

Early relations between Demetrius and Jonathan

20 At the same time, Jonathan mustered the men of Judaea for an assault on the Citadel in Jerusalem, and they constructed many siege engines for use against it. 21 But some renegades wh hated their nation made their way to the king and told him that Jonathan was besieging the Citadel. 22 The king was angered by the news. No sooner had he been informed than he set out and came to Ptolemais. He wrote to Jonathan, telling him to raise the siege and meet him for a conference in Ptolemais as soon as possible. 23 When Jonathan heard this he gave orders for te siege to continue; then he selected a deputation from the elders of Israel and the priests, and took the deliberate risk 24 of taking silver and gold, clothing and numerous other presents, and going to Ptolemais to face the king, whose favour he succeeded in winning; 25 and although one or two renegades of his nation brought charges against him, 26 The king treated him as his predecessors had treated him, and promoted him in the presence of all his friends. 27 He confirmed him in the sight priesthood and whatever other distinctions he already held, and had him ranked among the First Friends. 28 Jonathan claimed that the king should exempt Judaea from tribute, with the three Samaritan provinces, promising him three hundre talents in return. 29 The king consented, and wrote Jonathan receipt covering the whole matter, in these terms:

A new charter favouring the Jews

30 "King Demetrius to Jonathan his brother, and to the Jewish nation, greeting. 31 We have written to Lasthenes our cousin concerning you, and now we send you this copy for our receipt for your own information: 32 King Demetrius to his father Lasthenes, greeting. 33 The nation of the Jews are our friends and fulfill their obligations to us, and in view of their good will toward us we have decided to show them out bounty. 34 We confirm them the possession of the territory of Judaea and the three districts of Aphairema, Lydda and Ramathaim; these were annexed to Judaea from Samaritan territory, with all their dependencies, in favour of all who offer sacrifice in Jerusalem, instead of the royal dues which the king formerly received from them every year, from the yield of the soil and the fruit crops. 35 As regards our other rights over the tithes and taxes due to us, over the salt marshes, and the crown taxes due to us, as from today we release them from them all. 36 No single one of these grants shall be set aside, from today in perpetuity. 37 It shall be your responsibility to save a copy of this made, to be given to Jonathan and displayed on the holy mountain in a conspicuous place."

Demetrius II rescued by Jonathan's troops at Antioch

38 When King Demetrius saw that the country was at peace under his rule and that no resistance was offered him, he dismissed his forces, and sent all them men home, except for the foreign troops that he had recruited in the islands of the nations, thus incurring the enmity of the veterans who had served his ancestors. 39 Now Trypho, one of Alexander's former supporters, seeing that all the troops were muttering against Demetrius, approached Iamleku the Arab, who was bringing up Antiochus, Alexander's young son, 40 and repeatedly urged him to let him have the boy, so that he might succeed his father as king; he told him of Demetrius' decision and the resentment it had aroused among his troops. He spent a long time there. 41 Meanwhile Jonathan sent to ask King Demetrius to withdraw the troops in the Citadel from Jerusalem and to remove the garrisons from the strongholds, since they were constantly, fighting Israel. 42 Demetrius sent back word to Jonathan, "Not only will I do this for you and for your nation, but I will heap honours on you and your nation if I find a favourable opportunity. 43 For the present, you would do well to send me reinforcements, for all my troops have deserted." 44 Jonathan sent off three thousand experiences soldiers to him in Antioch; when they reached the king, he was delighted at their arrival. 45 The citizens crowded together in the centre of the city, to the number of some hundred and twenty thousand, intending to kill the king. 46 The king took refuge in the palace, while the citizens occupied the thoroughfares of the city and began to attack. 47 The king then called on the Jews for help; and these all rallied around him in body, then spread out through the city, and that day killed about a hundred thousand of its inhabitants. 48 They fled the city, seizing a great deal of the plunder at the same time, and secured the king's safety. 49 When the citizens saw that the Jews had the city at their mercy their courage failed them, and they made an abject appeal to the king, 50 "Give us the right hand of peace, and let the Jews stop their fight against us and the city." 51 They threw down their arms and made peace, The Jews were covered in glory, in the eyes of the king and of everyone else in his kingdom. Having won renown in his kingdom they returned to Jerusalem laden with booty. 52 King Demetrius continued to occupy the throne of his kingdom, and the country was quiet under his government. 53 But he gave the lie to all the promises he had made, and fell out with Jonathan, giving noting in return for the services Jonathan had rendered him, but twarting him every turn.

Jonathan opposes Demetrius II. Simon retakes Bethzur. The Hazor affair

54 After this, Trypho came back with the little boy Antiochus, who became king and was crowned. 55 All the troops that Demetrius had summarily dismissed rallied to Antiochus, ad made ar on Demetrius, and he turned tail and fled. 56 Trypho captured the elephants and seized Antioch.

57 Young Antiochus then wrote Jonathan the following letter, "I confirm you in the high priesthood and set you over the four districts and appoint you one of the friends of the King." 58 He sent him a service of gold plate, and granted him the right to drink from gold vessels, and to wear the purple and the golden brooch. 59 He appointed his brother Simon as military commissioner of the region from the Ladder of Tyre to the frontiers of Egypt. 60 Jonathan then set out and made a progress through Transeuphrates and its towns, and the entire Syrian army rallied to his support. He came to Askalon and was received in state by the inhabitants. 61 From there he proceeded to Gaza, but the people of Gaza shut him out, so he laid siege to it, burning down and plundering them. 62 The people of Gaza then pleaded with Jonathan, and he made peace with them; but he took the sons of their chief men as hostages and sent them away to Jerusalem. He then travelled through the country as far as Damascus.

63 Jonathan now learned that Demetrius' generals had arrived at Kadesh in Galilee with a great army, with the object of diverting him from his mission, 64 and he went to meet them, leaving his brother Simon inside the country. 65 Simon laid siege to Bethzur, attacking it day after day, and blockading the inhabitants 66 till they sued for peace, which he granted them, though he expelled them from the town and occupied it, stationing a garrison there. 67 Meanwhile Jonathan and his army, having pitched camp by the Lake of Gennesaret, rose early, and by morning were already in he plain of Hazor. 68 The foreigners' army advanced to fight them on the plain, after laying first an ambush for him in the mountains. While the main body was advancing directly toward the Jews, 69 the troops in ambush broke cover and attack first. 70 All the men with Jonathan fled; no one was left, except Mattathias son of Absalom and Judas son of Chalphi, the generals of his army. 71 At this, Jonathan tore his garments, put dust on his head, and prayed. 72 Then he returned to the fight and routed the enemy, who fled. 73 When the fugitives from his forces saw this they came back to him and joined in the pursuit as far as Kadesh where the enemy encampment was, and there they themselves pitched camp. 74 About three thousand of the foreign troops fell that day. Jonathan then returned to Jerusalem.

Jonathan's relations with the Spartans

12- 1 When Jonathan saw that the circumstances were working in his favour he sent a select mission t Rome to confirm and renew the treaty of friendship with the Romans. 2 He also sent letters to the same effect to the Spartans and to other places. 3 The envoys made their way to Rome and entered the Senate, where they made the announcement: "Jonathan the high priest and the Jewish nation have sent us to renew your treaty of friendship and alliance with them as before." 4 The Romans gave them letters to the authorities of each place, to procure their safe conduct to the land of Judah.

5 The following is the copy of the letter Jonathan wrote to the Spartans:

6 "Jonathan the high priest, the senate of the nation, the priest and the rest of the Jewish people to the Spartans their brothers, greetings. 7 In the past, a letter was sent to Onias, the high priest, from Areios, one of the kings, stating that you are indeed our brothers, as the copy subjoined attest. 8 Onias received the envoy with honour, and accepted the letter, in which a clear reference was made to friendship and alliance. 9 For our part, though we have no need of these, having the consolation of the holy books in our possession, 10 we venture to send to renew our fraternal friendship with you, so that we may not become strangers to you, for a long time has elapsed since you sent us the letter. 11 WE may say that constantly on every occasion, at our festivals and on other appointed days, we make a remembrance of you in the sacrifices we offer and in our prayers, as it is right and fitting to remember brothers. 12 We rejoice in your renown. 13 As for ourselves, we have been involved in many trials, many battles, and the surrounding kings have fought against us. 14 We were unwilling to trouble you or our allies and friends during these wars. 15 Bur now, having the support of heaven to help us, we have been delivered from our enemies, and it is they who have been brought low, 16 and so we have chosen Numenius son of Antiochus, and Antipater son of Jason, and sent them to the Romans to renew our former treaty of friendship and alliance, 17 and we have ordered them to make their way to you also, to greet you, and deliver to you this letter of ours concerning the renewal of our brotherhood; 18 we shall be grateful for an answer to it."

19 The following is the copy of the letter sent to Onias:

20 "Areios king of the Spartans, to Onias the high priest, greetings. 21 It has been discovered in a document concerning the Spartans and Jews that they are brothers, and of the race of Abraham. 22 Now that this has come to our knowledge, we shall be obliged if you will send us news of your welfare. 23 Our own message to you is this: your flocks and your possessions are ours, and ours are yours, and we are instructing our envoys to give you a message to this effect."

Jonathan in Coele-Syria. Simon in Philistia

24 Jonathan learned that Demetrius had returned with a larger army than before to make war on him. 25 For that reason he left Jerusalem and went to face tem in the region of Hamath, giving them no respite in which to mount an invasion of his own country. 26 He sent spies into their camp, who told him on their return that the enemy were taking position for a night attack on the Jews. 27 At sunset Jonathan ordered his men to keep watch with their weapons at hand, in readiness to fight at any time during the night, and posted advance guards all around the camp. 28 When they knew that Jonathan and his men were ready to fight, the enemy became afraid, and with quaking hearts they kindled fires in their camp. 29 Jonathan and his men, watching the glow of the fires, were unaware of their withdrawal until morning, 30 and although Jonathan pursued them, he failed to overtake them, for they had already crossed the river Euphrates. 31 So Jonathan wheeled around on the Arabs called Zabadaeans, defeated them and plundered them; 32 then, breaking camp, he went to Damascus, and travelled through the whole province. 33 Meanwhile Simon had also set out and had penetrated as far as Askalon and the neighbouring strongholds. He then turned on Joppa and moved quickly to occupy it, 34 for he had heard of their intention to hand over this strong point to the supporters of Demetrius; he stationed a garrison there to hold it.

Building work in Jerusalem

35 On Jonathan's return he called a meeting of the elders of the people and decided with them to build fortresses in Judaea 36 and to heighten the walls of Jerusalem and erect a high barrier between the Citadel and the city, to separate it from the city and isolate it, to prevent the occupants from buying or selling. 37 They gathered together to rebuild the city. Part of the wall over the eastern ravine had fallen, and he restored the quarter called Chaphenatha. 38 Meanwhile Simon rebuilt in the Lowlands, fortifying it, and erecting gates with bolts.

Jonathan falls into the hands of his enemies

39 Trypho's ambition was to become king of Asia, assume the crown, and overpower King Antiochus. 40 He was apprehensive that Jonathan might not allow him to do so, and might even make war on him, so he set out and came to Bethshan, in hopes of finding some pretext for his arrest and execution.

41 Jonathan went to intercept him, with forty thousand picked men in battle order, and arrived at Bethshan. 42 When Trypho saw him there with a large force, he hesitated to make any move against him. 43 He even received him with honour, commended him to all his friends and presented gifts to him, and told his friends and his troops to obey him as they would himself. 44 He said to Jonathan, "Why have you made all these people so tired, when there is no threat of war between us? 45 Send them back home; pick yourself a few men as your bodyguard, and come with me to Ptolemais. I will hand it over to you, with the other fortresses and the remaining troops and all the officials; then I will take the road for home, for that was my purpose in coming here." 46 Jonathan trusted him and did as he said; he dismissed his forces, who returned to the land of Judah. 47 With him he retained three thousand men, of whom he left two thousand in Galilee, while a thousand accompanied him. 48 But as soon as Jonathan had entered Ptolemais the people of Ptolemais closed the gates, seized him, and put all who had entered, wit him to the sword. 49 Trypho sent troops and cavalry into Galilee and the Great Plain to wipe out all Jonathan's supporters. 50 These concluding that he had been taken, and had perished with his companions, encourage one another, marching with closed ranks and ready to give battle, 51 and when their pursuers saw that they would fight for their lives, they turned back. 52 They all reached the land of Judah sae and sound, but lamenting Jonathan and his companions, and in a state of alarm; all Israel was lunged into mourning. 53 All he surrounding pagans were now looking for ways of destroying them: "They have no leader," thy said, "no ally; we have only to attack them now, and we shall blot our their very memory from mankind."

Simon takes command

13- 1 Simon heard that Trypho had collected a large army to invade and devastate the land of Judah, 2 and when he was how the people were quaking with fear, he went up to Jerusalem, called the people together, 3 and exhorted them thus, "You know yourselves how much I and my brothers and my father's family have done for the laws and the sanctuary; you know what wars and hardships we have experienced. 4 That is why my brothers are all dead, for Israel's sake, and I am the only one left. 5 Far be from me, then, to be sparing of my own life in any time of oppression, for I am not worth more than my brothers. 6 Rather will I avenge my nation and the sanctuary and your wives and children, now that all the pagans have united in their malice to destroy us." 7 The spirit of the people rekindled as they listen to his words, 8 and they shouted back at him, 'You are our leader in place of Judas and your brother Jonathan. 9 Fight our battles for us, and we will do whatever you tell us." 10 So he assembled all the fighting men and hurried on the completion of the walls of Jerusalem, fortifying the whole perimeter. 11 He sent a considerable force to Joppa under Jonathan, son of Absalom, who drove out the inhabitants and remained there in occupation.

