1 MACCABEES - Biblia Sacra et Ultra

CHAPTER 1

It came to pass, after that Alexander the Macedonian, the son of Philip, who came out of the land of Chittim, and struck Darius king of the Persians and Medes, [it came to pass,] after he had struck him, that he reigned in his stead, in former time, over Greece. And he fought many battles, and won many strongholds, and killed the kings of the earth, and went through to the ends of the earth and took spoils of a multitude of nations. And the earth was quiet before him, and he was exalted, and his heart was lifted up, and he gathered together an exceedingly strong army, and ruled over countries and nations and principalities, and they became tributary to him. And after these things he fell sick, and perceived that he should die. And he called his servants, which were honorable, which had been brought up with him from his youth, and he divided to them his kingdom, while he was yet alive. And Alexander reigned twelve years, and he died. And his servants bare rule, each one in his place. And they did all put diadems on themselves after that he was dead, and so did their sons after them many years: and they multiplied evils in the earth. And there came out of them a sinful root, Antiochus Epiphanes, son of Antiochus the king, who had been a hostage at Rome, and he reigned in the one hundred and thirty-seventh year of the kingdom of the Greeks. In those days came there out of Israel transgressors of the law, and persuaded many, saying, let us go and make a covenant with the nations that are around us; for since we were parted from them many evils have befallen us. And the saying was good in their eyes. And certain of the people were forward [here in] land went to the king, and he gave them license to do after the ordinances of the nations. And they built a place of exercise in Jerusalem according to the laws of the nations; and they made themselves uncircumcised, and forsook the holy covenant, and joined themselves to the nations, and sold themselves to do evil. And the kingdom was well ordered in the sight of Antiochus, and he thought to reign over Egypt, that he might reign over the two kingdoms. And he entered into Egypt with a great multitude, with chariots, and with elephants, and with horsemen, and with a great navy; and he made war against Ptolemy king of Egypt; and Ptolemy was put to shame before him and fled; and many fell wounded to death. And they got possession of the strong cities in the land of Egypt; and he took the spoils of Egypt. And Antiochus, after he had struck Egypt, returned in the one hundred and forty-third year, and went up against Israel and Jerusalem with a great multitude, and entered presumptuously into the sanctuary, and took the golden altar, and the candlestick of the light, and all that pertained to that, and the table of the Bread of the Presentation, and the cups to pour with, and the bowls, and the golden censers, and the veil, and the crowns, and the adorning of gold which was on the face of the temple, and he peeled it all off. And he took the silver and the gold and the precious vessels; and he took the hidden treasures which he found. And when he had taken all, he went away into his own land, and he made a great slaughter, and spoke very presumptuously. And there came great mourning on Israel, in every place where they were; and the rulers and elders groaned, the virgins and young men were made feeble, and the beauty of the women was changed. Every bridegroom took up lamentation, she that sat in the marriage chamber was in heaviness. And the land was moved for the inhabitants thereof, and all the house of Jacob was clothed with shame. And after two full years the king sent a chief collector of tribute to the cities of Judah, and he came to Jerusalem with a great multitude. And he spoke words of peace to them in subtlety, and they gave him credence: and he fell on the city suddenly, and struck it very severely, and destroyed much people out of Israel. And he took the spoils of the city, and set it on fire, and pulled down the houses thereof and the walls thereof on every side. And they led captive the women and the children, and the cattle they took in possession. And they built the city of David with a great and strong wall, with strong towers, and it became to them a citadel. And they put there a sinful nation, transgressors of the law, and they strengthened themselves therein. And they stored up arms and food, and gathering together the spoils of Jerusalem, they laid them up there, and they became a severe snare: and it became a place to lie in wait in against the sanctuary, and an evil adversary to Israel continually. And they shed innocent blood on every side of the sanctuary and defiled the sanctuary. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem fled because of them; and she became a habitation of strangers, and she became strange to those who were born in her, and her children forsook her. Her sanctuary was laid waste like a wilderness, her feasts were turned into mourning, her Sabbaths into reproach, her honor into contempt. According to her glory, so was her dishonor multiplied, and her high estate was turned into mourning. And King Antiochus wrote to his whole kingdom, that all should be one people, and that each should forsake his own laws. And all the nations agreed according to the word of the king; and many of Israel consented to his worship, and sacrificed to the idols, and profaned the Sabbath. And the king sent letters by the hand of messengers to Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, that they should follow laws strange to the land, and should forbid whole burnt-offerings and sacrifice and drink offerings in the sanctuary; and should profane the Sabbaths and feasts, and pollute the sanctuary and those who were holy; that they should build altars, and temples, and shrines for idols, and should sacrifice swine’s flesh and unclean beasts: and that they should leave their sons uncircumcised, that they should make their souls abominable with all manner of uncleanness and profanation; so that they might forget the law, and change all the ordinances. And whoever will not do according to the word of the king, he will die. According to all these words wrote he to his whole kingdom; and he appointed overseers over all the people, and he commanded the cities of Judah to sacrifice, city by city. And from the people were gathered together to them many, everyone that had forsaken the law; and they did evil things in the land; and they made Israel to hide themselves in every place of refuge which they had. And on the fifteenth day of Kislev, in the one hundred and forty-fifth year, they built an abomination of desolation on the altar, and in the cities of Judah on every side they built [idol] altars. And at the doors of the houses and in the streets they burned incense. And they tore in pieces the scrolls of the law which they found and set them on fire. And wherever was found with any a scroll of the Covenant, and if any consented to the law, the king’s sentence delivered him to death. So did they in their might to Israel, to those that were found month by month in the cities. And on the twenty-fifth day of the month they sacrificed on the [idol] altar [of God]. And the women that had circumcised their children they put to death according to the command. And they hanged their babies about their necks, and [destroyed] their houses, and those who had circumcised them. And many in Israel were fully resolved and confirmed in themselves not to eat unclean things. And they chose to die, that they might not be defiled with the meats, and that they might not profane the holy covenant: and they died. And there came exceedingly great wrath on Israel.

CHAPTER 2

In those days Mattathias rose up, the son of John, the son of Simeon, a priest of the sons of Joarib, from Jerusalem; and he lived at Modin. And he had five sons, John, who was surnamed Gaddis; Simon, who was called Thassi; Judas, who was called Maccabaeus; Eleazar, who was called Avaran; Jonathan, who was called Apphus. And he saw the blasphemies that were committed in Judah and in Jerusalem, and he said, “Woe is me! why was I born to see the destruction of my people, and the destruction of the holy city, and to dwell there, when it was given into the hand of the enemy, the sanctuary into the hand of aliens? Her temple is become as a man that was glorious: her vessels of glory are carried away into captivity, her infants are slain in her streets, her young men with the sword of the enemy. What nation has not inherited her palaces, and gotten possession of her spoils? Her adorning is all taken away; instead of a free woman she is become a bond woman: and behold, our holy things and our beauty and our glory are laid waste, and the nations have profaned them. Why should we live any longer?” And Mattathias and his sons tore their clothes, and put on sackcloth, and mourned exceedingly. And the king’s officers, that were enforcing the apostasy, came into the city Modin to sacrifice. And many of Israel came to them, and Mattathias and his sons were gathered together. And the king’s officers answered and spoke to Mattathias, saying, “You are a ruler and an honorable and great man in this city, and strengthened with sons and relatives: now therefore, come first and do the command of the king, as all the nations have done, and the men of Judah, and those who remain in Jerusalem: and you and your house will be in the number of the king’s friends, and you and your sons will be honored with silver and gold and many gifts.” And Mattathias answered and said with a loud voice, “If all the nations that are in the house of the king’s dominion listen to him, to each one fall away from the worship of his fathers, and have made choice to follow his commands, yet I and my sons and my relatives will walk in the covenant of our fathers. Heaven forbid that we should forsake the law and the ordinances. We will not listen to the king’s words, to go aside from our worship, on the right hand, or on the left.” And when he had left speaking these words, there came a Jew in the sight of all to sacrifice on the altar which was at Modin, according to the king’s command. And Mattathias saw it, and his zeal was kindled, and his reins trembled, and he showed out his wrath according to judgment, and ran, and killed him on the altar. And the king’s officer, who compelled men to sacrifice, he killed at that time, and pulled down the altar. And he was zealous for the law, even as Phinehas did to Zimri the son of Salu. And Mattathias cried out in the city with a loud voice, saying, “Whoever is zealous for the law, and maintains the covenant, let him come out after me.” And he and his sons fled into the mountains and forsook all that they had in the city. Then many that sought after justice and judgment went down into the wilderness, to dwell there, they, and their sons, and their wives, and their cattle; because evils were multiplied on them. And it was told the king’s officers, and the forces that were in Jerusalem, the city of David, that certain men, who had broken the king’s command, were gone down into the secret places in the wilderness; and many pursued after them, and having overtaken them, they encamped against them, and set the battle in array against them on the Sabbath day. And they said to them, so far, “Come out, and do according to the word of the king, and you will live.” And they said, “We will not come out, neither will we do the word of the king, to profane the Sabbath day.” And they hurried to give them battle. And they did not answer them, neither did they cast a stone at them, nor stopped up the secret places, saying, “Let us die all in our innocence: the heavens and earth witness over us, that you put us to death without trial.” And they rose up against them in battle on the Sabbath, and they died, they and their wives and their children, and their cattle, to the number of one thousand souls. And Mattathias and his friends knew it, and they mourned over them exceedingly. And one said to another, “If we all do as our countrymen have done, and fight not against the nations for our lives and our ordinances, they will now quickly destroy us from off the earth.” And they took counsel on that day, saying, “Whoever will come against us to battle on the Sabbath day, let us fight against him, and we will in no way all die, as our countrymen died in the secret places.” Then were gathered together to them a company of Hasidaeans, mighty men of Israel, everyone that offered himself willingly for the law. And all those who fled from the evils were added to them and became a stay to them. And they mustered an army, and struck sinners in their anger, and lawless men in their wrath: and the rest fled to the nations for safety. And Mattathias and his friends went around and pulled down the altars; and they circumcised by force the children that were uncircumcised, as many as they found in the coasts of Israel. And they pursued after the sons of pride, and the work prospered in their hand. And they rescued the law out of the hand of the nations, and out of the hand of the kings, neither suffered they the sinner to triumph. And the days of Mattathias drew near that he should die, and he said to his sons, “Now have pride and rebuke gotten strength, and a season of overthrow, and wrath of indignation. And now, my children, be zealous for the law, and give your lives for the covenant of your fathers. And call to remembrance the deeds of our fathers which they did in their generations; and receive great glory and a perpetual name. Was not Abraham found faithful in temptation, and it was reckoned to him for righteousness? Joseph in the time of his distress kept the command and became lord of Egypt. Phinehas our father, for that he was zealous exceedingly, obtained the covenant of a perpetual priesthood. Joshua for fulfilling the word became a judge in Israel. Caleb for bearing witness in the congregation obtained a heritage in the land. David for being merciful inherited the throne of a kingdom forever and ever. Elijah, for that he was exceedingly zealous for the law, was taken up into Heaven. Hananiah, Azariah, Mishael, believed, and were saved out of the flame. Daniel for his innocence was delivered from the mouth of lions. And so consider you from generation to generation, that none that put their trust in him will lack for strength. And do not be afraid of the words of a sinful man; for his glory will be dung and worms. Today he will be lifted up, and tomorrow he will in no way be found, because he is returned to his dust, and his thought is perished. And you, my children, be strong, and show yourselves men in behalf of the law; for therein will you obtain glory. And behold, Simon your brother, I know that he is a man of counsel; give ear to him always: he will be a father to you. And Judas Maccabaeus, he has been strong and mighty from his youth: he will be your captain and will fight the battle of the people. And take to yourself all the doers of the law and avenge the wrong of your people. Render a repayment to the nations and take heed to the commands of the law.” And he blessed them and was gathered to his fathers. And he died in the one hundred and forty-sixth year, and his sons buried him in the tombs of his fathers at Modin, and all Israel made great lamentation for him.

