2 Maccabees
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== World English Bible (WEB)
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1:1	The kindred, the Jews who are in Jerusalem and those who are in the country of Judea, send greetings and good peace to the kindred, the Jews who are throughout Egypt.
1:2	May God do good to you, and remember his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, his faithful servants,
1:3	and give you all a heart to worship him and do his will with a strong heart and a willing soul.
1:4	May God open your heart to his law and his statutes, and make peace,
1:5	and listen to your requests, and be reconciled with you, and not forsake you in an evil time.
1:6	Now we are praying for you here.
1:7	In the reign of Demetrius, in the one hundred sixty-ninth year, we the Jews have already written to you in the suffering and in the distress that has come upon us in these years, from the time that Jason and his company revolted from the holy land and the kingdom,
1:8	and set the gate on fire, and shed innocent blood. We prayed to the Lord, and were heard. We offered sacrifices and meal offerings. We lit the lamps. We set out the show bread.
1:9	Now see that you keep the days of the feast of tabernacles in the month Chislev in the one hundred eighty-eighth year.
1:10	The people of Jerusalem and those who are in Judea, with the senate and Judas, to Aristobulus, King Ptolemy’s teacher, who is also of the stock of the anointed priests, and to the Jews who are in Egypt, we send greetings and health.
1:11	Having been saved by God out of great perils, as men arrayed against a king, we thank him greatly.
1:12	For he threw out into Persia those who fought against us in the holy city.
1:13	For when the prince had come there, with an army that seemed irresistible, they were cut to pieces in the temple of Nanaea by the treachery of Nanaea’s priests.
1:14	For Antiochus, on the pretense that he would marry her, came into the place, he and his friends who were with him, that they might take a large part of the treasures as a dowry.
1:15	And when the priests of Nanaea’s temple had set the treasures out, and he had come there with a small company within the wall of the sacred precinct, they locked the temple when Antiochus had come in.
1:16	Opening the secret door of the paneled ceiling, they threw stones and struck down the prince. They cut him and his company in pieces, and cut off their heads, and threw them to the people who were outside.
1:17	Blessed be our God in all things, who handed over those who had committed impiety.
1:18	Since we are now about to celebrate the purification of the temple in the month Chislev, on the twenty-fifth day, we thought it necessary to notify you, so that you may also keep a feast of tabernacles, and remember the fire which was given when Nehemiah offered sacrifices, after he had built both the temple and the altar.
1:19	For indeed when our fathers were about to be led into the land of Persia, the godly priests of that time took some of the fire of the altar, and hid it secretly in the hollow of a well that was without water, where they made sure that the place was unknown to anyone.
1:20	Now after many years, when it pleased God, Nehemiah, having received a charge from the king of Persia, sent in quest of the fire the descendants of the priests who hid it. When they declared to us that they had found no fire, but thick liquid,
1:21	he commanded them to draw some of it out and bring it to him. When the sacrifices had been offered, Nehemiah commanded the priests to sprinkle with that liquid both the wood and the things laid on it.
1:22	When that was done and some time had passed, and the sun shone out, which before was hidden with clouds, a great blaze was kindled, so that all men marveled.
1:23	The priests made a prayer while the sacrifice was being consumed—both the priests and all the others. Jonathan led and the rest responded, as Nehemiah did.
1:24	The prayer was like this: “O Lord, Lord God, the Creator of all things, you are awesome, strong, righteous, and merciful, you alone are King and gracious,
1:25	you alone supply every need, you alone are righteous, almighty, and eternal, you who save Israel out of all evil, who chose the ancestors and sanctified them,
1:26	accept the sacrifice for all your people Israel, and preserve your own portion, and consecrate it.
1:27	Gather together our scattered people, set at liberty those who are in bondage among the heathen, look upon those who are despised and abhorred, and let the heathen know that you are our God.
1:28	Punish those who oppress us and in arrogance shamefully entreat us.
1:29	Plant your people in your holy place, even as Moses said.”
1:30	Then the priests sang the hymns.
1:31	As soon as the sacrifice was consumed, then Nehemiah commanded that the rest of the liquid be poured on large stones.
1:32	When this was done, a flame was kindled; but when the light from the altar shone back, it went out.
1:33	When the matter became known, and king of the Persians was told that in the place where the priests who were led away had hid the fire, the liquid appeared which Nehemiah and those who were with him purified the sacrifice,
1:34	then the king enclosed the place and made it sacred after he had investigated the matter.
1:35	When the king would show favor to any, he would exchange many presents and give them some of this liquid.
1:36	Nehemiah and those who were with him called this thing “Nephthar”, which is by interpretation, “Cleansing”; but most men call it Nephthai.
2:1	It is also found in the records that Jeremiah the prophet commanded those who were carried away to take some of the fire, as has been mentioned,
2:2	and how that the prophet charged those who were carried away, having given them the law, that they should not forget the statutes of the Lord or be led astray in their minds when they saw images of gold and silver, and their adornment.
2:3	With other such words he exhorted them, that the law should not depart from their hearts.
2:4	It was in the writing that the prophet, being warned by God, commanded that the tabernacle and the ark should follow with him, when he went out to the mountain where Moses had gone up and saw God’s inheritance.
2:5	Jeremiah came and found a cave, he brought the tabernacle, the ark, and the altar of incense into it; then he sealed the entrance.
2:6	Some of those who followed with him came there that they might mark the way, and could not find it.
2:7	But when Jeremiah learned about that, he rebuked them, saying, “The place shall be unknown until God gathers the people together again and shows mercy.
2:8	Then the Lord will disclose these things, and the glory of the Lord shall be seen with the cloud, as it was also shown to Moses, also as Solomon implored that the place might be consecrated greatly,
2:9	and it was also declared that he, having wisdom, offered a sacrifice of dedication, and of the finishing of the temple.
2:10	As Moses prayed to the Lord and fire came down out of heaven and consumed the sacrifice, even so Solomon also prayed, and the fire came down and consumed the burnt offerings.
2:11	Moses said, ‘Because the sin offering had not been eaten, it was consumed in like manner.’
2:12	Likewise Solomon kept the eight days.”
2:13	The same things were reported both in the public archives and in Nehemiah’s records, and also how he, founding a library, gathered together the books about the kings and prophets, and the writings of David, and letters of kings about sacred gifts.
2:14	In like manner Judas also gathered together for us all those books that had been scattered by reason of the war, and they are still with us.
2:15	If therefore you have need of them, send some people to bring them to you.
2:16	Seeing then that we are about to celebrate the purification, we write to you. You will therefore do well if you celebrate the days.
2:17	Now God, who saved all his people, and restored the heritage to all, with the kingdom, the priesthood, and the consecration,
2:18	even as he promised through the law—in God have we hope, that he will soon have mercy upon us, and gather us together out of everywhere under heaven into his holy place; for he delivered us out of great evils, and purified the place. ———————
2:19	Now the things concerning Judas Maccabaeus and his brothers, the purification of the greatest temple, the dedication of the altar,
2:20	and further the wars against Antiochus Epiphanes and Eupator his son,
2:21	and the manifestations that came from heaven to those who fought with one another in brave deeds for the religion of the Jews; so that, being but a few, they seized the whole country, chased the barbarous multitudes,
2:22	recovered again the temple renowned all the world over, freed the city, and restored the laws which were about to be overthrown, seeing the Lord became gracious to them with all kindness.
2:23	These things which have been declared by Jason of Cyrene in five books, we will attempt to abridge in one book.
2:24	For having in view the confused mass of the numbers, and the difficulty which awaits those who would enter into the narratives of the history, by reason of the abundance of the matter,
2:25	we were careful that those who choose to read may be attracted, and that those who wish us well may find it easy to recall, and that all readers may benefit.
2:26	Although to us, who have taken upon ourselves the painful labor of the abridgement, the task is not easy, but a matter of sweat and sleeplessness,
2:27	even as it is no light thing to him who prepares a banquet, and seeks the benefit of others. Nevertheless, for the sake of the gratitude of the many we will gladly endure the painful labor,
2:28	leaving to the historian the exact handling of every particular, and again having no strength to fill in the outlines of our abridgement.
2:29	For as the masterbuilder of a new house must care for the whole structure, and again he who undertakes to decorate and paint it must seek out the things fit for its adorning; even so I think it is also with us.
2:30	To occupy the ground, and to indulge in long discussions, and to be curious in particulars, is fitting for the first author of the history;
2:31	but to strive after brevity of expression, and to avoid a labored fullness in the treatment, is to be granted to him who would bring a writing into a new form.
2:32	Here then let’s begin the narration, only adding this much to that which has already been said; for it is a foolish thing to make a long prologue to the history, and to abridge the history itself.
3:1	When the holy city was inhabited with unbroken peace and the laws were kept very well because of the godliness of Onias the high priest and his hatred of wickedness,
3:2	it came to pass that even the kings themselves honored the place and glorified the temple with the noblest presents,
3:3	so that even King Seleucus of Asia bore all the costs belonging to the services of the sacrifices out of his own revenues.
3:4	But a man named Simon of the tribe of Benjamin, having been made guardian of the temple, disagreed with the high priest about the ruling of the market in the city.
3:5	When he couldn’t overcome Onias, he went to Apollonius of Tarsus, who at that time was governor of Coelesyria and Phoenicia.
3:6	He brought him word how that the treasury in Jerusalem was full of untold sums of money, so that the multitude of the funds was innumerable, and that they didn’t pertain to the account of the sacrifices, but that it was possible that these should fall under the king’s power.
3:7	When Apollonius met the king, he informed him of the money about which he had been told. So the king appointed Heliodorus, who was his chancellor, and sent him with a command to accomplish the removal of the reported money.
3:8	So Heliodorus set out on his journey at once, ostensibly to visit the cities of Coelesyria and Phoenicia, but in fact to execute the king’s purpose.
3:9	When he had come to Jerusalem and had been courteously received by the high priest of the city, he told him about the information which had been given, and declared why he had come; and he inquired if in truth these things were so.
3:10	The high priest explained to him that there were in the treasury deposits of widows and orphans,
3:11	and moreover some money belonging to Hyrcanus the son of Tobias, a man in very high place, not as that impious Simon falsely alleged; and that in all there were four hundred talents of silver and two hundred of gold,
3:12	and that it was altogether impossible that wrong should be done to those who had put trust in the holiness of the place, and in the majesty and inviolable sanctity of the temple, honored over all the world.
3:13	But Heliodorus, because of the king’s command given him, said that in any case this money must be confiscated for the king’s treasury.
3:14	So having appointed a day, he entered in to direct the inquiry concerning these matters; and there was no small distress throughout the whole city.
3:15	The priests, prostrating themselves before the altar in their priestly garments, and called toward heaven upon him who gave the law concerning deposits, that he should preserve these treasures safe for those who had deposited them.
3:16	Whoever saw the appearance of the high priest was wounded in mind; for his countenance and the change of his color betrayed the distress of his soul.
3:17	For a terror and a shuddering of the body had come over the man, by which the pain that was in his heart was plainly shown to those who looked at him.
3:18	Those who were in the houses rushed out in crowds to make a universal supplication, because the place was about to come into dishonor.
3:19	The women, girded with sackcloth under their breasts, thronged the streets. The virgins who were kept indoors ran together, some to the gates, others to the walls, and some looked out through the windows.
3:20	All, stretching out their hands toward heaven, made their solemn supplication.
3:21	Then it was pitiful to see the multitude prostrating themselves all mixed together, and the anxiety of the high priest in his great distress.
3:22	While therefore they called upon the Almighty Lord to keep the things entrusted to them safe and secure for those who had entrusted them,
3:23	Heliodorus went on to execute that which had been decreed.
3:24	But when he was already present there with his guards near the treasury, the Sovereign of spirits and of all authority caused a great manifestation, so that all who had presumed to come with him, stricken with dismay at the power of God, fainted in terror.
3:25	For they saw a horse with a frightening rider, adorned with beautiful trappings, and he rushed fiercely and struck at Heliodorus with his forefeet. It seemed like he who sat on the horse had complete armor of gold.
3:26	Two others also appeared to him, young men notable in their strength, and beautiful in their glory, and splendid in their apparel, who stood by him on either side, and scourged him unceasingly, inflicting on him many sore stripes.
3:27	When he had fallen suddenly to the ground, and great darkness had come over him, his guards picked him up and put him on a stretcher,
3:28	and carried him—this man who had just now entered with a great retinue and all his guard into the aforesaid treasury, himself now brought to utter helplessness, manifestly made to recognize the sovereignty of God.
3:29	So, while he, through the working of God, speechless and bereft of all hope and deliverance, lay prostrate,
3:30	they blessed the Lord who acted marvelously for his own place. The temple, which a little before was full of terror and alarm, was filled with joy and gladness after the Almighty Lord appeared.
3:31	But quickly some of Heliodorus’s familiar friends implored Onias to call upon the Most High to grant life to him who lay quite at the last gasp.
3:32	The high priest, secretly fearing lest the king might come to think that some treachery toward Heliodorus had been perpetrated by the Jews, brought a sacrifice for the recovery of the man.
3:33	But as the high priest was making the atoning sacrifice, the same young men appeared again to Heliodorus, arrayed in the same garments. They stood and said, “Give Onias the high priest great thanks, for for his sake the Lord has granted you life.
3:34	See that you, since you have been scourged from heaven, proclaim to all men the sovereign majesty of God.” When they had spoken these words, they vanished out of sight.
3:35	So Heliodorus, having offered a sacrifice to the Lord and vowed great vows to him who had saved his life, and having bidden Onias farewell, returned with his army to the king.
3:36	He testified to all men the works of the greatest God, which he had seen with his eyes.
3:37	When the king asked Heliodorus what sort of man was fit to be sent yet once again to Jerusalem, he said,
3:38	“If you have any enemy or conspirator against the state, send him there, and you will receive him back well scourged, if he even escapes with his life; because truly there is some power of God in that place.
3:39	For he who has his dwelling in heaven himself has his eyes on that place and helps it. Those who come to hurt it, he strikes and destroys.”
3:40	This was the history of Heliodorus and the keeping of the treasury.
4:1	The previously mentioned Simon, who had given information about the money against his country, slandered Onias, saying that it was he who had incited Heliodorus and had been the real cause of these evils.
4:2	He dared to call him a conspirator against the state who was actually the benefactor of the city, the guardian of his fellow countrymen, and a zealot for the laws.
4:3	When his hatred grew so great that even murders were perpetrated through one of Simon’s approved agents,
4:4	Onias, seeing the danger of the contention, and that Apollonius the son of Menestheus, the governor of Coelesyria and Phoenicia, was increasing Simon’s malice,
4:5	appealed to the king, not to be an accuser of his fellow citizens, but looking to the good of all the people, both public and private;
4:6	for he saw that without the king’s involvement it was impossible for the state to obtain peace any more, and that Simon would not cease from his madness.
4:7	When Seleucus was deceased, and Antiochus, who was called Epiphanes, succeeded to the kingdom, Jason the brother of Onias supplanted his brother in the high priesthood,
4:8	having promised to the king at an audience three hundred sixty talents of silver, and out of another fund eighty talents.
4:9	In addition to this, he undertook to assign one hundred fifty more, if it might be allowed him through the king’s authority to set him up a gymnasium and a body of youths to be trained in it, and to register the inhabitants of Jerusalem as citizens of Antioch.
4:10	When the king had assented, and Jason had taken possession of the office, he immediately shifted those of his own race to the Greek way of life.
4:11	Setting aside the royal ordinances of special favor to the Jews, granted by the means of John the father of Eupolemus, who went on the mission to the Romans to establish friendship and alliance, and seeking to overthrow the lawful ways of living, he brought in new customs forbidden by the law.
4:12	For he eagerly established a gymnasium under the citadel itself, and caused the noblest of the young men to wear the Greek hat.
4:13	Thus there was an extreme of hellenization, and an advance of a foreign religion, by reason of the exceeding profaneness of Jason, who was an ungodly man and not a high priest;
4:14	so that the priests had no more any zeal for the services of the altar; but despising the sanctuary and neglecting the sacrifices, they hastened to enjoy that which was unlawfully provided in the wrestling arena, after the summons to the discus-throwing.
4:15	They despised the honors of their fathers, and valued the prestige of the Greeks best of all.
