1 maccabees

1 maccabees 3

Chapter 3

1	Then his son Judas, called Machabeus, rose up in his stead.
2	And all his brethren helped him, and all they that had joined themselves to his father, and they fought with cheerfulness the battle of Israel.
3	And he got his people great honour, and put on a breastplate as a giant, and girt his warlike armour about him in battles, and protected the camp with his sword.
4	In his acts he was like a lion, and like a lion's whelp roaring for his prey.
5	And he pursued the wicked and sought them out, and them that troubled his people he burnt with fire:
6	And his enemies were driven away for fear of him, and all the workers of iniquity were troubled: and salvation prospered in his hand.
7	And he grieved many kings, and made Jacob glad with his works, and his memory is blessed for ever.
8	And he went through the cities of Juda, and destroyed the wicked out of them, and turned away wrath from Israel.
9	And he was renowned even to the utmost part of the earth, and he gathered them that were perishing.
10	And Apollonius gathered together the Gentiles, and a numerous and great army from Samaria, to make war against Israel.
11	And Judas understood it, and went forth to meet him: and he overthrew him, and killed him: and many fell down slain, the rest fled away.
12	And he took their spoils, and Judas took the sword of Apollonius, and fought with it all his lifetime.
13	And Seron captain of the army of Syria heard that Judas had assembled a company of the faithful, and a congregation with him,
14	And he said: I will get me a name, and will be glorified in the kingdom, and will overthrow Judas, and those that are with him, that have despised the edict of the king.
15	And he made himself ready: and the host of the wicked went up with him, strong succours, to be revenged of the children of Israel.
16	And they approached even as far as Bethoron: and Judas went forth to meet him, with a small company.
17	But when they saw the army coming to meet them, they said to Judas: How shall we, being few, be able to fight against so great a multitude and so strong, and we are ready to faint with fasting today?
18	And Judas said: It is an easy matter for many to be shut up in the hands of a few: and there is no difference in the sight of the God of heaven to deliver with a great multitude, or with a small company:
19	For the success of war is not in the multitude of the army, but strength cometh from heaven.
20	They come against us with an insolent multitude, and with pride, to destroy us, and our wives, and our children, and to take our spoils.
21	But we will fight for our lives and our laws:
22	And the Lord himself will overthrow them before our face: but as for you, fear them not.
23	And as soon as he had made an end of speaking, he rushed suddenly upon them: and Seron and his host were overthrown before him:
24	And he pursued him by the descent of Bethoron even to the plain, and there fell of them eight hundred men, and the rest fled into the land of the Philistines.
25	And the fear of Judas and of his brethren, and the dread of them fell upon all the nations round about them.
26	And his fame came to the king, and all nations told of the battles of Judas.
27	Now when king Antiochus heard these words, he was angry in his mind: and he sent and gathered the forces of all his kingdom, an exceeding strong army.
28	And he opened his treasury, and gave out pay to the army for a year: and he commanded them, that they should be ready for all things.
29	And he perceived that the money of his treasures failed, and that the tributes of the country were small because of the dissension, and the evil that he had brought upon the land, that he might take away the laws of old times:
30	And he feared that he should not have as formerly enough, for charges and gifts, which he had given before with a liberal hand: for he had abounded more than the kings that had been before him.
31	And he was greatly perplexed in mind, and purposed to go into Persia, and to take tributes of the countries, and to gather much money.
32	And he left Lysias, a nobleman of the blood royal, to oversee the affairs of the kingdom, from the river Euphrates even to the river of Egypt:
33	And to bring up his son Antiochus, till he came again.
34	And he delivered to him half the army, and the elephants: and he gave him charge concerning all that he would have done, and concerning the inhabitants of Judea, and Jerusalem:
35	And that he should send an army against them, to destroy and root out the strength of Israel, and the remnant of Jerusalem, and to take away the memory of them from that place:
36	And that he should settle strangers to dwell in all their coasts, and divide their land by lot.
37	So the king took the half of the army that remained, and went forth from Antioch the chief city of his kingdom, in the hundred and forty-seventh year: and he passed over the river Euphrates, and went through the higher countries.
38	Then Lysias chose Ptolemee the son of Dorymenus, and Nicanor, and Gorgias, mighty men of the king's friends.
39	And he sent with them forty thousand men, and seven thousand horsemen: to go into the land of Juda, and to destroy it according to the king's orders.
40	So they went forth with all their power, and came, and pitched near Emmaus in the plain country.
41	And the merchants of the countries heard the fame of them: and they took silver and gold in abundance, and servants: and they came into the camp, to buy the children of Israel for slaves: and there were joined to them the forces of Syria, and of the land of the strangers.
42	And Judas and his brethren saw that evils were multiplied, and that the armies approached to their borders: and they knew the orders the king had given to destroy the people and utterly abolish them.
43	And they said every man to his neighbour: Let us raise up the low condition of our people, and let us fight for our people, and our sanctuary.
44	And the assembly was gathered that they might be ready for battle: and that they might pray, and ask mercy and compassion.
45	Now Jerusalem was not inhabited, but was like a desert: there was none of her children that went in or out: and the sanctuary was trodden down: and the children of strangers were in the castle, there was the habitation of the Gentiles: and joy was taken away from Jacob, and the pipe and harp ceased there.
46	And they assembled together, and came to Maspha over against Jerusalem: for in Maspha was a place of prayer heretofore in Israel.
47	And they fasted that day, and put on haircloth, and put ashes upon their heads: and they rent their garments:
48	And they laid open the books of the law, in which the Gentiles searched for the likeness of their idols:
49	And they brought the priestly ornaments, and the firstfruits and tithes, and stirred up the Nazarites that had fulfilled their days:
50	And they cried with a loud voice toward heaven, saying: What shall we do with these, and whither shall we carry them?
51	For thy holies are trodden down, and are profaned, and thy priests are in mourning, and are brought low.
52	And behold the nations are come together against us to destroy us: thou knowest what they intend against us.
53	How shall we be able to stand before their face, unless thou, O God, help us?
54	Then they sounded with trumpets, and cried out with a loud voice.
55	And after this Judas appointed captains over the people, over thousands, and over hundreds, and over fifties, and over tens.
56	And he said to them that were building houses, or had betrothed wives, or were planting vineyards, or were fearful, that they should return every man to his house, according to the law.
57	So they removed the camp, and pitched on the south side of Emmaus.
58	And Judas said: Gird yourselves, and be valiant men, and be ready against the morning, that you may fight with these nations that are assembled against us to destroy us and our sanctuary.
59	For it is better for us to die in battle, than to see the evils of our nation, and of the holies:
60	Nevertheless as it shall be the will of God in heaven so be it done.