CHAPTER 3

And his son Judas, who was called Maccabaeus, rose up in his stead. And all his countrymen helped him, and so did all those who cleaved to his father, and they fought with gladness the battle of Israel. And he got his people great glory, and put on a breastplate as a giant, and girded his warlike harness about him, and set battles in array, protecting the army with his sword. And he was like a lion in his deeds, and as a lion’s whelp roaring for prey. And he pursued the lawless, seeking them out, and he burned up those that troubled his people. And the lawless shrunk for fear of him, and all the workers of lawlessness were severely troubled, and salvation prospered in his hand. And he angered many kings, and made Jacob glad with his acts, and his memorial is blessed forever. And he went around among the cities of Judah, and destroyed the ungodly out of the land, and turned away wrath from Israel: and he was renowned to the utmost part of the earth, and he gathered together such as were ready to perish. And Apollonius gathered the nations together, and a great army from Samaria, to fight against Israel. And Judas perceived it, and he went out to meet him, and struck him, and killed him: and many fell wounded to death, and the rest fled. And they took their spoils, and Judas took the sword of Apollonius, and with that he fought all his days. And Seron, the commander of the army of Syria, heard it said that Judas had gathered a gathering and a congregation of faithful men with him, and of such as went out to war; And he said, I will make myself a name and get me glory in the kingdom; and I will fight against Judas and those who are with him, that set at nothing the word of the king. And there went up with him also a mighty army of the ungodly to help him, to take vengeance on the sons of Israel. And he came near to the going up of Bethhoron, and Judas went out to meet him with a small company. But when they saw the army coming to meet them, they said to Judas, “What? Will we be able, being a small company, to fight against so great and strong a multitude? and we for our part are faint, having tasted no food this day.” And Judas said, “It is an easy thing for many to be shut up in the hands of a few; and with Heaven it is all one, to save by many or by few: for victory in battle stands not in the multitude of an army; but strength is from Heaven. They come to us in fullness of insolence and lawlessness, to destroy us and our wives and our children, for to plunder us: but we fight for our lives and our laws. And he himself will defeat them before our face, but as for you, do not be afraid of them.” Now when he had left off speaking, he leapt suddenly on them, and Seron and his army were defeated before him. And they pursued them in the going down of Bethhoron to the plain, and there fell of them about eight hundred men; but the residue fled into the land of the Philistines. And the fear of Judas and his countrymen, and the dread of them, began to fall on the nations around them: and his name came near even to the king, and every nation told of the battles of Judas. But when King Antiochus heard these words, he was full of indignation: and he sent and gathered together all the forces of his realm, an exceedingly strong army. And he opened his treasury, and gave his forces pay for a year, and commanded them to be ready for every need. And he saw that the money failed from his treasures, and that the tributes of the country were small, because of the dissension and plague which he had brought on the land, to the end that he might take away the laws which had been from the first days; and he feared that he should not have enough as at other times for the charges and the gifts which he gave previously with a liberal hand, and he abounded above the kings that were before him. And he was exceedingly perplexed in his mind, and he determined to go into Persia, and to take the tributes of the countries, and to gather much money. And he left Lysias, an honorable man, and one of the seed royal, to be over the affairs of the king from the River Euphrates to the borders of Egypt, and to bring up his son Antiochus, until he came again. And he delivered to him the half of his forces, and the elephants, and gave him charge of all the things that he would have done, and concerning those who lived in Judea and in Jerusalem, that he should send an army against them, to root out and destroy the strength of Israel, and the remnant of Jerusalem, and to take away their memorial from the place; And that he should make strangers to dwell on all their coasts, and should divide their land to them by lot. And the king took the half that remained of the forces, and removed from Antioch, from his royal city, the one hundred and forty-seventh year; and he passed over the River Euphrates and went through the upper countries. And Lysias chose Ptolemy the son of Dorymenes, and Nicanor, and Gorgias, mighty men of the king’s friends; and with them he sent forty thousand footmen, and seven thousand horse, to go into the land of Judah, and to destroy it, according to the word of the king. And they removed with all their army and came and pitched near to Emmaus in the plain country. And the merchants of the country heard the fame of them, and took silver and gold exceedingly much, with chains, and came into the camp to take the sons of Israel for servants: and there were added to them the forces of Syria and of the land of the Philistines. And Judas and his countrymen saw that evils were multiplied, and that the forces were encamping in their borders; and they took knowledge of the king’s words which he had commanded, to destroy the people and make an end of them; and they said each man to his neighbor, “Let us raise up the ruin of our people, and let us fight for our people and the holy place.” And the congregation was gathered together, that they might be ready for battle, and that they might pray, and ask for mercy and compassion. And Jerusalem was without inhabitant as a wilderness, there was none of her offspring that went in or went out; and the sanctuary was trodden down, and the sons of strangers were in the citadel, the nations lodged therein; and joy was taken away from Jacob, and the pipe and the harp ceased. And they gathered themselves together, and came to Mizpeh, near Jerusalem; for in Mizpeh was there a place of prayer previously for Israel. And they fasted that day, and put on sackcloth, and [put] ashes on their heads, and tore their clothes, and laid open the Scroll of the Law, concerning which the nations were accustomed to inquire, seeking the likenesses of their idols. And they brought the priests’ garments, and the first-fruits, and the tithes: and they stirred up the Nazarites, who had accomplished their days. And they cried aloud toward Heaven, saying, “What will we do with these men, and where will we carry them away? And your holy place is trodden down and profaned, and your priests are in heaviness and brought low. And behold, the nations are assembled together against us to destroy us: you know what things they imagine against us. How will we be able to stand before them, except you be our help?” And they sounded with the trumpets and cried with a loud voice. And after this Judas appointed leaders of the people, captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, and captains of fifties, and captains of tens. And he said to those who were building houses, and were betrothing wives, and were planting vineyards, and were fearful, that they should return, each man to his own house, according to the law. And the army removed and encamped on the south side of Emmaus. And Judas said, “Gird yourselves, and be valiant men, and be in readiness against the morning, that you may fight with these nations, that are assembled together against us to destroy us, and our holy place: for it is better for us to die in battle, than to look on the evils of our nation and the holy place. Nevertheless, as may be the will in Heaven, so will he do.”

CHAPTER 4

And Gorgias took five thousand footmen, and one thousand chosen horse, and the army removed by night, that it might fall on the army of the Jews and strike them suddenly: and the men of the citadel were his guides. And Judas heard thereof, and removed, he and the valiant men, that he might strike the king’s army which was at Emmaus, while as yet the forces were dispersed from the camp. And Gorgias came into the camp of Judas by night and found no man; and he sought them in the mountains; for he said, “These men flee from us.” And as soon as it was day, Judas appeared in the plain with three thousand men: however, they did not have the armor and swords they desired. And they saw the camp of the nations strong [and] fortified, and horsemen compassing it around; and these were expert in war. And Judas said to the men that were with him, “Do not fear their multitude, neither be afraid of their onset. Remember how our fathers were saved in the Red Sea, when Pharaoh pursued them with an army. And now let us cry to Heaven, if He will have us, and will remember the covenant of our fathers, and destroy this army before our face today: and all the nations will know that there is one who redeems and saves Israel.” And the strangers lifted up their eyes and saw them coming near them: and they went out of the camp to battle. And those who were with Judas sounded their trumpets, and joined battle, and the nations were defeated, and fled into the plain. But all the furthest back fell by the sword: and they pursued them to Gazara, and to the plains of Idumaea and Azotus and Jamnia, and there fell of them about three thousand men. And Judas and his army returned from pursuing after them, and he said to the people, “Do not be greedy of the spoils, inasmuch as there is a battle before us; and Gorgias and his army are near to us in the mountain. But stand you now against our enemies, and fight against them, and afterward take the spoils with boldness.” While Judas was yet making an end of these words, there appeared a part of them looking out from the mountain: and they saw that their army had been put to flight, and that the Jews were burning the camp; for the smoke that was seen declared what was done. But when they perceived these things, they were severely afraid; and perceiving also the army of Judas in the plain ready for battle, they fled—all of them—into the land of the Philistines. And Judas returned to plunder the camp, and they got much gold, and silver, and blue, and sea purple, and great riches. And they returned home, and sang a song of thanksgiving, and gave praise to Heaven; because [His mercy] is good, because His mercy endures forever. And Israel had a great deliverance that day. But the strangers, as many as had escaped, came and told Lysias all the things that had happened: but when he heard thereof, he was confounded and discouraged, because neither had such things as he desired been done to Israel, nor had such things as the king commanded him come to pass. And in the next year he gathered together sixty thousand chosen footmen, and five thousand horse, that he might subdue them. And they came into Idumaea and encamped at Bethsura; and Judas met them with ten thousand men. And he saw that the army was strong, and he prayed and said, “Blessed are You, O Savior of Israel, who quelled the onset of the mighty man by the hand of Your servant David, and delivered the army of the Philistines into the hands of Jonathan the son of Saul, and of his armor bearer: shut up this army in the hand of Your people Israel, and let them be ashamed for their army and their horsemen: give them faintness of heart, and cause the boldness of their strength to melt away, and let them quake at their destruction: cast them down with the sword of those who love You, and let all that know Your Name praise You with thanksgiving.” And they joined battle; and there fell of the army of Lysias about five thousand men, and they fell down near them. But when Lysias saw that his array was put to flight, and the boldness that had come on those who were with Judas, and how they were ready either to live or to die nobly, he removed to Antioch, and gathered together hired soldiers, that he might come again into Judea with even a greater company. But Judas and his countrymen said, “Behold, our enemies are defeated: let us go up to cleanse the holy place, and to dedicate it afresh.” And all the army was gathered together, and they went up to Mount Zion. And they saw the sanctuary laid desolate, and the altar profaned, and the gates burned up, and shrubs growing in the courts as in a forest or as on one of the mountains, and the priests’ chambers pulled down; and they tore their clothes, and made great lamentation, and put ashes on their heads, and fell on their faces to the ground, and blew with the solemn trumpets, and cried toward Heaven. Then Judas appointed certain men to fight against those that were in the citadel, until he should have cleansed the holy place. And he chose blameless priests, such as had pleasure in the law: and they cleansed the holy place and bare out the stones of defilement into an unclean place. And they took counsel concerning the altar of burnt-offerings, which had been profaned, what they should do with it: and there came into their mind a good counsel, that they should pull it down, lest it should be a reproach to them, because the nations had defiled it: and they pulled down the altar, and laid up the stones in the mountain of the house in a convenient place, until there should come a prophet to give an answer concerning them. And they took whole stones according to the law and built a new altar after the fashion of the former; and they built the holy place, and the inner parts of the house; and they hallowed the courts. And they made the holy vessels new, and they brought the candlestick, and the altar of burnt-offerings and of incense, and the table, into the temple. And they burned incense on the altar, and they lighted the lamps that were on the candlestick, and they gave light in the temple. And they set loaves on the table, and spread out the veils, and finished all the works which they made. And they rose up early in the morning, on the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month, which is the month Kislev, in the one hundred and forty-eighth year, and offered sacrifice according to the law on the new altar of burnt-offerings which they had made. At what time and on what day the nations had profaned it, even on that [day] was it dedicated afresh, with songs and harps and lutes, and with cymbals. And all the people fell on their faces, and worshiped, and gave praise to Heaven, which had given them good success. And they kept the dedication of the altar eight days, and offered burnt-offerings with gladness, and sacrificed a sacrifice of deliverance and praise. And they decked the forefront of the temple with crowns of gold and small shields, and dedicated afresh the gates and the priests’ chambers, and made doors for them. And there was exceedingly great gladness among the people, and the reproach of the nations was turned away. And Judas and his countrymen and the whole congregation of Israel ordained, that the days of the dedication of the altar should be kept in their seasons from year to year by the space of eight days, from the twenty-fifth day of the month Kislev, with gladness and joy. And at that season they built up Mount Zion with high walls and strong towers around, lest perhaps the nations should come and tread them down, as they had done previously. And he set there a force to keep it, and they fortified Bethsura to keep it; that the people might have a stronghold near Idumaea.