4:16	For this reason, severe calamity overtook them. The men whose ways of living they earnestly followed, and to whom they desired to be made like in all things, these became their enemies and punished them.
4:17	For it is not a light thing to show irreverence to God’s laws, but later events will make this clear.
4:18	Now when certain games that came every fifth year were kept at Tyre, and the king was present,
4:19	the vile Jason sent sacred envoys, as being Antiochians of Jerusalem, bearing three hundred drachmas of silver to the sacrifice of Hercules, which even the bearers thereof thought not right to use for any sacrifice, because it was not fit, but to spend it for another purpose.
4:20	Although the sender intended that this money was for the sacrifice of Hercules, yet on account of present circumstances it went to the construction of trireme warships.
4:21	Now when Apollonius the son of Menestheus was sent into Egypt for the enthronement of Philometor as king, Antiochus, learning that Philometor had shown himself hostile toward the government, took precautions for the security of his realm. Therefore, going to Joppa, he travelled on to Jerusalem.
4:22	Being magnificently received by Jason and the city, he was brought in with torches and shouting. Then he led his army down into Phoenicia.
4:23	Now after a space of three years, Jason sent Menelaus, the previously mentioned Simon’s brother, to carry the money to the king, and to make reports concerning some necessary matters.
4:24	But he being commended to the king, and having been glorified by the display of his authority, secured the high priesthood for himself, outbidding Jason by three hundred talents of silver.
4:25	After receiving the royal mandates, he returned bringing nothing worthy of the high priesthood, but having the passion of a cruel tyrant and the rage of a savage animal.
4:26	So Jason, who had supplanted his own brother, was supplanted by another and driven as a fugitive into the country of the Ammonites.
4:27	Menelaus had possession of the office, but of the money that had been promised to the king nothing was regularly paid, even though Sostratus the governor of the citadel demanded it—
4:28	for his job was the gathering of the revenues—so they were both called by the king to his presence.
4:29	Menelaus left his own brother Lysimachus for his deputy in the high priesthood; and Sostratus left Crates, who was over the Cyprians.
4:30	Now while this was the state of things, it came to pass that the people of Tarsus and Mallus revolted because they were to be given as a present to Antiochis, the king’s concubine.
4:31	The king therefore quickly came to settle matters, leaving for his deputy Andronicus, a man of high rank.
4:32	Then Menelaus, supposing that he had gotten a favorable opportunity, presented to Andronicus certain vessels of gold belonging to the temple, which he had stolen. He had already sold others into Tyre and the neighboring cities.
4:33	When Onias had sure knowledge of this, he sharply reproved him, having withdrawn himself into a sanctuary at Daphne, that lies by Antioch.
4:34	Therefore Menelaus, taking Andronicus aside, asked him to kill Onias. Coming to Onias, and being persuaded to use treachery, and being received as a friend, Andronicus gave him his right hand with oaths and, though he was suspicious, persuaded him to come out of the sanctuary. Then, with no regard for justice, he immediately put him to death.
4:35	For this reason not only Jews, but many also of the other nations, had indignation and displeasure at the unjust murder of the man.
4:36	And when the king had come back from the places in Cilicia, the Jews who were in the city appealed to him against Andronicus (the Greeks also joining with them in hatred of the wickedness), urging that Onias had been wrongfully slain.
4:37	Antiochus therefore was heartily sorry, and was moved to pity, and wept, because of the sober and well ordered life of him who was dead.
4:38	Being inflamed with anger, he immediately stripped off Andronicus’s purple robe, and tore off his under garments, and when he had led him round through the whole city to that very place where he had committed the outrage against Onias, there he put the murderer out of the way, the Lord rendering to him the punishment he had deserved.
4:39	Now when many sacrileges had been committed in the city by Lysimachus with the consent of Menelaus, and when the report of them had spread abroad outside, the people gathered themselves together against Lysimachus, after many vessels of gold had already been stolen.
4:40	When the multitudes were rising against him and were filled with anger, Lysimachus armed about three thousand men, and with unrighteous violence began the attack under the leadership of Hauran, a man far gone in years and no less also in folly.
4:41	But when they perceived the assault of Lysimachus, some caught up stones, others logs of wood, and some took handfuls of the ashes that lay near, and they flung them all in wild confusion at Lysimachus and those who were with him.
4:42	As a result, they wounded many of them, they killed some, and they forced the rest of them to flee, but the author of the sacrilege himself they killed beside the treasury.
4:43	But about these matters, there was an accusation laid against Menelaus.
4:44	When the king had come to Tyre, the three men who were sent by the senate pleaded the cause before him.
4:45	But Menelaus, seeing himself now defeated, promised much money to Ptolemy the son of Dorymenes, that he might win over the king.
4:46	Therefore Ptolemy taking the king aside into a cloister, as if to get some fresh air, convinced him to change his mind.
4:47	He who was the cause of all the evil, Menelaus, he discharged from the accusations; but these hapless men, who, if they had pleaded even before Scythians, would have been discharged uncondemned, them he sentenced to death.
4:48	Those who were spokesmen for the city and the families of Israel and the holy vessels soon suffered that unrighteous penalty.
4:49	Therefore even certain Tyrians, moved with hatred of the wickedness, provided magnificently for their burial.
4:50	But Menelaus, through the covetous dealings of those who were in power, remained still in his office, growing in wickedness, established as a great conspirator against his fellow citizens.
5:1	Now about this time Antiochus made his second invasion into Egypt.
5:2	It happened that throughout all the city, for almost forty days, cavalry appeared in the midst of the sky in swift motion, wearing robes woven with gold and carrying spears, equipped with troops for battle—
5:3	drawing swords, squadrons of cavalry in array, encounters and pursuits of both armies, shaking shields, multitudes of lances, throwing of missiles, flashing of golden trappings, and putting on all sorts of armor.
5:4	Therefore everyone prayed that the manifestation might have been given for good.
5:5	When a false rumor had arisen that Antiochus was dead, Jason took not less than a thousand men, and suddenly made an assault upon the city. When those who were on the wall were being routed, and the city was at length nearly taken, Menelaus took refuge in the citadel.
5:6	But Jason slaughtered his own citizens without mercy, not considering that good success against kinsmen is the greatest misfortune, but supposing himself to be setting up trophies over enemies, and not over fellow countrymen.
5:7	He didn’t win control of the government, but receiving shame as the result of his conspiracy, he fled again as a fugitive into the country of the Ammonites.
5:8	At last therefore he met with a miserable end. Having been imprisoned at the court of Aretas the prince of the Arabians, fleeing from city to city, pursued by all men, hated as a rebel against the laws, and abhorred as the executioner of his country and his fellow citizens, he was cast ashore in Egypt.
5:9	He who had driven many from their own country into exile perished in exile, having crossed the sea to the Lacedaemonians, hoping to find shelter there because they were near of kin.
5:10	He who had thrown out a multitude unburied had none to mourn for him. He didn’t have any funeral at all and no place in the tomb of his ancestors.
5:11	Now when news came to the king concerning that which was done, he thought that Judea was in revolt. So, setting out from Egypt in a rage, he took the city by force of weapons,
5:12	and commanded his soldiers to cut down without mercy those who came in their way, and to kill those who went into their houses.
5:13	Then there was killing of young and old, destruction of boys, women, and children, and slaying of virgins and infants.
5:14	In a total of three days, eighty thousand were destroyed, of which forty thousand were slain in close combat, and no fewer were sold into slavery than slain.
5:15	Not content with this, he presumed to enter into the most holy temple of all the earth, having Menelaus for his guide (who had proved himself a traitor both to the laws and to his country),
5:16	even taking the sacred vessels with his polluted hands, and dragging down with his profane hands the offerings that had been dedicated by other kings to enhance the glory and honor of the place.
5:17	Antiochus was lifted up in mind, not seeing that because of the sins of those who lived in the city the Sovereign Lord had been provoked to anger a little while, and therefore his eye was turned away from the place.
5:18	But had it not been so that they were already bound by many sins, this man, even as Heliodorus who was sent by King Seleucus to view the treasury, would, as soon as he came forward, have been scourged and turned back from his daring deed.
5:19	However the Lord didn’t choose the nation for the place’s sake, but the place for the nation’s sake.
5:20	Therefore also the place itself, having shared in the calamities that happened to the nation, did afterward share in its benefits; and the place which was forsaken in the wrath of the Almighty was, at the reconciliation of the great Sovereign, restored again with all glory.
5:21	As for Antiochus, when he had carried away out of the temple one thousand eight hundred talents, he hurried away to Antioch, thinking in his arrogance that he could sail on land and walk on the sea, because his heart was lifted up.
5:22	Moreover he left governors to afflict the race: at Jerusalem, Philip, by race a Phrygian, and in character more barbarous than him who set him there;
5:23	and at Gerizim, Andronicus; and besides these, Menelaus, who worse than all the rest, exalted himself against his fellow citizens. Having a malicious mind toward the Jews whom he had made his citizens,
5:24	he sent that lord of pollutions Apollonius with an army of twenty-two thousand, commanding him to kill all those who were of full age, and to sell the women and the boys as slaves.
5:25	He came to Jerusalem, and pretending to be a man of peace, waited till the holy day of the Sabbath, and finding the Jews at rest from work, he commanded his men to parade fully armed.
5:26	He put to the sword all those who came out to the spectacle. Running into the city with the armed men, he killed great multitudes.
5:27	But Judas, who is also called Maccabaeus, with about nine others, withdrew himself, and with his company kept himself alive in the mountains like wild animals do. They continued feeding on what grew wild, that they might not be partakers of the defilement.
6:1	Not long after this, the king sent out an old man of Athens to compel the Jews to depart from the laws of their fathers and not to live by the laws of God,
6:2	and also to pollute the sanctuary in Jerusalem and to call it by the name of Olympian Zeus, and to call the sanctuary in Gerizim by the name of Zeus the Protector of foreigners, even as the people who lived in that place did.
6:3	The visitation of this evil was harsh and utterly grievous.
6:4	For the temple was filled with debauchery and reveling by the heathen, who dallied with prostitutes, and had intercourse with women within the sacred precincts, and moreover brought inside things that were not appropriate.
6:5	The altar was filled with those abominable things which had been prohibited by the laws.
6:6	A man could neither keep the Sabbath, nor observe the feasts of their ancestors, nor so much as confess himself to be a Jew.
6:7	On the day of the king’s birth every month, they were led along with bitter constraint to eat of the sacrifices. When the feast of Dionysia came, they were compelled to go in procession in honor of Dionysus, wearing wreaths of ivy.
6:8	A decree went out to the neighboring Greek cities, by the suggestion of Ptolemy, that they should observe the same conduct against the Jews, and should make them eat of the sacrifices,
6:9	and that they should kill those who didn’t choose to go over to the Greek rites. So the present misery was for all to see.
6:10	For example, two women were brought in for having circumcised their children. These, when they had led them publicly around the city with the babes hung from their breasts, they threw down headlong from the wall.
6:11	Others who had run together into the caves nearby to keep the seventh day secretly, were betrayed to Philip and were all burned together, because their piety kept them from defending themselves, in view of the honor of that most solemn day.
6:12	I urge those who read this book to not be discouraged because of the calamities, but recognize that these punishments were not for the destruction, but for the chastening of our race.
6:13	For indeed it is a sign of great kindness that those who act impiously are not let alone for a long time, but immediately meet with retribution.
6:14	For in the case of the other nations, the Sovereign Lord waits patiently to punish them until they have attained to the full measure of their sins; but not with us,
6:15	that he may not take vengeance on us afterward, when we have come to the height of our sins.
6:16	Therefore he never withdraws his mercy from us; but though he chastens with calamity, he doesn’t forsake his own people.
6:17	However let this that we have spoken suffice to remind you; but after a few words, we must come to the narrative.
6:18	Eleazar, one of the principal scribes, a man already well advanced in years, and of a noble countenance, was compelled to open his mouth to eat swine’s flesh.
6:19	But he, welcoming death with honor rather than life with defilement, advanced of his own accord to the instrument of torture, but first spat out the flesh,
6:20	as men ought to come who are resolute to repel such things as not even for the natural love of life is it lawful to taste.
6:21	But those who had the charge of that forbidden sacrificial feast took the man aside, for the acquaintance which of old times they had with him, and privately implored him to bring flesh of his own providing, such as was proper for him to use, and to make as if he did eat of the flesh from the sacrifice, as had been commanded by the king;
6:22	that by so doing he might be delivered from death, and so his ancient friendship with them might be treated kindly.
6:23	But he, having formed a high resolve, and one that became his years, the dignity of old age, and the gray hairs which he had reached with honor, and his excellent education from a child, or rather the holy laws of God’s ordaining, declared his mind accordingly, bidding them to quickly send him to Hades.
6:24	“For it doesn’t become our years to dissemble,” he said, “that many of the young should suppose that Eleazar, the man of ninety years, had gone over to an alien religion;
6:25	and so they, by reason of my deception, and for the sake of this brief and momentary life, would be led astray because of me, and I defile and disgrace myself in my old age.
6:26	For even if for the present time I would remove from me the punishment of men, yet whether I live or die, I wouldn’t escape the hands of the Almighty.
6:27	Therefore, by bravely parting with my life now, I will show myself worthy of my old age,
6:28	and leave behind a noble example to the young to die willingly and nobly a glorious death for the revered and holy laws.” When he had said these words, he went immediately to the instrument of torture.
6:29	When they changed the good will they bore toward him a little before into ill will because these words of his were, as they thought, sheer madness,
6:30	and when he was at the point to die with the blows, he groaned aloud and said, “To the Lord, who has the holy knowledge, it is manifest that, while I might have been delivered from death, I endure severe pains in my body by being scourged; but in soul I gladly suffer these things because of my fear of him.”
6:31	So this man also died like this, leaving his death for an example of nobleness and a memorial of virtue, not only to the young but also to the great body of his nation.
7:1	It came to pass that seven brothers and their mother were at the king’s command taken and shamefully handled with scourges and cords, to compel them to taste of the abominable swine’s flesh.
7:2	One of them made himself the spokesman and said, “What would you ask and learn from us? For we are ready to die rather than transgress the laws of our ancestors.”
7:3	The king fell into a rage, and commanded that pans and caldrons be heated.
7:4	When these were immediately heated, he gave orders to cut out the tongue of him who had been their spokesman, and to scalp him, and to cut off his extremities, with the rest of his brothers and his mother looking on.
7:5	And when he was utterly maimed, the king gave orders to bring him to the fire, being yet alive, and to fry him in the pan. And as the smoke from the pan spread far, they and their mother also exhorted one another to die nobly, saying this:
7:6	“The Lord God sees, and in truth is entreated for us, as Moses declared in his song, which witnesses against the people to their faces, saying, ‘And he will have compassion on his servants.’”
7:7	And when the first had died like this, they brought the second to the mocking; and they pulled off the skin of his head with the hair and asked him, “Will you eat, before your body is punished in every limb?”
7:8	But he answered in the language of his ancestors and said to them, “No.” Therefore he also underwent the next torture in succession, as the first had done.
7:9	When he was at the last gasp, he said, “You, miscreant, release us out of this present life, but the King of the world will raise us who have died for his laws up to an everlasting renewal of life.”
7:10	After him, the third was made a victim of their mocking. When he was required, he quickly put out his tongue, and stretched out his hands courageously,
7:11	and nobly said, “I got these from heaven. For his laws’ sake I treat these with contempt. From him, I hope to receive these back again.”
7:12	As a result, the king himself and those who were with him were astonished at the young man’s soul, for he regarded the pains as nothing.
7:13	When he too was dead, they shamefully handled and tortured the fourth in the same way.
7:14	Being near to death he said this: “It is good to die at the hands of men and look for the hope which is given by God, that we will be raised up again by him. For as for you, you will have no resurrection to life.”
7:15	Next after him, they brought the fifth and shamefully handled him.
7:16	But he looked toward the king and said, “Because you have authority among men, though you are corruptible, you do what you please. But don’t think that our race has been forsaken by God.
7:17	But hold on to your ways, and see how his sovereign majesty will torture you and your descendants!”
7:18	After him they brought the sixth. When he was about to die, he said, “Don’t be vainly deceived, for we suffer these things for our own doings, as sinning against our own God. Astounding things have come to pass;
7:19	but don’t think that you will be unpunished, having tried to fight against God!”