Simon repels Trypho from Judaea

12 Trypho now left Ptolemais with a large army to invade the land of Judah, taking Jonathan with him under guard. 13 Simon pitched camp in Adida, facing the plain. 14 When Trypho learned that Simon had stepped into the place of his brother Jonathan, and that he intended to join battle with him, he sent envoys to him with this message, 15 "Your brother Jonathan was in debt to the royal exchequer for the offices he held; that is why we are detaining him. 16 If you send a hundred talents of silver and two of his sons as hostages, to make sure that on his release he does not revolt against us, we will release him." 17 Although Simon was aware that the message was a ruse, he sent for the money and the boys for fear of incurring great hostility from the people, 18 who would have said that Jonathan died because Simon did not send Trypho the money and the boys. 19 He therefore sent both the boys and the hundred talents, but Trypho broke his word and did not release Jonathan. 20 Next, Trypho set about the invasion and devastation of the country; he made a detour along he Adora road, but Simon and his army confronted him wherever he attempted to go. 21 The men in the Citadel kept sending messengers to Trypho, urging him to get through to them by way of the wilderness and send supplies. 22 Trypho organized his entire cavalry to go, but that night it snowed so heavily that he could not gt through for the snow, so he struck camp and moved off into Gilead. 23 As he approached Baskama he killed Jonathan, and he was buried there. 24 Trypho turned back and regained his own country.

Jonathan is buried in the mausoleum built by Simon at Modein

25 Simon sent and recovered the bones of his brother Jonathan, and buried him in Modein, the town of his ancestors. 26 All Israel kept solemn mourning for him, bewailing for many days. 27 Over the tomb of his father and brothers Simon raised a monument high enough to catch the eye, using dressed stone back and front. 28 He erected seven pyramids facing each other, for his father and mother and his brothers, 29 raising them on plinths and surrounding them with columns on which he had trophies of arms carved to their everlasting memory and, beside the armour, sculptured ships to be seen by all who sailed the sea. 30 Such was the monument he constructed at Modein, and it is still there today.

The favours of Demetrius II to Simon

31 Trypho treated the young King Antiochus treacherously and put him to death. 32 He usurped his throne, assuming the crown of Asia, and brought great havoc on the country. 33 Simon built up the fortresses of Judaea, surrounding them with towers, great walls and gates with bolts, and stocked these fortresses with food. 34 He also sent a delegation to King Demetrius to induce him to grant relief to the province, because all that Trypho did was to confiscate. 35 King Demetrius replied to his request in a letter framed as follows:

36 "King Demetrius to Simon, high priest and Friend of Kings, and to the elders and nation of the Jews, greetings. 37 It has pleased us to accept the golden crown and the palm you have sent us, and we are disposed to make a general peace with you, and to write to the officials to grant you remissions. 38 Everything that we have decreed concerning you remains in force, and the fortresses you have built are to remain in your hands. 39 We pardon all offenses, unwitting or intentional, committed up to this day, as well as the crown tax which you owe, and any other duty that used to be paid in Jerusalem shall no longer be payable. 40 If any of you are suitable for enrollment in our bodyguard, let them be enrolled, and let there be peace between us." 41 It was in the year one hundred and seventy, that the rule of the pagans was lifted from Israel, 42 and the people began to engross their documents and contracts, "In the year one of Simon, great high priest, military commissioner, and leader of the Jews."

The capture of Gezer by Simon

43 At that time Simon went to lay siege to Gezer and surrounded it with his troops. He constructed a mobile tower, brought it up to the city, opened a breach in one of the bastions and took it. 44 The men in the mobile tower sprang out into the city, where great confusion ensued. 45 he citizens, accompanied by their wives and children, mounted the ramparts with their garments torn and loudly implored Simon to make peace with them: 46 "Treat us," they said, "not as our wickedness deserves, but as your mercy prompt you." 47 Simon came to terms with them and stopped the fighting; but he expelled them from the city, purified the houses which contained idols, and then made his entry with songs of praise. 48 He banished all uncleanness fro it, settled men in it who observed the Law, and having fortified it, built residence there for himself.

Simon occupies the Citadel in Jerusalem

49 The men in the Citadel in Jerusalem, prevented as they were from going out into the country and back to buy and sell, were in desperate want of food, and numbers of them were carried off by starvation. 50 They begged Simon to make peace with them, and he granted this, though he expelled them and purified the Citadel from its pollutions. 51 The Jews made their entry on the twenty-third day of the second month in the year one hundred and seventy-one, with acclamations and carrying palms, to the sound of harps, cymbals and zithers, chanting hymns and canticles, since a great enemy had been crushed and thrown out of Israel. 52 Simon made it a day of annual rejoicing. He strengthened the fortifications of the Temple hill by the side of the Citadel, and took residence there with his men. 53 Seeing that his son John had come to manhood, Simon appointed him commander of all the forces, with his residence in Gezer.

A eulogy of Simon

14- 1 In the year one hundred and seventy-two King Demetrius assembled his forces and marched into Media to muster help, in order to fight Trypho. 2 When Arsaces king of Persia heard that Demetrius had entered his territory, he sent one of his generals to capture him alive. 3 The general went and defeated the army of Demetrius, seized him and brought him to Arsaces, who put him in prison. 4 The county was at peace throughout the days of Simon.

He sought the good of his nation

and they were well pleased with his authority,

and his magnificence throughout hs le=ife.

5 And to crown all his magnificence

he took Joppa and made it his harbour,

gaining access to the islands of the sea.

6 He enlarged the frontiers of his nation,

keeping his mastery over the homeland,

7 and resettled a host of the captives.

He conquered Gezer, Bethzur, and the Citadel

and cast out the unclean things from it;

and no one could resist him.

8 They farmed their land in peace,

the land gave its produce,

the trees of the plain their fruit.

9 The elders sat at ease in the streets,

all their talk was of their prosperity;

the young men wore finery and armour.

10 He kept the towns supplied with provisions

and furnished with fortifications;

until his fame resounded to the ends of the earth.

11 He established peace in the land,

and Israel knew great joy.

12 Each man sat under his own vine and his own fig tree,

and there was no one to make them afraid,

13 No enemy was left in the land to fight them,

and the kings in those days were crushed.

14 He gave strength to all the humble folk among the people

and cleared away every renegade and wicked man.

He strove to observe the Law,

15 and gave new splendour to the Temple,

replenishing it with sacred vessels.

Renewal of the alliance with Sparta and with Rome

16 When it became known in Rome and later in Sparta that Jonathan was dead, people were deeply grieved. 17 But as soon as they heard that his brother Simon had succeeded him as high priest and was master of the country and the cities in it, 18 they wrote to him on bronze tablets to renew the treaty of friendship and alliance which they had made with his brothers, Judas and Jonathan, 19 and the document was read out before the assembly in Jerusalem.

20 This is the copy of the letter sent by the Spartans:

"The rulers and the city of Sparta to Simon the high priest and to the elders and priests and the rest of the people of the Jews, greetings. 21 The ambassadors whom you sent to our people informed us of your glory and honour, and we were delighted by their visit. 22 We recorded their declarations in the minutes of our public assemblies, as follows, 'Numenius son of Antiochus, and Antipater son of Jason, ambassadors of the Jews, came to us to renew their friendship wit us. 23 And it was the people's pleasure to receive these personages with Honours and to deposit a copy of their statements in the public archives, so that the people of Sparta may preserve a record of them; they also made a copy for Simon the high priest.'"

24 After this Simon sent Numenius to Rome as the bearer of a large gold shield weighing a thousand minas, to confirm the alliance with them.

Official honours decreed for Simon

25 When these events were reported to the people they said, "What mark of appreciation shall we give to Simon and his sons? 26 He stood firm, he and his brothers and his father's House; he fought off the enemies of Israel and secured its freedom." So they recorded an inscription on bronze tablets and set it up on pillars on Mount Zion. 27 This is a copy of the text:

"On the eighteenth of Elul in the year one hundred and seventy-two, which is the third year of Simon the great high priest, in Asaramel, 28 in the grand assembly of priests and people, leaders of the nation and elders of the country, we were notified as follows:

29 'When there was frequent fighting in the country, Simon, son of Mattathias, a scion of the line of Joarib, and his brothers courted danger and withstood the enemies of their nation to safeguard the integrity of their sanctuary and the Law, and so brought their nation great glory. 30 Jonathan rallied his nation and became their high priest, and was then gathered to his people. 31 Their enemies planned to invade their country in order to devastate their territory and lay hands on their sanctuary. 32 Simon then rose to fight for his nation. He spent much of his own wealth on arming the nation's fighting men and providing their pay; 33 he fortified he cities of Judaea and Bethzur on the frontier of Judaea, where the enemy arsenal had formerly been, and stationed there a garrison of Jewish soldiers. 34 He also fortified Joppa on the coast and Gezer on the borders of Azotus, a place formerly inhabited by the enemy; he founded a Jewish settlement there, providing everything they needed to set them on their feet. 35 The people saw Simon's faith and the glory he had resolved to win for his nation; they made him their leader and high priest because of all these achievements of his and the justice and faithfulness he had maintained toward his own nation, and because he sought every means to enhance the honour of his people. 36 In his day and under his guidance they succeeded in rooting out the pagans from their country, including those in the City of David in Jerusalem, who had converted it into a citadel for their own use from which they would sally out to defile the surroundings of the sanctuary and violate its sacred character. 37 He settled Jewish soldiers in it and fortified it as a protection for the country and city, ans heightened the walls of Jerusalem. 38 In consequence of this, King Demetrius confirmed him in the high-priestly office, 39 made him one of his Friends and advanced him to high honours; 40 he had heard that the Romans named the Jews friends, allies and brothers, and that they had given Simon's ambassadors an honourable reception; 41 and further, that the Jews and the priests had agreed that Simon should be their perpetual leader and high priest until a trustworthy prophet should arise; 42 he was also to be their commissioner and to be responsible for the sanctuary and for the appointment of officials to supervise the fabric, to administer the country, and to control the arsenal and fortresses; 43 he was to take charge of the sanctuary, and everyone had to obey him; all official documents in the country were to be drawn up in his name; he was to assume the purple and wear golden ornaments. 44 No member of the public or the priesthood was to be allowed to set aside any one of these articles or contest his decisions, or convene a meeting anywhere in the country without his leave, or assume the purple or wear the golden brooch. 45 Anyone contravening or rejecting any of these articles was to be liable at law. 46 All the people consented to grant Simon the right to act on these decisions. 47 And Simon accepted and consented to assume the high-priestly office and to act as military commissioner and ethnarch of the Jews and their priests, and to preside over all."

48 They ordered that this decree should be inscribed on bronze tablets and set up in the Temple precinct in a prominent place, 49 and that copies should be deposited in the sanctuary, and made available to Simon and his sons.

Antiochus VII recognizes Simon's titles, and besieged Trypho in Dor

15- 1 Antiochs, son of King Demetrius, addressed a letter from the islands of the sea to Simon, priest and ethnarch of the Jews, and the whole nation; 2 this is how it read:

"King Antiochus to Simon, high priest and ethnarch, and to the Jewish nation, greetings. 3 Whereas certain scoundrels have seized control of the kingdom of our fathers, and I propose to claim back the kingdom so that I may re-establish it as it was before, and whereas I have accordingly recruited very large forces and fitted out warships, 4 intending to make a landing in the country and deal with the men who have ruined it and laid waste many towns in my kingdom, 5 now therefore I confirm in your favour all the remissions of tribute that my royal predecessors granted you, with any other concessions that they granted to you. 6 I hereby authorize you to mint your own coinage as legal tender for your own country. 7 I declare Jerusalem and the sanctuary exempt; all the arms you have manufactured and the fortresses you have built and now occupy are to remain yours. 8 All debts to the royal treasury, present or future, shall be cancelled from henceforth in perpetuity. 9 When we have gained possession of our kingdom we will bestow such great honour on yourself, your nation and the Temple as shall exhibit your glory to the whole world."

10 In the year one hundred and seventy-four Antiochus mounted his expedition against the land of his ancestors, and all his troops rallied to him, so that few remained with Trypho. 11 Antiochus pursued the usurper, who took refuge in Dor on the coast, 12 knowing that misfortunes were piling up on him and that his troops had deserted him. 13 Antiochus pitched camp before Dor with a hundred and twenty thousand men and eight thousand cavalry. 14 He laid siege to the city while the ships closed in from the sea, so that he had the city under attack from land and sea, and allowed no one to go in or out.

The ambassadors return from Rome to Judaea; the alliance with Rome proclaimed

15 Meanwhile Numenius and his companions arrived from Rome carrying letters addressed to various kings and sates, in the following terms:

16 "Lucius, consul of the Romans, to King Ptolemy, greetings. 17 The Jewish ambassadors have come to us as our friends and allies to renew our original friendship and alliance i the name of the high priest Simon and the Jewish people. 18 They have brought a gold shield worth a thousand minas. 19 Accordingly we have decided to write to various kings and states, warning them not to molest them nor to attack them or their towns or their country, nor ally themselves with any such aggressors. 20 We have decided to accept the shield from them. 21 If then any scoundrels have fled their country to take refuge with you, hand them over to Simon the high priest to be punished by him according to their law."

22 The consul sent the same letter to King Demetrius, to Attalus, Ariarathes and Arsaces, 23 and to all states, including Sampsames, the Spartans, Delos, Myndos, Sicyon, Caria, Samos, Pamphylia, Lycia, Halicarnassus, Rhodes, Phaselis, Cos, Side, Aradus, Gortyna, nidus, Cyprus and Cyrene. 24 They also drew up a copy for Simon the high priest.

