May 7 - 1 Maccabees 14-16
1 Maccabees
1In the one hundred and seventy-second year, king Demetrius gathered together his army, and he went into Media to obtain auxiliaries to fight against Trypho2And Arsaces, the king of Persia and Media, heard that Demetrius entered his confines, and so he sent one of his princes to capture him alive and to bring him to him3And he went out and struck the camp of Demetrius. And captured him and brought him to Arsaces, and he placed him under guard4And the entire land of Judah was quiet during all the days of Simon, and he sought what was good for his people. And his power and his glory pleased them through all his days5And, with all his glory, he accepted Joppa as a port, and he made it an entrance to the islands of the sea6And he enlarged the boundaries of his nation, and he controlled the countryside7And he gathered together many captives, and he was the ruler of Gazara and Bethzur, and the stronghold. And he took uncleanness away from it, and there was no one who could withstand him8And each one cultivated his land in peace, and the land of Judah produced its fruits, and the trees of the fields their fruit9All the elders sat in the streets, and they discussed what was good for the country, and the youths clothed themselves in glory and in the robes of war10And he gave tributes of provisions to the cities, and he decreed that they would have equipment for fortification, so that the fame of his glory was renowned, even to the ends of the earth11He caused there to be peace over the land, and Israel was rejoicing with great joy12And each one sat under his vine and under his fig tree. And there was no one who would terrify them13There was nothing left of those who might fight against them in the land; kings had been crushed in those days14And he confirmed all the humble of his people, and he sought the law, and he took away every iniquity and evil15He glorified the sanctuary, and he multiplied the vessels of the holy places16And it was heard at Rome, and even in Sparta, that Jonathan had passed away. And they were very sorrowful17But when they heard that Simon, his brother, had been made high priest in his place, and that he obtained the entire country and the cities in it18they wrote to him on tablets of brass, so as to renew the friendship and alliance, which they had made with Judas and with Jonathan, his brothers19And they were read in the sight of the assembly at Jerusalem. And this is a copy of the letters that the Spartans sent20"The leaders and the cities of the Spartans, to Simon, the great priest, and to the elders, and the priests, and the rest of the people of the Jews, their brothers: greetings21The ambassadors who were sent to our people have reported to us of your glory, and honor, and rejoicing. And we were glad at their arrival22And we wrote down what was said by them in the councils of the people, as follows: ‘Numenius, the son of Antiochus, and Antipater, the son of Jason, ambassadors of the Jews, came to us to renew the former friendship with us23And it pleased the people to receive the men gloriously, and to place a copy of their words in a section of the public books, so as to be a memorial for the people of the Spartans. Furthermore, we have written a copy of them to Simon, the great priest.’ 24But after this, Simon sent Numenius to Rome, in possession of a great shield of gold, weighing over a thousand pounds, to confirm the association with them25But when the people of Rome had heard these words, they said: "With what deeds of thanksgiving shall we repay Simon and his sons26For he has vindicated his brothers, and he has fought off the enemies of Israel from them." And so, they decreed him free, and they registered it on tablets of brass and placed it in an inscription on mount Zion27And this is a copy of the writing: "On the eighteenth day of the month Elul, in the one hundred and seventy-second year, the third year under Simon, the great priest at Asaramel28in a great convocation of the priests, and the people, and the leaders of the nation, and the elders of the country, these things were noted: ‘Now there have often been battles in our country29And Simon, the son of Mattathias, of the sons of Jarib, and his brothers, have put themselves in danger, and have withstood the enemies of their nation, so as to establish their holy places and the law. And they have glorified their people with great glory30And Jonathan gathered together his nation, and he was made their great priest, and he was laid to rest among his people31And their enemies wanted to trample and lay waste to their country, and to extend their hands against their holy places32Then Simon resisted, and he fought for his nation, and he requested much money, and he armed the valiant men of his nation and gave them wages33And he fortified the cities of Judea and Bethzur, which are along the borders of Judea, where the weaponry of the enemies was before. And he placed a garrison of Jewish men there34And he fortified Joppa, which is by the sea, and Gazara, which is on the border of Azotus, where the enemies stayed before, and he placed Jews there. And he positioned with them whatever was fitting for their preparations35And the people saw the acts of Simon, and the glory that he intended to bring to his nation, and they made him their commander and first priest, because he had done all these things, and because of the justice and faith that he maintained for his nation, and because he sought to exalt his people by all means36And in his days, there was prosperity by his hands, so that the Gentiles were taken away from their country, and also those who were in the city of David, in Jerusalem, in the stronghold, from which they went out and contaminated all the places that were around the sanctuary, and from which they brought a great scourging against chastity37And he placed in it Jewish men, as a means of protection for the region and the city, and he raised the walls of Jerusalem38And king Demetrius confirmed him in the high priesthood39According to these things, he made him his friend, and he glorified him with great glory40For he heard that the Romans had called the Jews their friends, and associates, and brothers, and that they received the ambassadors of Simon with glory41and that the Jews and their priests had consented that he should be their governor and high priest unceasingly, until there should arise a faithful prophet42and that he should be the commander over them, and that he should take care of the sanctuary, and that he should appoint foremen over their works, and over the country, and over the weapons, and over the strongholds43and that he should take care of the holy places, and that he should be obeyed by all, and that all the records in the country should be recorded in his name, and that he should be clothed in purple and gold44and that it should not be lawful for any of the people or the priests to make void any of these things, nor to contradict things that are said by him, nor to call together an assembly in the country without him, nor to be clothed in purple, nor to use a clasp of gold45And whoever will do otherwise, or who will make void any of these things, shall be guilty46And it pleased all the people to appoint Simon, and to act according to these words47And Simon accepted it, and he was pleased to perform the office of the high priesthood, and to be the commander and leader of the people of the Jews, and of the priests, and to be foremost over them all48And they asked that this writing be placed on tablets of brass, and be placed within the precinct of the sanctuary in a celebrated place49and that a copy of these be placed in the treasury, so that Simon and his sons may have it.’