7:20	But above all, the mother was marvelous and worthy of honorable memory; for when she watched seven sons perishing within the space of one day, she bore the sight with a good courage because of her hope in the Lord.
7:21	She exhorted each one of them in the language of their fathers, filled with a noble spirit and stirring up her woman’s thoughts with manly courage, saying to them,
7:22	“I don’t know how you came into my womb. It wasn’t I who gave you your spirit and your life. It wasn’t I who brought into order the first elements of each one of you.
7:23	Therefore the Creator of the world, who shaped the first origin of man and devised the first origin of all things, in mercy gives back to you again both your spirit and your life, as you now treat yourselves with contempt for his laws’ sake.”
7:24	But Antiochus, thinking himself to be despised, and suspecting the reproachful voice, while the youngest was yet alive didn’t only make his appeal to him by words, but also at the same time promised with oaths that he would enrich him and raise him to high honor if he would turn from the ways of his ancestors, and that he would take him for his friend and entrust him with public affairs.
7:25	But when the young man would in no way listen, the king called to him his mother, and urged her to advise the youth to save himself.
7:26	When he had urged her with many words, she undertook to persuade her son.
7:27	But bending toward him, laughing the cruel tyrant to scorn, she spoke this in the language of her fathers: “My son, have pity upon me who carried you nine months in my womb, and nursed you three years, and nourished and brought you up to this age, and sustained you.
7:28	I beg you, my child, to lift your eyes to the sky and the earth, and to see all things that are in it, and thus to recognize that God made them not of things that were, and that the race of men in this way comes into being.
7:29	Don’t be afraid of this butcher, but, proving yourself worthy of your brothers, accept your death, that in God’s mercy I may receive you again with your brothers.”
7:30	But before she had finished speaking, the young man said, “What are you all waiting for? I don’t obey the commandment of the king, but I listen to the commandment of the law that was given to our fathers through Moses.
7:31	But you, who have devised all kinds of evil against the Hebrews, will in no way escape God’s hands.
7:32	For we are suffering because of our own sins.
7:33	If for rebuke and chastening, our living Lord has been angered a little while, yet he will again be reconciled with his own servants.
7:34	But you, O unholy man and of all most vile, don’t be vainly lifted up in your wild pride with uncertain hopes, raising your hand against the heavenly children.
7:35	For you have not yet escaped the judgment of the Almighty God who sees all things.
7:36	For these our brothers, having endured a short pain that brings everlasting life, have now died under God’s covenant. But you, through God’s judgment, will receive in just measure the penalties of your arrogance.
7:37	But I, as my brothers, give up both body and soul for the laws of our fathers, calling upon God that he may speedily become gracious to the nation, and that you, amidst trials and plagues, may confess that he alone is God,
7:38	and that in me and my brothers you may bring to an end the wrath of the Almighty which has been justly brought upon our whole race.”
7:39	But the king, falling into a rage, handled him worse than all the rest, being exasperated at his mocking.
7:40	So he also died pure, putting his whole trust in the Lord.
7:41	Last of all, after her sons, the mother died.
7:42	Let it then suffice to have said thus much concerning the sacrificial feasts and the extreme tortures.
8:1	But Judas, who is also called Maccabaeus, and those who were with him, making their way secretly into the villages, called together their kindred. Enlisting those who had continued in the Jews’ religion, they gathered together about six thousand.
8:2	They called upon the Lord to look at the people who were oppressed by all, and to have compassion on the sanctuary that had been profaned by the ungodly men,
8:3	and to have pity on the city that was suffering ruin and ready to be leveled to the ground, and to listen to the blood that cried out to him,
8:4	and to remember the lawless destruction of the innocent infants, and concerning the blasphemies that had been committed against his name, and to show his hatred of wickedness.
8:5	When Maccabaeus had trained his men for service, the heathen at once found him irresistible, for the wrath of the Lord was turned into mercy.
8:6	Coming without warning, he set fire to cities and villages. And in winning back the most important positions, putting to flight no small number of the enemies,
8:7	he especially took advantage of the nights for such assaults. His courage was loudly talked of everywhere.
8:8	But when Philip saw the man gaining ground little by little, and increasing more and more in his success, he wrote to Ptolemy, the governor of Coelesyria and Phoenicia, that he should support the king’s cause.
8:9	Ptolemy quickly appointed Nicanor the son of Patroclus, one of the king’s chief friends, and sent him, in command of no fewer than twenty thousand of all nations, to destroy the whole race of Judea. With him he joined Gorgias also, a captain and one who had experience in matters of war.
8:10	Nicanor resolved by the sale of the captive Jews to make up for the king the tribute of two thousand talents which he was to pay to the Romans.
8:11	Immediately he sent to the cities upon the sea coast, inviting them to buy Jewish slaves, promising to deliver seventy slaves for a talent, not expecting the judgment that was to overtake him from the Almighty.
8:12	News came to Judas concerning Nicanor’s invasion. When he communicated to those who were with him the presence of the army,
8:13	those who were cowardly and distrustful of God’s judgment ran away and left the country.
8:14	Others sold all that they had left, and at the same time implored the Lord to deliver those who had been sold as slaves by the impious Nicanor before he ever met them,
8:15	if not for their own sakes, then for the covenants made with their ancestors, and because he had called them by his holy and glorious name.
8:16	So Maccabaeus gathered his men together, six thousand in number, and exhorted them not to be frightened by the enemy, nor to fear the great multitude of the heathen who came wrongfully against them, but to fight nobly,
8:17	setting before their eyes the outrage that had been lawlessly perpetrated upon the holy place, and the torture of the city that had been turned to mockery, and further the overthrow of the way of life received from their ancestors.
8:18	“For they,” he said, “trust their weapons and daring deeds, but we trust in the almighty God, since he is able at a nod to cast down those who are coming against us, and even the whole world.”
8:19	Moreover, he recounted to them the help given from time to time in the days of their ancestors, both in the days of Sennacherib, when one hundred eighty-five thousand perished,
8:20	and in the land of Babylon, in the battle that was fought against the Gauls, how they came to the battle with eight thousand in all, with four thousand Macedonians, and how, the Macedonians being hard pressed, the six thousand destroyed the hundred and twenty thousand because of the help which they had from heaven, and took a great deal of plunder.
8:21	And when he had with these words filled them with courage and made them ready to die for the laws and their country, he divided his army into four parts.
8:22	He appointed his brothers, Simon, Joseph, and Jonathan, to be leaders of the divisions with him, giving each the command of one thousand five hundred men.
8:23	Moreover Eleazer also, having read aloud the sacred book, and having given as watchword, “THE HELP OF GOD”, leading the first band himself, joined battle with Nicanor.
8:24	Since the Almighty fought on their side, they killed more than nine thousand of the enemy, and wounded and disabled most of Nicanor’s army, and compelled them all to flee.
8:25	They took the money of those who had come there to buy them as slaves. After they had pursued them for some distance, they returned, being constrained by the time of the day;
8:26	for it was the day before the Sabbath, and for this reason they made no effort to chase them far.
8:27	When they had gathered the weapons of the enemy together, and had stripped off their spoils, they kept the Sabbath, greatly blessing and thanking the Lord who had saved them to this day, because he had begun to show mercy to them.
8:28	After the Sabbath, when they had given some of the spoils to the maimed, and to the widows and orphans, they distributed the rest among themselves and their children.
8:29	When they had accomplished these things and had made a common supplication, they implored the merciful Lord to be wholly reconciled with his servants.
8:30	Having had an encounter with the forces of Timotheus and Bacchides, they killed more than twenty thousand of them, and made themselves masters of exceedingly high strongholds, and divided very much plunder, giving the maimed, orphans, widows, and the aged an equal share with themselves.
8:31	When they had gathered the weapons of the enemy together, they stored them all up carefully in the most strategic positions, and they carried the rest of the spoils to Jerusalem.
8:32	They killed the phylarch of Timotheus’s forces, a most unholy man, and one who had done the Jews much harm.
8:33	As they celebrated the feast of victory in the city of their fathers, they burned those who had set the sacred gates on fire, including Callisthenes, who had fled into a little house. So they received the proper reward for their impiety.
8:34	The thrice-accursed Nicanor, who had brought the thousand merchants to buy the Jews as slaves,
8:35	being through the help of the Lord humbled by them who in his eyes were held to be of least account, took off his glorious apparel, and passing through the country, shunning all company like a fugitive slave, arrived at Antioch, having, as he thought, had the greatest possible good fortune, though his army was destroyed.
8:36	He who had taken upon himself to make tribute sure for the Romans by the captivity of the men of Jerusalem published abroad that the Jews had One who fought for them, and that because this was so, the Jews were invulnerable, because they followed the laws ordained by him.
9:1	Now about that time, Antiochus retreated in disorder from the region of Persia.
9:2	For he had entered into the city called Persepolis, and he attempted to rob a temple and to control the city. Therefore the multitudes rushed in and the people of the country turned to defend themselves with weapons; and it came to pass that Antiochus was put to flight by the people of the country and broke his camp with disgrace.
9:3	While he was at Ecbatana, news was brought to him about what had happened to Nicanor and the forces of Timotheus.
9:4	Being overcome by his anger, he planned to make the Jews suffer for the evil deeds of those who had put him to flight. Therefore, with judgment from heaven even now accompanying him, he ordered his charioteer to drive without ceasing until he completed the journey; for he arrogantly said this: “I will make Jerusalem a common graveyard of Jews when I come there.”
9:5	But the All-seeing Lord, the God of Israel, struck him with a fatal and invisible stroke. As soon as he had finished speaking this word, an incurable pain of the bowels seized him, with bitter torments of the inner parts—
9:6	and that most justly, for he had tormented other men’s bowels with many and strange sufferings.
9:7	But he in no way ceased from his rude insolence. No, he was filled with even more arrogance, breathing fire in his passion against the Jews, and giving orders to hasten the journey. But it came to pass moreover that he fell from his chariot as it rushed along, and having a grievous fall was tortured in all of the members of his body.
9:8	He who had just supposed himself to have the waves of the sea at his bidding because he was so superhumanly arrogant, and who thought to weigh the heights of the mountains in a balance, was now brought to the ground and carried in a litter, showing to all that the power was obviously God’s,
9:9	so that worms swarmed out of the impious man’s body, and while he was still living in anguish and pain, his flesh fell off, and by reason of the stench all the army turned with loathing from his decay.
9:10	The man who a little before supposed himself to touch the stars of heaven, no one could endure to carry because of his intolerable stench.
9:11	Therefore he began in great part to cease from his arrogance, being broken in spirit, and to come to knowledge under the scourge of God, his pains increasing every moment.
9:12	When he himself could not stand his own smell, he said these words: “It is right to be subject to God, and that one who is mortal should not think they are equal to God.”
9:13	The vile man vowed to the sovereign Lord, who now no more would have pity upon him, saying
9:14	that the holy city, to which he was going in haste to lay it even with the ground and to make it a common graveyard, he would declare free.
9:15	Concerning the Jews, whom he had decided not even to count worthy of burial, but to cast them out to the animals with their infants for the birds to devour, he would make them all equal to citizens of Athens.
9:16	The holy sanctuary, which before he had plundered, he would adorn with the best offerings, and would restore all the sacred vessels many times multiplied, and out of his own revenues would defray the charges that were required for the sacrifices.
9:17	Beside all this, he said that he would become a Jew and would visit every inhabited place, proclaiming the power of God.
9:18	But when his sufferings did in no way cease, for the judgment of God had come upon him in righteousness, having given up all hope for himself, he wrote to the Jews the letter written below, having the nature of a supplication, to this effect:
9:19	“To the worthy Jewish citizens, Antiochus, king and general, wishes much joy and health and prosperity.
9:20	May you and your children fare well, and may your affairs be as you wish. Having my hope in heaven,
9:21	I remembered with affection your honor and good will. Returning out of the region of Persia, and being taken with an annoying sickness, I deemed it necessary to take thought for the common safety of all,
9:22	not despairing of myself, but having great hope to escape from the sickness.
9:23	But considering that my father also, at the time he led an army into the upper country, appointed his successor,
9:24	to the end that, if anything fell out contrary to expectation, or if any unwelcome tidings were brought, the people in the country, knowing to whom the state had been left, might not be troubled,
9:25	and, moreover, observing how the princes who are along the borders and neighbors to my kingdom watch for opportunities and look for the future event, I have appointed my son Antiochus to be king, whom I often entrusted and commended to most of you when I was hurrying to the upper provinces. I have written to him what is written below.
9:26	I therefore urge you and beg you, having in your remembrance the benefits done to you in common and severally, to preserve your present good will, each of you, toward me and my son.
9:27	For I am persuaded that he in gentleness and kindness will follow my purpose and treat you with moderation and kindness.
9:28	So the murderer and blasphemer, having endured the most intense sufferings, even as he had dealt with other men, ended his life among the mountains by a most piteous fate in a strange land.
9:29	Philip his foster brother took the body home and then, fearing the son of Antiochus, he withdrew himself to Ptolemy Philometor in Egypt.
10:1	Then Maccabaeus and those who were with him, the Lord leading them on, recovered the temple and the city.
10:2	They pulled down the altars that had been built in the marketplace by the foreigners, and also the sacred enclosures.
10:3	Having cleansed the sanctuary, they made another altar of sacrifice. Striking flint and starting a fire, they offered sacrifices after they had ceased for two years, burned incense, lit lamps, and set out the show bread.
10:4	When they had done these things, they fell prostrate and implored the Lord that they might fall no more into such evils; but that, if they ever did sin, they might be chastened by him with forbearance, and not be delivered to blaspheming and barbarous heathen.
10:5	Now on the same day that the sanctuary was profaned by foreigners, upon that very day it came to pass that the sanctuary was cleansed, even on the twenty-fifth day of the same month, which is Chislev.
10:6	They observed eight days with gladness in the manner of the feast of tabernacles, remembering how not long before, during the feast of tabernacles, they were wandering in the mountains and in the caves like wild animals.
10:7	Therefore carrying wands wreathed with leaves, and beautiful branches, and palm fronds also, they offered up hymns of thanksgiving to him who had successfully brought to pass the cleansing of his own place.
10:8	They ordained also with a public statute and decree, for all the nation of the Jews, that they should observe these days every year.
10:9	Such were the events of the end of Antiochus, who was called Epiphanes.
10:10	Now we will declare what came to pass under Antiochus Eupator, who proved himself a son of that ungodly man, and will summarize the main evils of the wars.
10:11	For this man, when he succeeded to the kingdom, appointed one Lysias to be chancellor and supreme governor of Coelesyria and Phoenicia.
10:12	For Ptolemy who was called Macron, setting an example of observing justice toward the Jews because of the wrong that had been done to them, endeavored to deal with them on peaceful terms.
10:13	Whereupon being accused by the king’s friends before Eupator, and hearing himself called traitor at every turn because he had abandoned Cyprus which Philometor had entrusted to him, and had withdrawn himself to Antiochus Epiphanes, and failing to uphold the honor of his office, he took poison and did away with himself.
10:14	But when Gorgias was made governor of the district, he maintained a force of mercenaries, and at every turn kept up war with the Jews.
10:15	Together with him the Idumaeans also, being masters of important strongholds, harassed the Jews; and received those who had taken refuge from Jerusalem, they endeavored to keep up the war.
10:16	But Maccabaeus and his men, having made solemn supplication and having implored God to fight on their side, rushed upon the strongholds of the Idumaeans.
10:17	Assaulting them vigorously, they took control of the positions, and kept off all who fought upon the wall, and killed those whom they encountered, killing no fewer than twenty thousand.
10:18	Because no fewer than nine thousand had fled into two very strong towers having everything needed for a siege,
10:19	Maccabaeus, having left Simon and Joseph, and also Zacchaeus and those who were with him, a force sufficient to besiege them, departed himself to places where he was most needed.
10:20	But Simon and those who were with him, yielding to covetousness, were bribed by some of those who were in the towers, and receiving seventy thousand drachmas, let some of them slip away.
10:21	But when word was brought to Maccabaeus of what was done, he gathered the leaders of the people together, and accused those men of having sold their kindred for money by setting their enemies free to fight against them.