CHAPTER 5

And it came to pass, when the surrounding nations heard that the altar was built, and the sanctuary dedicated as previously, they were exceedingly angry. And they took counsel to destroy the race of Jacob that was in the midst of them, and they began to kill and destroy among the people. And Judas fought against the children of Esau in Idumaea at Akrabattine, because they besieged Israel: and he struck them with a great slaughter, and brought down their pride, and took their spoils. And he remembered the wickedness of the children of Baean, who were to the people a snare and a stumbling block, lying in wait for them in the ways. And they were shut up by him in the towers; and he encamped against them, and destroyed them utterly, and burned with fire the towers of the place, with all that were therein. And he passed over to the children of Ammon, and found a mighty band, and much people, with Timotheus for their leader. And he fought many battles with them, and they were defeated before his face; and he struck them, and got possession of Jazer, and the villages thereof, and returned again into Judea. And the nations that were in Gilead gathered themselves together against the Israelites that were on their borders, to destroy them. And they fled to the stronghold of Dathema, and sent letters to Judas and his countrymen, saying, “The nations that are around us are gathered together against us to destroy us: and they are preparing to come and get possession of the stronghold whereto we have fled for refuge, and Timotheus is the leader of their army. Now therefore come and deliver us from their hand, for many of us are fallen. And all our countrymen that were in the land of Tubias have been put to death; and they have carried into captivity their wives and their children and their stuff; and they destroyed there about one thousand men.” While the letters were yet being read, behold, there came other messengers from Galilee with their clothes torn, bringing a report in this way, saying that there were gathered together against them those of Ptolemais, and of Tyre, and of Sidon, and all Galilee of the nations to consume them. Now when Judas and the people heard these words, there assembled together a great congregation, to consult what they should do for their countrymen, that were in suffering, and were assaulted of them. And Judas said to Simon his brother, “Choose out men, and go and deliver your countrymen that are in Galilee, but my brother Jonathan and I will go into the land of Gilead.” And he left Joseph the son of Zechariah, and Azariah, as leaders of the people, with the remnant of the army, in Judea, for to keep it. And he gave command to them, saying, “Take you the charge of this people, and fight no battle with the nations until that we come again.” And to Simon were divided three thousand men to go into Galilee, but to Judas eight thousand men [to go] into the land of Gilead. And Simon went into Galilee, and fought many battles with the nations, and the nations were defeated before him. And he pursued them to the gate of Ptolemais; and there fell of the nations about three thousand men, and he took their spoils. And they took to them those that were in Galilee, and in Arbatta, with their wives and their children, and all that they had, and brought them into Judea with great gladness. And Judas Maccabaeus and his brother Jonathan passed over Jordan, and went three days’ journey in the wilderness; and they met with the Nabathaeans, and these met them in a peaceful manner, and told them all things that had befallen their countrymen in the land of Gilead: and how that many of them were shut up in Bosora, and Bosor, and Alema, Casphor, Maked, and Carnaim; all these cities are strong and great: and how that they were shut up in the rest of the cities of the land of Gilead, and that tomorrow they have appointed to encamp against the strongholds, and to take them, and to destroy all these men in one day. And Judas and his army turned suddenly by the way of the wilderness to Bosora; and he took the city and killed all the males with the edge of the sword, and took all their spoils, and burned the city with fire. And he left from there by night and went until he came to the stronghold. And the morning came, and they lifted up their eyes, and behold, much people which could not be counted, bearing ladders and engines of war, to take the stronghold; and they were fighting against them. And Judas saw that the battle was begun, and that the cry of the city went up to Heaven, with trumpets and a great sound, and he said to the men of his army, “Fight this day for your countrymen.” And he went out behind them in three companies, and they sounded with their trumpets, and cried out in prayer. And the army of Timotheus perceived that it was Maccabaeus, and they fled from before him: and he struck them with a great slaughter; and there fell of them on that day about eight thousand men. And he turned away to Mizpeh and fought against it, and took it, and killed all the males thereof, and took the spoils thereof, and burned it with fire. From there he left, and took Casphor, Maked, Bosor, and the other cities of the land of Gilead. Now after these things Timotheus gathered another army and encamped near Raphon beyond the brook. And Judas sent men to spy on the army; and they brought him word, saying, “All the nations that are around us are gathered together to them, an exceedingly great army. And they have hired Arabians to help them, and are encamping beyond the brook, ready to come against you to battle.” And Judas went to meet them. And Timotheus said to the captains of his army, when Judas and his army drew near to the brook of water, “If he passes over first to us, we will not be able to withstand him; for he will mightily prevail against us: but if he be afraid, and encamp beyond the river, we will cross over to him, and prevail against him.” Now when Judas came near to the brook of water, he caused the scribes of the people to remain by the brook, and gave command to them, saying, “Permit no man to encamp, but let all come to the battle.” And he crossed over the first against them, and all the people after him: and all the nations were defeated before his face, and cast away their arms, and fled to the temple at Carnaim. And they took the city, and burned the temple with fire, together with all that were therein. And Carnaim was subdued, neither could they stand any longer before the face of Judas. And Judas gathered together all Israel, those who were in the land of Gilead, from the least to the greatest, and their wives, and their children, and their stuff, an exceedingly great army, that they might come into the land of Judah. And they came as far as Ephron, and this same city was great, [and it was] in the way as they should go, exceedingly strong: they could not turn away from it on the right hand or on the left but must necessarily pass through the midst of it. And they of the city shut them out and stopped up the gates with stones. And Judas sent to them with words of peace, saying, “We will pass through your land to go into our own land, and none will do you any harm, we will only pass by on our feet.” And they would not open to him. And Judas commanded proclamation to be made in the army, that each man should encamp in the place where he was. And the men of the army encamped and fought against the city all that day and all that night, and the city was delivered into his hands; and he destroyed all the males with the edge of the sword, and razed the city, and took the spoils thereof, and passed through the city over those who were slain. And they went over Jordan into the great plain near Bethshan. And Judas gathered together those that lagged behind, and encouraged the people all the way through, until he came into the land of Judah. And they went up to Mount Zion with gladness and joy, and offered whole burnt-offerings, because not so much as one of them was slain until they returned in peace. And in the days when Judas and Jonathan were in the land of Gilead, and Simon his brother in Galilee before Ptolemais, Joseph the son of Zechariah, and Azariah, rulers of the army, heard of their exploits and of the war, what things they had done; and they said, “Let us also get us a name, and let us go fight against the nations that are around us.” And they gave charge to the men of the army that was with them and went toward Jamnia. And Gorgias and his men came out of the city to meet them in battle. And Joseph and Azariah were put to flight and were pursued to the borders of Judea; and there fell on that day of the people of Israel about two thousand men. And there was a great overthrow among the people, because they did not listen to Judas and his countrymen, thinking to do some exploit. But they were not of the seed of those men, by whose hand deliverance was given to Israel. And the man Judas and his countrymen were glorified exceedingly in the sight of all Israel, and of all the nations, wherever their name was heard of; and men gathered together to them, acclaiming them. And Judas and his countrymen went out and fought against the children of Esau in the land toward the south; and he struck Hebron and the villages thereof, and pulled down the strongholds thereof, and burned the towers thereof. And he left to go into the land of the Philistines, and he went through Samaria. In that day certain priests, desiring to do exploits there, were slain in battle, when he went out to battle unadvisedly. And Judas turned toward Azotus, to the land of the Philistines, and pulled down their altars, and burned the carved images of their gods with fire, and took the plunder of their cities, and returned into the land of Judah.

CHAPTER 6

And King Antiochus was journeying through the upper countries; and he heard it said that in Elymais in Persia there was a city renowned for riches, for silver and gold; and that the temple which was in it was exceedingly rich, and that therein were golden shields, and breastplates, and arms, which Alexander, son of Philip, the Macedonian king, who reigned first among the Greeks, left behind there. And he came and sought to take the city, and to pillage it; and he was not able, because the thing was known to them of the city, and they rose up against him to battle: and he fled, and left from there with great heaviness, to return to Babylon. And there came one bringing him tidings into Persia, that the armies, which went against the land of Judah, had been put to flight; and that Lysias went first with a strong army, and was put to shame before them; and that they had waxed strong by reason of arms and power, and with store of spoils, which they took from the armies that they had cut off; and that they had pulled down the abomination which he had built on the altar that was in Jerusalem; and that they had compassed about the sanctuary with high walls, as before, and Bethsura, his city. And it came to pass, when the king heard these words, he was astonished and moved exceedingly: and he laid down on his bed, and fell sick for grief, because it had not befallen him as he looked for. And he was there many days, because great grief was renewed on him, and he made account that he should die. And he called for all his friends, and said to them, “Sleep departs from my eyes, and my heart fails for care. And I said in my heart, To what suffering am I come, and how great a flood is it, wherein I now am! for I was gracious and beloved in my power. But now I remember the evils which I did at Jerusalem, and that I took all the vessels of silver and gold that were therein and sent out to destroy the inhabitants of Judah without a cause. I perceive that on this account these evils have come on me, and behold, I perish through great grief in a strange land.” And he called for Philip, one of his Friends, and set him over all his kingdom, and gave him his diadem, and his robe, and his signet ring, to the end he should bring Antiochus his son, and nourish him up that he might be king. And King Antiochus died there in the one hundred and forty-ninth year. And Lysias knew that the king was dead, and he set up Antiochus his son to reign, whom he had nourished up being young, and he called his name Eupator. And those who were in the citadel shut up Israel around the sanctuary, and sought always their hurt, and the strengthening of the nations. And Judas thought to destroy them and called all the people together to besiege them. And they were gathered together, and besieged them in the one hundred and fiftieth year, and he made mounds to shoot from, and engines of war. And there came out some of those who were shut up, and there were joined to them certain ungodly men of Israel. And they went to the king, and said, “How long will you not execute judgment, and avenge our countrymen? We were willing to serve your father, and to walk after his words, and to follow his commands; and for this reason the children of our people besieged the citadel and were alienated from us; but as many of us as they could descend on they killed and plundered our inheritances. And not against us only did they stretch out their hand, but also against all their borders. And behold, they are encamped this day against the citadel at Jerusalem, to take it: and they have fortified the sanctuary and Bethsura. And if you are not beforehand with them quickly, they will do greater things than these, and you will not be able to control them.” And when the king heard this, he was angry, and gathered together all his friends, [even the] rulers of his army, and those who were over the horse. And there came to him from other kingdoms, and from isles of the sea, bands of hired soldiers. And the number of his forces was one hundred thousand footmen, and twenty thousand horsemen, and thirty-two elephants trained for war. And they went through Idumaea, and encamped against Bethsura, and fought against it many days, and made engines of war; and they [of Bethsura] came out, and burned them with fire, and fought valiantly. And Judas left from the citadel, and encamped at Bethzacharias, near the king’s camp. And the king rose early in the morning and sent his army at full speed along the road to Bethzacharias, and his forces made them ready to battle, and sounded with the trumpets. And they showed the elephants the blood of grapes and mulberries, that they might prepare them for the battle. And they divided the beasts among the phalanxes, and they set by each elephant one thousand men armed with coats of mail, and helmets of brass on their heads; and for each beast were appointed five hundred chosen horsemen. These were ready beforehand, wherever the beast was; and wherever the beast went, they went with him; they did not depart from him. And towers of wood were on them, strong [and] covered, one on each beast, girded fast on him with cunning contrivances; and on each [beast] were thirty-two valiant men that fought on them, beside his Indian (and the residue of the horsemen he set on this side and that side at the two parts of the army), striking terror [into the enemy], and protected by the phalanxes. Now when the sun shone on the shields of gold and brass, the mountains shone with them, and blazed like torches of fire. And a part of the king’s army was spread on the high mountains, and some on the low ground, and they went on firmly and in order. And all that heard the noise of their multitude, and the marching of the multitude, and the rattling of the arms, did quake, for the army was exceedingly great and strong. And Judas and his army drew near for battle, and there fell of the king’s army six hundred men. And Eleazar, who was [called] Avaran, saw one of the beasts armed with royal breastplates, and he was higher than all the beasts, and the king seemed to be on him; and he gave himself to deliver his people, and to get himself a perpetual name; and he ran on him courageously into the midst of the phalanx, and killed on the right hand and on the left, and they separated apart from him on this side and on that. And he crept under the elephant, and thrust him from beneath, and killed him; and the [elephant] fell to the earth on him, and he died there. And they saw the strength of the kingdom, and the fierce onset of the army, and turned away from them. But they of the king’s army went up to Jerusalem to meet them, and the king encamped toward Judea, and toward Mount Zion. And he made peace with them of Bethsura; and he came out of the city, because they had no food there to endure the siege, because it was a Sabbath to the land. And the king took Bethsura and appointed a garrison there to keep it. And he encamped against the sanctuary many days; and set there mounds to shoot from, and engines of war, and instruments for casting fire and stones, and pieces to cast darts, and slings. And they also made engines against their engines and fought for many days. But there was no food in the sanctuary, because it was the seventh year, and those who fled for safety into Judea from among the nations had eaten up the residue of the store; and there were but a few left in the sanctuary, because the famine prevailed against them, and they were scattered, each man to his own place. And Lysias heard it said that Philip, whom Antiochus the king, while he was yet alive, appointed to nourish up his son Antiochus, that he might be king, had returned from Persia and Media, and with him the forces that went with the king, and that he was seeking to take the government to himself. And he hurried, and gave consent to depart; and he said to the king and the leaders of the army and to the men, “We decay daily, and our food is scant, and the place where we encamp is strong, and the affairs of the kingdom lie on us: now therefore let us give the right hand to these men, and make peace with them and with all their nation, and covenant with them, that they will walk after their own laws, as previously, for because of their laws which we abolished they were angered, and did all these things.” And the saying pleased the king and the princes, and he sent to them to make peace; and they accepted thereof. And the king and the princes swore to them: immediately they came out from the stronghold. And the king entered into Mount Zion; and he saw the strength of the place and set at nothing the oath which he had sworn and gave command to pull down the wall around. And he left in haste, and returned to Antioch, and found Philip master of the city; and he fought against him and took the city by force.