Antiochus VII besieging Dor, becomes hostile to Simon and sends him reprimand

25 Meanwhile Antiochus, from his positions on the outskirts of Dor, was continually throwing detachments against the town. He constructed siege engines, and blockaded Trypho, preventing movement in or out. 26 Simon sent him two thousand picked men to support him in the fight, with silver and gold and plenty of equipment. 27 But Antiohus would not accept them; instead, he repudiated all his previous agreements with Simon, and completely changed his attitude to him. 28 He sent him Athenobius, one of his friends, for an interview at which he was to say, "you are now occupying Joppa and Gezer and the Citadel in Jerusalem, which are towns in my kingdom. 29 You have laid waste their territory and done immense harm to the country; and you have seized many localities belonging to my kingdom. 30 Now either surrender the towns you have taken, with the revenue from the localities you have seized beyond the limits of Judaea, 31 or else pay me five hundred talents of silver in compensation for them and for the destruction you have done, and another hundred talents for the revenues of the towns; otherwise we shall come and make war on you." 32 When Athenobius, one of the Friends of the King, reached Jerusalem and saw Simon's magnificence, his cabinet of gold and silver plate, and his large retinue, he was dumfounded. He delivered the king's message, 33 but Simon gave him this answer, "It is not any foreign land that we have taken, nor any foreign property that we have seized, but the inheritance of our ancestors, for some time unjustly wrested from us by our enemies; 34 now that we have a favourable opportunity, we are merely recovering the inheritance of our ancestors. 35 As for Joppa and Gezer, which you claim, these were towns that did great harm to the people and laid waste the countryside; we are prepared to give a hundred talents for them." Without so much as a word in answer, 36 the envoy went back to the king in a rage and reported on Simon's answer and the magnificence, and on everything he had seen, at which the king fell into a fury.

Cendebaeus, governor of the Littoral, harasses Judaea

37 Trypho now boarded a ship and escapes to Orthosia. 38 The king appointed Cendebaeus commander i chief of the coastal region and allotted him a force of infantry and cavalry. 39 He ordered him to deploy his men facing Judaea, and instructed him to strengthen Kedron and fortify its gates, and to make war on the people, while the king himself went in pursuit of Trypho. 40 Cendebaeus arrived at Jamnia and began to harry the people forthwith, invading Judaea, imprisoning the people and massacring them. 41 He strengthened Kedron and stationed cavalry and troops there to make sorties and patrol the roads of Judaea, as the king had instructed him.

The victory of Simon's sons over Cendebaeus

16- 1 John then went up to Gezer and reported to his father Simon what Cendebaeus was busy doing. 2 At this, Simon summoned his two elder sons, Judas and John, ans said to them, "I and my brothers and my father's House have fought the enemies of Israel from our youth until today; the enterprises we directed have been successful, and many a time we brought Israel deliverance. 3 But now I am an old man, while you, mercifully, are old enough; take my place and my brother's, go out and fight for you nation, and may the support of heaven be with you." 4 Then he selected from the country twenty thousand fighting men and cavalry, and these marched against Cedebaeus, spending the night in Modein. 5 Making an early start, they marched into the plain, to find a large army opposing them, both infantry and cavalry; there was, however, a wadi in between. 6 John drew up facing them, he and his people, and seeing that the men were afraid to cross the wadi he crossed over first himself. When his men saw this, they too crossed after him. 7 He divided his army into two bodies of foot, with the horse in the centre, the enemy's cavalry being very numerous. 8 The trumpets rang out, and Cedebaeus was routed with his army, many of them fell mortally wounded, and the remainder took refuge in the fortress. 9 It was then that Judas, John's brother, was wounded, but John pursued them until Cedebaeus reached Kedron, which he had strengthened. 10 Their fight took them as far as the towers in the countryside of Azotus, and John burned these down. The enemy losses amounted to ten thousand men; John returned safely to Judaea.

Simon's tragic death at Dok. His son John succeeds him

11 Ptolemy son of Abudus had been appointed military commissioner for the plain of Jericho; he owned much silver and gold, 12 and was the high priest's son-in-law. 13 His ambition was fired; he hoped to make himself master of the whole country, and bean to plot the ruin of Simon and his sons. 14 Simon, who was inspecting the towns up and down the country and attending to their administration, had come down to Jericho with his sons Mattathias and Judas, in the year one hundred and seventy-seven, in the eleventh moth, the month of Shebat. 15 The son of Abudus lured them into a small fortress called Dok, which he had built, where he offered them a great banquet, having men concealed about the place. 16 When Simon and his sons were drunk, Ptolemy leaped to his feet with his men, and grasping their weapons, they rushed on Simon in the banqueting hall and killed him with his two sons and some of his servants. 17 So he continued a great act of treachery, and rendered evil for good. 18 Ptolemy wrote a report of the affir and sent it to the king, in the expectation of being sent reinforcements and having the cities and the province made over to him. 19 He sent other men to Gezer to murder John, and sent written orders to the military commanders to come to him so that he could present them with silver and gold and gifts; 20 he also sent others to take possession of Jerusalem and the Temple hill. 21 But someone had been too quick for him and had already informed John in Gezer that his father and brothers had perished, adding, "He is also sending people to kill you too!" 22 Overcome by the news, John arrested the men who had came to kill him and put them to death, since he already knew their murderous design. 23 The rest of John's acts, the battles he fought and the exploits he performed, the city walls he built, and all his other achievements, 24 are to be found recorded in the Annals of his pontificate from the day he succeeded his father as high priest.

1- 1 Greetings to their brothers the Jews in Egypt, from their brothers, the Jews of Jerusalem and in the country of Judaea, and prosperity and peace. 2 May God prosper you, remembering his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, his faithful servants. 3 May he give you all a heart to worship him and to do his will with a generous mind and a willing spirit. 4 May he open your hears to his Law and his precepts, and give you peace. 5 May he hear your prayers and be reconciled with you, and not abandon you in time of evil. 6 Here we are now praying for you. 7 When Demetrius was king, in the year one hundred and sixty-nine, we Jews wrote to you as follows, "In the desperate affliction that has come on us in these years since Jason and his associates betrayed the Holy Land and the kingdom, 8 they burned the Temple gateway and shed innocent blood. Then we prayed to the Lord and were heard; we offered a sacrifice with wheat flour, kindled the lamps and set out the loaves." 9 And we now recommend you to keep the feast of Tabernacles of the month of Chislev. In the year one hundred and eighty-eight.

Address

10 The people of Jerusalem and of Judaea, the senate and Judas, to Aristobulus, tutor to King Ptolemy and o of the family of the anointed priests, and to the Jews in Egypt, greetings and good health.

Thanksgiving for the punishment of Antiochus

11 Since we have been rescued by God from great dangers, we give him great thanks for championing our cause against the king, 12 for it was he who drove out those who had taken up arms against the Holy City. 13 For when their leader reached Persia with seemingly irresistible army, he was cut to pieces in the temple of Nanaea as the result of a ruse employed by the priests who served that goddess. 14 On the pretext of making a marriage with Nanaea, Antiochus came to the place with his friends, intending to take its many treasures as a dowry. 15 The priests of Nanaea had put these on display, and he entered the sacred precincts with a small retinue. As soon as Antiochus was inside they closed the temple, 16 opened the secret door in the ceiling and struck down the leader and his party by hurling stones like thunderbolts. They then dismembered them, cut off their heads and flung them to those outside. 17 Blessed in all things be our God, who has given the godless their deserts!

The miraculous preservation of the sacred fire

18 As we shall be celebrating the purification of the Temple on the twenty-fifth of Chislev, we consider it proper to notify you, so that you may celebrate the feast of Tabernacles and of the fire that appeared when Nehemiah, the builder of the Temple and the Altar, offered sacrifice. 19 For when our ancestors were being deported to Persia the devout priests of the time took some of the fire from the altar and hid it secretly in the hollow of a dry well, where they concealed it in such a way that the place was unknown to anyone. 20 When some years had elapsed, in God's good time, Nehemiah, commissioned by the king of Persia, sent the descendants of the priests who had hidden the fire to recover it; but they notified us that they had found not the fire but a thick liquid, Nehemiah ordered them to draw some out and bring it back. 21 When the materials for the sacrifice had been set out, Nehemiah ordered the priests to pour the liquid over the wood and what lay on it. 22 When this had been done, and when in due course the sun, which had previously been clouded over, shone out, a great fire flared up, to the astonishment of all. 23 While the sacrifice was being burned, the priests and all those present with the priests offered prayer, Jonathan intoning and the rest responding with Nehemiah. 24 The prayer took this form: "Lord, Lord God, creator of all things, dreadful, strong, just, merciful, the only king and benefactor, 25 the only provider, who alone are just, almighty and everlasting, the deliverer of Israel from every evil, who made our fathers your chosen ones and sanctified them, 26 accept this sacrifice on behalf of all your people Israel, and protect your heritage and consecrate it. 27 Bring together those of who are dispersed, set free those in slavery among the heathen, look favourably on those held in contempt or abhorrence, and let the heathen know that you are our God. 28 Punish those who oppress us and affront us by their insolence, 29 and plant your people firmly in your Holy Place, as Moses promised."

30 The priests then chanted hymns. 31 When the sacrifice was all burned, Nehemiah ordered the remaining liquid to e poured over a large stones, 32 and when this was done a flame flared up, to be absorbed in the corresponding blaze of light from the altar. 33 When the matter became known and the king of the Persians heard that in the place where the exiled priests had hidden the fire a liquid had appeared, with which Nehemiah and his people had purified the materials of the sacrifice, 34 the king after verifying the facts, had the place enclosed and pronounced sacred. 35 The king exchanged many valuable presents with those who enjoyed his favour. 36 Nehemiah and his people termed this stuff "nephtar," which means "purification," but it is generally called "naphta."

Jeremiah conceals the tabernacle, ark and altar

2- 1 We find in the archives that the prophet Jeremiah, when he had given the deportees the order to take the fire, as we have described, 2 in giving them the Law warned the deportees never to forget the Lord's precepts, nor to let their thoughts be tempted by the sight of gold and silver or the finery adorning them. 3 Among other similar admonitions he urged them not to let the Law depart from their hearts. 4 The document also described how the prophet, warned by an oracle, gave orders for the tabernacle and the ark to go with him when he set out for the mountains which Moses had climbed to survey God's heritage. 5 On his arrival Jeremiah found a cave dwelling, into which he brought the tabernacle, the ark and the altar of incense, afterward blocking up the entrance. 6 Some of his companions came up to mark out the way, but were unable to find it. 7 When Jeremiah learned this, he reproached them: "The place is to remain unknown." He said, "until God gathers his people together again and shows them mercy. 8 Then the Lord will bring these things once more to light, and the glory of the Lord will be seen, and so will the cloud, as it was revealed in the time of Moses and when Solomon prayed that the Holy Place might be gloriously hallowed." 9 It was also recorded how Solomon in his wisdom offered the sacrifice of the dedication and completion of the sanctuary. 10 As Moses had prayed to the Lord and fire had come down from heaven and burned up the sacrifice, so Solomon also prayed, and the fire from above burned up the holocausts. 11 Moses had said, "It is because it had not been eaten that the sin offering was burned up." 12 Solomon kept the feast in the same way for eight days.

Nehemiah's library

13 In addition to the above, it was also recorded, both in the archives and in the Memoirs of Nehemiah, how he founded a library and made a collection of the books dealing with the kings and the prophets, the writings of David and the letters of the kings on the subject of offerings. 14 In the same way Judas made a complete collection of the books dispersed in the late war, and these we still have. 15 If you need any of them, send someone to fetch copies for you.

An invitation to the dedication

16 To conclude, since we are now about to celebrate the purification of the Temple, we are writing to you requesting you to observe the same days. 17 God, who has saved his whole people, conferring on all the heritage, kingdom, priesthood and sanctification 18 as he promised through the Law, will surely, as our hope is in him, be swift to show us mercy and gather us together from everywhere under heaven to the Holy Place, since he has rescued us from great evils and has purified the Temple.

19 The story of Judas Maccabaeus and his brothers, the purification of the great Temple, the dedication of the altar, 20 together with the wars against Antiochus Epiphanes and his son Eupator, 21 and the manifestations from heaven that came to hearten the brave champions of Judaism, so that, few though they were , they despoiled the whole country, routed the barbarian hordes, 22 recovered the sanctuary renowned the whole world over, liberated the city and re-established the laws which were all but abolished, the Lord showing his favour by all his glorious help to them - 23 all this, already related in five books by Jason of Cyrene, we shall attempt to condense into a single digest. 24 Considering the spate of figures and the difficulty encountered, because of the mass of material, by those who wish to immerse themselves in historical records, 25 we have aimed at providing diversion for those who merely want something to read, a saving of labour for those who enjoy committing things to memory, and profit for each and all. 26 For us who have undertaken the drudgery of this abridgement, this has been no easy task but a matter of sweat and midnight oil, 27 comparable to the exacting task of a man organizing a banquet, whose aim is to satisfy a variety of tastes; nevertheless, for the sake of rendering a general service we remain glad to endure this drudgery, 28 leaving accuracy of detail to the historian and concentrating our effort on tracing the outlines in this condensed version. 29 Just as the architect of a new house is responsible for the construction as a whole, while the man undertaking the ceramic painting is responsible for estimating the decorative requirements, so, I think, it is with us. 30 To make the subject his own, to explore its byways, to be meticulous about details, is the business of the original historian, 31 but the man making the adaptation must be allowed to aim at conciseness of expression and to forgo any exhaustive treatment of his subject.