10:22	So he killed these men for having turned traitors, and immediately took possession of the two towers.
10:23	Prospering with his weapons in everything he undertook, he destroyed more than twenty thousand in the two strongholds.
10:24	Now Timotheus, who had been defeated by the Jews before, having gathered together foreign forces in great multitudes, and having collected the cavalry which belonged to Asia, not a few, came as though he would take Judea by force of weapons.
10:25	But as he drew near, Maccabaeus and his men sprinkled dirt on their heads and girded their loins with sackcloth, in supplication to God,
10:26	and falling down upon the step in front of the altar, implored him to become gracious to them, and be an enemy to their enemies and an adversary to their adversaries, as the law declares.
10:27	Rising from their prayer they took up their weapons, and advanced some distance from the city. When they had come near to their enemies, they halted.
10:28	When the dawn was now breaking, the two armies joined in battle, the one part having this, beside virtue, for a pledge of success and victory, that they had fled to the Lord for refuge, the others making their passion their leader in the fight.
10:29	When the battle became strong, there appeared out of heaven to their adversaries five splendid men on horses with bridles of gold, and two of them, leading on the Jews,
10:30	and taking Maccabaeus in the midst of them, and covering him with their own armor, guarded him from wounds, while they shot arrows and thunderbolts at the enemies. For this reason, they were blinded and thrown into confusion, and were cut to pieces, filled with bewilderment.
10:31	Twenty thousand five hundred were slain, beside six hundred cavalry.
10:32	Timotheus himself fled into a stronghold called Gazara, a fortress of great strength, where Chaereas was in command.
10:33	Then Maccabaeus and his men were glad and laid siege to the fortress for four days.
10:34	Those who were within, trusting in the strength of the place, blasphemed exceedingly, and hurled out impious words.
10:35	But at dawn of the fifth day, certain young men of Maccabaeus’ company, inflamed with anger because of the blasphemies, assaulted the wall with masculine force and with furious anger, and cut down whoever came in their way.
10:36	Others climbing up in the same way, while the enemies were distracted with those who had made their way within, set fire to the towers, and kindled fires that burned the blasphemers alive, while others broke open the gates, and, having given entrance to the rest of the band, occupied the city.
10:37	They killed Timotheus, who was hidden in a cistern, and his brother Chaereas, and Apollophanes.
10:38	When they had accomplished these things, they blessed the Lord with hymns and thanksgiving, blessing him who provides great benefits to Israel and gives them the victory.
11:1	Now after a very little time, Lysias, the king’s guardian, kinsman, and chancellor, being very displeased about the things that had happened,
11:2	collected about eighty thousand infantry and all his cavalry and came against the Jews, planning to make the city a home for Greeks,
11:3	and to levy tribute on the temple, as on the other sacred places of the nations, and to put up the high priesthood for sale every year.
11:4	He took no account of God’s power, but was puffed up with his ten thousands of infantry, his thousands of cavalry, and his eighty elephants.
11:5	Coming into Judea and approaching Bethsuron, which was a strong place and about five stadia away from Jerusalem, he pressed it hard.
11:6	When Maccabaeus and his men learned that he was besieging the strongholds, they and all the people with lamentations and tears made supplication to the Lord to send a good angel to save Israel.
11:7	Maccabaeus himself took up weapons first, and exhorted the others to put themselves in jeopardy together with him and help their kindred; and they went out with him very willingly.
11:8	As they were there, close to Jerusalem, a horseman appeared at their head in white apparel, brandishing weapons of gold.
11:9	They all together praised the merciful God, and were yet more strengthened in heart, being ready to assail not only men but the wildest animals and walls of iron,
11:10	they advanced in array, having him who is in heaven to fight on their side, for the Lord had mercy on them.
11:11	Hurling themselves like lions against the enemy, they killed eleven thousand infantry and one thousand six hundred cavalry, and forced all the rest to flee.
11:12	Most of them escaped wounded and naked. Lysias himself also escaped by shameful flight.
11:13	But as he was a man not void of understanding, pondering the defeat which had befallen him, and considering that the Hebrews could not be overcome because the Almighty God fought on their side, he sent again
11:14	and persuaded them to come to terms on condition that all their rights were acknowledged, and promised that he would also persuade the king to become their friend.
11:15	Maccabaeus gave consent upon all the conditions which Lysias proposed to him, being careful of the common good; for whatever requests Maccabaeus delivered in writing to Lysias concerning the Jews the king allowed.
11:16	The letter written to the Jews from Lysias was to this effect: “Lysias to the people of the Jews, greetings.
11:17	John and Absalom, who were sent from you, having delivered the document written below, made request concerning the things written therein.
11:18	Whatever things therefore needed to be brought before the king I declared to him, and what things were possible he allowed.
11:19	If then you will all preserve your good will toward the government, I will also endeavor in the future to contribute to your good.
11:20	Concerning this, I have given order in detail, both to these men and to those who are sent from me, to confer with you.
11:21	Farewell. Written in the one hundred forty-eighth year, on the twenty-fourth day of the month Dioscorinthius.”
11:22	And the king’s letter contained these words: “King Antiochus to his brother Lysias, greetings.
11:23	Seeing that our father passed to the gods having the wish that the subjects of his kingdom should be undisturbed and give themselves to the care of their own affairs,
11:24	we, having heard that the Jews do not consent to our father’s purpose to turn them to the customs of the Greeks, but choose rather their own way of living, and make request that the customs of their law be allowed to them—
11:25	choosing therefore that this nation also should be free from disturbance, we determine that their temple is to be restored to them, and that they live according to the customs that were in the days of their ancestors.
11:26	You will therefore do well to send messengers to them and give them the right hand of friendship, that they, knowing our mind, may be of good heart, and gladly occupy themselves with the conduct of their own affairs.”
11:27	And to the nation, the king’s letter was as follows: “King Antiochus to the senate of the Jews and to the other Jews, greetings.
11:28	If you are all well, it is as we desire. We ourselves also are in good health.
11:29	Menelaus informed us that your desire was to return home and follow your own business.
11:30	They therefore who depart home up to the thirtieth day of Xanthicus shall have our friendship, with full permission
11:31	that the Jews use their own foods and observe their own laws, even as formerly. None of them shall be in any way molested for the things that have been done in ignorance.
11:32	Moreover I have sent Menelaus also, that he may encourage you.
11:33	Farewell. Written in the one hundred forty-eighth year, on the fifteenth day of Xanthicus.”
11:34	The Romans also sent to them a letter in these words: “Quintus Memmius and Titus Manius, ambassadors of the Romans, to the people of the Jews, greetings.
11:35	In regard to the things which Lysias the king’s kinsman granted you, we also give consent.
11:36	But as for the things which he judged should be referred to the king, send someone promptly, after you have considered them, that we may publish such decrees as are appropriate for your case; for we are on our way to Antioch.
11:37	Therefore send someone with speed, that we also may learn what is your mind.
11:38	Farewell. Written in the one hundred forty-eighth year, on the fifteenth day of Xanthicus.
12:1	So when this agreement had been made, Lysias departed to the king, and the Jews went about their farming.
12:2	But some of the governors of districts, Timotheus and Apollonius the son of Gennaeus, and also Hieronymus and Demophon, and beside them Nicanor the governor of Cyprus, would not allow them to enjoy tranquillity and live in peace.
12:3	Men of Joppa perpetrated this great impiety: they invited the Jews who lived among them to go with their wives and children into the boats which they had provided, as though they had no ill will toward them.
12:4	When the Jews, relying on the public vote of the city, accepted the invitation, as men desiring to live in peace and suspecting nothing, they took them out to sea and drowned not less than two hundred of them.
12:5	When Judas heard of the cruelty done to his fellow countrymen, giving command to the men that were with him
12:6	and calling upon God the righteous Judge, he came against the murderers of his kindred, and set the harbor on fire at night, burned the boats, and put to the sword those who had fled there.
12:7	But when the town gates were closed, he withdrew, intending to come again to root out the whole community of the men of Joppa.
12:8	But learning that the men of Jamnia intended to do the same thing to the Jews who lived among them,
12:9	he attacked the Jamnites at night, and set fire to the harbor together with the fleet, so that the glare of the light was seen at Jerusalem, two hundred forty furlongs distant.
12:10	Now when they had drawn off nine furlongs from there, as they marched against Timotheus, an army of Arabians attacked him, no fewer than five thousand infantry and five hundred cavalry.
12:11	And when a hard battle had been fought, and Judas and his company, by the help of God, had good success, the nomads being overcome implored Judas to grant them friendship, promising to give him livestock, and to help his people in all other ways.
12:12	So Judas, thinking that they would indeed be profitable in many things, agreed to live in peace with them; and receiving pledges of friendship they departed to their tents.
12:13	He also attacked a certain city, strong and fenced with earthworks and walls, and inhabited by a mixed multitude of various nations. It was named Caspin.
12:14	Those who were within, trusting in the strength of the walls and their store of provisions, behaved themselves rudely toward Judas and those who were with him, railing, and furthermore blaspheming and speaking impious words.
12:15	But Judas and his company, calling upon the great Sovereign of the world, who without rams and cunning engines of war hurled down Jericho in the times of Joshua, rushed wildly against the wall.
12:16	Having taken the city by the will of God, they made unspeakable slaughter, so much that the adjoining lake, which was two furlongs broad, appeared to be filled with the deluge of blood.
12:17	When they had gone seven hundred fifty furlongs from there, they made their way to Charax, to the Jews that are called Tubieni.
12:18	They didn’t find Timotheus in that district, for he had by then departed from the district without accomplishing anything, but had left behind a very strong garrison in one place.
12:19	But Dositheus and Sosipater, who were captains under Maccabaeus, went out and destroyed those who had been left by Timotheus in the stronghold, more than ten thousand men.
12:20	Maccabaeus, arranging his own army in divisions, set these two over the bands, and marched in haste against Timotheus, who had with him one hundred twenty thousand infantry and two thousand five hundred cavalry.
12:21	When Timotheus heard of the approach of Judas, he at once sent away the women and the children with the baggage into the fortress called Carnion; for the place was hard to besiege and difficult to access by reason of the narrowness of the approaches on all sides.
12:22	When the band of Judas, who led the first division, appeared in sight, and when terror and fear came upon the enemy, because the manifestation of him who sees all things came upon them, they fled in every direction, carried this way and that, so that they were often injured by their own men, and pierced with the points of their own swords.
12:23	Judas continued the pursuit more vigorously, putting the wicked wretches to the sword, and he destroyed as many as thirty thousand men.
12:24	Timotheus himself, falling in with the company of Dositheus and Sosipater, implored them with much crafty guile to let him go with his life, because he had in his power the parents of many of them and the kindred of some. “Otherwise, he said, little regard will be shown to these.”
12:25	So when he had with many words confirmed the agreement to restore them without harm, they let him go that they might save their kindred.
12:26	Then Judas, marching against Carnion and the temple of Atergatis, killed twenty-five thousand people.
12:27	After he had put these to flight and destroyed them, he marched against Ephron also, a strong city, wherein were multitudes of people of all nations. Stalwart young men placed on the walls made a vigorous defense. There were great stores of war engines and darts there.
12:28	But calling upon the Sovereign who with might shatters the strength of the enemy, they took the city into their hands, and killed as many as twenty-five thousand of those who were in it.
12:29	Setting out from there, they marched in haste against Scythopolis, which is six hundred furlongs away from Jerusalem.
12:30	But when the Jews who were settled there testified of the good will that the Scythopolitans had shown toward them, and of their kind treatment of them in the times of their misfortune,
12:31	they gave thanks, and further exhorted them to remain well disposed toward the race for the future. Then they went up to Jerusalem, the feast of weeks being close at hand.
12:32	But after the feast called Pentecost, they marched in haste against Gorgias the governor of Idumaea.
12:33	He came out with three thousand infantry and four hundred cavalry.
12:34	When they had set themselves in array, it came to pass that a few of the Jews fell.
12:35	A certain Dositheus, one of Bacenor’s company, who was on horseback and was a strong man, pressed hard on Gorgias, and taking hold of his cloke dragged him along by main force. While he planned to take the accursed man alive, one of the Thracian cavalry bore down on him and disabled his shoulder, and so Gorgias escaped to Marisa.
12:36	When those who were with Esdris had been fighting long and were weary, Judas called upon the Lord to show himself, fighting on their side and leading in the battle.
12:37	Then in the language of his ancestors he raised the battle cry joined with hymns. Then he rushed against Gorgias’ troops when they were not expecting it, and put them to flight.
12:38	Judas gathered his army and came to the city of Adullam. As the seventh day was coming on, they purified themselves according to the custom, and kept the Sabbath there.
12:39	On the following day, when it had become necessary, Judas and his company came to take up the bodies of those who had fallen, and in company with their kinsmen to bring them back to the sepulchres of their ancestors.
12:40	But under the garments of each one of the dead they found consecrated tokens of the idols of Jamnia, which the law forbids the Jews to have anything to do with. It became clear to all that it was for this cause that they had fallen.
12:41	All therefore, blessing the ways of the Lord, the righteous Judge, who makes manifest the things that are hidden,
12:42	turned themselves to supplication, praying that the sin committed might be wholly blotted out. The noble Judas exhorted the multitude to keep themselves from sin, for they had seen with their own eyes what happened because of the sin of those who had fallen.
12:43	When he had made a collection man by man to the sum of two thousand drachmas of silver, he sent to Jerusalem to offer a sacrifice for sin, doing very well and honorably in this, in that he took thought for the resurrection.
12:44	For if he wasn’t expecting that those who had fallen would rise again, it would be superfluous and idle to pray for the dead.
12:45	But if he was looking forward to an honorable memorial of gratitude laid up for those who die in godliness, then the thought was holy and godly. Therefore he made the atoning sacrifice for those who had died, that they might be released from their sin.
13:1	In the one hundred forty-ninth year, news was brought to Judas and his company that Antiochus Eupator was coming with multitudes against Judea,
13:2	and with him Lysias his guardian and chancellor, each having a Greek force of one hundred ten thousand infantry, five thousand three hundred cavalry, twenty-two elephants, and three hundred chariots armed with scythes.
13:3	And Menelaus also joined himself with them, and with great hypocrisy encouraged Antiochus, not for the saving of his country, but because he thought that he would be set over the government.
13:4	But the King of kings stirred up the anger of Antiochus against the wicked wretch. When Lysias informed him that this man was the cause of all the evils, the king commanded to bring him to Beroea, and to put him to death in the way customary in that place.
13:5	Now there is in that place a tower that is fifty cubits high, full of ashes, and it had all around it a circular rim sloping steeply on every side into the ashes.
13:6	Here one who is guilty of sacrilege or notorious for other crimes is pushed down to destruction.
13:7	By such a fate it happened that the breaker of the law, Menelaus, died, without obtaining so much as a grave in the earth, and that justly;
13:8	for inasmuch as he had perpetrated many sins against the altar, whose fire and whose ashes were holy, he received his death in ashes.
13:9	Now the king, infuriated in spirit, was coming with intent to inflict on the Jews the very worst of the sufferings that had been done in his father’s time.
13:10	But when Judas heard of these things, he commanded the multitude to call upon the Lord day and night, if ever at any other time, so now to help those who were at the point of being deprived of the law, their country, and the holy temple,
13:11	and not to allow the people who had just begun to be revived to fall into the hands of those profane heathen.
13:12	So when they had all done the same thing together, begging the merciful Lord with weeping and fastings and prostration for three days without ceasing, Judas exhorted them and commanded they should join him.
13:13	Having consulted privately with the elders, he resolved that before the king’s army entered into Judea and made themselves masters of the city, they should go out and decide the matter by the help of God.
13:14	And committing the decision to the Lord of the world, and exhorting those who were with him to contend nobly even to death for laws, temple, city, country, and way of life, he pitched his camp by Modin.
13:15	He gave out to his men the watchword, “VICTORY IS GOD’S”, with a chosen force of the bravest young men he attacked the king’s pavilion by night, and killed of his army as many as two thousand men, and brought down the leading elephant with him who was in the tower on him.
13:16	At last they filled the army with terror and alarm, and departed with good success.
13:17	This had been accomplished when the day was just dawning, because of the Lord’s protection that gave Judas help.