1 maccabees 2

Chapter 2

1	In those days arose Mathathias the son of John, the son of Simeon, a priest of the sons of Joarib, from Jerusalem, and he abode in the mountain of Modin.
2	And he had five sons: John who was surnamed Gaddis:
3	And Simon, who was surnamed Thasi:
4	And Judas, who was called Machabeus:
5	And Eleazar, who was surnamed Abaron: and Jonathan, who was surnamed Apphus.
6	These saw the evils that were done in the people of Juda, and in Jerusalem.
7	And Mathathias said: Woe is me, wherefore was I born to see the ruin of my people, and the ruin of the holy city, and to dwell there, when it is given into the hands of the enemies?
8	The holy places are come into the hands of strangers: her temple is become as a man without honour.
9	The vessels of her glory are carried away captive: her old men are murdered in the streets, and her young men are fallen by the sword of the enemies.
10	What nation hath not inherited her kingdom, and gotten of her spoils?
11	All her ornaments are taken away. She that was free is made a slave.
12	And behold our sanctuary, and our beauty, and our glory is laid waste, and the Gentiles have defiled them.
13	To what end then should we live any longer?
14	And Mathathias and his sons rent their garments, and they covered themselves with haircloth, and made great lamentation.
15	And they that were sent from king Antiochus came thither, to compel them that were fled into the city of Modin, to sacrifice, and to burn incense, and to depart from the law of God.
16	And many of the people of Israel consented, and came to them: but Mathathias and his sons stood firm.
17	And they that were sent from Antiochus, answering, said to Mathathias: Thou art a ruler, and an honourable, and great man in this city, and adorned with sons, and brethren.
18	Therefore come thou first, and obey the king's commandment, as all nations have done, and the men of Juda, and they that remain in Jerusalem: and thou, and thy sons, shall be in the number of the king's friends, and enriched with gold, and silver, and many presents.
19	Then Mathathias answered, and said with a loud voice: Although all nations obey king Antiochus, so as to depart every man from the service of the law of his fathers, and consent to his commandments:
20	I and my sons, and my brethren will obey the law of our fathers.
21	God be merciful unto us: it is not profitable for us to forsake the law, and the justices of God:
22	We will not hearken to the words of king Antiochus, neither will we sacrifice, and transgress the commandments of our law, to go another way.
23	Now as he left off speaking these words, there came a certain Jew in the sight of all to sacrifice to the idols upon the altar in the city of Modin, according to the king's commandment.
24	And Mathathias saw and was grieved, and his reins trembled, and his wrath was kindled according to the judgment of the law, and running upon him he slew him upon the altar:
25	Moreover the man whom king Antiochus had sent, who compelled them to sacrifice, he slew at the same time, and pulled down the altar.
26	And shewed zeal for the law, as Phinees did by Zamri the son of Salomi.
27	And Mathathias cried out in the city with a loud voice, saying: Every one that hath zeal for the law, and maintaineth the testament, let him follow me.
28	So he, and his sons fled into the mountains, and left all that they had in the city.
29	Then many that sought after judgment, and justice, went down into the desert:
30	And they abode there, they and their children, and their wives, and their cattle: because afflictions increased upon them.
31	And it was told to the king's men, and to the army that was in Jerusalem in the city of David, that certain men who had broken the king's commandment, were gone away into the secret places in the wilderness, and that many were gone after them.
32	And forthwith they went out towards them, and made war against them on the sabbath day,
33	And they said to them: Do you still resist? come forth, and do according to the edict of king Antiochus, and you shall live.