32 So now let us begin our narrative, without adding any more to what has bee said above; there would be no sense in expanding the preface to the history and curtailing the history itself.

The arrival of Heliodorus i Jerusalem

3- 1 While the Holy City was inhabited in all peace and the laws observed as perfectly as possible, through the piety of Onias the high priest and his hatred of wickedness, 2 it came about that the kings themselves honoured the Holy Place and enhanced the glory of the Temple with most splendid offerings, 3 even to the extent that Seleucus king of Asia defrayed from his own revenues all the expenses arising out of the sacrificial services. 4 But a certain Simon, of the tribe of Bilgah, on being appointed administrator of the Temple, came into conflict with the high priest over the regulation of the city markets. 5 Unable to get the better of Onias, he went off to Apollonius of Tarsus, who at that time was military commissioner for Coele-Syria and Phoenicia, 6 and made out to him that the Treasury in Jerusalem was groaning with untold wealth, that the amount contributed was incalculable and out of all proportion to expenditure on the sacrifice, but that it could all be brought under control of the king. 7 Apollonius met the king and told him about the wealth that had been disclosed to him; whereupon the king selected Heliodorus, his chancellor, and sent him with instructions to effect the removal of the reported wealth. 8 Heliodorus lost no time in setting out, ostensibly to inspect the towns of Coele-Syria and Phoenicia, but in fact to accomplish the king's purpose. 9 On his arrival in Jerusalem, and after a hospitable reception from the high priest and the city, he announced what had been disclosed, thus revealing the reason for his presence, and asked if tis was indeed the true situation. 10 The high priest explained that there were funds set aside for widows and orphans, 11 with some belonging to Hyrcanus son of Tobias, a man occupying a very exalted position, and that the hundred talents of silver and two hundred of gold. 12 He added also that it was entirely out of question that an injustice should be done to those who had put their trust in the sanctity of the place and the inviolable majesty of a Temple venerated throughout the entire world.

Consternation in Jerusalem

13 But Heliodorus, because of his instructions from the king, peremptorily insisted that the funds must be confiscated for the royal exchequer 14 Fixing a day for the purpose, he went in to draw up an inventory of the funds. There was consternation throughout the city; 15 the priests in their sacred vestments prostrated themselves before the altar and called upon heaven, the author of the law governing deposits, to preserve these funds intact for the depositors. 16 The appearance of the high priest was enough to pierce the heart of the beholder, his expression and his altered colour betraying the anguish of his soul; 17 the man was so overwhelmed by fear and bodily trembling that those who saw him could not possibly mistake the distress he was suffering. 18 People rushed headlong from the houses intent o making public supplication because of the indignity threatening the Holy Place. 19 Women thronged the streets swathed in sackcloth below their breasts; girls secluded indoors ran together, some to te doorways, some to the city walls, while others leaned out of the windows, 20 all stretching out their hands to heaven in entreaty. 21 It was pitiful to see the people crowding together to prostrate themselves and the foreboding of the high priest in his deep anguish. 22 While they were calling on the all-powerful Lord to preserve the deposits intact for the depositors, in full security, 23 Heliodorus carried on with his appointed task.

The punishment of Heliodorus

24 He had already arrived with a bodyguard near the treasury, when the Sovereign of spirits and of every power caused so great an apparition that all who had dared to accompany Heliodorus were dumfounded at the power of God, and were reduced to abject terror. 25 Before their eyes appeared a horse richly caparisoned and carrying a fearsome rider. Rearing violently, it struck at Heliodorus with his forefeet. The rider was seen to be accoutred entirely in gold. 26 Two other young men of outstanding strength and radiant beauty, magnificently apparelled, appeared to him at the same time, and taking a stand on either side of him flogged him unremittingly, inflicting stroke after stroke. 27 Suddenly Heliodorus fell to the ground, enveloped in thick darkness. His men came to his rescue and placed him in a litter, 28 this man who but a moment before had made his way into the Treasury, as we said above, with a great retinue and his whole bodyguard; and as they carried him away, powerless to help himself, they openly acknowledge the sovereign power of Gd.

29 While Heliodorus lay prostrate under the divine visitation, speechless and bereft of all hope of deliverance, 30 the Jews blessed the Lord who had miraculously glorified his own Holy Place. And the Temple, which a little while before had been filled with terror and commotion, now overflowed with joy and gladness at the manifestation of the almighty Lord. 31 Some of Heliodorus companions quickly begged Onias to call upon the Most High, to bestow life on a man lying at the very point of death.

32 The high priest, afraid that the king might suspect the Jews of some foul play concerning Heliodorus, did indeed offer a sacrifice for the man's recovery. 33 And whl the high priest was performing the rite of atonement, the same young men again appeared to Heliodorus wearing the same apparel, and standing beside him said, "Be very grateful to Onias the high priest, since it is for his sake that the Lord has granted you your life. 34 As for you, who have been scourged from heaven, you must proclaim to all men the grandeur of God's power." So saying, they vanished.

The conversion of Heliodorus

35 Heliodorus offered sacrifice to the Lord and made most solemn vows to the preserver of his life, and then took courteous leave of Onias and marched his forces back to the king. 36 He openly testified to all men of the works of the supreme God which he had seen with his own eyes. 37 When the king ask Heliodorus what sort of man would be the right person to send to Jerusalem on a second occasion, he replied, 38 "If you have some enemy or a rebel against the government, send him there, and you will get him back well flogged, if he survive at all, for there is certainly some peculiar power of God about that place. 39 He who has his dwelling in heaven watches over the place and defends it, and he strikes down and destroys those who come to harm it." 40 This was the outcome of the affair of Heliodorus and the preservation of he Treasury.

The misdeeds of Simon, administrator of the Temple

4- 1 The Simon mentioned above as the informer against the funds and his own country began to slander Onias, insinuating that it was the high priest who had treated Heliodorus so harshly and had himself contrived these starting events. 2 Simon now had the effrontery to name this benefactor of the city, this protector of his compatriots, this zealot for the law, as an enemy of the public good. 3 This hostility reached such proportions that murders were actually committed by some of Simon's agents, 4 and at this point Onias, recognizing how mischievous this rivalry was, and aware that Apollonius son of Menestheus, military commissioner for Coele-Syria and Phoenicia, was encouraging Simon in his malice, 5 went to see the king, not to play the accuser of his fellow citizens, but having the public and private welfare of the entire people at heart. 6 He saw that without some intervention by the king and orderly administration would no longer be possible, nor would Simon be forced to put a stop to his folly.

Jason, the high priest, introduces Hellenism

7 When Seleucus had departed this life and Antiochus styled Epiphanes had succeeded to the kingdom, Jason, brother of Onias, usurped the high priesthood by underhand methods; 8 he approached the king with a promise of three hundred and sixty talents of silver, with eighty talents to come from some other source of revenue. 9 He further committed himself to guarantee another hundred and fifty if he was allowed to use his authority to establish a gymnasium and a youth centre, and to enroll men in Jerusalem as Antiochists. 10 When the king gave his ascent, Jason set about introducing his fellow countrymen to the Greek way of life as soon as he was in power. 11 He suppressed the existing royal concessions to the Jews, granted at the instance of John, father of that Eupolemus who was later to be sent on the embassy and alliance with the Romans, and, overthrowing the lawful institutions, introduced new usages contrary to the Law. 12 He went so far as to plant a gymnasium at the very foot of the Citadel, and to fit out the noblest of his cadets in the petasos. 13 Godless wretch that he was and no true high priest, Jason set no bounds to his impiety; indeed the Hellenizing process reached such a pitch 14 that the priests ceased to show any interest in the service of the altar; scorning the temple and neglecting the sacrifices, they would hurry to take part in the unlawful exercises on the training ground as soon as the signal was given for the discus. 15 They disdained all that their ancestors had esteemed, and set the highest value on Hellenic honours. 16 But all this brought its own retribution; the very people whose way of life they envied, whom they sought to resemble in everything, proved to be their enemies and executioners. 17 It is no small thing to violate the divine laws, as the period that followed will demonstrate.

18 On the occasion of the quinquennial games at Tyre in the presence of the king, 19 the vile Jason sent some Antiochists from Jerusalem as official spectators; these brought wit them three hundred drachmae for the sacrifice to Hercules. But even those who brought the money thought it should not be spent on the sacrifice - this would not be right - and decided to reserve it for some other item of expenditure; 20 and sow what the sender had intended for the sacrifice to Hercules was in fact applied, at te suggestion of those who brought it, to the construction of triremes.

Antiochus Epiphanes is acclaimed in Jerusalem

21 Apollonius son of Menestheus had been sent to Egypt to attend the enthronement of the King Philometor. Learning that the king had become hostile to his policies, Antiochus began to think of his own safety; and so he left Joppa and moved to Jerusalem. 22 He was given a magnificent welcome by Jason and the city, and was received with torches and acclamations, following this, he withdrew his army to Phoenicia.

Menelaus becomes high priest

23 When three years had passed, Jason sent Menelaus, brother of the Simon mentioned above, to convey the money to the king and get his decision on various essential matters made effective. 24 But Menelaus, on being presented to the king, flattered him by his own appearance of authority, and so secured the high priesthood for himself, outbidding Jason by three hundred talents of silver. 25 He returned with the royal mandate, bringing nothing worthy of the high priesthood and supported only by the fury of a cruel tyrant and the rage of a savage beast. 26 Thus Jason, who had supplanted his own brother, was in turn supplanted by a third, and obliged to take refuge in Ammonite territory. 27 As for Menelaus, he retained his high office, but he defaulted altogether on the sums promised to the king, 28 although Sostratus, the commander of the Citadel whose business it was to collect the revenue, kept demanding payment. The pair of them in consequence were summoned before the king. 29 Menelaus leaving his brother Lysimachus as deputy high priest, while Sostratus left Crates, the commander of the Cypriots, to act for him.

The murder of Onias

30 While all this was going on, it happened that the people of Tarsus and Mallus revolted, because their towns had been given as a present to Antiochis, the king's concubine. 31 The king therefore hurried off to settle the affair, leaving Andronicus, one of his dignitaries, to act as his deputy. 32 Thinking he had found a favourable opportunity, Menelaus abstracted a number of golden vessels from the Temple and presented them to Andronicus, an managed to sell others to Tyre and surrounding cities. 33 On receiving clear evidence to this effect, Onias retired to a place of sanctuary at Daphne near Antioch and then taxed him with it. 34 Thereupon Menelaus, taking Andronicus side, urged him to murder Onias. Andronicus sought Onias and, after deceitfully reassuring him by offering him his right hand on oath, succeeded in persuading him, in spite of his lingering suspicions, to leave the sanctuary; whereupon he immediately put him to death, in defiance of all justice. 35 The result was not only the Jews but many of the other nations were appalled and indignant at this impious murder.

36 On the king's return from the region of Cilicia, the Jews of the capital, and those Greeks who shared their hatred of the crime, appealed to him about the insensate murder of Onias. 37 Antiochus was grieved and filled with pity, and he wept for the prudence and great moderation of the dead man. 38 His indignation was roused, and immediately stripped Andronicus of the purple, tore his garments off him, and, parading him through the length of the city, rid the world of the assassin on the very spot where he had laid impious hands on Onias, the Lord dealing out to him the punishment he deserved.

Lysimachus killed in an insurrection

39 Now Lysimachus, with the connivance of Menelaus, had committed many sacrilegious thefts in the city, and when the facts had come widely known, the populace rose against Lysimachus, who had already disposed of many pieces of gold plate. 40 The infuriated mob was becoming menacing, and Lysimachs armed nearly three thousand men and took aggressive action; the troops were led by a certain Auranus, a man advanced in years and no less in folly. 41 Recognizing this act of aggression as the work of Lysimachus, some snatched up stones, others cudgels, whileothers scooped up handfuls of ashes lying at hand, and hurled everything indiscriminately at Lysimachus' men, 42 to such effect that they wounded many of them, even killing a few, and routed them all; the Temple robber himself they killed outside the treasury.

Menelaus buys his acquittal

43 As a result of this, legal proceedings were taken against Menelaus. 44 When the king came down to Tyre, the three men sent by the elders maintained the justice of their case in his presence. 45 Menelaus, seeing he was already defeated, promised a substantial sum to Ptolemy son of Dorymenes if he would influence the king in his favour. 46 Ptolemy then took the king aside into a colonnade for some fresh air, and persuaded him to change his mind; 47 the king actually dismissed the charges against Menelaus, the cause of all this evil, while he condemned to death the other poor wretches who, had they pleaded before even Scythians, would have been let off scot free. 48 No time was lost in carrying out this unjust punishment on those who had championed the cause of the city, the rural communities and the sacred vessels. 49 Some Tyrians even were so outraged by the crime that they provided sumptuously for their funeral, 50 while as a result of the greed of those in high places Menelaus retained his high office, growing in wickedness and establishing himself as the chief enemy of his fellow citizens.

Menelaus and Jason

5- 1 About this time Antiochus undertook his second expedition against Egypt. 2 It then happened that all over the city for nearly forty days there were apparition of horsemen galloping through the air, in cloth of gold, troops of lancers fully armed, 3 squadrons of cavalry in order of battle, attacks and charges this way and that, a flourish of shields, a forest of pikes, brandishing of swords, hurling of missiles, a glitter of golden accoutrements and armour of all kinds. 4 So everyone prayed that this manifestation might prove a good omen.