13:18	But the king, having had a taste of the exceeding boldness of the Jews, made strategic attacks on their positions,
13:19	and on a strong fortress of the Jews at Bethsura. He advanced, was turned back, failed, and was defeated.
13:20	Judas sent the things that were necessary to those who were within.
13:21	But Rhodocus, from the Jewish ranks, made secrets known to the enemy. He was sought out, arrested, and shut up in prison.
13:22	The king negotiated with them in Bethsura the second time, gave his hand, took theirs, departed, attacked the forces of Judas, was put to the worse,
13:23	heard that Philip who had been left as chancellor in Antioch had become reckless, was confounded, made to the Jews an overture of peace, submitted himself and swore to acknowledge all their rights, came to terms with them and offered sacrifice, honored the sanctuary and the place,
13:24	showed kindness and graciously received Maccabaeus, left Hegemonides governor from Ptolemais even to the Gerrenians,
13:25	and came to Ptolemais. The men of Ptolemais were displeased at the treaty, for they had exceedingly great indignation against the Jews. They desired to annul the articles of the agreement.
13:26	Lysias came forward to speak, made the best defense that was possible, persuaded, pacified, gained their good will, and departed to Antioch. This was the issue of the attack and departure of the king.
14:1	Three years later, news was brought to Judas and his company that Demetrius the son of Seleucus, having sailed into the harbor of Tripolis with a mighty army and a fleet,
14:2	had taken possession of the country, having made away with Antiochus and his guardian Lysias.
14:3	But one Alcimus, who had formerly been high priest, and had willfully polluted himself in the times when there was no mingling with the Gentiles, considering that there was no deliverance for him in any way, nor any more access to the holy altar,
14:4	came to King Demetrius in about the one hundred fifty-first year, presenting to him a crown of gold and a palm, and beside these some of the festal olive boughs of the temple. For that day, he held his peace;
14:5	but having gotten opportunity to further his own madness, being called by Demetrius into a meeting of his council, and asked how the Jews stood affected and what they intended, he answered:
14:6	“Those of the Jews called Hasidaeans, whose leader is Judas Maccabaeus, keep up war and are seditious, not allowing the kingdom to find tranquillity.
14:7	Therefore, having laid aside my ancestral glory—I mean the high priesthood—I have now come here,
14:8	first for the genuine care I have for the things that concern the king, and secondly because I have regard also to my own fellow citizens. For through the unadvised dealing of those of whom I spoke before, our whole race is in no small misfortune.
14:9	O king, having informed yourself of these things, take thought both for our country and for our race, which is surrounded by enemies, according to the gracious kindness with which you receive all.
14:10	For as long as Judas remains alive, it is impossible for the government to find peace.
14:11	When he had spoken such words as these, at once the rest of the king’s friends, having ill will against Judas, inflamed Demetrius yet more.
14:12	He immediately appointed Nicanor, who had been master of the elephants, and made him governor of Judea. He sent him out,
14:13	giving him written instructions to kill Judas himself and to scatter those who were with him, and to set up Alcimus as high priest of the great temple.
14:14	Those in Judea who had driven Judas into exile thronged to Nicanor in flocks, supposing that the misfortunes and calamities of the Jews would be successes to themselves.
14:15	But when the Jews heard of Nicanor’s advance and the assault of the heathen, they sprinkled dirt on their heads and made solemn prayers to him who had established his own people for evermore, and who always, making manifest his presence, upholds those who are his own heritage.
14:16	When the leader had given orders, he immediately set out from there and joined battle with them at a village called Lessau.
14:17	But Simon, the brother of Judas, had encountered Nicanor, yet not till late, having been delayed by reason of the sudden consternation caused by his adversaries.
14:18	Nevertheless Nicanor, hearing of the valor of those who were with Judas, and their courage in fighting for their country, shrank from bringing the matter to the decision of the sword.
14:19	Therefore he sent Posidonius, Theodotus, and Mattathias to give and receive pledges of friendship.
14:20	So when these proposals had been long considered, and the leader had made the troops acquainted with them, and it appeared that they were all of like mind, they consented to the covenants.
14:21	They appointed a day on which to meet together by themselves. A chariot came forward from each army. They set up seats of honor.
14:22	Judas stationed armed men ready in convenient places, lest perhaps there should suddenly be treachery on the part of the enemy. They held a conference as was appropriate.
14:23	Nicanor waited in Jerusalem, and did nothing to cause disturbance, but dismissed the flocks of people that had gathered together.
14:24	He kept Judas always in his presence. He had gained a hearty affection for the man.
14:25	He urged him to marry and have children. He married, settled quietly, and took part in common life.
14:26	But Alcimus, perceiving the good will that was between them, and having taken possession of the covenants that had been made, came to Demetrius and told him that Nicanor was disloyal to the government, for he had appointed that conspirator against his kingdom, Judas, to be his successor.
14:27	The king, falling into a rage, and being exasperated by the false accusations of that most wicked man, wrote to Nicanor, signifying that he was displeased at the covenants, and commanding him to send Maccabaeus prisoner to Antioch in all haste.
14:28	When this message came to Nicanor, he was confounded, and was very troubled at the thought of annulling the articles that had been agreed upon, the man having done no wrong;
14:29	but because there was no opposing the king, he watched his time to execute this purpose by strategy.
14:30	But Maccabaeus, when he perceived that Nicanor was behaving more harshly in his dealings with him, and that he had become ruler in his customary bearing, understanding that this harshness came not of good, gathered together not a few of his men, and concealed himself from Nicanor.
14:31	But the other, when he became aware that he had been bravely defeated by the strategy of Judas, came to the great and holy temple, while the priests were offering the usual sacrifices, and commanded them to hand over the man.
14:32	When they declared with oaths that they had no knowledge where the man was whom he sought,
14:33	he stretched out his right hand toward the sanctuary, and swore this oath: “If you won’t deliver up to me Judas as a prisoner, I will level this temple of God even with the ground, break down the altar, and I will erect here a temple to Dionysus for all to see.
14:34	And having said this, he departed. But the priests, stretching forth their hands toward heaven, called upon him who always fights for our nation, in these words:
14:35	“You, O Lord of the universe, who in yourself have need of nothing, were well pleased that a sanctuary of your habitation should be set among us.
14:36	So now, O holy Lord of all holiness, keep undefiled forever this house that has been recently cleansed.”
14:37	Now information was given to Nicanor against one Razis, an elder of Jerusalem, who was a lover of his countrymen and a man of very good report, and one called Father of the Jews for his good will.
14:38	For in the former times when there was no mingling with the Gentiles, he had been accused of following the Jews’ religion, and had risked body and life with all earnestness for the religion of the Jews.
14:39	Nicanor, wishing to make evident the ill will that he bore against the Jews, sent above five hundred soldiers to seize him;
14:40	for he thought by seizing him to inflict an injury on them.
14:41	But when the troops were at the point of taking the tower, and were forcing the door of the court, and asked for fire to burn the doors, he, being surrounded on every side, fell upon his sword,
14:42	choosing rather to die nobly than to fall into the hands of the wicked wretches, and suffer outrage unworthy of his own nobleness.
14:43	But since he missed his stroke through the excitement of the struggle, and the crowds were now rushing within the door, he ran bravely up to the wall and cast himself down bravely among the crowds.
14:44	But as they quickly gave back, a space was made, and he fell on the middle of his side.
14:45	Still having breath within him, and being inflamed with anger, he rose up, and though his blood gushed out in streams and his wounds were grievous, he ran through the crowds, and standing upon a steep rock,
14:46	when as his blood was now well near spent, he drew forth his bowels through the wound, and taking them in both his hands he shook them at the crowds. Calling upon him who is Lord of life and spirit to restore him these again, he died like this.
15:1	But Nicanor, hearing that Judas and his company were in the region of Samaria, resolved to attack them with complete safety on the day of rest.
15:2	When the Jews who were compelled to follow him said, “Don’t destroy so savagely and barbarously, but give due glory to the day which he who sees all things has honored and hallowed above other days.”
15:3	Then the thrice-accursed wretch asked if there were a Sovereign in heaven who had commanded to keep the Sabbath day.
15:4	When they declared, “There is the Lord, living himself as Sovereign in heaven, who told us observe the seventh day.”
15:5	He replied, “I also am a sovereign on the earth, who commands you to take up weapons and execute the king’s business.” Nevertheless he didn’t prevail to execute his cruel plan.
15:6	And Nicanor, in his utter boastfulness and arrogance, had determined to set up a monument of complete victory over Judas and all those who were with him.
15:7	But Maccabaeus still trusted unceasingly, with all hope that he should obtain help from the Lord.
15:8	He exhorted his company not to be fearful at the assault of the heathen, but keeping in mind the help which in former times they had often received from heaven, so now also to look for the victory which would come to them from the Almighty,
15:9	and encouraging them out of the law and the prophets, and reminding them of the conflicts that they had won, he made them more eager.
15:10	And when he had aroused their courage, he gave them orders, at the same time pointing out the faithlessness of the heathen and their breach of their oaths.
15:11	Arming each one of them, not so much with the sure defense of shields and spears as with the encouragement of good words, and moreover relating to them a dream worthy to be believed, he made them all exceedingly glad.
15:12	The vision of that dream was this: Onias, he who had been high priest, a noble and good man, modest in bearing, yet gentle in manner and well-spoken, and trained from a child in all points of virtue, with outstretched hands invoking blessings on the whole body of the Jews.
15:13	Then he saw a man appear, of venerable age and exceeding glory, and the dignity around him was wonderful and most majestic.
15:14	Onias answered and said, “This is the lover of the kindred, he who prays much for the people and the holy city: Jeremiah the prophet of God.
15:15	Jeremiah stretched out his right hand and delivered to Judas a gold sword, and in giving it addressed him thus:
15:16	“Take this holy sword, a gift from God, with which you shall strike down the adversaries.”
15:17	Being encouraged by the words of Judas, which were noble and effective, and able to incite to virtue and to stir the souls of the young to manly courage, they determined not to carry on a campaign, but nobly to bear down upon the enemy, and fighting hand to hand with all courage bring the matter to a conclusion, because the city, the sanctuary, and the temple were in danger.
15:18	For their fear for wives and children, and furthermore for family and relatives, was less important to them; but greatest and first was their fear for the consecrated sanctuary.
15:19	Also those who were shut up in the city were in no light distress, being troubled because of the encounter in the open country.
15:20	When all were now waiting for the decision of the issue, and the enemy had already joined battle, and the army had been set in array, and the elephants brought back to a convenient post, and the cavalry deployed on the flanks,
15:21	Maccabaeus, perceiving the presence of the troops, and the various weapons with which they were equipped, and the savageness of the elephants, holding up his hands to heaven called upon the Lord who works wonders, knowing that success comes not by weapons, but that, according to how the Lord judges, he gains the victory for those who are worthy.
15:22	And calling upon God, he said this: “You, O Sovereign Lord, sent your angel in the time of King Hezekiah of Judea, and he killed of the army of Sennacherib as many as one hundred eighty-five thousand.
15:23	So now also, O Sovereign of the heavens, send a good angel before us to bring terror and trembling.
15:24	Through the greatness of your arm let them be stricken with dismay who with blasphemy have come here against your holy people.” As he finished these words,
15:25	Nicanor and his company advanced with trumpets and victory songs;
15:26	but Judas and his company joined battle with the enemy with invocation and prayers.
15:27	Fighting with their hands and praying to God with their hearts, they killed no less than thirty-five thousand men, being made exceedingly glad by the manifestation of God.
15:28	When the engagement was over and they were returning again with joy, they recognized Nicanor lying dead in full armor.
15:29	Then there was shouting and noise, and they blessed the Sovereign Lord in the language of their ancestors.
15:30	He who in all things was in body and soul the foremost champion of his fellow citizens, he who kept through life the good will of his youth toward his countrymen, ordered that Nicanor’s head be cut off with his hand and arm, and that they be brought to Jerusalem.
15:31	When he had arrived there and had called his countrymen together and set the priests before the altar, he sent for those who were in the citadel.
15:32	Showing the head of the vile Nicanor and the hand of that profane man, which with proud brags he had stretched out against the holy house of the Almighty,
15:33	and cutting out the tongue of the impious Nicanor, he said that he would give it in pieces to the birds, and hang up these rewards of his folly near the sanctuary.
15:34	They all, looking up to heaven, blessed the Lord who had manifested himself, saying, “Blessed is he who has preserved his own place undefiled!”
15:35	He hung Nicanor’s head and shoulder from the citadel, a clear sign evident to all of the help of the Lord.
15:36	They all ordained with a common decree to in no way let this day pass undistinguished, but to mark with honor the thirteenth day of the twelfth month (it is called Adar in the Syrian language), the day before the day of Mordecai.
15:37	This then having been the account of the attempt of Nicanor, and the city having from those times been held by the Hebrews, I also will here make an end of my book.
15:38	If I have written well and to the point in my story, this is what I myself desired; but if its poorly done and mediocre, this is the best I could do.
15:39	For as it is distasteful to drink wine alone and likewise to drink water alone, while the mingling of wine with water at once gives full pleasantness to the flavor; so also the fashioning of the language delights the ears of those who read the story. Here is the end.

== Brenton's Septuagint (1851) (BRENTON)
Sir Lancelot C. L. Brenton, The Septuagint with Apocrypha (1851), public domain. Text from eBible.org

1:1	The brethren, the Jews that be at Jerusalem and in the land of Judea, wish unto the brethren, the Jews that are throughout Egypt, health and peace:
1:2	God be gracious unto you, and remember his covenant that he made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, his faithful servants;
1:3	and give you all an heart to serve him, and to do his will, with a good courage and a willing mind;
1:4	and open your hearts in his law and commandments, and send you peace,
1:5	and hear your prayers, and be at one with you, and never forsake you in time of trouble.
1:6	And now we be here praying for you.
1:7	What time as Demetrius reigned, in the hundred threescore and ninth year, we the Jews wrote unto you in the extremity of trouble that came upon us in those years, from the time that Jason and his company revolted from the holy land and kingdom,
1:8	and burned the porch, and shed innocent blood: then we prayed unto the Lord, and were heard; we offered also sacrifices and fine flour, and lighted the lamps, and set forth the loaves.
1:9	And now see that ye keep the feast of tabernacles in the month Casleu.
1:10	In the hundred fourscore and eighth year, the people that were at Jerusalem and in Judea, and the council, and Judas, sent greeting and health unto Aristobulus, king Ptolemeus' master, who was of the stock of the anointed priests, and to the Jews that were in Egypt:
1:11	Insomuch as God hath delivered us from great perils, we thank him highly, as having been in battle against a king.
1:12	For he cast them out that fought within the holy city.
1:13	For when the leader was come into Persia, and the army with him that seemed invincible, they were slain in the temple of Nanea by the deceit of Nanea's priests.
1:14	For Antiochus, as though he would marry her, came into the place, and his friends that were with him, to receive money in name of a dowry.
1:15	Which when the priests of Nanea had set forth, and he was entered with a small company into the compass of the temple, they shut the temple as soon as Antiochus was come in:
1:16	and opening a privy door of the roof, they threw stones like thunderbolts, and struck down the captain, hewed them in pieces, smote off their heads, and cast them to those that were without.
1:17	Blessed be our God in all things, who hath delivered up the ungodly.
1:18	Therefore whereas we are now purposed to keep the purification of the temple upon the five and twentieth day of [the month] Casleu, we thought it necessary to certify you thereof, that ye also might keep [it, as the feast] of the tabernacles, and of the fire, [which was given us] when Neemias offered sacrifice, after that he had builded the temple and the altar.
1:19	For when our fathers were led into Persia, the priests that were then devout took the fire of the altar privily, and hid it in an hollow place of a pit without water, where they kept [it] sure, so that the place was unknown to all men.
1:20	Now after many years, when it pleased God, Neemias, being sent from the king of Persia, did send of the posterity of those priests that had hid it to the fire: but when they told us they found no fire, but thick water;
1:21	then commanded he them to draw it up, and to bring it; and when the sacrifices were laid on, Neemias commanded the priests to sprinkle the wood and the things laid thereupon with the water.
1:22	When this was done, and the time came that the sun shone, which afore was hid in the cloud, there was a great fire kindled, so that every man marvelled.