1And king Antiochus, the son of Demetrius, sent letters from the islands of the sea to Simon, the priest and leader of the nation of the Jews, and to all the people2And these continued in this way: "King Antiochus to Simon, the great priest, and to the people of the Jews: greetings3Since certain pestilent persons have obtained the kingdom of our fathers, it is my will, then, to vindicate the kingdom and to restore it, just as it was before. And so, I have chosen a great army, and I have built ships of war4Furthermore, I intend to pass through the region, so that I may take revenge on those who have corrupted our country and who have desolated many cities in my kingdom5Now, therefore, I confirm to you all the oblations that all the kings before me have remitted to you, and whatever other gifts they remitted to you6And I permit you to make a striking of your own coins for your country7Moreover, let Jerusalem be holy and free. And all the weapons that have been made, and the fortresses that you have constructed, or that you hold, let them remain with you8And all that is owed to the king, and what should belong to the king in the future, from this time and for all time, is remitted to you9Yet, when we have obtained our kingdom, we will glorify you, and your nation, and the temple with great glory, so much so that your glory shall be made manifest in all the earth.10In the one hundred and seventy-fourth year, Antiochus went into the land of his fathers, and all the armies came over to him, so that few were left with Trypho11And king Antiochus followed him as he fled along the sea coast and came to Dora12For he knew that evils had gathered together upon him, and that his troops had forsaken him13And Antiochus took up a position above Dora, with one hundred and twenty thousand men of warfare and eight thousand horsemen14And he encircled the city, and the ships drew near by sea. And they assailed the city by land and by sea, and they permitted no one to go in or out15But Numenius, and those who had been with him, came from the city of Rome, having letters written to the kings and the regions, in which was contained these things16"Lucius, consul of the Romans, to king Ptolemy: greetings17The ambassadors of the Jews, our friends, came to us, to renew the former friendship and alliance, having been sent from Simon, the leader of the priests and the people of the Jews18And they also brought a shield of gold of over a thousand pounds19And so, it was pleasing to us to write to the kings and the regions, that they should do no harm to them, nor fight against them, and their cities, and their regions, and that they should bear no assistance to those fighting against them20And it seemed good to us to receive the shield from them21If, therefore, those who are pestilent have taken refuge with you from their region, hand them over to Simon, the leader of the priests, so that he may give a verdict to them according to their law.22These same things were written to king Demetrius, and to Attalus, and to Ariarathes, and to Arsaces23and to all the regions, and to Lampsacus and to the Spartans, and to Delos, and Myndos, and Sicyon, and Caria, and Samos, and Pamphylia, and Lycia, and Halicarnassus, and Cos, and Side, and Aradus, and Rhodes, and Phaselis, and Gortyna, and Gnidus, and Cyprus, and Cyrene24Moreover, they wrote a copy of these things to Simon, the leader of the priests and the people of the Jews25But king Antiochus positioned his camp near Dora a second time, moving his hand against it continually, and making machines of war. And he enclosed Trypho, lest he escape26And Simon sent two thousand chosen men to him as auxiliaries, and silver, and gold, and an abundance of equipment27And he was not willing to receive them, but he broke all of the pact that he made with him before, and he alienated himself from him28And he sent to him Athenobius, one of his friends, to deal with him, saying: "You hold Joppa and Gazara, and the stronghold that is in Jerusalem, which are cities of my kingdom29You have desolated their parts, and you have caused a great scourging in the land, and you have become ruler throughout many places in my kingdom30Now, therefore, hand over the cities that you occupy, and the tributes of the places where you have become ruler beyond the borders of Judea31But if not, give me for them five hundred talents of silver, and for the destruction that you have caused, and for the tributes of the cities, another five hundred talents. But if not, we will come and fight against you.32So Athenobius, the friend of the king, came to Jerusalem and saw the glory of Simon, and his splendor in gold and silver, and his abundance of equipment, and he was astonished. And he repeated the words of the king to him33And Simon responded to him, and he said to him: "We have not taken foreign land, nor do we hold anything foreign, but we hold the inheritance