5 Then on the strength of a false report that Antiochus was dead, Jason took at least a thousand men and launched an unexpected attack on the city. The troops manning the wall were forced back, and Menelaus, with the city all but captured, took refuge in the Citadel, 6 Jason, however, was still making a pitiless slaughter of his own citizens, not stopping to consider that success against his own countrymen was the greatest of disasters, but picturing himself as setting up trophies won from some enemy, not from his own flesh and blood. 7 Even so, he did not succeed in seizing power; in the end his conspiracy brought him nothing but disgrace, and once again he took refuge in Ammonite territory. 8 His career of wickedness was thus brought to a halt. Kept under restraint by Aretas the Arab despot, fleeing from town to town, the quarry of all men, hated as a rebel against the laws, abhorred as the butcher of his country and his countrymen, he drifted to Egypt, 9 and at last this man, who had exiled so many from their fatherland, himself perished on foreign soil, having travelled to Sparta in the hope that for kinship's sake they might harbour him. 10 So many carcasses he had thrust out to lie unburied; now himself had none to mourn him, no funeral rites, no place in the tomb of his ancestors.

Antiochus Epiphanes plunders the Temple

11 When the king came to hear what had happened, he concluded that Judaea was in revolt. He therefore marched from Egypt, raging like a wild beast, and began by storming the city. 12 He then ordered his soldiers to cut down without mercy everyone they encountered, and to butcher all who took refuge in their houses. 13 It was a massacre of young and old, a slaughter of women and children, a butchery of virgins and infants. 14 There were eighty thousand victims in the course of those three days, forty thousand dying by violence and as many again being sold into slavery. 15 Not satisfied with this, he had the audacity to enter the holiest Temple in the entire world, Menelaus, that traitor to the laws and to his country, acting as his guide; 16 with his unclean hands swept away what other kings had presented for the advancement, the glory and the honour of the place. 17 Antiocus, so much above himself, did not realize that the Lord was angry for the moment at te sins of the inhabitants of the city, hence his unconcern for the Holy Place. 18 Had it not happened that they were entangled in many sins, Antiochus too, like Heliodorus when King Seleucus sent him to inspect the Treasury, would have been flogged the moment he arrived and checked in his presumption. 19 However, the Lord had not chosen the people for the sake of the place, but the place for the sake of the people; 20 and so the place itself, having shared the disasters that befell the people, in due course also shared their good fortune; forsaken by the Almighty in the time of his anger, it was reinstated in all its glory, once the great Sovereign had been reconciled.

High commissioners in Judaea

21 Antiochus went off with eighteen talents he had stolen from the Temple, and hurried back to Antioch; in his arrogance he would have undertaken to make the dry land navigable and the sea passable on foot, so high his ambition soared. 22 But he left high commissioners to plague the nation: in Jerusalem, Philip, a Phrygian by race, and by nature more barbarous than the man who appointed him; 23 on Mount Gerizim, Andronicus; and besides these Menelaus, who lorded it over his countrymen worse than all the others. In his rooted hostility to the Jews, 24 the king also sent the mysarch Apollonius at the head of an army twenty-two thousand strong, with orders to put to death all men in their prime and to sell women and children. 25 Arriving in Jerusalem and posing as a man of peace, this men waited until the holy day of the sabbath and then, taking advantage of the Jews as they rested from work, ordered his men to parade fully armed; 26 all those who came out to watch he put to the sword; then, running through the city with his armed troops, he cut down an immense number of people.

27 Judas called Maccabaeus, however, with about nine others, withdrew into the wilderness, and lived like wild animals in the hills with is companions, eating nothing but wild plants to avoid contracting defilement.

Pagan cult imposed

6- 1 Shortly afterward, the king sent an old man from Athens to compel the Jews to abandon their ancestral customs and live no longer by the laws of God; 2 and to profane the Temple in Jerusalem and dedicate it to Olympian Zeus, and that Mount Gerizim to Zeus, patron of strangers, as the inhabitants had requested. 3 The imposition of this evil was oppressive and altogether intolerable. 4 The Temple was filled with revelling and debauchery by pagans, who took their pleasure with prostitutes and had intercourse with women in the sacred precincts, introducing other indecencies besides. 5 The altar of sacrifice was loaded wit victims proscribed by he laws as unclean. 6 A man might neither keep the sabbath nor observe the traditional feasts, nor so much as admit to being a Jew. 7 People were driven to harsh compulsion to eat the sacrificial entrails at the monthly celebration of the king's birthday; and when the feast of Dionysus occurred they were forced to wear ivy wreaths and walk in the Dionysiac procession. 8 A decree was issued at the instance of the people of Ptolemais for the neighbouring Greek cities, enforcing he same conduct on the Jews there, obliging them to share in the sacrificial meals, 9 and ordering the execution of these who would not voluntarily conform to Greek customs. So it became clear that disaster was imminent.

10 For example, there were two women charged with having circumcised their children. They were paraded publicly around the town, with their babies hung at their breast, and then hurled over the city wall. 11 Other people who had assembled in the caves to keep the seventh day with attracting attention were denounced to Philip and all burned together, since their conscience would not allow them to defend themselves, out of respect for the holiness of the day.

Providential interpretation of the persecution

12 Now I urge anyone who may read this book not to be dismayed at these calamities, but to reflect that such visitations are not intended to destroy our race but to discipline it. 13 Indeed when evildoers are not left for log to their own devices but incur swift retribution, it is a sign of great benevolence. 14 In the case of the other nations the Master waits patiently for them to attain the full measure of their sins before he punishes them, but with us he has decided to deal differently, 15 rather than have to punish us later, when our sins come to a head. 16 And so he never entirely withdraws his mercy from us; he may discipline us by some disaster, but he does not desert his own people. 17 Let this be said simply by way of reminder; we must return to our story without more ado.

The martyrdom of Eleazar

18 Eleazar, one of the foremost teachers of the Law, a man already advanced in years and of most noble appearance, was being forced to open his mouth wide to swallow pig's flesh. 19 But he, resolving to die with honour rather than to live disgraced, went to the bloc of his own accord, 20 spitting the stuff out, the plain duty of anyone with the courage to reject what it is not lawful to taste, even from a natural tenderness for his own life. 21 Those in charge of the impious banquet, because of their long-standing friendship with him, took him aside and privately urged him to ave meat brought of a kind he could properly use, prepared by himself, and only pretend to eat the portions of sacrificial meat as prescribed by the king; 22 This action would enable him to escape death, by availing himself of an act of kindness prompted by their long friendship. 23 But having taken a noble decision worthy of his years and dignity of his great age and the well-earned distinction of his grey hairs worthy too of hi impeccable conduct from boyhood, and above all the holy legislation established by God himself, he publicly stated his convictions, telling them to send him at once to Hades. 24 "Such pretence," he said, "does no square with our time of life; many young people would suppose that Eleazar at the age of ninety had conformed to the foreigners' way of life, 25 and because I had played this part for the sake of a paltry brief spell of life might themselves be led astray on my account; I should only bring defilement and disgrace on my old age. 26 Even though for the moment I avoid execution by man, I an never, living or dead, elude the grasp of the Almighty. 27 Therefore if I am man enough to quit this life here and now I shall prove myself worthy of my old age, 28 and I shall have left the young a noble example of how to make a good death, eagerly and generously, for the venerable and holy laws."

With these words he went straight to the block. 29 His escort, so recently well disposed toward him, turned against him after this declaration, which they regarded as shear madness. 30 Just before he died under the blows, he groaned aloud and said, "The Lord whose knowledge is holy sees clearly hat, though I might have escaped death, whatever agonies of body I now endure under this bludgeoning, in my soul I am glad to suffer, because of the awe which he inspires in me."

31 This was how he died, leaving his death as an example of nobility and a record of virtue not only for the young but for the great majority of the nation.

The martyrdom of the seven brothers

7- 1 There were also seven brothers who arrested with their mother. He king tried to force them to taste pig's flesh, which he Law forbids, by torturing them with whips and scourges. 2 One of them, acting as spokesman for the others, said, "What are you trying to find out from us? We are prepared to die rather than break the laws of our ancestors." 3 The king, in a fury, ordered pans and caldrons to be heated over a fire. 4 As soon as they were red-hot he commanded that this spokesman of theirs should have his tongue cut out, his head scalped and his extremities cut off, while the other brothers and his mother looked on. 5 When he had been rendered completely helpless, the king gave orders for him to be brought, still breathing, to the fire and fried alive in a pan. As he smoke from the pan drifted about, his mother and the rest encouraged one another to die nobly, wit such words as these, 6 "The Lord God is watching, and surely he takes pity on us, as in the song in which Moses bore witness against the people to their face, proclaiming that he will certainly take pity on his servants.'"

7 When the first had left the world in this way, they led on the second for their brutal amusement. After stripping the skin from his head, hair and all, they asked him, "Will you eat, before your body is tortured limb by limb?" 8 but he retorted in the language of his ancestors, "Never!" And so he too was put to the torture in his turn. 9 With his last breath he exclaimed, "Inhuman fiend, you may discharge us fro this present life, but the King of the world will raise us up, since it is foe his laws that we die, to live again for ever."

10 After him, they amused themselves with the third, who on being asked for his tongue promptly thrust it out boldly held out his hands, 11 with these honourable words, "It was to heaven that gave me these limbs; for the sake of his laws I disdain them; from him I hope to receive them again." 12 The king an his attendants were astonished at the young man's courage and his utter indifference to suffering.

13 When this one was dead they subjected the fourth to the same savage torture. 14 When he neared his end he cried, "Our is the better choice, to meet death at men's hands, yet relying on God's promise that we shall be raised up by him; whereas for you there can be no resurrection, no new life."

15 Next they brought forward the fifth and began torturing him. 16 But he looked at the king and said, "You have power over men, mortal as you are, and can act as you please. But do not think that our race has been deserted by God. 17 Only wait, and you shall see in your turn how his mighty power will torment you and your race."

18 After him they led out the sixth, and his dying words were these, "Do not delude yourself: we are suffering like this through our own fault, having sinned against our own God; the result has been terrible, 19 but do not think you yourself will go unpunished for attempting to make war on God."

20 But the mother was especially admirable and worthy of honourable remembrance, for she watched the death of seven sons i the course of a single day, and endured it resolutely because of her hopes in the Lord. 21 Indeed she encouraged each of them in the language of their ancestors; filled wit noble conviction, she reinforced her womanly argument with many courage, saying to them, 22 "I do not know how you appeared in my womb; it was not I who endowed you with breath and life, I had not the shaping of your every part. 23 It is the creator of the world, ordaining the process of man's birth and presiding over the origin of all things, who in his mercy will most surely give you back both breath and life, seeing that you now despise your own existence for the sake of his laws."

24 Antiochus thought he was ridiculed, suspecting insult i the tone of her voice; and as the youngest was still alive he appealed to him not with mere words but with promises on oath to make him both rich and happy if he would abandon the traditions of his ancestors; he would make him his Friend and entrust him with public office. 25 The young man took no notice at all, and so the king then appealed to the mother, urging her to advise the youth to save his life. 26 After a great deal of urging on his part she agreed to try persuasion on her son. 27 Bending over him, she fooled the cruel tyrant with these words, uttered in the language of their ancestors. "My son, have pity on me; I carried you nine months in my womb and suckled you for three years, fed you and reared you to the age you are now (and cherished you). 28 I implore you, my child, observe heaven and earth, consider all that is in them, and acknowledge that God made them out of what did not exist, and that mankind comes into being in the same way. 29 Do not fear this executioner, but prove yourself worthy of your brothers, and make death welcome, so that in the day of mercy I may receive you back in your brothers' company."

30 She had scarcely ended when the young man said, "What are you all waiting for? I will not comply with the king's ordinance; I obey the ordinance of the Law given to our ancestors through Moses. 31 s for you, sir, who have contrived every kind of evil against the Hebrews, you will certainly not escape the hands of God. 32 We are suffering for our own sins; 33 and if, to punish and discipline us, our living Lord vents his wrath upon us, he will yet be reconciled with his own servants. 34 But you, unholy wretch, bloodiest villain of all mankind, do not be carried away with senseless elation, crowing with false confidence as you raise your hand against his servants, 35 for you have not yet escaped the judgment of God the almighty, the all-seeing. 36 Our brothers already, after enduring their brief pain, now drink of ever-flowing life, by virtue of God's covenant, while you, by God's judgment, will have to pay the just penalty for your arrogance. 37 I too, like my brothers, surrender my body and life for the laws of my ancestors, calling on God to show his kindness to our nation and that soon, and by trials and afflictions to bring you to confess that he alone is God, 38 so that with my brothers and myself there may be an end to the wrath of the Almighty, rightly let loose on our whole nation."

39 The king fell into a rage and treated this one more cruelly than the others, for hee was himself smarting from the young man's scorn. 40 And so the last brother met is end undefiled and with perfect trust in the Lord. 41 The mother was the last to die, after her sons.

42 But let this be sufficient account of the ritual meals and excessive torments.

Judas Maccabaeus and the resistance

8- 1 Judas Maccabaeus and his companions made their way secretly among the villages, rallying their kinfolk; they recruited those who remained loyal to Judaism, and assembled about six thousand. 2 They called upon the Lord to have regard for the people oppressed on all sides, to take pity on the Temple profaned by the godless, 3 to have mercy on the city falling into ruin and nearly levelled to the ground, to hear the blood of the victims that cried aloud to him, 4 to remember the criminal slaughter of innocent babies and to avenge the blasphemies perpetrated against his name. 5 As soon as Maccabaeus had an organized force he at once proved invincible to the pagans, the Lord's anger having turned into compassion. 6 Making surprise attacks on towns and villages, he fired them; he captured favourable positions and inflicted a number of reverses on the country, 7 generally availing himself of the cover of night for such enterprises. The fame of his valour spread far and wide.