1:23	And the priests made a prayer whilst the sacrifice was consuming, [I say], both the priests, and all [the rest], Jonathan beginning, and the rest answering thereunto, as Neemias did.
1:24	And the prayer was after this manner: O Lord, Lord God, Creator of all things, who art fearful and strong, and righteous, and merciful, and the only and gracious King,
1:25	the only giver of all things, the only just, almighty, and everlasting, thou that deliverest Israel from all trouble, and didst choose the fathers, and sanctify them:
1:26	receive the sacrifice for thy whole people Israel, and preserve thine own portion, and sanctify it.
1:27	Gather those together that are scattered from us, deliver them that serve among the heathen, look upon them that are despised and abhorred, and let the heathen know that thou art our God.
1:28	Punish them that oppress us, and with pride do us wrong.
1:29	Plant thy people again in thy holy place, as Moses hath spoken.
1:30	And the priests sung psalms of thanksgiving.
1:31	Now when the sacrifice was consumed, Neemias commanded the water that was left to be poured on the great stones.
1:32	When this was done, there was kindled a flame: but it was consumed by the light that shined from the altar.
1:33	So when this matter was known, it was told the king of Persia, that in the place, where the priests that were led away had hid the fire, there appeared water, and that Neemias had purified the sacrifices therewith.
1:34	Then the king, inclosing the place, made it holy, after he had tried the matter.
1:35	And the king took many gifts, and bestowed thereof on those whom he would gratify.
1:36	And Neemias called this thing Naphthar, which is as much as to say, a cleansing: but many men call it Nephi.
2:1	It is also found in the records, that Jeremy the prophet commanded them that were carried away to take of the fire, as it hath been signified:
2:2	and how that the prophet, having given them the law, charged them not to forget the commandments of the Lord, and that they should not err in their minds, when they see images of silver and gold, with their ornaments.
2:3	And with other such speeches exhorted he them, that the law should not depart from their hearts.
2:4	It was also contained in the same writing, that the prophet, being warned of God, commanded the tabernacle and the ark to go with him, as he went forth into the mountain, where Moses climbed up, and saw the heritage of God.
2:5	And when Jeremy came thither, he found an hollow cave, wherein he laid the tabernacle, and the ark, and the altar of incense, and so stopped the door.
2:6	And some of those that followed him came to mark the way, but they could not find it.
2:7	Which when Jeremy perceived, he blamed them, saying, As for that place, it shall be unknown until the time that God gather his people again together, and receive them unto mercy.
2:8	Then shall the Lord shew them these things, and the glory of the Lord shall appear, and the cloud also, as it was shewed under Moses, and as when Solomon desired that the place might be honourably sanctified.
2:9	It was also declared, that he being wise offered the sacrifice of dedication, and of the finishing of the temple.
2:10	And as when Moses prayed unto the Lord, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the sacrifices: even so prayed Solomon also, and the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offerings.
2:11	And Moses said, Because the sin offering was not to be eaten, it was consumed.
2:12	So Solomon kept those eight days.
2:13	The same things also were reported in the writings and commentaries of Neemias; and how he founding a library gathered together the acts of the kings, and the prophets, and of David, and the epistles of the kings concerning the holy gifts.
2:14	In like manner also Judas gathered together all those things that were lost by reason of the war we had, and they remain with us.
2:15	Wherefore if ye have need thereof, send some to fetch them unto you.
2:16	Whereas we then are about to celebrate the purification, we have written unto you, and ye shall do well, if ye keep the same days.
2:17	We hope also, that the God, that delivered all his people, and gave them all an heritage, and the kingdom, and the priesthood, and the sanctuary,
2:18	as he promised in the law, will shortly have mercy upon us, and gather us together out of every land under heaven into the holy place: for he hath delivered us out of great troubles, and hath purified the place.
2:19	Now as concerning Judas Maccabeus, and his brethren, and the purification of the great temple, and the dedication of the altar,
2:20	and the wars against Antiochus Epiphanes, and Eupator his son,
2:21	and the manifest signs that came from heaven unto those that behaved themselves manfully to their honour for Judaism: so that, being but a few, they overcame the whole country, and chased barbarous multitudes,
2:22	and recovered again the temple renowned all the world over, and freed the city, and upheld the laws which were going down, the Lord being gracious unto them with all favour:
2:23	[all these things, I say], being declared by Jason of Cyrene in five books, we will assay to abridge in one volume.
2:24	For considering the infinite number, and the difficulty which they find that desire to look into the narrations of the story, for the variety of the matter,
2:25	we have been careful, that they that will read may have delight, and that they that are desirous to commit to memory might have ease, and that all into whose hands it comes might have profit.
2:26	Therefore to us, that have taken upon us this painful labour of abridging, it was not easy, but a matter of sweat and watching;
2:27	even as it is no ease unto him that prepareth a banquet, and seeketh the benefit of others: yet for the pleasuring of many we will undertake gladly this great pains;
2:28	leaving to the author the exact handling of every particular, and labouring to follow the rules of an abridgement.
2:29	For as the master builder of a new house must care for the whole building: but he that undertaketh to set it out, and paint it, must seek out fit things for the adorning thereof: even so I think it is with us.
2:30	To stand upon every point, and go over things at large, and to be curious in particulars, belongeth to the first author of the story:
2:31	but to use brevity, and avoid much labouring of the work, is to be granted to him that will make an abridgement.
2:32	Here then will we begin the story: only adding thus much to that which hath been said, that it is a foolish thing to make a long prologue, and to be short in the story itself.
3:1	Now when the holy city was inhabited with all peace, and the laws were kept very well, because of the godliness of Onias the high priest, and his hatred of wickedness,
3:2	it came to pass that even the kings themselves did honour the place, and magnify the temple with their best gifts;
3:3	insomuch that Seleucus king of Asia of his own revenues bare all the costs belonging to the service of the sacrifices.
3:4	But one Simon of the tribe of Benjamin, who was made governor of the temple, fell out with the high priest about disorder in the city.
3:5	And when he could not overcome Onias, he gat him to Apollonius [the son] of Thraseas, who then was governor of Celosyria and Phenice,
3:6	and told him that the treasury in Jerusalem was full of infinite sums of money, so that the multitude of their riches, which did not pertain to the account of the sacrifices, was innumerable, and that it was possible to bring all into the king's hand.
3:7	Now when Apollonius came to the king, and had shewed him of the money whereof he was told, the king chose out Heliodorus his treasurer, and sent him with a commandment to bring him the foresaid money.
3:8	So forthwith Heliodorus took his journey, under a colour of visiting the cities of Celosyria and Phenice, but indeed to fulfil the king's purpose.
3:9	And when he was come to Jerusalem, and had been courteously received of the high priest of the city, he told him what intelligence was given of the money, and declared wherefore he came, and asked if these things were so indeed.
3:10	Then the high priest told him that there was such money laid up for the relief of widows and fatherless children:
3:11	and that some of it belonged to Hircanus [son] of Tobias, a man of great dignity, and not as that wicked Simon had misinformed: the sum whereof in all was four hundred talents of silver, and two hundred of gold:
3:12	and that it was altogether impossible that such wrongs should be done unto them, that had committed it to the holiness of the place, and to the majesty and inviolable sanctity of the temple, honoured over all the world.
3:13	But Heliodorus, because of the king's commandment given him, said, That in any wise it must be brought into the king's treasury.
3:14	So at the day which he appointed he entered in to order this matter: wherefore there was no small agony throughout the whole city.
3:15	But the priests, prostrating themselves before the altar in their priests' vestments, called unto heaven upon him that made a law concerning things given to be kept, that they should safely be preserved for such as had committed them to be kept.
3:16	Then whoso had looked the high priest in the face, it would have wounded his heart: for his countenance and the changing of his colour declared the inward agony of his mind.
3:17	For the man was so compassed with fear and horror of the body, that it was manifest to them that looked upon him, what sorrow he had now in his heart.
3:18	Others ran flocking out of their houses to the general supplication, because the place was like to come into contempt.
3:19	And the women, girt with sackcloth under their breasts, abounded in the streets, and the virgins that were kept in ran, some to the gates, and some to the walls, and others looked out of the windows.
3:20	And all, holding their hands toward heaven, made supplication.
3:21	Then it would have pitied a man to see the falling down of the multitude of all sorts, and the fear of the high priest, being in such an agony.
3:22	They then called upon the Almighty Lord to keep the things committed of trust safe and sure for those that had committed them.
3:23	Nevertheless Heliodorus executed that which was decreed.
3:24	Now as he was there present himself with his guard about the treasury, the Lord of spirits, and the Prince of all power, caused a great apparition, so that all that presumed to come in with him were astonished at the power of God, and fainted, and were sore afraid.
3:25	For there appeared unto them an horse with a terrible rider upon him, and adorned with a very fair covering, and he ran fiercely, and smote at Heliodorus with his forefeet, and it seemed that he that sat upon the horse had complete harness of gold.
3:26	Moreover two other young men appeared before him, notable in strength, excellent in beauty, and comely in apparel, who stood by him on either side, and scourged him continually, and gave him many sore stripes.
3:27	And Heliodorus fell suddenly unto the ground, and was compassed with great darkness: but they that were with him took him up, and put him into a litter.
3:28	Thus him, that lately came with a great train and with all his guard into the said treasury, they carried out, being unable to help himself with his weapons: and manifestly they acknowledged the power of God:
3:29	for he by the hand of God was cast down, and lay speechless without all hope of life.
3:30	But they praised the Lord, that had miraculously honoured his own place: for the temple, which a little afore was full of fear and trouble, when the Almighty Lord appeared, was filled with joy and gladness.
3:31	Then straightways certain of Heliodorus' friends prayed Onias, that he would call upon the most High to grant him his life, who lay ready to give up the ghost.
3:32	So the high priest, suspecting lest the king should misconceive that some treachery had been done to Heliodorus by the Jews, offered a sacrifice for the health of the man.
3:33	Now as the high priest was making an atonement, the same young men in the same clothing appeared and stood beside Heliodorus, saying, Give Onias the high priest great thanks, insomuch as for his sake the Lord hath granted thee life:
3:34	and seeing that thou hast been scourged from heaven, declare unto all men the mighty power of God. And when they had spoken these words, they appeared no more.
3:35	So Heliodorus, after he had offered sacrifice unto the Lord, and made great vows unto him that had saved his life, and saluted Onias, returned with his host to the king.
3:36	Then testified he to all men the works of the great God, which he had seen with his eyes.
3:37	And when the king asked Heliodorus, who might be a fit man to be sent yet once again to Jerusalem, he said,
3:38	If thou hast any enemy or traitor, send him thither, and thou shalt receive him well scourged, if he escape with his life: for in that place, no doubt, there is an especial power of God.
3:39	For he that dwelleth in heaven hath his eye on that place, and defendeth it; and he beateth and destroyeth them that come to hurt it.
3:40	And the things concerning Heliodorus, and the keeping of the treasury, fell out on this sort.
4:1	This Simon now, of whom we spake afore, having been a betrayer of the money, and of his country, slandered Onias, as if he had terrified Heliodorus, and been the worker of these evils.
4:2	Thus was he bold to call him a traitor, that had deserved well of the city, and tendered his own nation, and was so zealous of the laws.
4:3	But when their hatred went so far, that by one of Simon's faction murders were committed,
4:4	Onias seeing the danger of this contention, and that Apollonius, as being the governor of Celosyria and Phenice, did rage, and increase Simon's malice,
4:5	he went to the king, not to be an accuser of his countrymen, but seeking the good of all, both public and private:
4:6	for he saw that it was impossible that the state should continue quiet, and Simon leave his folly, unless the king did look thereunto.
4:7	But after the death of Seleucus, when Antiochus, called Epiphanes, took the kingdom, Jason the brother of Onias laboured underhand to be high priest,
4:8	promising unto the king by intercession three hundred and threescore talents of silver, and of another revenue eighty talents:
4:9	beside this, he promised to assign an hundred and fifty more, if he might have licence to set him up a place for exercise, and for the training up of youth in the fashions of the heathen, and to write them of Jerusalem [by the name of] Antiochians.
4:10	Which when the king had granted, and he had gotten into his hand the rule, he forthwith brought his own nation to the Greekish fashion.
4:11	And the royal privileges granted of special favour to the Jews by the means of John the father of Eupolemus, who went ambassador to Rome for amity and aid, he took away; and putting down the governments which were according to the law, he brought up new customs against the law:
4:12	for he built gladly a place of exercise under the tower itself, and brought the chief young men under his subjection, and made them wear a hat.
4:13	Now such was the height of Greek fashions, and increase of heathenish manners, through the exceeding profaneness of Jason, that ungodly wretch, and no high priest;
4:14	that the priests had no courage to serve any more at the altar, but despising the temple, and neglecting the sacrifices, hastened to be partakers of the unlawful allowance in the place of exercise, after the game of Discus called them forth;
4:15	not setting by the honours of their fathers, but liking the glory of the Grecians best of all.
4:16	By reason whereof sore calamity came upon them: for they had them to be their enemies and avengers, whose custom they followed so earnestly, and unto whom they desired to be like in all things.
4:17	For it is not a light thing to do wickedly against the laws of God; but the time following shall declare these things.
4:18	Now when the game that was used every fifth year was kept at Tyrus, the king being present,
4:19	this ungracious Jason sent special messengers from Jerusalem, who were Antiochians, to carry three hundred drachms of silver to the sacrifice of Hercules, which even the bearers thereof thought fit not to bestow upon the sacrifice, because it was not convenient, but to be reserved for other charges.
4:20	This money then, in regard of the sender, was appointed to Hercules' sacrifice; but because of the bearers thereof it was employed to the making of gallies.
4:21	Now when Apollonius the [son] of Menestheus was sent into Egypt for the coronation of king Ptolemeus Philometor, Antiochus, understanding him not to be well affected to his affairs, provided for his own safety: whereupon he came to Joppe, and from thence to Jerusalem:
4:22	where he was honourably received of Jason, and of the city, and was brought in with torch light, and with great shoutings: and so afterward went with his host unto Phenice.
4:23	Three years afterward Jason sent Menelaus, the aforesaid Simon's brother, to bear the money unto the king, and to put him in mind of certain necessary matters.
4:24	But he being brought to the presence of the king, when he had magnified him for the glorious appearance of his power, got the priesthood to himself, offering more than Jason by three hundred talents of silver.
4:25	So he came with the king's mandate, bringing nothing worthy the high priesthood, but having the fury of a cruel tyrant, and the rage of a savage beast.
4:26	Then Jason, who had undermined his own brother, being undermined by another, was compelled to flee into the country of the Ammonites.
4:27	So Menelaus got the principality: but as for the money that he had promised unto the king, he took no good order for it, albeit Sostratus the ruler of the castle required it:
4:28	for unto him appertained the gathering of the customs. Wherefore they were both called before the king.
4:29	Now Menelaus left his brother Lysimachus in his stead in the priesthood: and Sostratus [left] Crates, who was governor of the Cyprians.
4:30	While those things were in doing, they of Tarsus and Mallos made insurrection, because they were given to the king's concubine, called Antiochis.
4:31	Then came the king in all haste to appease matters, leaving Andronicus, a man in authority, for his deputy.
4:32	Now Menelaus, supposing that he had gotten a convenient time, stole certain vessels of gold out of the temple, and gave some of them to Andronicus, and some he sold into Tyrus and the cities round about.
4:33	Which when Onias knew of a surety, he reproved him, and withdrew himself into a sanctuary at Daphne, that lieth by Antiochia.
4:34	Wherefore Menelaus, taking Andronicus apart, prayed him to get Onias into his hands; who being persuaded thereunto, and coming to Onias in deceit, gave him his right hand with oaths; and though he were suspected [by him], yet persuaded he him to come forth of the sanctuary: whom forthwith he shut up without regard to justice.
4:35	For the which cause not only the Jews, but many also of other nations, took great indignation, and were much grieved for the unjust murder of the man.
4:36	And when the king was come again from the places about Cilicia, the Jews that were in the city, and certain of the Greeks that abhorred the fact also, complained because Onias was slain without cause.
4:37	Therefore Antiochus was heartily sorry, and moved to pity, and wept, because of the sober and modest behaviour of him that was dead.