of our fathers, which was for some time unjustly possessed by our enemies34In truth, since we have the opportunity, we claim the inheritance of our fathers35And as to Joppa and Gazara, which you demand, they brought a great scourging on the people and our country. For these, we will give one hundred talents." And Athenobius did not respond a word to him36But, returning with anger to the king, he reported to him these words, and the glory of Simon, and all that he had seen. And the king became angry with a great anger37But Trypho fled by ship to Orthosia38And the king appointed Cendebeus as commander of the seacoast, and he gave him an army of foot soldiers and horsemen39And he commanded him to move with his camp against the face of Judea. And he commanded him to build up Kedron, and to barricade the gates of the city, and to make war against the people. But the king pursued Trypho40And Cendebeus passed through to Jamnia, and he began to provoke the populace, and to trample Judea, and to take the people captive, and to execute, and to build up Kedron41And he stationed horsemen and an army there, so that they could go out and travel through the ways of Judea, as the king appointed him to do
1And so, John came up from Gazara, and he reported to Simon, his father, what Cendebeus had done against their people2And Simon called his two eldest sons, Judas and John, and he said to them: "I and my brothers, and my father’s house, have fought against the enemies of Israel from our youth, even to this day. And this work has prospered in our hands, so that we have delivered Israel several times3And now that I am old, you must act in place of me and my brothers, and go out to fight for our nation. Truly, may the help of heaven be with you.4Then he chose from the region twenty thousand men of warfare, and horsemen; and they started out toward Cendebeus. And they rested in Modin5And they rose up in the morning and went out into the plains. And behold, an abundant army of foot soldiers and horsemen was there to meet them, and there was a river flowing between them6And he and his people moved their camp opposite their face, and he saw the trepidation of the people to cross over the river, and so he crossed over first. And seeing him, the men also crossed after him7And he divided the people and the horsemen into the midst of the foot soldiers. But the horsemen of the adversary were exceedingly numerous8And they sounded the holy trumpets. And Cendebeus and his army were turned back. And many of them fell wounded. But the rest fled into the fortress9Then Judas, the brother of John, was wounded. But John pursued them, until he came to Kedron, which he had built10And they fled all the way to the towers that were in the fields of Azotus, and he burnt them with fire. And there fell of them two thousand men, and he returned to Judea in peace11Now Ptolemy, the son of Abubus, was appointed commander over the plain of Jericho, and he held much silver and gold12For he was the son-in-law of the high priest13And his heart was exalted, and he wanted to obtain the region, and he devised treachery against Simon and his sons, so as to destroy them14Now when Simon was traveling through the cities that were in the region of Judea, and acting with concern for them, he went down to Jericho, he and Mattathias and Judas, his sons, in the one hundred and seventy-seventh year, in the eleventh month; this is the month of Shevat15And the son of Abubus received them, with deceitfulness, into a little fortress, which is called Dok, that he had built. And he made them a great feast, and he hid men there16And when Simon and his sons became inebriated, Ptolemy and his men rose up, and took their weapons, and entered into the gathering. And they killed him, and his two sons, and some of his servants17And he committed a great treachery in Israel, and he repaid good with evil18And Ptolemy wrote about these things, and he sent to the king, so that he would send him an army to assist him, and he could deliver to him the region, and their cities and tributes19And he sent others to Gazara to destroy John. And he sent letters to the tribunes to come to him, and he would give them silver, and gold, and gifts20And he sent others to occupy Jerusalem and the mountain of the temple21Now a certain one, running ahead, reported to John in Gazara, that his father and his brothers perished, and that "he sent to kill you also.22But when he heard it, he was very afraid, and he apprehended the men who came to destroy him, and he killed them. For he knew that they sought to destroy him23And the rest of the stories about John, and his wars, and the virtuous deeds that he performed with fortitude, and the building of the walls that he raised, and the things that he did24behold, these have been written in the book of the days of his priesthood, from the time that he became high priest, after his father