CHAPTER 7

In the one hundred and fiftieth year, Demetrius the son of Seleucus came out from Rome and went up with a few men to a city by the sea and reigned there. And it came to pass, when he would go into the house of the kingdom of his fathers, that the army laid hands on Antiochus and Lysias, to bring them to him. And the thing was known to him, and he said, “Do not show me their faces.” And the army killed them. And Demetrius sat on the throne of his kingdom. And there came to him all the lawless and ungodly men of Israel; and Alcimus was their leader, desiring to be chief priest; and they accused the people to the king, saying, “Judas and his countrymen have destroyed all your friends, and have scattered us from our own land. Now therefore send a man whom you trust and let him go and see all the havock which he has made of us, and of the king’s country, and [how] he has punished them and all that helped them.” And the king chose Bacchides, one of the king’s friends, who was ruler in the country beyond the river, and was a great man in the kingdom, and faithful to the king. And he sent him, and that ungodly Alcimus, and made sure to him the chief priesthood, and he commanded him to take vengeance on the sons of Israel. And they went and came with a great army into the land of Judah, and he sent messengers to Judas and his countrymen with words of peace deceitfully. And they gave no heed to their words; for they saw that they were come with a great army. And there were gathered together to Alcimus and Bacchides a company of scribes, to seek for justice. And the Hasidaeans were the first among the sons of Israel that sought peace of them; for they said, “One that is a priest of the seed of Aaron has come with the forces, and he will do us no wrong.” And he spoke with them words of peace, and swore to them, saying, “We will seek the hurt neither of you nor your friends.” And they gave him credence: and he laid hands on sixty men of them, and killed them in one day, according to the word which [the psalmist] wrote, “The flesh of your saints [they cast out, and] their blood they shed around Jerusalem; And there was no man to bury them.” And the fear and the dread of them fell on all the people, for they said, “There is neither truth nor judgment in them; for they have broken the covenant and the oath which they swore.” And Bacchides left from Jerusalem and encamped in Bezeth; and he sent and took away many of the deserters that were with him, and certain of the people, and he killed them, and [cast them] into the great pit. And he made sure the country to Alcimus and left with him a force to aid him; and Bacchides went away to the king. And Alcimus strove for his chief priesthood. And there were gathered to him all those who troubled their people, and they got the mastery of the land of Judah and did great hurt in Israel. And Judas saw all the mischief that Alcimus and his company had done among the sons of Israel, [even] above the nations, and he went out into all the surrounding coasts of Judea and took vengeance on the men that had deserted from him, and they were restrained from going out into the country. But when Alcimus saw that Judas and his company waxed strong and knew that he was not able to withstand them, he returned to the king, and brought evil accusations against them. And the king sent Nicanor, one of his honorable princes, a man that hated Israel and was their enemy, and commanded him to destroy the people. And Nicanor came to Jerusalem with a great army; and he sent to Judas and his countrymen deceitfully with words of peace, saying, “Let there be no battle between me and you; I will come with a few men, that I may see your faces in peace.” And he came to Judas, and they saluted one another peaceably. And the enemies were ready to take away Judas by violence. And the thing was known to Judas, that he came to him with deceit, and he was severely afraid of him, and would see his face no longer. And Nicanor knew that his counsel was discovered; and he went out to meet Judas in battle beside Capharsalama; and there fell of Nicanor’s side about five hundred men, and they fled into the city of David. And after these things Nicanor went up to Mount Zion: and there came some of the priests out of the sanctuary, and some of the elders of the people, to salute him peaceably, and to show him the whole burned sacrifice that was being offered for the king. And he mocked them, and laughed at them, and entreated them shamefully, and spoke haughtily, and swore in a rage, saying, “Unless Judas and his army are now delivered into my hands, it will be that, if I come again in peace, I will burn up this house”; and he went out in a great rage. And the priests entered in and stood before the altar and the temple; and they wept, and said, “You chose this house to be called by Your Name, to be a house of prayer and supplication for Your people: take vengeance on this man and his army, and let them fall by the sword: remember their blasphemies, and do not allow them to live any longer.” And Nicanor went out from Jerusalem, and encamped in Bethhoron, and there met him the army of Syria. And Judas encamped in Adasa with three thousand men: and Judas prayed and said, “When those who came from the king blasphemed, your messenger went out, and struck among them one hundred and eighty-five thousand. Even so defeat this army before us today and let all the rest know that he has spoken wickedly against Your sanctuary and judge him according to his wickedness.” And on the thirteenth day of the month Adar the armies joined battle: and Nicanor’s army was defeated, and he himself was the first to fall in the battle. Now when his army saw that Nicanor was fallen, they cast away their arms, and fled. And they pursued after them a day’s journey from Adasa until you come to Gazara, and they sounded an alarm after them with the solemn trumpets. And they came out of all the surrounding villages of Judea and closed them in; and these turned them back on those, and they all fell by the sword, and there was not one of them left. And they took the spoils, and the plunder, and they struck off Nicanor’s head, and his right hand, which he stretched out so haughtily, and brought them, and hanged them up beside Jerusalem. And the people were exceedingly glad, and they kept that day as a day of great gladness. And they ordained to keep this day year by year, the thirteenth day of Adar. And the land of Judah had rest a little while.

CHAPTER 8

And Judas heard of the fame of the Romans, that they are valiant men, and have pleasure in all that join themselves to them and make friends with all such as come to them, and that they are valiant men. And they told him of their wars and exploits which they do among the Gauls, and how that they conquered them, and brought them under tribute; and what things they did in the land of Spain, that they might become masters of the mines of silver and gold which were there; and how that by their policy and persistence they conquered all the place (and the place was exceedingly far from them), and the kings that came against them from the uttermost part of the earth, until they had defeated them, and struck them very severely; and how the rest give them tribute year by year: and Philip, and Perseus, king of Chittim, and those who lifted up themselves against them, did they defeat in battle, and conquered them: Antiochus also, the great king of Asia, who came against them to battle, having one hundred and twenty elephants, with horse, and chariots, and an exceedingly great army, and he was defeated by them, and they took him alive, and appointed that both he and such as reigned after him should give them a great tribute, and should give hostages, and a parcel [of land], the country of India, and Media, and Lydia, and of the attractive of their countries; and they took them from him, and gave them to King Eumenes: and how they of Greece took counsel to come and destroy them; and the thing was known to them, and they sent against them a captain, and fought against them, and many of them fell down wounded to death, and they made captive their wives and their children, and plundered them, and conquered their land, and pulled down their strongholds, and plundered them, and brought them into bondage to this day: and the residue of the kingdoms and of the isles, as many as rose up against them at any time, they destroyed and made them to be their servants; but with their friends and such as relied on them they stayed friends; and they conquered the kingdoms that were near and those that were far off, and all that heard of their fame were afraid of them: moreover, whoever they will to help and to make kings, these do they make kings; and whoever they will, do they depose; and they are exalted exceedingly: and for all this none of them ever put on a diadem, neither did they clothe themselves with purple, to be magnified by it: and how they had made for themselves a senate house, and day by day three hundred and twenty men sat in council, always consulting for the people, to the end they might be well ordered: and how they commit their government to one man year by year, that he should rule over them, and be lord over all their country, and all are obedient to that one, and there is neither envy nor emulation among them. And Judas chose Eupolemus the son of John, the son of Accos, and Jason the son of Eleazar, and sent them to Rome, to establish friendship and alliance with them, and that they should take the yoke from them; for they saw that the kingdom of the Greeks kept Israel in bondage. And they went to Rome (and the way was exceedingly long), and they entered into the senate house, and answered and said, Judas, who is also [called] Maccabaeus, and his countrymen, and the people of the Jews, have sent us to you, to make a confederacy and peace with you, and that we might be registered your allies and friends. And the thing was well-pleasing in their sight. And this is the copy of the writing which they wrote back again on tablets of brass, and sent to Jerusalem, that it might be with them there for a memorial of peace and confederacy: “Good success be to the Romans, and to the nation of the Jews, by sea and by land forever: the sword also and the enemy be far from them. But if war arise for Rome first, or any of their allies in all their dominion, the nation of the Jews will help them as allies, as the occasion will prescribe to them, with all their heart: and to those who make war on them they will not give, neither supply, food, arms, money, or ships, as it has seemed good to Rome, and they will keep their ordinances without taking anything therefore. In the same manner, moreover, if war comes first on the nation of the Jews, the Romans will help them as allies with all their soul, as the occasion will prescribe to them: and to those who are allies [with their enemies] there will not be given food, arms, money, or ships, as it has seemed good to Rome; and they will keep these ordinances, and that without deceit. According to these words have the Romans made a covenant with the people of the Jews. But if hereafter the one party and the other will take counsel to add or diminish anything, they will do it at their pleasure, and whatever they will add or take away will be established. And as touching the evils which King Demetrius does to them, we have written to him, saying, Why have you made your yoke heavy on our friends and allies the Jews? If, therefore, they plead anymore against you, we will do them justice, and fight with you by sea and by land.”