Early exploits

8 When Philip saw Judas was making steady progress and winning more and more frequent success, he wrote to Ptolemy, the military commissioner for Coele-Syria and Phoenicia, asking for reinforcements in the royal interest. 9 Ptolemy appointed Nicanor son of Patroclus, one the king's First Friends, and sent him without delay at the head of an international force of at least twenty thousand men, to exterminate the entire Jewish race. As his associate he appointed Gorgias, as professional general of wide military experience. 10 Nicanor determined to raise the two thousand talents of tribute money owed by the king to the Romans, by the sale of Jewish prisoners of war. 11 He lost no time in sending the seaboard towns an invitation to come and by Jewish manpower, promising delivery of ninety head for one talent; but he did not reckon on the judgment from the Almighty that was soon to overtake him.

12 hen news reached Judas of Nicanor's advance, he warned his men of the enemy's approach, 13 whereupon the fainthearted and those who lacked confidence in the justice of God took to their heels and ran away. 14 The rest sold all their remaining possessions, at the same time praying the Lord to deliver them from the godless Nicanor, who had sold them even in advance of any encounter - 15 if not for their own sakes, then at least out of consideration for the covenant made with their ancestors, and because they themselves bore the sacred and majestic name.

16 Maccabaeus marshalled his men, who numbered about six thousand, and exhorted them not to be dismayed at the enemy or discourage at the vast horde of pagans wickedly advancing against them, but to fight bravely, 17 keeping before their eyes the criminal outrage inflicted by these men on the Holy Place, and the agony of the humiliated city, not to mention the destruction of their traditional way of life. 18 "They may put their trust in their weapons and their exploits," he said, "but our confidence is in almighty God, who is able with a nod to overthrow both those marching on us and the whole world with them." 19 He reminded them of the occasions on which their forebears had received help; that time when, under Sennacherib, a hundred and eighty-five thousand men had perished; 20 that time in Babylonia when in the battle with the Galatians the Jewish combatants numbered eight thousand and four thousand Macedonians, yet when the Macedonians were hard pressed, the eight thousand wiped out a hundred and twenty thousand because of the help they received from heaven, and won incalculable gains.

21 Having so roused their courage by these words that they were ready to die for the laws and their country, he then divided his army roughly into four, 22 putting his brothers, Simon, Joseph and Jonathan in command of one division each, and assigning them fifteen hundred men apiece. 23 Next, he ordered Esdrias to read the sacred book aloud, and gave them their watchword, "Help from God"; 24 then he put himself at the head of the first division and joined battle with Nicanor. 25 With the Almighty for their ally, they slaughtered over nine thousand of the enemy, wounded and crippled the greater part of Nicanor's army and put them all to flight. 25 The money of their prospective purchasers fell into their hands. After pursuing them for a good while, they turned back, since time was pressing: 26 it was the eve of the sabbath, and for that reason they did not prolong their pursuit. 27 They collected the enemy's weapons and stripped them of their spoils, and then celebrated the sabbath with heartfelt praise and thanks to the Lord, who had reserved that day for distilling on them the first dew of his mercy. 28 When the sabbath was over they distributed some of the booty among the victims of the persecution and the widows and orphans; the rest they divided among themselves and their children. They then joined in public supplication, imploring themercyful Lord to be fully reconciled with his servants.

The defeat of Timotheus and Bacchides

30 They also challenged the forces of Timotheus and Bacchides and wiped out over twenty thousand of them, gaining possession of several high fortresses. They divided their enormous booty into two equal shares, one for themselves, the other for the victims of the persecution and the orphans and widows, not forgetting the aged. 31 They carefully collected the enemy's weapons and stored them in convenient places. The rest of the spoils they took to Jerusalem. 32 They killed the officer commanding Timotheus' bodyguard, an extremely wicked man who had done great harm to the Jews. 33 In the course of their victory celebrations in Jerusalem they burned the men that had fired the holy gates, who with Callisthenes had taken refuge in one small house; so these received a fitting reward for the sacrilege.

The fight and testimony of Nicanor

34 The triple-dyed scoundrel Nicanor, who had brought the thousand merchants to buy the Jews, 35 finding himself humbled, with the Lord's help, by men he had himself reckoned as of very little account, stripped off his robes of state, andmade his way across country unaccompanied, like a runaway slave, reaching Antioch by a singular stroke of fortune, considering that his army was destroyed. 36 Thus the man who had promised the Romans to make good their tribute money by selling the prisoners from Jerusalem testified that the Jews had a defender, and that on this account the Jews were invulnerable, because they followed the laws which that defender had ordained.

The last days of Antiochus Epiphanes

9- 1 About that time, as it happened, Antiochus had retreated in disorder from the country of Persia. 2 He had entered the city called Persepolis, planning to rob the temple and occupy the city; but the population at once sprang to arms to defend themselves, with the result that Antiochus was routed by the inhabitants and forced to beat a humiliating retreat. 3 On his arrival in Esbatana he learned what had happened to Nicador and to Timotheus's forces. 4 Fluing into a passion, he resolved to make the Jews pay for the disgrace inflicted by those who had routed him, and with this in mind he ordered his charioteer to drive without stopping and get the journey over. But the condemnation of heaven travelled with him. He had said in his pride, "When I reach Jerusalem I will turn it into a mass grave for the Jews." 5 But the all-seeing Lord, the God of Israel, struck him with incurable and unseen complaint. The words were hardly out of his mouth when he was seized with an incurable pain i his bowels and with excruciating internal torture; 6 and this was only right, since he had inflicted many barbaric tortures on the bowels of others. 7 Even so he in no way diminished his arrogance; still bursting with pride, breathing fire in his wrath against the Jews, he was in the act of ordering an even keener pace when suddenly hurtled from his chariot, and the violence of his headlong fall racked every bone in his body. 8 He who only a little while before had thought in his superhuman boastfulness to command the waves of the sea,, he who imagined he could weigh mountain peaks in a balance, found himself flat on the ground, borne in a litter, a visible demonstration to all of the power of God, 9 in that the very eyes of this godless man teemed with worms and his flesh rotted away while he lingered on in agonizing pain, and the stench of his decay sickened the whole army. 10 A short while beforehand he had thought to grasp the stars of heaven; now no one could bring himself to act as his bearer, for the stench was unbearable.

11 In consequence he began there and then, in his shattered state, to shed his excessive pride and to come to his senses under the divine lash, for he was tormented with pain all the time. 12 His stench became unendurable even to himself, and he exclaimed, "It is right to submit to God; no mortal should aspire to equality with the godhead." 13 The wretch began to pray to the Master, who would never take pity on him now, declaring 14 that the Holy City, toward which he had been speeding to raze it into a mass grave, should be declared free; 15 as for the Jews, whom he had considered as not even worth burying, so much carrion to be thrown out with their children for birds and beasts to prey on, he would make them all equals of the citizens of Athens; 16 the holy Temple which he had once plundered he would now adorn with the finest offerings; he would restore all the sacred vessels many times over; he would defray from his personal revenue the expenses incurred for the sacrifices; 17 and to crown it all he would himself turn Jew and visit avery place where men lived, proclaiming the power of God.

Antiochus writes to the Jews

18 Finding no respite at all from his suffering, because God had punished him with his righteous sentence, he abandoned all hope for himself and wrote the Jews a letter transcribed below, which takes the form of an appeal in these terms:

19 "To the excellent Jews his citizens, Antiochus, king and commander in chief, sends hearty greetings, wishing them all health and prosperity. 20 If you and your children are well and your affairs are as you would wish, then I am profoundly thankful. 21 For my part, though prostrate with sickness, I cherish tender memories of you. On my return from the country of Persia I fell seriously ill, and thought it necessary to make provision for the common security of all. 22 Not that I despair of my condition, for I have great hope of shaking off the malady, 23 but considering how my father, whenever he was making an expedition into the uplands, would designate his successor, 24 so that in case of any unforseen event or disquieting rumour the people of the provinces might know to whom he had left the conduct of affairs and thus remain undisturbed; 25 furthermore, being well aware that the princes on our frontiers and neighbours of our realm are watching for opportunities and waiting to see what will happen, I have designated as king my son Antiochus, whom I have more than once entrusted and commended to most of you when I was setting out for the upland satrapies; a transcript of my letter to him is appended hereto. 26 I therefore urge and require you to remember past favours both public and personal, and to persist, each one of you, in your existing good will toward myself and my son. 27 I am confident that he will pursue my own policy with benevolence and humanity, and will prove accommodating to your interests."

28 And so tis murderer and blasphemer, having endured the same terrible suffering as he had made others endure, met his pitiable fate, and ended his life among the remote and inhospitable mountains. 29 His comrade Philip brought back his body, and then, fearing Antiochus' son, withdrew to Egypt, to the court of Ptolemy Philometor.

The purification of te Temple

10- 1 Maccabaeus and his companions, under the Lord's guidance, restored the Temple and the city, 2 and pulled down the altars erected by the foreigners in the market place, as well as the sacred enclosures. 3 They purified the sanctuary and built another altar; then striking fire from flints and using this fire, they offered the first sacrifice for two years, burning incense, lighting the lamps and setting out the loaves. 4 When they had done this they threw themselves flat on the ground, and implore the Lord never again to let them fall into such adversity, but if they should ever sin, to correct them with moderation and not to deliver them over to blasphemous and barbarous nations. 5 This day of the purification of the Temple fell on the very day on which the Temple had been profaned by the foreigners, the twenty-fifth of the same month, Chislev. 6 They kept eight festal days with rejoicing, in the manner of the feast of Tabernacles, remembering how, not long before at that time of the feast of the Tabernacles, they had been living in the mountains and caverns like wild beasts. 7 Then carrying branches, leafy boughs and palms, they offered hymns to him who had brought the cleansing of his own Holy Place to a happy outcome. 8 They also decreed by public edict, ratified by vote, that the whole Jewish nation should celebrate those same days every year.

The disgrace of Ptolemy Macron

9 Such were the circumstances attending the death of Antiochus styled Epiphanes. 10 Our task now is to unfold the history of Antiochus Eupator, son of that godless man, and relate briefly the evil effects of the wars. 11 On coming to the throne, this prince put at the head of affairs a certain Lysias, high commissioner for Coele-Syria and Phoenicia. 12 Now Ptolemy, Macron as he was styled, the first governor to treat the Jews with justice, had done his best to govern them peacefully to make up for the wrongs inflicted on them in the past. 13 Denounced to Eupator by the Friends of the King, he heard himself called traitor at every turn for having abandoned Cyprus, which had been entrusted to him by Pilometor, and for going over to Antiochus Epiphanes; having shed no luster on his illustrious office, he committed suicide by poisoning himself.

Gorgias and the Idumaean fortresses

14 Gorgias now became military commissioner for that region; he maintained a force of mercenaries and a continual state of war with the Jews. 15 At the same time the Idunaeans, who controlled important fortresses, were exerting pressure on the Jews, welcoming outlaws from Jerusalem and endeavouring to maintain a state of war. 16 Maccabaeus and his men, after making public supplication to God, entreating him to support them, hurled themselves against Idumaean fortresses. 17 Vigorously pressing home their attack, they seized possession of these vantage points, beating off all who fought on the ramparts; they slaughtered all who fell into their hands, accounting for not less than twenty thousand. 18 Nine thousand at least took refuge in two exceptionally strong castles with everything they needed to withstand a siege, 19 whereupon Maccabaeus left Simon and Joseph, with Zacchaeus and his forces, in sufficient numbers to besiege them, and himself went off to other places demanding his attention. 20 But Simon's men were greedy for money and allowed themselves to be bribed by some of the men in the castles; accepting seventy thousand drachmae, they let a number of them escape. 21 When Maccabaeus was told what had happened, he summoned the people's commanders and accused the offenders of having sold their brothers for money by setting free men who were at war with them. 22 Having executed them as traitors, he at once proceeded to capture both castles. 23 Successful in all that he undertook by force of arms, in these two fortresses e slaughtered more than twenty thousand men.

Judas defeats Timotheus and captures Gezer

24 Thimotheus, who had been beaten by the Jews once before, now assembled an enormous force of mercenaries, mustering cavalry from Asia in considerable numbers, and appeared in Judaea, expecting to conquer it by force of arms. 25 At his approach Maccabaeus and his men made their supplication to God, sprinkling earth on their heads and putting sackcloth around their waists. 26 Prostrating themselves on the terrace before the altar, they begged him to support them and to show himself the enemy of their enemies, the adversary of their adversaries, as the Law clearly states.

27 After these prayers they armed themselves and advanced a fair distance from the city, halting when they were close to the enemy. 28 As the first light of dawn began to spread, the two sides joined battle, the one having as their pledge of success and victory not only their own valour but their resource to the Lord, the other making their own ardour their mainstay in the fight. 29 When the battle was at its height the enemy saw five magnificent men appear from heaven on horses with golden bridles and put themselves at the head of the Jews; 30 surrounding Maccabaeus and screening with their own armour, he kept him unscathed, while they rained arrows and thunderbolts on the enemy until, blinded and confused, they scattered in complete disorder. 31 Twenty thousand five hundred infantry and six hundred cavalry were slaughtered. 32 Timotheus himself fled to a strongly guarded citadel called Gezer, where Chaereas was in command. 33 For four days Maccabaeus and his men eagerly besieged the fortress, 34 while the defenders, confident in the security of the place, hurled fearful blasphemies and godless insults at them. 35 At daybreak on the fifth day, twenty young men of Maccabaeus's forces, fired with indignation at the blasphemies, bravely stormed the wall, and cut down with brutal fury everyone they encountered. 36 Others, in a similar scaling operation, took the defenders in the rear, and set fire to the towers, lighting pyres on which they burned the blasphemers alive. Others broke down the gates and let in the rest of the army, and were the first to occupy the town. 37 Timotheus had hidden in a cistern, but they killed him, with his brother Chaereas, and Apollophanes. 38 When all this war was over, they blessed with hymns and thanksgiving the Lord, who had shown such great kindness to Israel and given them the victory.