34	And they said: We will not come forth, neither will we obey the king's edict, to profane the sabbath day.
35	And they made haste to give them battle.
36	But they answered them not, neither did they cast a stone at them, nor stopped up the secret places,
37	Saying: Let us all die in our innocency: and heaven and earth shall be witnesses for us, that you put us to death wrongfully.
38	So they gave them battle on the sabbath: and they were slain with their wives, and their children, and their cattle, to the number of a thousand persons.
39	And Mathathias and his friends heard of it, and they mourned for them exceedingly.
40	And every man said to his neighbour: If we shall all do as our brethren have done, and not fight against the heathens for our lives, and our justifications: they will now quickly root us out of the earth.
41	And they determined in that day, saying: Whosoever shall come up against us to fight on the sabbath day, we will fight against him: and we will not all die, as our brethren that were slain in the secret places.
42	Then was assembled to them the congregation of the Assideans, the stoutest of Israel, every one that had a good will for the law.
43	And all they that fled from the evils, joined themselves to them, and were a support to them.
44	And they gathered an army, and slew the sinners in their wrath, and the wicked men in their indignation: and the rest fled to the nations for safety.
45	And Mathathias and his friends went round about, and they threw down the altars:
46	And they circumcised all the children whom they found in the confines of Israel that were uncircumcised: and they did valiantly.
47	And they pursued after the children of pride, and the work prospered in their hands:
48	And they recovered the law out of the hands of the nations, and out of the hands of the kings: and they yielded not the horn to the sinner.
49	Now the days drew near that Mathathias should die, and he said to his sons: Now hath pride and chastisement gotten strength, and the time of destruction, and the wrath of indignation:
50	Now therefore, O my sons, be ye zealous for the law, and give your lives for the covenant of your fathers.
51	And call to remembrance the works of the fathers, which they have done in their generations: and you shall receive great glory, and an everlasting name.
52	Was not Abraham found faithful in temptation, and it was reputed to him unto justice?
53	Joseph in the time of his distress kept the commandment, and he was made lord of Egypt.
54	Phinees our father, by being fervent in the zeal of God, received the covenant of an everlasting priesthood.
55	Jesus, whilst he fulfilled the word, was made ruler in Israel.
56	Caleb, for bearing witness before the congregation, received an inheritance.
57	David by his mercy obtained the throne of an everlasting kingdom.
58	Elias, while he was full of zeal for the law, was taken up into heaven.
59	Ananias and Azarias and Misael by believing, were delivered out of the flame.
60	Daniel in his innocency was delivered out of the mouth of the lions.
61	And thus consider through all generations: that none that trust in him fail in strength.
62	And fear not the words of a sinful man, for his glory is dung, and worms:
63	To day he is lifted up, and to morrow he shall not be found, because he is returned into his earth; and his thought is come to nothing.
64	You therefore, my sons, take courage, and behave manfully in the law: for by it you shall be glorious.
65	And behold, I know that your brother Simon is a man of counsel: give ear to him always, and he shall be a father to you.
66	And Judas Machabeus who is valiant and strong from his youth up, let him be the leader of your army, and he shall manage the war of the people.
67	And you shall take to you all that observe the law: and revenge ye the wrong of your people.
68	Render to the Gentiles their reward, and take heed to the precepts of the law.
69	And he blessed them, and was joined to his fathers.
70	And he died in the hundred and forty-sixth year: and he was buried by his sons in the sepulchres of his fathers in Modin, and all Israel mourned for him with great mourning.