CHAPTER 9

And Demetrius heard that Nicanor was fallen with his forces in battle, and he sent Bacchides and Alcimus again into the land of Judah a second time, and the right wing [of his army] with them: and they went by the way that leads to Gilgal, and encamped against Mesaloth, which is in Arbela, and got possession of it, and destroyed many people. And the first month of the one hundred and fifty-second year they encamped against Jerusalem: and they left, and went to Berea, with twenty thousand footmen and two thousand horses. And Judas was encamped at Elasa, and three thousand chosen men with him: and they saw the multitude of the forces, that they were many, and they feared exceedingly: and many slipped away out of the army; there were not left of them more than eight hundred men. And Judas saw that his army slipped away, and that the battle pressed on him, and he was severely troubled in heart, for that he had no time to gather them together, and he waxed faint. And he said to those who were left, “Let us arise and go up against our adversaries, if perhaps we may be able to fight with them.” And they would have dissuaded him, saying, “We will in no way be able, but let us rather save our lives now: let us return again, [we] and our countrymen, and fight against them, but we are few.” And Judas said, “Do not let it be so that I should do this thing, to flee from them: and if our time has come, let us die in a manly way for our countrymen’s sake, and not leave a cause of reproach against our glory.” And the army went from the camp, and stood to encounter them, and the horse was parted into two companies, and the slingers and the archers went before the army, and all the mighty men that fought in the front of the battle. But Bacchides was in the right wing; and the phalanx drew near on the two parts, and they blew with their trumpets. And the men of Judas’ side, even they sounded with their trumpets, and the earth shook with the shout of the armies, and the battle was joined, and continued from morning until evening. And Judas saw that Bacchides and the strength of his army were on the right side, and there went with him all that were brave in heart, and the right wing was defeated by them, and he pursued after them to Mount Azotus. And those who were on the left wing saw that the right wing was defeated, and they turned and followed on the footsteps of Judas and of those that were with him: and the battle waxed severe, and many on both parts fell wounded to death. And Judas fell, and the rest fled. And Jonathan and Simon took Judas their brother and buried him in the tomb of his fathers at Modin. And they mourned him, and all Israel made great lamentation for him, and mourned many days, and said, “How is the mighty fallen, the savior of Israel!” And the rest of the acts of Judas, and his wars, and the valiant deeds which he did, and his greatness, they are not written; for they were exceedingly many. And it came to pass after the death of Judas, that the lawless put out their heads in all the coasts of Israel, and all those who did iniquity rose up (in those days there was an exceedingly great famine), and the country went over with them. And Bacchides chose out the ungodly men and made them lords of the country. And they sought out and searched for the friends of Judas, and brought them to Bacchides, and he took vengeance on them, and used them despitefully. And there was great suffering in Israel, such as was not since the time that no prophet appeared to them. And all the friends of Judas were gathered together, and they said to Jonathan, Since your brother Judas has died, we have no man like him to go out against our enemies, and Bacchides, and among them of our nation that hate us. Now therefore, we have chosen you this day to be our prince and leader in his stead, that you may fight our battles. And Jonathan took the governance on him at that time and rose up in the stead of his brother Judas. And Bacchides knew it, and he sought to kill him. And Jonathan, and Simon his brother, and all that were with him, knew it; and they fled into the wilderness of Tekoah, and encamped by the water of the pool Asphar. And Bacchides knew it on the Sabbath day, and came, he and all his army, over Jordan. And [Jonathan] sent his brother, a leader of the multitude, and implored his friends the Nabathaeans, that they might leave with them their baggage, which was much. And the children of Jambri came out of Medaba, and took John, and all that he had, and went their way with it. But after these things they brought word to Jonathan and Simon his brother, that the children of Jambri were making a great marriage and were bringing the bride from Nadabath with a great train, a daughter of one of the great nobles of Canaan. And they remembered John their brother, and went up, and hid themselves under the covert of the mountain: and they lifted up their eyes, and saw, and behold, a great ado and much baggage: and the bridegroom came out, and his friends and his countrymen, to meet them with timbrels, and minstrels, and many weapons. And they rose up against them from their ambush, and killed them, and many fell wounded to death, and the remnant fled into the mountain, and they took all their spoils. And the marriage was turned into mourning, and the voice of their minstrels into lamentation. And they avenged fully the blood of their brother and turned back to the marsh of Jordan. And Bacchides heard it, and he came on the Sabbath day to the banks of Jordan with a great army. And Jonathan said to his company, “Let us stand up now and fight for our lives, for it is not [with us] today, as yesterday and the day before. For behold, the battle is before us and behind us; moreover, the water of the Jordan is on this side and on that side, and marsh and wood; and there is no place to escape. Now therefore, cry to Heaven, that you may be delivered out of the hand of your enemies.” And the battle was joined, and Jonathan stretched out his hand to strike Bacchides, and he turned away back from him. And Jonathan and those who were with him leapt into the Jordan and swam over to the other side: and they did not pass over Jordan against them. And there fell of Bacchides’ company that day about one thousand men; and he returned to Jerusalem. And they built strong cities in Judea, the stronghold that was in Jericho, and Emmaus, and Bethhoron, and Bethel, and Timnath, Pharathon, and Tephon, with high walls and gates and bars. And in them he set a garrison, to vex Israel. And he fortified the city Bethsura, and Gazara, and the citadel, and put forces in them, and store of food. And he took the sons of the chief men of the country for hostages and put them in ward in the citadel at Jerusalem. And in the one hundred and fifty-third year, in the second month, Alcimus commanded to pull down the wall of the inner court of the sanctuary; he pulled down also the works of the prophets; and he began to pull down. At that time was Alcimus stricken, and his works were hindered; and his mouth was stopped, and he was taken with a palsy, and he could no longer speak anything and give order concerning his house. And Alcimus died at that time with great torment. And Bacchides saw that Alcimus was dead, and he returned to the king: and the land of Judah had rest two years. And all the lawless men took counsel, saying, “Behold, Jonathan and they of his part are dwelling at ease, and in security: now therefore we will bring Bacchides, and he will lay hands on them all in one night.” And they went and consulted with him. And he went, and came with a great army, and sent letters privily to all his allies that were in Judea, that they should lay hands on Jonathan and those that were with him: and they could not, because their counsel was known to them. And [those who were of Jonathan’s part] laid hands on about fifty of the men of the country, that were authors of the wickedness, and he killed them. And Jonathan, and Simon, and those who were with him, got them away to Bethbasi, which is in the wilderness, and he built up that which had been pulled down thereof, and they made it strong. And Bacchides knew it, and he gathered together all his multitude, and sent word to those who were of Judea. And he went and encamped against Bethbasi, and fought against it many days, and made engines of war. And Jonathan left his brother Simon in the city, and went out into the country, and he went with a few men. And he struck Odomera and his relatives, and the children of Phasiron in their tent. And they began to strike them, and to go up with their forces. And Simon and those who were with him went out of the city, and set on fire the engines of war, and fought against Bacchides, and he was defeated by them, and they afflicted him severely; for his counsel was in vain, and his inroad. And they were very angry with the lawless men that gave him counsel to come into the country, and they killed many of them. And he took counsel to depart into his own land. And Jonathan had knowledge thereof, and sent ambassadors to him, to the end that they should make peace with him, and that he should restore to them the captives. And he accepted the thing, and did according to his words, and swore to him that he would not seek his hurt all the days of his life. And he restored to him the captives which he had taken previously out of the land of Judah, and he returned and departed into his own land, and came not anymore into their borders. And the sword ceased from Israel. And Jonathan lived at Michmash; and Jonathan began to judge the people; and he destroyed the ungodly out of Israel.

CHAPTER 10

And in the one hundred and sixtieth year, Alexander Epiphanes, the son of Antiochus, went up and took possession of Ptolemais: and they received him, and he reigned there. And King Demetrius heard thereof, and he gathered together exceedingly great forces, and went out to meet him in battle. And Demetrius sent letters to Jonathan with words of peace, so as to magnify him. For he said, “Let us go beforehand to make peace with them, before he makes peace with Alexander against us: for he will remember all the evils that we have done against him, and to his countrymen and to his nation.” And he gave him authority to gather together forces, and to provide arms, and that he should be his ally: and he commanded that they should deliver up to him the hostages that were in the citadel. And Jonathan came to Jerusalem and read the letters in the audience of all the people, and of those who were in the citadel: and they were severely afraid, when they heard that the king had given him authority to gather together an army. And they of the citadel delivered up the hostages to Jonathan, and he restored them to their parents. And Jonathan lived in Jerusalem and began to build and renew the city. And he commanded those who did the work to build the walls and Mount Zion around with square stones for defense; and they did so. And the strangers, that were in the strongholds which Bacchides had built, fled away; and each man left his place, and departed into his own land. Only at Bethsura were there left certain of those that had forsaken the law and the commands; for it was a place of refuge to them. And King Alexander heard all the promises which Demetrius had sent to Jonathan: and they told him of the battles and the valiant deeds which he and his countrymen had done, and of the toils which they had endured; And he said, “Will we find such another man? And now we will make him our friend and ally.” And he wrote letters, and sent them to him, according to these words, saying, “King Alexander to his brother Jonathan, greetings: We have heard of you, that you are a mighty man of valor, and meet to be our friend. And now we have appointed you this day to be chief priest of your nation, and to be called the king’s friend (and he sent to him a purple robe and a crown of gold), and to take our part, and to keep friendship with us.” And Jonathan put on the holy garments in the seventh month of the one hundred and sixtieth year, at the Celebration of Shelters, and he gathered together forces, and provided arms in abundance. And Demetrius heard these things, and he was grieved, and said, “What is this that we have done, that Alexander has been beforehand with us in establishing friendship with the Jews, to strengthen himself? I also will write to them words of encouragement and of honor and of gifts, that they may be with me to aid me.” And he sent to them according to these words: “King Demetrius to the nation of the Jews, greetings: Forasmuch as you have kept your covenants with us, and continued in our friendship, and have not joined yourselves to our enemies, we have heard of this, and are glad. And now continue still to keep faith with us, and we will repay to you good things in return for your dealings with us, and will grant you many immunities, and give you gifts. And now I free you, and release all the Jews, from the tributes, and from the customs of salt, and from the crowns. And instead of the third part of the seed, and instead of the half of the fruit of the trees, which falls to me to receive, I release it from this day and from now on, so that I will not take it from the land of Judah, and from the three governments which are added to that from the country of Samaria and Galilee, from this day out and for all time. And let Jerusalem be holy and free, and her borders; the tenths and the tolls [also]. I yield up also my authority over the citadel which is at Jerusalem, and give it to the chief priest, that he may appoint in it such men as he will choose to keep it. And every soul of the Jews, that has been carried captive from the land of Judah into any part of my kingdom, I set at liberty without price; and let all remit the tributes of their cattle also. And all the feasts, and the Sabbaths, and new moons, and appointed days, and three days before a feast, and three days after a feast, let them all be days of immunity and release for all the Jews that are in my kingdom. And no man will have authority to exact from any of them, or to trouble them concerning any matter. And let there be enrolled among the king’s forces about thirty thousand men of the Jews, and pay will be given to them, as belongs to all the king’s forces. And of them some will be placed in the king’s great strongholds, and some of them will be placed over the affairs of the kingdom, which are of trust: and let those that are over them, and their rulers, be of themselves, and let them walk after their own laws, even as the king has commanded in the land of Judah. And the three governments that have been added to Judea from the country of Samaria, let them be added to Judea, that they may be reckoned to be under one, that they may not obey other authority than the chief priest’s. As for Ptolemais, and the land pertaining to that, I have given it as a gift to the sanctuary that is at Jerusalem, for the expenses that befit the sanctuary. And I give every year fifteen thousand shekels of silver from the king’s revenues from the places that are convenient. And all the overplus, which those who manage the king’s affairs paid not in as in the first years, they will give from now on toward the works of the house. And besides this, the five thousand shekels of silver, which they received from the uses of the sanctuary from the revenue year by year, this is also released, because it pertains to the priests that minister. And whoever will flee to the temple that is at Jerusalem, and [be found] within all the borders thereof, whether one owes money to the king, or any other matter, let them go free, and all that they have in my kingdom. And for the building and renewing of the works of the sanctuary the expense will be given also out of the king’s revenue. And for the building of the walls of Jerusalem, and the fortifying thereof around, will the expense be given also out of the king’s revenue, and for the building of the walls in Judea.” Now when Jonathan and the people heard these words, they gave no credence to them, nor received them, because they remembered the great evil which he had done in Israel, and that he had afflicted them very severely. And they were well pleased with Alexander, because he was the first that spoke words of peace to them, and they were allies with him always. And King Alexander gathered together great forces and encamped near Demetrius. And the two kings joined battle, and the army of Alexander fled; and Demetrius followed after him and prevailed against them. And he strengthened the battle exceedingly until the sun went down: and Demetrius fell that day. And Alexander sent ambassadors to Ptolemy king of Egypt according to these words, saying, “Forasmuch as I am returned to my kingdom, and am set on the throne of my fathers, and have gotten the dominion, and have overthrown Demetrius, and have gotten possession of our country; yes, I joined the battle with him, and he and his army were defeated by us, and we sat on the throne of his kingdom: now also let us make friends with one another, and give me now your daughter to wife: and I will be joined with you, and will give both you and her gifts worthy of you.” And Ptolemy the king answered, saying, “Happy is the day wherein you returned into the land of your fathers, and sat on the throne of their kingdom. And now I will do to you as you have written, but meet me at Ptolemais, that we may see one another; and I will join with you, even as you have said.” And Ptolemy went out of Egypt, himself and Cleopatra his daughter, and came to Ptolemais in the one hundred and sixty-second year: and King Alexander met him, and he bestowed on him his daughter Cleopatra, and celebrated her wedding at Ptolemais with great pomp, as the manner of kings is. And King Alexander wrote to Jonathan, that he should come to meet him. And he went with pomp to Ptolemais, and met the two kings, and gave them and their friends silver and gold, and many gifts, and found favor in their sight. And there were gathered together against him certain pernicious fellows out of Israel, men that were transgressors of the law, to complain against him: and the king gave no heed to them. And the king commanded, and they took off Jonathan’s garments, and clothed him in purple: and so they did. And the king made him sit with him, and said to his princes, “Go out with him into the midst of the city, and make proclamation, that no man complains against him of any matter, and let no man trouble him for any manner of cause.” And it came to pass, when those who complained against him saw his glory according as [the herald] made proclamation, and [saw] him clothed in purple, they all fled away. And the king gave him honor, and wrote him among his chief friends, and made him a captain, and governor of a province. And Jonathan returned to Jerusalem with peace and gladness. And in the one hundred and sixty-fifth year came Demetrius, son of Demetrius, out of Crete into the land of his fathers: and King Alexander heard thereof, and he grieved exceedingly, and returned to Antioch. And Demetrius appointed Apollonius, who was over Coele-Syria, and he gathered together a great army, and encamped in Jamnia, and sent to Jonathan the chief priest, saying, “You alone lift up yourself against us, but I am had in derision and in reproach because of you. And why do you vaunt your power against us in the mountains? Now therefore, if you trust in your forces, come down to us into the plain, and there let us try the matter together; for with me is the power of the cities. Ask and learn who I am, and the rest that help us; and they say your foot cannot stand before our face; for your fathers have been twice put to flight in their own land. And now you will not be able to withstand the horse and such an army as this in the plain, where is neither stone nor flint, nor place to flee to.” Now when Jonathan heard the words of Apollonius, he was moved in his mind, and he chose out ten thousand men, and went out from Jerusalem, and Simon his brother met him for to help him. And he encamped against Joppa: and they of the city shut him out, because Apollonius had a garrison in Joppa: and they fought against it. And they of the city were afraid and opened to him: and Jonathan became master of Joppa. And Apollonius heard, and he gathered an army of three thousand horses, and a great army, and went to Azotus as though he were on a journey, and immediately drew onward into the plain, because he had a multitude of horse, and trusted therein. And he pursued after him to Azotus, and the armies joined battle. And Apollonius had left one thousand horses behind them privily. And Jonathan knew that there was an ambush behind him. And they compassed round his army, and cast their darts at the people, from morning until evening: but the people stood still, as Jonathan commanded them: and their horses were wearied. And Simon drew out his army and joined battle with the phalanx (for the horsemen were spent), and they were defeated by him, and fled. And the horsemen were scattered in the plain, and they fled to Azotus, and entered into Beth-Dagon, their idol’s temple, to save themselves. And Jonathan burned Azotus, and the surrounding cities, and took their spoils; and the temple of Dagon, and those who fled into it, he burned with fire. And those who had fallen by the sword, with those who were burned, were about eight thousand men. And from there Jonathan left, and encamped against Ashkelon, and they of the city came out to meet him with great pomp. And Jonathan, with those who were on his side, returned to Jerusalem, having many spoils. And it came to pass, when King Alexander heard these things, he honored Jonathan yet more; and he sent to him a buckle of gold, as the use is to give to such as are of the relatives of the kings: and he gave him Ekron and all the coasts thereof for a possession.