The first campaign of Lysias

11- 1 Almost immediately afterward, Lysias, the king's tutor and cousin and his vizier, much disturbed at the turn of events, 2 mustered about eighty thousand foot soldiers and his entire cavalry and advanced against the Jews, intending to make the Holy City a place for Greeks to live in, 3 to levy a tax on the Temple as was done wit other national shrines, and to put the office of high priest up for sale every year; 4 he took no account at all of the power of God, being sublimely confident in his tens of thousands of infantrymen, his thousands of cavalry, and his eighty elephants.

5 Invading Juaea, he approached Bethzur, a fortified position about twenty miles fro Jerusalem, and began to subject it to strong pressure. 6 Whem Maccabaeus and his men learned that Lysias was besieging the fortress, they and the populace with them begged the Lord with lamentation and tears to send a good angel to save Israel. 7 Maccabaeus himself was first to take up his weapons, and he urged the rest to risk their lives with him in support of their brothers; so they sallied out resolutely, as one man. 8 They were still near Jerusalem when a rider attired in white appeared at their head brandishing golden accoutrements. 9 With one accord they all blessed the God of mercy, and found themselves filled with such courage that they were ready to lay low not men only but the fiercest beasts and walls of iron. 10 They advanced in battle order with the aid of their celestial ally, the Lord having had no mercy on them. 11 Charging like lions on the enemy, they laid low eleven thousand of the infantry and sixteen hundred horsemen, and routed all the rest. 12 Of those, the majority got away, wounded and weaponless. Lysias himself escaped only ignominious flight.

Lysias makes peace with the Jews. Four letters concerning the treaty

13 Now Lysias was not lacking in intelligence, and as he reflected on the reverse he had suffered he realized that the Hebrews were invincible because of the mighty God fought for them. He therefore sent to them, 14 suggesting a reconciliation on just terms all around, and promising to induce even the king to become their friend. 15 Maccabaeus, thinking only of the common good, agreed to all that Lysias proposed, and whatever Maccabaeus submitted to Lysias in writing concerning the Jews was granted by the king.

16 Here is the text of the letter Lysias wrote to the Jews, "From Lysias to the Jewish people, greetings. 17 John and Absalom, your envoys, have delivered to me the communication transcribed below, requesting me to approve its provisions. 18 Anything requiring the king's attention I have put before him, anything coming within my own competence I have granted. 19 Provided you maintain your goodwill toward the administration I will do my best in the future to promote your advantage. 20 As for the details, I have given orders for your envoys and my own officials to discuss these with you. 21 May you prosper. The year one hundred and forty-eight, the twenty-fourth day of the month of Dioscoros."

22 The king's letter was as follows, "King Antiochus to his brother Lysias, greetings. 23 Now that our father has taken his place among the gods our will is that the subjects of the realm be left undisturbed to attend to their own affairs. 24 We understand that the Jews do not approve our father's policy, the adoption of Greek customs, but prefer their own way of life and ask to be allowed to observe their own laws. 25 Accordingly, since we intend this people to be free from vexation like any other, our ruling is that the Temple be restored to them and that they conduct their affairs according to the customs of their ancestors. 26 It will therefore be your concern to send them a mission of friendship, so that on learning our policy they may have confidence and proceed happily about their own affairs."

27 The king's letter to the Jewish nation was in these terms, "King Antiochus to the Jewish senate and the rest of the Jews, greetings. 28 If you are well, that is as we would wish; we ourselves are in good health. 29 Menelaus informs us that you wish to return home and attend to your own affairs. 30 Accordingly, all those who return before the thirtieth day of Xanthicus may rest assured that they have nothing to fear. 31 The Jews may make use of their own kind of food and their own laws as formerly, and none of them is to be molested in any way for any unwitting offenses. 32 I am in fact sending Menelaus to set your mind at rest. 33 Farewell. In the hundred and forty-eight year, the fifteenth of Xanthicus."

34 The Romans also sent a letter, which read s follows, "Quintus Memmius, Titus Manius, ambassadors of the Romans, to the people of the Jews, greetings. 35 Whatever Lysias, the king's cousin, has granted you we also approve. 36 As for the matters he decided to refer to the king, consider them carefully and send some without delay, if we are to interpret them to your advantage, because we are leaving for Antioch. 37 Lose no time, therefore, in sending us those who can tell us what your intentions are. 38 Farewell, in the hundred and forty-eight year, the fifteenth of Xanthicus."

Incidents at Joppa and Jamnia

12- 1 After these agreements had been concluded Lysias returned to the king while the Jews went back to their farming. 2 Among the local military commissioners, Timotheus and Apollonius son of Gennaeus, as also Hieronymus and Demophon, and Nicanor the Cypriarch as well, would not allow the Jews to live in peace and quiet.

3 The people of Joppa went so far as to perpetrate the following outrage: they invited the Jews living among them to go aboard some boats they had lying ready, taking their wives and children. There was no hint of any intention to harm them; 4 there had been a public vote by the citizens, and the Jews accepted, as well they might, being peaceable people with no reason to suspect anything. But once out in the open sea they were all sent to the bottom, a company of at least two hundred.

5 When Judas heard of the cruel fate of his countrymen, he issued his orders to hs men 6 and after invoking God, the just judge, he attacked his brothers' murderers. Under cover of dark he set fire to the harbour, burned the boats and put to the sword everyone who had taken refuge there. 7 As the town gates were closed, he withdrew, intending to come back and wipe out the whole community of Joppa. 8 But hearing that the people of Lamnia were planning to treat their resident Jews in the same way, 9 he made a night attack on the Jamnites and fired the harbour with its fleet; the glow of the flames was seen as far as Jerusalem, thirty miles away.

The expedition in Gilead

10 When they left the town over a mile behind them in their advance on Timotheus, Judas attacked by an Arab force of at least five thousand foot soldiers, with five hundred cavalry. 11 A fierce engagement followed, and with God's help Judas' men won the day; the defeat nomads begged Judas to offer them the right hand of friendship, and promised to surrender their herds and make themselves generally useful to him. 12 Realizing that they might indeed prove valuable in many ways, Judas consented to make peace with them and after exchanging of pledges the Arabs withdrew to their tents.

13 Judas also attacked a certain fortified town, enclosed by ramparts and inhabited by a medley of races; its name was Caspin. 14 Confident in the strength of their walls and their stock of provisions, the besieged adopted an insolent attitude to Judas and his men, reinforcing their insults with blasphemies and profanity. 15 But Judas and his men invoked the great Sovereign of the world who without battering-ram or siege engine overthrew Jericho in the days of Joshua; they then made a furious assault on the wall. 16 Capturing the city by the will of God, they made such indescribable slaughter that the nearby lake, two furlongs across, seemed filled to overflowing with blood.

The battle of Carnaim

17 Ninety-five miles further on from there, they reached the Charax, in the country of Jews known as Tubians. 18 They did not find Timotheus himself in that neighbourhood; he had already left the district, having achieved nothing apart from leaving a very strong garrison at one point. 19 Dositheus and Sosipater, two of the Maccabaean generals, marched out and destroyed the force Timotheus had left behind in the fortress, amounting to more than ten thousand men. 20 Maccabaeus himself divided his army into cohorts to which he assigned commanders, and then hurried in pursuit of Timotheus, whose troops numbered one hundred and twenty thousand infantry and two thousand five hundred cavalry. 21 Timotheus' first move on learning of Judas' advance was to send away the women and the children and the rest of the baggage train to the place called Carnaim, since it was an impregnable position, difficult to access owing to the narrowness of all approaches. 22 When the first of Judas' cohorts came into sight, the enemy were seized with fright; panic-stricken at this manifestation of the all-seeing, they fled headlong in all directions, so that they were often wounded by their own men, running on the points of one another's swords. 23 Judas pursued them with a will, cutting the sinners to pieces and killing something like thirty thousand men. 24 Timotheus himself, having fallen into the hands of Dositheus and Sosipater and their men, very craftily pleaded with them to let him go with his life, on the grounds that he had the parents of most and the brothers of some in his power, and that these could otherwise expect short swift. 25 When at long last he convince them that he would honour his promise and return these people safe and sound, they let him go for the sake of saving their brothers.

26 Reaching Carnaim and the Atargateion, Judas slaughtered twenty-five thousand men.

The return by way of Ephron and Scythopolis

27 After the rout of these enemies he led his army against Ephron, a fortified town, where Lysias was living. Stalwart young men drawn up outside the walls offered vigorous resistance, while inside there were quantities of war engines and missiles in reserve. 28 But the Jews, invoking the Sovereign who by his power shatters enemies' defences, gained control of the city, and cut down nearly twenty-five thousand of the people inside. 29 Moving off from there, they pressed on to Scythopolis, seventy-five miles from Jerusalem. 30 But as the Jews who had settled there assured Judas that the people of Scythopolis had always treated them well and had been particularly kind to them when times had been at their worst, 31 he and his men thanked them and urged to extend the same friendship to his race in the future.

Hey reached Jerusalem shortly before the feast of Weeks.

The campaign against Gorgias

32 After Pentocost, as it is called, they marched against Gorgias, the military commissioner for Idumaea. 33 He came out at the head of three thousand infantry and four hundred cavalry; 34 in the course of the ensuing battle a few Jews lost their lives.

35 A man called Dositheus, one of the Tubians, who was on horseback and a powerful man, grasped Gorgias, taking him by the cloak, ans was forcibly dragging him along, intending to take the accursed man alive, but of the Thracian cavalry, hurling himself on Dositheus, slashed his shoulder, and Gorgias escaped to Marisa. 36 Meanwhile since Esdrias and his men had been fighting for a long time and were exausted, Judas called on the Lord to show them he was their ally and leader in battle.

37 Then, chanting the battle cry and other hymns at the top of their voice in the language of his ancestors, he routed Gorgias' troops.

The sacrifice for the fallen

38 Judas then rallied his army and moved on to the town of Adullam, and since the seventh day of the week had arrived they purified themselves according to custom and kept the sabbath in that place. 39 The next day they came to Judas (since the necessity was by now urgent) to have the bodies of the fallen taken up and laid to rest among their relatives in their ancestral tombs. 40 But when they found on each of the dead men, under their tunics, amulets of the idols taken from Jamnia, which the Law prohibits to Jews, it became clear to everyone that this was why these men had lost their lives. 41 All then blessed the ways of the Lord, the just judge who brings hidden things to light, 42 and gave themselves to prayer, begging that the sin committed might be fully blotted out. Next, the valiant Judas urged the people to keep themselves free from all sin having seen with their own eyes the effects of the sin of those who had fallen; 43 after this he took a collection from them individually, amounting to nearly two thousand drachmae, and sent it to Jerusalem to have a sacrifice for sin offered, an altogether fine and noble action, in which he took full account of the resurrection. 44 For if he had not expected the fallen to rise again it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead, 45 whereas if he had in view the splendid recompense reserved for those who make a pious end, the thought was holy and devout. This was why he had this atonement sacrifice offered for the dead, so that they might be released from their sin.

AntiochusV and Lysias. The fate of Menelaus

13- 1 In the year one hundred and forty-nine Judas and his men discovered that Antiochus Eupator was advancing in force against Judaea, 2 and with him Lysias his tutor and vizier; he had moreover a Greek force of one hundred thousand infantry, five thousand cavalry, twenty-two elephants, and three hundred chariots fitted with scythes.

3 Menelaus sided with them, and with great duplicity kept encouraging Antiochus, not for the welfare of his own country but in the hope of being confirmed in office. 4 But the King of kings stirred up the anger of Antiochus against the guilty wrech, and when Lysias made it clear to the king that Menelaus was the cause of all the troubles, Antiochus gave orders for him to be taken to Beroea and there out to death by the local method of execution. 5 In that place there is a tower fifty cubits high, filled with ashes, with a circular construction sloping steeply down from all sides toward the ashes. 6 If anyone is convicted of sacrilegious theft or notoriously guilty of certain other crimes, they take him up to the top and thrust him down to perish. 7 In such a manner was the renegade fated to die; Menelaus had not even the privilege of burial. 8 Deserved injustice, this; since he had committed many sins against the altar whose fire, whose very ashes were holy, it was in ashes that he met his death.

The prayer and success of the Jews near Modein

9 The king, then, was advancing, his mind filled with barbarous designs, to give the Jews a demonstration of far worse things than anything that had happened under his father. 10 When Judas heard of this he ordered the people to call day and night upon the Lord, now if ever, for this once at least, to come to the help 11 of those who were in peril of being deprived of the Law, their fatherland and the holy Temple, and not to allow the people, just when they were beginning to breathe again, to fall into the power of the blaspheming pagans. 12 When they had all, as one man, obeyed his instructions and had made their positions to the merciful Lord, weeping and prostrating themselves for three days continuously, Judas spoke words of encouragement and told them to keep close to him. 13 After separate consultation with the elders he resolved not to wait for the king's army to invade Judaea and take possession of the city, but to march out and bring the whole matter to a decision with the help of God.