4:38	And being kindled with anger, forthwith he took away Andronicus his purple, and rent off his clothes, and leading him through the whole city unto that very place, where he had committed impiety against Onias, there slew he the cursed murderer. Thus the Lord rewarded him his punishment, as he had deserved.
4:39	Now when many sacrileges had been committed in the city by Lysimachus with the consent of Menelaus, and the bruit thereof was spread abroad, the multitude gathered themselves together against Lysimachus, many vessels of gold being already carried away.
4:40	Whereupon the common people rising, and being filled with rage, Lysimachus armed about three thousand men, and began first to offer violence; one Auranus being the leader, a man far gone in years, and no less in folly.
4:41	They then seeing the attempt of Lysimachus, some of them caught stones, some clubs, others taking handfuls of dust, that was next at hand, cast them all together upon Lysimachus, and those that set upon them.
4:42	Thus many of them they wounded, and some they struck to the ground, and all [of them] they forced to flee: but as for the churchrobber himself, him they killed beside the treasury.
4:43	Of these matters therefore there was an accusation laid against Menelaus.
4:44	Now when the king came to Tyrus, three men that were sent from the senate pleaded the cause before him:
4:45	but Menelaus, being now convicted, promised Ptolemee the [son] of Dorymenes to give him much money, if he would pacify the king toward him.
4:46	Whereupon Ptolemee taking the king aside into a certain gallery, as it were to take the air, brought him to be of another mind:
4:47	insomuch that he discharged Menelaus from the accusations, who notwithstanding was cause of all the mischief: and those poor men, who, if they had told their cause, yea, before the Scythians, should have been judged innocent, them he condemned to death.
4:48	Thus they that followed the matter for the city, and for the people, and for the holy vessels, did soon suffer unjust punishment.
4:49	Wherefore even they of Tyrus, moved with hatred of that wicked deed, caused them to be honourably buried.
4:50	And so through the covetousness of them that were of power Menelaus remained still in authority, increasing in malice, and being a great traitor to the citizens.
5:1	About the same time Antiochus prepared his second voyage into Egypt:
5:2	and then it happened, that through all the city, for the space almost of forty days, there were seen horsemen running in the air, in cloth of gold, and armed with lances, like a band of soldiers,
5:3	and troops of horsemen in array, encountering and running one against another, with shaking of shields, and multitude of pikes, and drawing of swords, and casting of darts, and glittering of golden ornaments, and harness of all sorts.
5:4	Wherefore every man prayed that that apparition might turn to good.
5:5	Now when there was gone forth a false rumour, as though Antiochus had been dead, Jason took at the least a thousand men, and suddenly made an assault upon the city; and they that were upon the walls being put back, and the city at length taken, Menelaus fled into the castle:
5:6	but Jason slew his own citizens without mercy, not considering that to get the day of them of his own nation would be a most unhappy day for him; but thinking they had been [his] enemies, and not [his] countrymen, whom he conquered.
5:7	Howbeit for all this he obtained not the principality, but at the last received shame for the reward of his treason, and fled again into the country of the Ammonites.
5:8	In the end therefore he had an unhappy return, being accused before Aretas the king of the Arabians, fleeing from city to city, pursued of all men, hated as a forsaker of the laws, and being had in abomination as an open enemy of his country and countrymen, he was cast out into Egypt.
5:9	Thus he that had driven many out of their country perished in a strange land, retiring to the Lacedemonians, and thinking [there] to find succour by reason of his kindred:
5:10	and he that had cast out many unburied had none to mourn for him, nor any solemn funerals at all, nor sepulchre with his fathers.
5:11	Now when this that was done came to the king's ear, he thought that Judea had revolted: whereupon removing out of Egypt in a furious mind, he took the city by force of arms,
5:12	and commanded his men of war not to spare such as they met, and to slay such as went up upon the houses.
5:13	Thus there was killing of young and old, making away of men, women, and children, slaying of virgins and infants.
5:14	And there were destroyed within the space of three whole days fourscore thousand, whereof forty thousand were slain in the conflict; and no fewer sold than slain.
5:15	Yet was he not content with this, but presumed to go into the most holy temple of all the world; Menelaus, that traitor to the laws, and to his own country, being his guide:
5:16	and taking the holy vessels with polluted hands, and with profane hands pulling down the things that were dedicated by other kings to the augmentation and glory and honour of the place, he gave them away.
5:17	And so haughty was Antiochus in mind, that he considered not that the Lord was angry for a while for the sins of them that dwelt in the city, and therefore his eye was not upon the place.
5:18	For had they not been formerly wrapped in many sins, this man, as soon as he had come, had forthwith been scourged, and put back from his presumption, as Heliodorus was, whom Seleucus the king sent to view the treasury.
5:19	Nevertheless God did not choose the people for the place's sake, but the place for the people's sake.
5:20	And therefore the place itself, that was partaker with them of the adversity that happened to the nation, did afterward communicate in the benefits sent from the Lord: and as it was forsaken in the wrath of the Almighty, so again, the great Lord being reconciled, it was set up with all glory.
5:21	So when Antiochus had carried out of the temple a thousand and eight hundred talents, he departed in all haste unto Antiochia, weening in his pride to make the land navigable, and the sea passable by foot: such was the haughtiness of his mind.
5:22	And he left governors to vex the nation: at Jerusalem, Philip, for his country a Phrygian, and for manners more barbarous than he that set him there;
5:23	and at Garizim, Andronicus; and besides, Menelaus, who worse than all the rest bare an heavy hand over the citizens, having a malicious mind against his countrymen the Jews.
5:24	He sent also that detestable ringleader Apollonius with an army of two and twenty thousand, commanding him to slay all those that were in their best age, and to sell the women and the younger sort:
5:25	who coming to Jerusalem, and pretending peace, did forbear till the holy day of the sabbath, when taking the Jews keeping holy day, he commanded his men to arm themselves.
5:26	And so he slew all them that were gone to the celebrating of the sabbath, and running through the city with weapons slew great multitudes.
5:27	But Judas Maccabeus with nine others, or thereabout, withdrew himself into the wilderness, and lived in the mountains after the manner of beasts, with his company, who fed on herbs continually, lest they should be partakers of the pollution.
6:1	Not long after this the king sent an old man of Athens to compel the Jews to depart from the laws of their fathers, and not to live after the laws of God:
6:2	and to pollute also the temple in Jerusalem, and to call it the temple of Jupiter Olympius; and that in Garizim, of Jupiter the defender of strangers, as they did desire that dwelt in the place.
6:3	The coming in of this mischief was sore and grievous to the people:
6:4	for the temple was filled with riot and revelling by the Gentiles, who dallied with harlots, and had to do with women within the circuit of the holy places, and besides that brought in things that were not lawful.
6:5	The altar also was filled with profane things, which the law forbiddeth.
6:6	Neither was it lawful for a man to keep sabbath days or ancient feasts, or to profess himself at all to be a Jew.
6:7	And in the day of the king's birth every month they were brought by bitter constraint to eat of the sacrifices; and when the feast of Bacchus was kept, the Jews were compelled to go in procession to Bacchus, carrying ivy.
6:8	Moreover there went out a decree to the neighbour cities of the heathen, by the suggestion of Ptolemee, against the Jews, that they should observe the same fashions, and be partakers of their sacrifices:
6:9	and whoso would not conform themselves to the manners of the Gentiles should be put to death. Then might a man have seen the present misery.
6:10	For there were two women brought, who had circumcised their children; whom when they had openly led round about the city, the babes hanging at their breasts, they cast them down headlong from the wall.
6:11	And others, that had run together into caves near by, to keep the sabbath day secretly, being discovered to Philip, were all burnt together, because they made a conscience to help themselves for the honour of the most sacred day.
6:12	Now I beseech those that read this book, that they be not discouraged for these calamities, but that they judge those punishments not to be for destruction, but for a chastening of our nation.
6:13	For it is a token of his great goodness, when wicked doers are not suffered any longer time, but forthwith punished.
6:14	For not as with other nations, whom the Lord patiently forbeareth to punish, till they be come to the fulness of their sins, so dealeth he with us,
6:15	lest that, being come to the height of sin, afterwards he should take vengeance of us.
6:16	And therefore he never withdraweth his mercy from us: and though he punish with adversity, yet doth he never forsake his people.
6:17	But let this that we have spoken be for a warning unto us. And now will we come to the declaring of the matter in a few words.
6:18	Eleazar, one of the principal scribes, an aged man, and of a well-favoured countenance, was constrained to open his mouth, and to eat swine's flesh.
6:19	But he, choosing rather to die gloriously, than to live stained with such an abomination, spit it forth, and came of his own accord to the torment.
6:20	As it behoved them to come, that are resolute to stand out against such things as are not lawful for love of life to be tasted.
6:21	But they that had the charge of that wicked feast, for the old acquaintance they had with the man, taking him aside, besought him to bring flesh of his own provision, such as was lawful for him to use, and make as if he did eat of the flesh taken from the sacrifice commanded by the king;
6:22	that in so doing he might be delivered from death, and for the old friendship with them find favour.
6:23	But he began to consider discreetly, and as became his age, and the excellency of his ancient years, and the honour of his gray head, whereunto he was come, and his most honest education from a child, or rather the holy law made and given by God: therefore he answered accordingly, and willed them straightways to send him to the grave.
6:24	For it becometh not our age, [said he], in any wise to dissemble, whereby many young persons might think that Eleazar, being fourscore years old and ten, were now gone to a strange religion;
6:25	and so they through mine hypocrisy, and desire to live a little time and a moment longer, should be deceived by me, and I get a stain to mine old age, and make it abominable.
6:26	For though for the present time I should be delivered from the punishment of men: yet should I not escape the hand of the Almighty, neither alive, nor dead.
6:27	Wherefore now, manfully changing this life, I will shew myself such an one as mine age requireth,
6:28	and leave a notable example to such as be young to die willingly and courageously for the honourable and holy laws. And when he had said these words, immediately he went to the torment:
6:29	they that led him changing the good will they bare him a little before into hatred, because the foresaid speeches proceeded, as they thought, from a desperate mind.
6:30	But when he was ready to die with stripes, he groaned, and said, It is manifest unto the Lord, that hath the holy knowledge, that whereas I might have been delivered from death, I [now] endure sore pains in body by being beaten: but in soul am well content to suffer these things, because I fear him.
6:31	And thus this man died, leaving his death for an example of a noble courage, and a memorial of virtue, not only unto young men, but unto all his nation.
7:1	It came to pass also, that seven brethren with their mother were taken, and compelled by the king against the law to taste swine's flesh, and were tormented with scourges and whips.
7:2	But one of them that spake first said thus, What wouldest thou ask or learn of us? we are ready to die, rather than to transgress the laws of our fathers.
7:3	Then the king, being in a rage, commanded pans and caldrons to be made hot:
7:4	which forthwith being heated, he commanded to cut out the tongue of him that spake first, and to cut off the utmost parts of his body, the rest of his brethren and his mother looking on.
7:5	Now when he was thus maimed in all his members, he commanded him being yet alive to be brought to the fire, and to be fried in the pan: and as the vapour of the pan was for a good space dispersed, they exhorted one another with the mother to die manfully, saying thus,
7:6	The Lord God looketh upon us, and in truth hath comfort in us, as Moses in his song, which witnessed to their faces, declared, saying, And he shall be comforted in his servants.
7:7	So when the first was dead after this manner, they brought the second to make him a mocking stock: and when they had pulled off the skin of his head with the hair, they asked him, Wilt thou eat, before thou be punished throughout every member of thy body?
7:8	But he answered in his own language, and said, No. Wherefore he also received the next torment in order, as the former did.
7:9	And when he was at the last gasp, he said, Thou like a fury takest us out of this present life, but the King of the world shall raise us up, who have died for his laws, unto everlasting life.
7:10	After him was the third made a mocking stock: and when he was required he put out his tongue, and that right soon, holding forth his hands manfully,
7:11	and said courageously, These I had from heaven; and for his laws I despise them; and from him I hope to receive them again.
7:12	Insomuch that the king, and they that were with him, marvelled at the young man's courage, for that he nothing regarded the pains.
7:13	Now when this man was dead also, they tormented and mangled the fourth in like manner.
7:14	So when he was ready to die he said thus, It is good, being put to death by men, to look for hope from God to be raised up again by him: as for thee, thou shalt have no resurrection to life.
7:15	Afterward they brought the fifth also, and mangled him.
7:16	Then looked he unto the king, and said, Thou hast power over men, thou art corruptible, thou doest what thou wilt; yet think not that our nation is forsaken of God;
7:17	but abide a while, and behold his great power, how he will torment thee and thy seed.
7:18	After him also they brought the sixth, who being ready to die said, Be not deceived without cause: for we suffer these things for ourselves, having sinned against our God: therefore marvellous things are done [unto us].
7:19	But think not thou, that takest in hand to strive against God, that thou shall escape unpunished.
7:20	But the mother was marvellous above all, and worthy of honourable memory: for when she saw her seven sons slain within the space of one day, she bare it with a good courage, because of the hope she had in the Lord.
7:21	Yea, she exhorted every one of them in her own language, filled with courageous spirits; and stirring up her womanish thoughts with a manly stomach, she said unto them,
7:22	I cannot tell how ye came into my womb; for I neither gave you breath nor life, neither was it I that formed the members of every one of you;
7:23	but doubtless the Creator of the world, who formed the generation of man, and found out the beginning of all things, will also of his own mercy give you breath and life again, as ye now regard not your own selves for his laws' sake.
7:24	Now Antiochus, thinking himself despised, and suspecting it to be a reproachful speech, whilst the youngest was yet alive, did not only exhort him by words, but also assured him with oaths, that he would make him both a rich and a happy man, if he would turn from the laws of his fathers; and that also he would take him for his friend, and trust him with affairs.
7:25	But when the young man would in no case hearken unto him, the king called his mother, and exhorted her that she would counsel the young man to save his life.
7:26	And when he had exhorted her with many words, she promised him that she would counsel her son.
7:27	But she bowing herself toward him, laughing the cruel tyrant to scorn, spake in her country language on this manner; O my son, have pity upon me that bare thee nine months in my womb, and gave thee suck three years, and nourished thee, and brought thee up unto this age, and endured the troubles of education.
7:28	I beseech thee, my son, look upon the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, and consider that God made them of things that were not; and so was mankind made likewise.
7:29	Fear not this tormentor, but, being worthy of thy brethren, take thy death, that I may receive thee again in mercy with thy brethren.
7:30	Whiles she was yet speaking these words, the young man said, Whom wait ye for? I will not obey the king's commandment: but I will obey the commandment of the law that was given unto our fathers by Moses.
7:31	And thou, that hast been the author of all mischief against the Hebrews, shalt not escape the hands of God.
7:32	For we suffer because of our sins.
7:33	And though the living Lord be angry with us a little while for our chastening and correction, yet shall he be at one again with his servants.
7:34	But thou, O godless man, and of all other most wicked, be not lifted up without a cause, nor puffed up with uncertain hopes, lifting up thy hand against the servants of God:
7:35	for thou hast not yet escaped the judgment of Almighty God, who seeth all things.
7:36	For our brethren, who now have suffered a short pain, are dead under God's covenant of everlasting life: but thou, through the judgment of God, shalt receive just punishment for thy pride.
7:37	But I, as my brethren, offer up my body and life for the laws of our fathers, beseeching God that he would speedily be merciful unto our nation; and that thou by torments and plagues mayest confess, that he alone is God;
7:38	and that in me and my brethren the wrath of the Almighty, which is justly brought upon all our nation, may cease.
7:39	Then the king, being in a rage, handled him worse than all the rest, and took it grievously that he was mocked.
7:40	So this man died undefiled, and put his whole trust in the Lord.
7:41	Last of all after the sons the mother died.
7:42	Let this be enough now to have spoken concerning the idolatrous feasts, and the extreme tortures.
8:1	Then Judas Maccabeus, and they that were with him, went privily into the towns, and called their kinsfolks together, and took unto them all such as continued in the Jews' religion, and assembled about six thousand men.
8:2	And they called upon the Lord, that he would look upon the people that was trodden down of all; and also pity the temple profaned of ungodly men;
8:3	and that he would have compassion upon the city, sore defaced, and ready to be made even with the ground; and hear the blood that cried unto him,
8:4	and remember the wicked slaughter of harmless infants, and the blasphemies committed against his name; and that he would shew his hatred against the wicked.