CHAPTER 11

And the king of Egypt gathered together great forces, as the sand which is by the seashore, and many ships, and sought to make himself master of Alexander’s kingdom by deceit, and to add it to his own kingdom. And he went out into Syria with words of peace, and they of the cities opened to him, and met him; For King Alexander’s command was that they should meet him, because he was his father-in-law. Now as he entered into the cities of Ptolemais, he set his forces for a garrison in each city. But when he came near to Azotus, they showed him the temple of Dagon burned with fire, and Azotus and the pasture lands thereof pulled down, and the bodies cast abroad, and those who had been burned, whom he burned in the war, for they had made heaps of them in his way. And they told the king what things Jonathan had done, that they might cast blame on him: and the king held his peace. And Jonathan met the king with pomp at Joppa, and they saluted one another, and they slept there. And Jonathan went with the king as far as the river that is called Eleutherus and returned to Jerusalem. But King Ptolemy became master of the cities on the seacoast, to Selucia which is by the sea, and he devised evil plans concerning Alexander. And he sent ambassadors to King Demetrius, saying, “Come! Let us make a covenant with one another, and I will give you my daughter whom Alexander has, and you will reign over your father’s kingdom; for I have changed my mind that I gave my daughter to him, for he sought to kill me.” And he cast blame on him, because he coveted his kingdom. And taking his daughter from him, he gave her to Demetrius, and was estranged from Alexander, and their enmity was openly seen. And Ptolemy entered into Antioch and put on himself the diadem of Asia; and he put two diadems on his head, the diadem of Egypt and that of Asia. But King Alexander was in Cilicia at that season, because they of those parts were in revolt. And Alexander heard of it, and he came against him in war: and Ptolemy led out [his army, and] met him with a strong force, and put him to flight. And Alexander fled into Arabia, that he might be sheltered there; but King Ptolemy was exalted. And Zabdiel the Arabian took off Alexander’s head and sent it to Ptolemy. And King Ptolemy died the third day after, and those who were in his strongholds were slain by those who were in the strongholds. And Demetrius reigned in the one hundred and sixty-seventh year. In those days Jonathan gathered together them of Judea, to take the citadel that was at Jerusalem: and he made many engines of war against it. And certain that hated their own nation, men that transgressed the law, went to the king, and reported to him that Jonathan was besieging the citadel. And he heard, and was angered; but when he heard it, he set out immediately, and came to Ptolemais, and wrote to Jonathan, that he should not besiege it, and that he should meet him and speak with him at Ptolemais with all speed. But when Jonathan heard this, he commanded to besiege it [still]: and he chose certain of the elders of Israel and of the priests, and put himself in peril, and taking silver and gold and raiment and various presents besides, went to Ptolemais to the king. And he found favor in his sight. And certain lawless men of those who were of the nation made complaints against him, and the king did to him even as his predecessors had done to him and exalted him in the sight of all his friends, and confirmed to him the chief priesthood, and all the other honors that he had before, and gave him preeminence among his chief friends. And Jonathan requested of the king, that he would make Judea free from tribute, and the three provinces, and the country of Samaria; and promised him three hundred talents. And the king consented and wrote letters to Jonathan concerning all these things after this manner: “King Demetrius to his brother Jonathan, and to the nation of the Jews, greetings: The copy of the letter which we wrote to Lasthenes our countryman concerning you, we have written also to you, that you may see it. King Demetrius to Lasthenes his father, greetings: We have determined to do good to the nation of the Jews, who are our friends, and observe what is just toward us, because of their good will toward us. We have confirmed therefore to them the borders of Judea, and also the three governments of Aphaerema and Lydda and Ramathaim ([these] were added to Judea from the country of Samaria), and all things pertaining to them, for all such as do sacrifice in Jerusalem, instead of the king’s dues which the king received of them yearly previously from the produce of the earth and the fruits of trees. And as for the other things that pertain to us from now on, of the tenths and the tolls that pertain to us, and the salt pits, and the crowns that pertain to us, all these we will bestow on them. And not one of these things will be annulled from this time out and forever. Now therefore, be careful to make a copy of these things, and let it be given to Jonathan, and let it be set up on the holy mount in an appropriate and conspicuous place.” And King Demetrius saw that the land was quiet before him, and that no resistance was made to him, and he sent away all his forces, each man to his own place, except the foreign forces, which he had raised from the isles of the nations: and all the forces of his fathers hated him. Now Tryphon was of those who previously had been of Alexander’s part, and he saw that all the forces murmured against Demetrius, and he went to Imalcue the Arabian, who was nourishing up Antiochus the young child of Alexander, and pressed severely on him that he should deliver him to him, that he might reign in his father’s stead: and he told him all that Demetrius had done, and the hatred with which his forces hated him; and he dwelt there many days. And Jonathan sent to King Demetrius, that he should cast out of Jerusalem them of the citadel, and those who were in the strongholds; for they fought against Israel continually. And Demetrius sent to Jonathan, saying, “I will not only do this for you and your nation, but I will greatly honor you and your nation, if I find fair occasion. Now therefore you will do well, if you send me men who will fight for me; for all my forces are revolted.” And Jonathan sent him three thousand valiant men to Antioch: and they came to the king, and the king was glad at their coming. And they of the city gathered themselves together into the midst of the city, to the number of one hundred and twenty thousand men, and they were inclined to kill the king. And the king fled into the court of the palace, and they of the city seized the passages of the city and began to fight. And the king called the Jews to help him, and they were gathered together to him all at once, and they dispersed themselves in the city, and killed that day to the number of one hundred thousand. And they set the city on fire, and got many spoils that day, and saved the king. And they of the city saw that the Jews had made themselves masters of the city as they would, and they waxed faint in their hearts, and they cried out to the king with supplication, saying, “Give us your right hand, and let the Jews cease from fighting against us and the city.” And they cast away their arms and made peace; and the Jews were glorified in the sight of the king, and before all that were in his kingdom; and they returned to Jerusalem, having many spoils. And King Demetrius sat on the throne of his kingdom, and the land was quiet before him. And he lied in all that he spoke, and estranged himself from Jonathan, and did not repay him according to the benefits with which he had repaid him and afflicted him exceedingly. Now after this, Tryphon returned, and with him the young child Antiochus; and he reigned and put on a diadem. And there were gathered to him all the forces which Demetrius had sent away with disgrace, and they fought against him, and he fled and was put to the rout. And Tryphon took the elephants and became master of Antioch. And the young Antiochus wrote to Jonathan, saying, “I confirm to you the chief priesthood, and appoint you over the four governments, and to be one of the king’s friends.” And he sent to him golden vessels and furniture for the table, and gave him leave to drink in golden vessels, and to be clothed in purple, and to have a golden buckle. And his brother Simon he made captain from the Ladder of Tyre to the borders of Egypt. And Jonathan went out and took his journey beyond the river and through the cities; and all the forces of Syria gathered themselves to him for to be his allies. And he came to Ashkelon, and they of the city met him honorably. And he departed from there to Gaza, and they of Gaza shut him out; and he laid siege to it, and burned the pasture lands thereof with fire, and plundered them. And they of Gaza made request to Jonathan, and he gave them his right hand, and took the sons of their princes for hostages, and sent them away to Jerusalem; and he passed through the country as far as Damascus. And Jonathan heard that Demetrius’ princes were come to Kedesh, which is in Galilee, with a great army, purposing to remove him from his office; and he went to meet them, but Simon his brother he left in the country. And Simon encamped against Bethsura, and fought against it many days, and shut it up: and they made request to him that he would give them his right hand, and he gave it to them; and he put them out from there, and took possession of the city, and set a garrison over it. And Jonathan and his army encamped at the water of Gennesareth, and early in the morning they got them to the plain of Hazor. And behold, an army of strangers met him in the plain, and they laid an ambush for him in the mountains, but themselves met him face to face. But those who lay in ambush rose out of their places and joined battle; and all those who were of Jonathan’s side fled: not one of them was left, except Mattathias, the son of Absalom, and Judas the son of Chalphi, captains of the forces. And Jonathan tore his clothes, and put earth on his head, and prayed. And he turned again to them in battle, and put them to the rout, and they fled. And they of his side that fled saw it, and returned to him, and pursued with him to Kedesh to their camp, and they encamped there. And there fell of the strangers on that day about three thousand men: and Jonathan returned to Jerusalem.