14 Leaving the outcome to the creator of the world, and exhorting his soldiers to fight bravely to the death for the laws, the Temple, the city, their country and their way of life, he halted his army near Modein. 15 Leaving his men with the watchword "Victory from God," he made a night attack on the king's pavilion with picked band of the bravest young men. Inside the camp he destroyed about two thousand, and his men cut down the largest of the elephants with its driver; 16 in the end they filled the whole camp with terror and confusion before withdrawing in triumph. 17 Dawn was just breaking as this was brought to an end, through the protection of the Lord watching over Judas.

Antiochus in treaty with the Jews

18 The king, having had a taste of Jewish daring, now tried to attack their positions strategically. 19 He advanced on Bethzur, a strong fortress of the Jews, but was repulsed, and so checked and worsted.

20 Judas sent in to the garrison what they needed, 21 but Rhodocus, of the Jewish army, supplied the enemy with secret information; the man was identified, arrested, and dealt with. 22 For the second time the king parleyed with the garrison of Bethzur, he offered and accepted pledges of amity, retired, then attacked Judas and his men, but came off worst. 23 He was then told that Philip, left in charge of affairs at Antioch, had made a desperate move. He was stunned by this, opened negotiations with the Jews, capitulated, and swore to abide by all reasonable conditions. He reached an agreement, offered sacrifice, honoured the Temple, and made generous gifts to the Holy Place.

24 He received Maccabaeus kindly, then left Hegemonides behind as military commissioner from Ptolemais to the territory of the Gerrenians, 25 and went to Ptolemais. The inhabitants of the place disapproved of the treaty; they voiced their resentment and wanted to annul its articles. 26 Lysias mounted the rostrum and made a persuasive defence of the articles which convinced and calmed them, and so won their good will. He then withdrew to Antioch.

So much for the episode of the king's offensive and retreat.

Alcimus the high priest intervenes

14- 1 Three years after this, Judas and his men learned that Demetrius son of Seleucus had landed at the port of Tripolis wit a strong army and a fleet, 2 and that he had occupied the country and had killed Antiochus and his tutor Lysias. 3 A certain Alcimus, a former high priest, had willfully incurred defilement at the time of the insurrection; realizing that whichever way he turned there was no security for him, nor any further access to the holy altar, 4 he went the King Demetrius in about the year one hundred and fifty-one and presented him with a golden crown and a palm, together with the traditional olive branches from the Temple; there, for that day, he let the matter rest.

5 Presently he found an opportunity that suited his perverse purpose. When Demetrius called him into his council and questioned him about the dispositions and intentions of the Jews, 6 "Those Jews called Hasidaeans, who are led by Judas Maccabaeus, are warmongers and rebels who are preventing the kingdom from finding stability. 7 That is why, after being deprived of my hereditary dignity, I mean the high priesthood, I have come here now, 8 first out of genuine concern for the king's interests, and secondly, out of regard for our own citizens, because the irresponsible behaviour of those I have mentioned has brought great degradation on our entire race. 9 When your majesty has taken note of all these points, may it please you to make provision for the welfare of our country and our oppressed nation, as befits the gracious benevolence you extend to all; 10 for as long as Judas remains alive the state will never enjoy peace."

11 When Alcimus had finished this speech, the rest of the Friends of the King, who hated Judas, seized the occasion to arouse Demetrius' anger against him. 12 He at once selected Nicanor, who had been commander of the elephants, promoted him to military commissioner for Judaea and dispatched im 13 with instruction to dispose of Judas, disperse his followers and install Alcimus as high priest of the greatest of temples. 14 The pagans in Judaea, who had fled before Judas, flocked to join Nicanor, thinking that the misfortunes and troubles of the Jews would be to their advantage.

Nicanor comes to terms with Judas

15 When the Jews heard that Nicanor was coming and that the pagans were about to attack, they sprinkled dust over themselves and made supplication to him who had established his people for ever and had never failed to support his own heritage by his direct intervention. 16 On their leaders' orders they at once left the place they were and cmae upon the enemy at the village of Dessau. 17 Simon, brother of Judas, had engaged Nicanor, but because of the unexpected arrival of his adversaries had suffered a slight check. 18 However, Nicanor had heard how brave Judas and his men were and how resolutely they always fought for their country, and he did not dare allow bloodshed to decide the issue. 19 And so he sent Posidonius, Theodotus and Mattathias to offer the Jews pledges of friendship and to accept theirs.

20 After careful consideration of his terms, the leader communicated them to his troops, and since they were all clearly of one mind they agreed to the treaty. 21 A day was fixed on which the respective leaders were to meet privately on neutral ground: a litter came out from either side and seats were set up. 22 Judas had posted armed men on the alert in advantageous positions in case of a sudden treacherous move by the enemy. The leaders held their conference and reached agreement. 23 Nicanor took residence in Jerusalem and did nothing out of place there; he even sent away the crowds that had flocked to join him. 24 He kept Judas constantly with him, becoming deeply attached to him 25 and he encouraged him to marry and have children. Judas married, settled down and led a normal life.

Alcimus renews hostilities, and Nicanor threatens the Temple

26 When Alcimus saw how friendly the two men had become, he went to Demetrius with a copy of the treaty they had signed and told him that Nicanor was holding ideas against the interests of the state, and was planning that Judas, an enemy of the realm, should fill the next vacancy among the Friends of the King.

27 The king flew into a rage; roused by the calumnies of this archvillain, he wrote to Nicanor, telling him of his strong displeasure at the treaty and ordering him to send Maccabaeus to Antioch in chains immediately.

28 When the letter reached Nicanor he was very upset, for it went against the grain with him to break his agreement with a man who had done nothing wrong. 29 However, there was no question of opposing the king, so he waited for an opportunity to carry out the order by a stratagem. 30 Maccabaeus began to notice that Nicanor was treating him more sharply and that his manner of speaking to him was more abrupt than it had been, and he concluded that such severity could have no very good motive. He therefore collected a considerable number of his followers and withdrew from Nicanor. 31 The latter, realizing that the man had well and truly outmaneuvered him, went to the great and holy Temple at a time when the priests were offering the customary sacrifices, and ordered them to surrender Judas. 32 When they protested on oath that they did not know where the wanted man could be, 33 he stretched out his right hand toward the Temple and swore this oath, "If you do not hand Judas over to me as prisoner, I will raze this sanctuary of God to the ground, I will demolish the altar, and on this very spot I will erect a splendid temple to Dionysus." 34 With these words he left them. The priests stretched out their hands to heave, and calling on him who has at all times done battle for our nation; this was their prayer: 35 "O Lord, you who stand in need of nothing at all, it has pleased you that there should be in our midst a Temple for your dwelling place. 36 Now therefore, holy Lord of all holiness, preserve for ever from all profanation this house, so newly purified."

The death of Razis

37 Now, a certain Razis, one of the elders of Jerusalem, was denounced to Nicanor. He was a man who loved his countrymen and stood high in their esteem, and he was known as te father of the Jews because of his kindness. 38 I the earlier days of the insurrection he had been convicted of Judaism, and he had risked both body and life for Judaism with the utmost zeal. 39 By way of demonstrating the enmity he had for the Jews, Nicanor sent over five hundred soldiers to arrest him, 40 reckoning that if he eliminated this man he would be dealing them a severe blow. 41 When the troops were on the point of capturing the tower and were forcing the courtyard gate and calling for fire to set the doors alight, Razis, finding himself completely surrounded, fell on his own sword, 42 nobly resolving to die rather than fall into the clutches of these villains and suffer outrages unworthy of his noble birth. 43 But in the heat of the conflict he missed his thrust, and while the troops swarmed in through the doorways, he ran up with alacrity on the wall and bravely threw himself down among the troops. 44 But as they instantly drew back some distance, he fell into the middle of the empty space. 45 Still breathing, and blazing with anger, he struggled to his feet, blood spurting in all directions, and despite his terrible wounds ran right through the crowd; then, taking his stand on a steep rock, 46 although he had now lost every drop of blood, he tore out his entrails and taking them in both hands flung them among the troops, calling on he Master of his life nd spirit to give them back to him one day. Such was the manner of his passing.

Nicanor's blasphemies

15- 1 Nicanor heard that Judas and his men were in the neighbourhood of Samaria, so he decided to attack them, at no risk to himself, on the day of rest. 2 Those Jews who had been compelled to follow him said, "You must not massacre them in such a savage, barbarous way, but give its proper honour to the day on which the All-SEEING has conferred a special holiness." 3 At this the tripledyed scoundrel asked if there was in heaven a sovereign who had ordered the keeping of the sabbath day. 4 When they answered, "It is the living Lord himself, the heavenly sovereign, who has ordered the observance of the seventh day," 5 he retorted, "And it is I myself as sovereign on earth who order you to take up arms and carry through this business of the king." For all that, he never managed to carry through his savage plan.

Judas harangues his men. His dream

6 While Nicanor, in his unlimited boastfulness and pride, was planning to erect public trophy with the spoils taken fro Judas and his men. 7 Maccabaeus remained firm in his confident conviction that the Lord would stand by him. 8 He urged his men not to be dismayed by the attacks of the pagans but, keeping in mind the hep that had come to them from heaven in the past, to be confident that this time also victory would be theirs with the help of the Almighty. 9 He put fresh heart into the, citing the Law and the Prophets, and by stirring up memories of the battles they had already won he filled them with new enthusiasm. 10 Having thoroughly roused their courage, he ended his speech by detailing the treachery of the heathen and their violation of their oaths.

11 Having armed each one of them not so much with the safety given by shield and lance as with that confidence that springs from noble language, he encouraged them all by describing dream - a vision, as it were. 12 What he had seen was this: Onias, the former high priest, that paragon of men, modest of bearing and gentle of manners, suitably eloquent and trained from boyhood in the practice of every virtue - Onias was stretching out his hands and praying for the whole nation of the Jews. 13 Next there appeared a man equally remarkable for his great age and invested with a marvellous and impressive air of majesty. 14 Onias began to speak: "This is a man," he said, "who loves his brothers and prays much for the people and the Holy City - Jeremiah, the prophet of God." 15 Jeremiah then stretched out his right hand and presented Judas with a golden sword, saying as he gave it, 16 "Take this holy sword as a gift from God; with it you shall strike down enemies."

The disposition of the combatants

17 Encouraged by the noble words of Judas, which had the power to inspire valour and give the young the spirit of grown men, they decided not to pitch camp but to make a spirited attack and settle the matter fighting hand to hand with all their courage, since the city, their holy religion and the Temple were in danger. 18 Their concern for their wives and children, their brothers and relatives, had shrunk to minute importance; their chief and greatest fear was for the consecrated Temple. 19 Those left behind in the city felt a similar anxiety, alarmed as they were about the forthcoming encounter in the open country. 20 Everyone now awaited the coming issue. The enemy had already concentrated their forces and stood formed p in order of battle, with the elephants drawn up in a strategic position and the cavalry disposed on the wings. 21 Maccabaeus took note of these masses confronting him, the glittering array of armour and the fierce aspect of the elephants; then, raising his hands to heaven, he called to the Lord who works miracles, in the knowledge that it is not by force of arms, but as he sees fit to decide, that victory is granted by him to such as deserve it. 22 His prayer ws worded thus: "You, Master, sent your angel in the days of Hezekiah king of Judaea, and destroyed no less than one hundred and eighty-five thousand of Sennacherib's army; 23 Now once again, Sovereign of heaven, send a good angel before us to spread terror and dismay. 24 May these men be struck down by the might of your arm, since they have come with blasphemy on their lips to attack your holy people." With this, he brought his prayer to an end.

The defeat and death of Nicanor

25 Nicanor and his men advanced to the sound of trumpets and war songs, 26 but the men of Judas closed with the enemy uttering invocations and prayers. 27 Fighting with their hands and praying to God in their hearts, they cut down at least thirty-five thousand men and were greatly cheered by this divine manifestation. 28 When the engagement was ended and they were withdrawing in triumph they recognized Nicanor, lying dead in full armour.

29 With shouting and confusion all around, they blessed the sovereign Master in the language of their ancestors. 30 The man who had devoted himself entirely, body and sol, to the service of his countrymen, and had always preserved the love he had felt even in youth for those of his own race, ave orders for Nicanor's head to be cut off, together with his arm and shoulder, and taken to Jerusalem. 31 When he arrived there himself, he called together his countrymen and the priests; then standing in front of the altar he sent for the people from the Citadel. 32 He showed them the head of the infamous Nicanor, and the hand which the blasphemer had stretched out so insolently against the holy house of the Almighty. 33 Then, cutting out the tongue of the godless Nicanor, he ave orders for it to be fed piecemeal to the birds, and for the reward of his folly to be hung in sight of the Temple. 34 At this, everyone sent blessings heavenward to the glorious Lord, saying, "Blessings on him who has preserved his own dwelling from pollution!"

35 He hung Nicanor's head from the Citadel, a clear and evident sign to all of the help of the Lord. 36 The all passed a decree by unanimous vote never too let that day go by unobserved, but to celebrate the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, called Adar in Aramic, he eve of the day of Mordecai.

Compiler's epilogue

37 So ends the episode of Nicanor, and as, since then, the city has remained i the possession of the Hebrews, I shall bring my own work to an end here too. 38 If it is well composed and to the point, that is just what I wanted. If it is trashy and mediocre, that is all I could mange. 39 Just as it is injurious to drink wine by itself, or again water, whereas wine mixed with water is pleasant and produces a delightful sense of well-being, so skill in presenting te incidents is what delights the understanding of those who read the story. On that note I will close.