CHAPTER 12

And Jonathan saw that the time served him, and he chose men, and sent them to Rome, to confirm and renew the friendship that they had with them. And to the Spartans, and to other places, he sent letters after the same manner. And they went to Rome, and entered into the senate house, and said, “Jonathan the chief priest, and the nation of the Jews, have sent us, to renew for them the friendship and the confederacy, as in former time.” And they gave them letters to the men in every place, that they should bring them on their way to the land of Judah in peace. And this is the copy of the letters which Jonathan wrote to the Spartans: “Jonathan the chief priest, and the senate of the nation, and the priests, and the rest of the people of the Jews, to their countrymen the Spartans, greetings: Even before this time were letters sent to Onias the chief priest from Arius, who was reigning among you, to signify that you are our countrymen, as the copy written below shows. And Onias entreated honorably the man that was sent, and received the letters, wherein declaration was made of confederacy and friendship. Therefore we also, albeit we need none of these things, having for our encouragement the holy scrolls which are in our hands, have determined to send that we might renew our brotherhood and friendship with you, to the end that we should not become estranged from you altogether, for a long time has passed since you sent to us. We therefore, at all times without ceasing, both in our feasts, and on the other convenient days, remember you in the sacrifices which we offer, and in our prayers, as it is right and appropriate to be mindful of countrymen: and moreover are glad for your glory. But as for ourselves, many afflictions and many wars have encompassed us, and the kings that are around us have fought against us. We were not inclined therefore to be troublesome to you, and to the rest of our allies and friends, in these wars; for we have the help which is from Heaven to help us, and we have been delivered from our enemies, and our enemies have been brought low. We chose, therefore, Numenius the son of Antiochus, and Antipater the son of Jason, and have sent them to the Romans, to renew the friendship that we had with them, and the former confederacy. We commanded them, therefore, to go also to you, and to salute you, and to deliver you our letters concerning the renewing [of friendship] and our brotherhood. And now you will do well if you give us an answer to that. And this is the copy of the letters which they sent to Onias: Arius, king of the Spartans, to Onias the chief priest, greetings: It has been found in writing, concerning the Spartans and the Jews, that they are countrymen, and that they are of the stock of Abraham: and now, since this has come to our knowledge, you will do well to write to us of your prosperity. And we moreover write on our part to you, that your cattle and goods are ours, and ours are yours. We command, therefore, that they make report to you concerning this.” And Jonathan heard that Demetrius’ princes were returned to fight against him with a greater army than before, and he went from Jerusalem, and met them in the country of Hamath; for he gave them no respite to set foot in his country. And he sent spies into his camp, and they came again, and reported to him that they were appointed in such and such a way to fall on them in the night season. But as soon as the sun was down, Jonathan commanded his men to watch, and to be in arms, that all the night long they might be ready for battle: and he put out sentinels around the camp. And the adversaries heard that Jonathan and his men were ready for battle, and they feared, and trembled in their hearts, and they kindled fires in their camp, but Jonathan and his men did not know it until the morning; for they saw the lights burning. And Jonathan pursued after them and overtook them not; for they were gone over the River Eleutherus. And Jonathan turned toward the Arabians, who are called Zabadaeans, and struck them, and took their spoils. And he came out from there, and came to Damascus, and took his journey through all the country. And Simon went out, and took his journey as far as Ashkelon, and the strongholds that were near to it. And he turned toward Joppa and took possession of it; for he had heard that they were determined to deliver the stronghold to the men of Demetrius; and he set a garrison there to keep it. And Jonathan returned, and called the elders of the people together; and he took counsel with them to build strongholds in Judea, and to make the walls of Jerusalem higher, and to raise a great mound between the citadel and the city, for to separate it from the city, that so it might be all alone, that men might neither buy nor sell. And they were gathered together to build the city, and there fell down part of the wall of the brook that is on the east side, and he repaired that which is called Chaphenatha. And Simon also built Adida in the plain country, and made it strong, and set up gates and bars. And Tryphon sought to reign over Asia and to put on himself the diadem, and to stretch out his hand against Antiochus the king. And he was afraid lest perhaps Jonathan should not permit him, and lest he should fight against him; and he sought a way how to take him, that he might destroy him. And he went and came to Bethshan. And Jonathan came out to meet him with forty thousand men chosen for battle and came to Bethshan. And Tryphon saw that he came with a great army, and he was afraid to stretch out his hand against him: and he received him honorably, and commended him to all his friends, and gave him gifts, and commanded his forces to be obedient to him, as to himself. And he said to Jonathan, “Why have you put all this people to trouble, seeing there is no war between us? And now send them away to their homes but choose for yourself a few men who will be with you, and come you with me to Ptolemais, and I will give it up to you, and the rest of the strongholds and the rest of the forces, and all the king’s officers: and I will return and depart; for this is the cause of my coming.” And he put his trust in him, and did even as he said, and sent away his forces, and they departed into the land of Judah. But he reserved to himself three thousand men, of whom he left two thousand in Galilee, but one thousand went with him. Now as soon as Jonathan entered into Ptolemais, they of Ptolemais shut the gates, and laid hands on him; and all those who came in with him they killed with the sword. And Tryphon sent forces and horsemen into Galilee, and into the great plain, to destroy all Jonathan’s men. And they perceived that he was taken and had perished, and those who were with him; and they encouraged one another, and went on their way close together, prepared to fight. And those who followed on them saw that they were ready to fight for their lives and turned back again. And they all came in peace into the land of Judah, and they mourned for Jonathan, and those who were with him, and they were severely afraid; and all Israel mourned with a great mourning. And all the nations that were around them sought to destroy them utterly, for they said, “They have no ruler, nor any to help them: now therefore, let us fight against them and take away their memorial from among men.”

CHAPTER 13

And Simon heard that Tryphon had gathered together a mighty army to come into the land of Judah and destroy it utterly. And he saw that the people trembled and were in great fear; and he went up to Jerusalem, and gathered the people together; and he encouraged them, and said to them, “You yourselves know all the things that I, and my countrymen, and my father’s house, have done for the laws and the sanctuary, and the battles and the distresses which we have seen: by reason of this all my countrymen have perished for Israel’s sake, and I am left alone. And now be it far from me, that I should spare my own life in any time of affliction; for I am not better than my countrymen. However, I will take vengeance for my nation, and for the sanctuary, and for our wives and children, because all the nations are gathered to destroy us of very [great] hatred.” And the spirit of the people revived, as soon as they heard these words. And they answered with a loud voice, saying, “You are our leader instead of Judas and Jonathan your brother. Fight our battles, and all that you will say to us, that will we do.” And he gathered together all the men of war, and hurried to finish the walls of Jerusalem, and he fortified it around. And he sent Jonathan the son of Absalom, and with him a great army, to Joppa; and he cast out those who were therein and dwelt there in it. And Tryphon left from Ptolemais with a mighty army to enter into the land of Judah, and Jonathan was with him in ward. But Simon encamped at Adida, near the plain. And Tryphon knew that Simon was risen up instead of his brother Jonathan, and meant to join battle with him, and he sent ambassadors to him, saying, “It is for money which Jonathan your brother owed to the king’s treasure, by reason of the offices which he had, that we hold him fast. And now send one hundred talents of silver, and two of his sons for hostages, that when he is set at liberty he may not revolt from us, and we will set him at liberty.” And Simon knew that they spoke to him deceitfully; and he sent the money and the children, lest perhaps he should procure to himself great hatred of the people, and they should say, “Because I did not send him the money and the children, he perished.” And he sent the children and the hundred talents. And he dealt falsely and did not set Jonathan at liberty. And after this Tryphon came to invade the land, and destroy it, and he went around by the way that leads to Adora: and Simon and his army marched near him to every place, wherever he went. Now they of the citadel sent to Tryphon ambassadors, hastening him to come to them through the wilderness, and to send them food. And Tryphon made ready all his horse to come: and on that night there fell a very great snow, and he came not by reason of the snow. And he left and came into the country of Gilead. But when he came near to Bascama, he killed Jonathan, and he was buried there. And Tryphon returned and went away into his own land. And Simon sent, and took the bones of Jonathan his brother, and buried him at Modin, the city of his fathers. And all Israel made great lamentation over him and mourned for him many days. And Simon built [a monument] on the tomb of his father and his relatives, and raised it aloft to the sight, with polished stone behind and before. And he set up seven pyramids, one near another, for his father, and his mother, and his four relatives. And for these he made cunning devices, setting around them great pillars, and on the pillars he fashioned all manner of arms for a perpetual memory, and beside the arms ships carved, that they should be seen of all that sail on the sea. This is the tomb which he made at Modin, and [it is there] to this day. Now Tryphon dealt deceitfully with the young King Antiochus, and killed him, and reigned in his stead, and put the diadem of Asia on himself, and brought a great calamity on the land. And Simon built the strongholds of Judea, and fenced them about with high towers, and great walls, and gates, and bars; and he laid up food in the strongholds. And Simon chose men, and sent to King Demetrius, to the end he should give the country an immunity, because all that Tryphon did was to plunder. And King Demetrius sent to him according to these words, and answered him, and wrote a letter to him, after this manner: “King Demetrius to Simon the chief priest and friend of kings, and to the elders and nation of the Jews, greetings: The golden crown, and the palm branch, which you sent, we have received: and we are ready to make a steadfast peace with you, yes, and to write to our officers, to grant immunities to you. And whatever things we confirmed to you, they are confirmed; and the strongholds, which you have built, let them be your own. As for any oversights and faults committed to this day, we forgive them, and the crown which you owed us: and if there were any other toll exacted in Jerusalem, let it be exacted no longer. And if there are any among you appropriate to be enrolled in our court, let them be enrolled, and let there be peace between us.” In the one hundred and seventieth year was the yoke of the heathen taken away from Israel. And the people began to write in their instruments and contracts, “In the first year of Simon, the great chief priest and captain and leader of the Jews.” In those days he encamped against Gazara and compassed it around with armies; and he made an engine of siege, and brought it up to the city, and struck a tower, and took it. And those who were in the engine leaped out into the city; and there was a great uproar in the city: and they of the city tore their clothes and went up on the walls with their wives and children, and cried with a loud voice, making request to Simon to give them his right hand. And they said, “Do not deal with us according to our wickedness, but according to your mercy.” And Simon was reconciled to them and did not fight against them: and he put them out of the city, and cleansed the houses wherein the idols were, and so entered into it with singing and giving praise. And he put all uncleanness out of it and placed in it such men as would keep the law, and made it stronger than it was before, and built therein a dwelling place for himself. But they of the citadel in Jerusalem were hindered from going out, and from going into the country, and from buying and selling; and they hungered exceedingly, and a great number of them perished through famine. And they cried out to Simon, that he should give them his right hand; and he gave it to them: and he put them out from there, and he cleansed the citadel from its pollutions. And he entered into it on the twenty-third day of the second month, in the one hundred and seventy-first year, with praise and palm branches, and with harps, and with cymbals, and with lutes, and with hymns, and with songs: because a great enemy was destroyed out of Israel. And he ordained that they should keep that day every year with gladness. And the hill of the temple that was by the citadel he made stronger than before, and there he lived, himself and his men. And Simon saw that John his son was a [valiant] man, and he made him leader of all his forces: and he lived in Gazara.

CHAPTER 14

And in the one hundred and seventy-second year, King Demetrius gathered his forces together, and went into Media, to get himself help, that he might fight against Tryphon. And Arsaces, the king of Persia and Media, heard that Demetrius had come into his borders, and he sent one of his princes to take him alive: and he went and struck the army of Demetrius, and took him, and brought him to Arsaces; and he put him in ward. And the land had rest all the days of Simon: and he sought the good of his nation; and his authority and his glory was well-pleasing to them all his days. And amid all his glory he took Joppa for a haven and made it an entrance for the isles of the sea; and he enlarged the borders of his nation and got possession of the country; and he gathered together a great number of captives, and got the dominion of Gazara, and Bethsura, and the citadel, and he took away from it its uncleanness; and there was none that resisted him. And they tilled their land in peace, and the land gave her increase, and the trees of the plains their fruit. The ancient men sat in the streets, they communed—all of them—together of good things, and the young men put on glorious and warlike apparel. He provided food for the cities, and furnished them with all manner of munition, until the name of his glory was named to the end of the earth. He made peace in the land, and Israel rejoiced with great joy: and each man sat under his vine and his fig tree, and there was none to make them afraid; and there ceased in the land any that fought against them: and the kings were defeated in those days. And he strengthened all those of his people that were brought low: the law he searched out, and every lawless and wicked person he took away. He glorified the sanctuary, and the vessels of the temple he multiplied. And it was heard at Rome that Jonathan was dead, and even to Sparta, and they were exceedingly sorry. But as soon as they heard that his brother Simon was made chief priest in his stead, and ruled the country, and the cities therein, they wrote to him on tablets of brass, to renew with him the friendship and the confederacy which they had confirmed with Judas and Jonathan his relatives; and they were read before the congregation at Jerusalem. And this is the copy of the letters which the Spartans sent: “The rulers of the Spartans, and the city, to Simon the chief priest, and to the elders, and the priests, and the residue of the people of the Jews, our countrymen, greetings: The ambassadors that were sent to our people made report to us of your glory and honor: and we were glad for their coming, and we registered the things that were spoken by them in the public records after this manner: Numenius son of Antiochus, and Antipater son of Jason, the Jews’ ambassadors, came to us to renew the friendship they had with us.” And it pleased the people to entertain the men honorably, and to put the copy of their words in the public records, to the end that the people of the Spartans might have a memorial thereof: moreover, they wrote a copy of these things to Simon the chief priest. After this Simon sent Numenius to Rome with a great shield of gold of one-thousand-pound weight, in order to confirm the confederacy with them. But when the people heard these things, they said, “What thanks will we give to Simon and his sons? For he and his countrymen and the house of his father have made themselves strong and have chased away in fight the enemies of Israel from them, and confirmed liberty to Israel.” And they wrote on tablets of brass, and set them on pillars in Mount Zion: and this is the copy of the writing: “On the eighteenth day of Elul, in the one hundred and seventy-second year, and this is the third year of Simon the chief priest, in Asaramel, in a great congregation of priests and people and princes of the nation, and of the elders of the country, was it notified to us: Forasmuch as oftentimes there have been wars in the country, but Simon the son of Mattathias, the son of the sons of Joarib, and his countrymen, put themselves in danger, and withstood the enemies of their nation, that their sanctuary and the law might be established, and glorified their nation with great glory: and Jonathan assembled their nation together, and became their chief priest, and was gathered to his people: and their enemies purposed to invade their country, that they might destroy their country utterly, and stretch out their hands against their sanctuary: then rose up Simon, and fought for his nation, and spent much of his own substance, and armed the valiant men of his nation, and gave them wages: and he fortified the cities of Judea, and Bethsura that lies on the borders of Judea, where the arms of the enemies were previously, and set there a garrison of Jews: and he fortified Joppa which is on the sea, and Gazara which is on the borders of Azotus, wherein the enemies lived previously, and placed Jews there, and set therein all things convenient for their restoration: and the people saw the faith of Simon, and the glory which he thought to bring to his nation, and they made him their leader and chief priest, because he had done all these things, and for the justice and the faith which he kept to his nation, and for that he sought by all means to exalt his people: and in his days things prospered in his hands, so that the nations were taken away out of their country, and they also that were in the city of David, those who were in Jerusalem, who had made themselves a citadel, out of which they issued, and polluted all things around the sanctuary, and did great hurt to its purity; and he placed Jews therein, and fortified it for the safety of the country and the city, and made high the walls of Jerusalem: and King Demetrius confirmed to him the chief priesthood according to these things, and made him one of his friends, and honored him with great honor; for he had heard it said that the Jews had been called by the Romans friends and allies and countrymen, and that they had met the ambassadors of Simon honorably; and that the Jews and the priests were well pleased that Simon should be their leader and chief priest forever, until there should arise a faithful prophet; and that he should be captain over them, and should take charge of the sanctuary, to set them over their works, and over the country, and over the arms, and over the strongholds; and that he should take charge of the sanctuary, and that he should be obeyed by all, and that all instruments in the country should be written in his name, and that he should be clothed in purple, and wear gold; and that it should not be lawful for any of the people or of the priests to set at nothing any of these things, or to deny the words that he should speak, or to gather an assembly in the country without him, or to be clothed in purple, or wear a buckle of gold; but whoever should do otherwise, or set at nothing any of these things, he should be liable to punishment.” All the people consented to ordain for Simon that he should do according to these words; and Simon accepted this, and consented to be chief priest, and to be captain and governor of the Jews and of the priests, and to be protector of all. And they commanded to put this writing on tablets of brass, and to set them up within the precinct of the sanctuary in a conspicuous place; and moreover to put the copies thereof in the treasury, to the end that Simon and his sons might have them.

CHAPTER 15

And Antiochus son of Demetrius the king sent letters from the isles of the sea to Simon the priest and governor of the Jews, and to all the nation; and the contents thereof were after this manner: “King Antiochus to Simon the chief priest and governor, and to the nation of the Jews, greetings: Forasmuch as certain pernicious fellows have made themselves masters of the kingdom of our fathers, but my purpose is to claim the kingdom, that I may restore it as it was before; and moreover I have raised a multitude of foreign soldiers, and have prepared ships of war; moreover I am inclined to land in the country, that I may punish those who have destroyed our country, and those who have made many cities in the kingdom desolate: Now therefore, I confirm to you all the exactions which the kings that were before me remitted to you, and whatever gifts besides they remitted to you: and I give you leave to coin money for your country with your own stamp, but that Jerusalem and the sanctuary should be free: and all the arms that you have prepared, and the strongholds that you have built, which you have in your possession, let them remain to you: and everything owing to the king, and the things that will be owing to the king from now on and forevermore, let them be remitted to you: moreover, when we will have established our kingdom, we will glorify you and your nation and the temple with great glory, so that your glory will be made manifest in all the earth.” In the one hundred and seventy-fourth year Antiochus went out into the land of his fathers; and all the forces came together to him, so that there were few men with Tryphon. And King Antiochus pursued him, and he came, as he fled, to Dor, which is by the sea: for he knew that troubles were come on him all at once, and that his forces had forsaken him. And Antiochus encamped against Dor, and with him one hundred and twenty thousand men of war, and eight thousand horses. And he compassed the city around, and the ships joined in the attack from the sea; and he vexed the city by land and sea, and suffered no man to go out or in. And Numenius and his company came from Rome, having letters to the kings and to the countries, wherein were written these things: “Lucius, consul of the Romans, to King Ptolemy, greetings: The Jews’ ambassadors came to us as our friends and allies, to renew the old friendship and confederacy, being sent from Simon the chief priest, and from the people of the Jews: moreover they brought a shield of gold of one thousand pounds. It pleased us therefore to write to the kings and to the countries, that they should not seek their hurt, nor fight against them, and their cities, and their country, nor be allies with such as fight against them. Moreover it seemed good to us to receive the shield from them. If, therefore, any pernicious fellows have fled from their country to you, deliver them to Simon the chief priest, that he may take vengeance on them according to their law.” And he wrote the same things to Demetrius the king, and to Attalus, and to Arathes, and to Arsaces, and to all the countries, and to Sampsames, and to the Spartans, and to Delos, and to Myndos, and to Sicyon, and to Caria, and to Samos, and to Pamphylia, and to Lycia, and to Halicarnassus, and to Rhodes, and to Phaselis, and to Cos, and to Side, and to Aradus, and Gortyna, and Cnidus, and Cyprus, and Cyrene. But they wrote this copy to Simon the chief priest. But Antiochus the king encamped against Dor the second day, bringing his forces up to it continually, and making engines of war, and he shut up Tryphon from going in or out. And Simon sent him two thousand chosen men to fight on his side; and silver, and gold, and instruments of war in abundance. And he would not receive them but set at nothing all the covenants which he had made with him previously and was estranged from him. And he sent to him Athenobius, one of his friends, to commune with him, saying, “You hold possession of Joppa and Gazara, and the citadel that is in Jerusalem, cities of my kingdom. The borders thereof you have wasted, and done great hurt in the land, and gotten the dominion of many places in my kingdom. Now therefore, deliver up the cities which you have taken, and the tributes of the places of which you have gotten dominion without the borders of Judea: or else give me for them five hundred talents of silver; and for the harm that you have done, and the tributes of the cities, other five hundred talents: or else we will come and subdue you.” And Athenobius the king’s friend came to Jerusalem; and he saw the glory of Simon, and the cupboard of gold and silver vessels, and his great attendance, and he was amazed; and he reported to him the king’s words. And Simon answered, and said to him, “We have neither taken other men’s land, nor have we possession of that which pertains to others, but of the inheritance of our fathers; however, it was had in possession of our enemies wrongfully for a certain time. But we, having opportunity, hold fast the inheritance of our fathers. But as touching Joppa and Gazara, which you demand, they did great harm among the people throughout our country, we will give one hundred talents for them.” And he did not answer him a word, but returned in a rage to the king, and reported to him these words, and the glory of Simon, and all that he had seen: and the king was exceedingly angry. But Tryphon embarked on board a ship and fled to Orthosia. And the king appointed Cendebaeus chief captain of the seacoast and gave him forces of foot and horse: and he commanded him to encamp before Judea, and he commanded him to build up Kidron, and to fortify the gates, and that he should fight against the people, but the king pursued Tryphon. And Cendebaeus came to Jamnia, and began to provoke the people, and to invade Judea, and to take the people captive, and to kill them. And he built Kidron, and set horsemen there, and forces of foot, to the end that issuing out they might make excursions on the ways of Judea, according as the king commanded him.

CHAPTER 16

¹And John went up from Gazara and told his father Simon what Cendebaeus was doing. ²And Simon called his two oldest sons, Judas and John, and said to them, I and my countrymen and my father’s house have fought the battles of Israel from our youth, even to this day; and things have prospered in our hands, that we should deliver Israel oftentimes. ³But now I am old, and you moreover, by [His] mercy, are of a sufficient age: be instead of me and my brother and go out and fight for our nation; but let the help which is from Heaven be with you. ⁴And he chose out of the country twenty thousand men of war and horsemen, and they went against Cendebaeus, and slept at Modin. ⁵And rising up in the morning, they went into the plain, and behold, a great army came to meet them, of footmen and horsemen: and there was a brook between them. ⁶And he encamped near them, he and his people: and he saw that the people were afraid to pass over the brook, and he passed over first, and the men saw him, and passed over after him. ⁷And he divided the people and [set] the horsemen in the midst of the footmen, but the enemies’ horsemen were exceedingly many. ⁸And they sounded with the trumpets; and Cendebaeus and his army were put to the rout, and there fell of them many wounded to death, but those who were left fled to the stronghold: ⁹at that time was Judas, John’s brother, wounded, but John pursued after them, until he came to Kidron, which [Cendebaeus] had built; ¹⁰and they fled to the towers that are in the fields of Azotus; and he burned it with fire; and there fell of them about two thousand men. And he returned into Judea in peace. ¹¹And Ptolemy the son of Abubus had been appointed captain for the plain of Jericho, and he had much silver and gold; ¹²for he was the chief priest’s son-in-law. ¹³And his heart was lifted up, and he was inclined to make himself master of the country, and he took counsel deceitfully against Simon and his sons, to make away with them. ¹⁴Now Simon was visiting the cities that were in the country, and taking care for the good ordering of them; and he went down to Jericho, himself and Mattathias and Judas his sons, in the one hundred and seventy-seventh year, in the eleventh month, which is the month Sebat: ¹⁵and the son of Abubus received them deceitfully into the little stronghold that is called Dok, which he had built, and made them a great banquet, and hid men there. ¹⁶And when Simon and his sons had drunk freely, Ptolemy and his men rose up, and took their arms, and came in on Simon into the banqueting place, and killed him, and his two sons, and certain of his servants. ¹⁷And he committed a great iniquity, and repaid evil for good. ¹⁸And Ptolemy wrote these things, and sent to the king, that he should send him forces to aid him, and should deliver him, their country, and the cities. ¹⁹And he sent others to Gazara to make away with John: and to the captains of thousands, he sent letters to come to him, that he might give them silver and gold and gifts. ²⁰And others he sent to take possession of Jerusalem, and the mount of the temple. ²¹And one ran before to Gazara and told John that his father and countrymen were perished, and he has sent to kill you also. ²²And when he heard, he was severely amazed; and he laid hands on the men that came to destroy him and killed them; for he perceived that they were seeking to destroy him. ²³And the rest of the acts of John, and of his wars, and of his valiant deeds which he did, and of the building of the walls which he built, and of his doings, ²⁴behold, they are written in the chronicles of his chief priesthood, from the time that he was made chief priest after his father.