8:5	Now when Maccabeus had his company about him, he could not be withstood by the heathen: for the wrath of the Lord was turned into mercy.
8:6	Therefore he came at unawares, and burnt up towns and cities, and got into his hands the most commodious places, and overcame and put to flight no small number of his enemies.
8:7	But specially took he advantage of the night for such privy attempts, insomuch that the bruit of his manliness was spread every where.
8:8	So when Philip saw that this man increased by little and little, and that things prospered with him still more and more, he wrote unto Ptolemeus, the governor of Celosyria and Phenice, to yield more aid to the king's affairs.
8:9	Then forthwith choosing Nicanor the [son] of Patroclus, one of his special friends, he sent him with no fewer than twenty thousand of all nations under him, to root out the whole generation of the Jews; and with him he joined also Gorgias a captain, who in matters of war had great experience.
8:10	So Nicanor undertook to make so much money of the captive Jews, as should defray the tribute of two thousand talents, which the king was to pay to the Romans.
8:11	Wherefore immediately he sent to the cities upon the sea coast, proclaiming a sale of the captive Jews, and promising that they should have fourscore and ten bodies for one talent, not expecting the vengeance that was to follow upon him from the Almighty God.
8:12	Now when word was brought unto Judas of Nicanor's coming, and he had imparted unto those that were with him that the army was at hand,
8:13	they that were fearful, and distrusted the justice of God, fled, and conveyed themselves away.
8:14	Others sold all that they had left, and withal besought the Lord to deliver them, being sold by the wicked Nicanor before they met together:
8:15	and if not for their own sakes, yet for the covenants he had made with their fathers, and for his holy and glorious name's sake, by which they were called.
8:16	So Maccabeus called his men together unto the number of six thousand, and exhorted them not to be stricken with terror of the enemy, nor to fear the great multitude of the heathen, who came wrongfully against them; but to fight manfully,
8:17	and to set before their eyes the injury that they had unjustly done to the holy place, and the cruel handling of the city whereof they made a mockery, and also the taking away of the government of their forefathers:
8:18	For they, said he, trust in their weapons and boldness; but our confidence is in the Almighty God, who at a beck can cast down both them that come against us, and also all the world.
8:19	Moreover he recounted unto them what helps their forefathers had found, and how they were delivered, when under Sennacherib an hundred fourscore and five thousand perished.
8:20	And he told them of the battle that they had in Babylon with the Galatians, how they came but eight thousand in all to the business, with four thousand Macedonians, and that the Macedonians being perplexed, the eight thousand destroyed an hundred and twenty thousand because of the help that they had from heaven, and so received a great booty.
8:21	Thus when he had made them bold with these words, and ready to die for the laws and the country, he divided his army into four parts;
8:22	and joined with himself his own brethren, leaders of each band, [to wit], Simon, and Joseph, and Jonathan, giving each one fifteen hundred men.
8:23	Also [he appointed] Eleazar to read the holy book: and when he had given them this watchword, The help of God: himself leading the first band, he joined battle with Nicanor.
8:24	And by the help of the Almighty they slew above nine thousand of their enemies, and wounded and maimed the most part of Nicanor's host, and so put all to flight;
8:25	and took their money that came to buy them, and pursued them far: but lacking time they returned:
8:26	for it was the day before the sabbath, and therefore they would no longer pursue them.
8:27	So when they had gathered their armour together, and spoiled their enemies, they occupied themselves about the sabbath, yielding exceeding praise and thanks to the Lord, who had preserved them unto that day, which was the beginning of mercy distilling upon them.
8:28	And after the sabbath, when they had given part of the spoils to the maimed, and the widows, and orphans, the residue they divided among themselves and their servants.
8:29	When this was done, and they had made a common supplication, they besought the merciful Lord to be reconciled with his servants for ever.
8:30	Moreover of those that were with Timotheus and Bacchides, who fought against them, they slew above twenty thousand, and very easily got high and strong holds, and divided among themselves many spoils more, and made the maimed, orphans, widows, yea, and the aged also, equal in spoils with themselves.
8:31	And when they had gathered their armour together, they laid them up all carefully in convenient places, and the remnant of the spoils they brought to Jerusalem.
8:32	They slew also Philarches, that wicked person, who was with Timotheus, and had annoyed the Jews many ways.
8:33	Furthermore at such time as they kept the feast for the victory in their country they burnt Callisthenes, [and some others] that had set fire upon the holy gates, who had fled into a little house; and they received a reward meet for their wickedness.
8:34	As for that most ungracious Nicanor, who had brought a thousand merchants to buy the Jews,
8:35	he was through the help of the Lord brought down by them, of whom he made least account; and putting off his glorious apparel, and discharging his company, he came like a fugitive servant through the midland unto Antioch, having very great dishonour, for that his host was destroyed.
8:36	Thus he, that took upon him to make good to the Romans their tribute by means of the captives in Jerusalem, told abroad, that the Jews had God to fight for them, and therefore they could not be hurt, because they followed the laws that he gave them.
9:1	About that time came Antiochus with dishonour out of the country of Persia.
9:2	For he had entered the [city] called Persepolis, and went about to rob the temple, and to hold the city; whereupon the multitude running to defend themselves with their weapons put them to flight; and so it happened, that Antiochus being put to flight of the inhabitants returned with shame.
9:3	Now when he came to Ecbatane, news was brought him what had happened unto Nicanor and Timotheus.
9:4	Then swelling with anger, he thought to avenge upon the Jews the disgrace done unto him by those that made him flee. Therefore commanded he his chariotman to drive without ceasing, and to dispatch the journey, the judgment of God now following him. For he had spoken proudly in this sort, That he would come to Jerusalem, and make it a common burying place of the Jews.
9:5	But the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, smote him with an incurable and invisible plague: for as soon as he had spoken these words, a pain of the bowels that was remediless came upon him, and sore torments of the inner parts;
9:6	and that most justly: for he had tormented other men's bowels with many and strange torments.
9:7	Howbeit he nothing at all ceased from his bragging, but still was filled with pride, breathing out fire in his rage against the Jews, and commanding to haste the journey: but it came to pass that he fell down from his chariot, carried violently; so that having a sore fall, all the members of his body were much pained.
9:8	And thus he that a little afore thought he might command the waves of the sea, (so proud was he beyond the condition of men) and weigh the high mountains in a balance, was now cast on the ground, and carried in an horselitter, shewing forth unto all the manifest power of God.
9:9	So that the worms rose up out of the body of this wicked man, and whiles he lived in sorrow and pain, his flesh fell away, and the filthiness of his smell was noisome to all his army.
9:10	And the man, that thought a little afore he could reach to the stars of heaven, no man could endure to carry for his intolerable stink.
9:11	Here therefore, being plagued, he began to leave off his great pride, and to come to the knowledge [of himself] by the scourge of God, his pain increasing every moment.
9:12	And when he himself could not abide his own smell, he said these words, It is meet to be subject unto God, and that a man that is mortal should not proudly think of himself, as if he were God.
9:13	This wicked person vowed also unto the Lord, who now no more would have mercy upon him, saying thus,
9:14	That the holy city (to the which he was going in haste, to lay it even with the ground, and to make it a common burying place,) he would set at liberty:
9:15	and as touching the Jews, whom he had judged not worthy so much as to be buried, but to be cast out with their children to be devoured of the fowls and wild beasts, he would make them all equals to the citizens of Athens:
9:16	and the holy temple, which before he had spoiled, he would garnish with goodly gifts, and restore all the holy vessels with many more, and out of his own revenue defray the charges belonging to the sacrifices:
9:17	yea, and that also he would become a Jew himself, and go through all the world that was inhabited, and declare the power of God.
9:18	But for all this his pains would not cease: for the just judgment of God was come upon him: therefore despairing of his health, he wrote unto the Jews the letter underwritten, containing the form of a supplication, after this manner:
9:19	Antiochus, king and governor, to the good Jews his citizens wisheth much joy, health, and prosperity:
9:20	if ye and your children fare well, and your affairs be to your contentment, I give very great thanks to God, having my hope in heaven.
9:21	As for me, I was weak, or else I would have remembered kindly your honour and good will. Returning out of Persia, and being taken with a grievous disease, I thought it necessary to care for the common safety of all:
9:22	not distrusting mine health, but having great hope to escape this sickness.
9:23	But considering that even my father, at what time he led an army into the high countries, appointed a successor,
9:24	to the end that, if any thing fell out contrary to expectation, or if any tidings were brought that were grievous, they of the land, knowing to whom the state was left, might not be troubled:
9:25	Again, considering how that the princes that are borderers and neighbours unto my kingdom wait for opportunities, and expect what shall be the event, I have appointed my son Antiochus king, whom I often committed and commended unto many of you, when I went up into the high provinces; to whom I have written as followeth:
9:26	Therefore I pray and request you to remember the benefits that I have done unto you generally, and in special, and that every man will be still faithful to me and my son.
9:27	For I am persuaded that he understanding my mind will favourably and graciously yield to your desires.
9:28	Thus the murderer and blasphemer having suffered most grievously, as he entreated other men, so died he a miserable death in a strange country in the mountains.
9:29	And Philip, that was brought up with him, carried away his body, who also fearing the son of Antiochus went into Egypt to Ptolemeus Philometor.
10:1	Now Maccabeus and his company, the Lord guiding them, recovered the temple and the city:
10:2	but the altars which the heathen had built in the open street, and also the chapels, they pulled down.
10:3	And having cleansed the temple they made another altar, and striking stones they took fire out of them, and offered a sacrifice after two years, and set forth incense, and lights, and shewbread.
10:4	When that was done, they fell flat down, and besought the Lord that they might come no more into such troubles; but if they sinned any more against him, that he himself would chasten them with mercy, and that they might not be delivered unto the blasphemous and barbarous nations.
10:5	Now upon the same day that the strangers profaned the temple, on the very same day it was cleansed again, even the five and twentieth [day] of the same month, which is Casleu.
10:6	And they kept eight days with gladness, as in the feast of the tabernacles, remembering that not long afore they had held the feast of the tabernacles, when as they wandered in the mountains and dens like beasts.
10:7	Therefore they bare branches, and fair boughs, and palms also, and sang psalms unto him that had given them good success in cleansing his place.
10:8	They ordained also by a common statute and decree, That every year those days should be kept of the whole nation of the Jews.
10:9	And this was the end of Antiochus, called Epiphanes.
10:10	Now will we declare the acts of Antiochus Eupator, who was the son of this wicked man, gathering briefly the calamities of the wars.
10:11	So when he was come to the crown, he set one Lysias over the affairs of his realm, and [appointed him] chief governor of Celosyria and Phenice.
10:12	For Ptolemeus, that was called Macron, choosing rather to do justice unto the Jews for the wrong that had been done unto them, endeavoured to continue peace with them.
10:13	Whereupon being accused of [the king's] friends before Eupator, and called traitor at every word, because he had left Cyprus, that Philometor had committed unto him, and departed to Antiochus Epiphanes, and seeing that he was in no honourable place, he was so discouraged, that he poisoned himself and died.
10:14	But when Gorgias was governor of the holds, he hired soldiers, and nourished war continually with the Jews;
10:15	and therewithal the Idumeans, having gotten into their hands the most commodious holds, kept the Jews occupied, and receiving those that were banished from Jerusalem, they went about to nourish war.
10:16	Then they that were with Maccabeus made supplication, and besought God that he would be their helper; and so they ran with violence upon the strong holds of the Idumeans,
10:17	and assaulting them strongly, they won the holds, and kept off all that fought upon the wall, and slew all that fell into their hands, and killed no fewer than twenty thousand.
10:18	And because certain, who were no less than nine thousand, were fled together into two very strong castles, having all manner of things convenient to [sustain] the siege,
10:19	Maccabeus left Simon and Joseph, and Zaccheus also, and them that were with him, who were enough to besiege them, and departed himself unto those places which more needed his help.
10:20	Now they that were with Simon, being led with covetousness, were persuaded for money through certain of those that were in the castle, and took seventy thousand drachms, and let some of them escape.
10:21	But when it was told Maccabeus what was done, he called the governors of the people together, and accused those men, that they had sold their brethren for money, and set their enemies free to fight against them.
10:22	So he slew those that were found traitors, and immediately took the two castles.
10:23	And having good success with his weapons in all things he took in hand, he slew in the two holds more than twenty thousand.
10:24	Now Timotheus, whom the Jews had overcome before, when he had gathered a great multitude of foreign forces, and horses out of Asia not a few, came as though he would take Jewry by force of arms.
10:25	But when he drew near, they that were with Maccabeus turned themselves to pray unto God, and sprinkled earth upon their heads, and girded their loins with sackcloth,
10:26	and fell down at the foot of the altar, and besought him to be merciful to them, and to be an enemy to their enemies, and an adversary to their adversaries, as the law declareth.
10:27	So after the prayer they took their weapons, and went on further from the city: and when they drew near to their enemies, they kept by themselves.
10:28	Now the sun being newly risen, they joined both together; the one part having together with their virtue their refuge also unto the Lord for a pledge of their success and victory: the other side making their rage leader of their battle.
10:29	But when the battle waxed strong, there appeared unto the enemies from heaven five comely men upon horses, with bridles of gold, and two of them led the Jews,
10:30	and took Maccabeus betwixt them, and covered him on every side with their weapons, and kept him safe, but shot arrows and lightnings against the enemies: so that being confounded with blindness, and full of trouble, they were killed.
10:31	And there were slain [of footmen] twenty thousand and five hundred, and six hundred horsemen.
10:32	As for Timotheus himself, he fled into a very strong hold, called Gazara, where Chereas was governor.
10:33	But they that were with Maccabeus laid siege against the fortress courageously four days.
10:34	And they that were within, trusting to the strength of the place, blasphemed exceedingly, and uttered wicked words.
10:35	Nevertheless upon the fifth day early twenty young men of Maccabeus' company, inflamed with anger because of the blasphemies, assaulted the wall manly, and with a fierce courage killed all that they met withal.
10:36	Others likewise ascending after them, whiles they were busied with them that were within, burnt the towers, and kindling fires burnt the blasphemers alive; and others broke open the gates, and, having received in the rest of the army, took the city,
10:37	and killed Timotheus, that was hid in a certain pit, and Chereas his brother, with Apollophanes.
10:38	When this was done, they praised the Lord with psalms and thanksgiving, who had done so great things for Israel, and given them the victory.
11:1	Not long after this, Lysias the king's protector and cousin, who also managed the affairs, took sore displeasure for the things that were done.
11:2	And when he had gathered about fourscore thousand with all the horsemen, he came against the Jews, thinking to make the city an habitation of the Gentiles,
11:3	and to make a gain of the temple, as of the other chapels of the heathen, and to set the high priesthood to sale every year:
11:4	not at all considering the power of God, but puffed up with his ten thousands of footmen, and his thousands of horsemen, and his fourscore elephants.
11:5	So he came to Judea, and drew near to Bethsura, which was a strong town, but distant from Jerusalem about five furlongs, and he laid sore siege unto it.
11:6	Now when they that were with Maccabeus heard that he besieged the holds, they and all the people with lamentation and tears besought the Lord that he would send a good angel to deliver Israel.
11:7	Then Maccabeus himself first of all took weapons, exhorting the other that they would jeopard themselves together with him to help their brethren: so they went forth together with a willing mind.
11:8	And as they were at Jerusalem, there appeared before them on horseback one in white clothing, shaking his armour of gold.
11:9	Then they praised the merciful God all together, and took heart, insomuch that they were ready not only to fight with men, but with most cruel beasts, and to pierce through walls of iron.
11:10	Thus they marched forward in their armour, having an helper from heaven: for the Lord was merciful unto them.
11:11	And giving a charge upon their enemies like lions, they slew eleven thousand [footmen], and sixteen hundred horsemen, and put all the other to flight.
11:12	Many of them also being wounded escaped naked; and Lysias himself fled away shamefully, and so escaped.
11:13	Who, as he was a man of understanding, casting with himself what loss he had had, and considering that the Hebrews could not be overcome, because the Almighty God helped them, he sent unto them,
11:14	and persuaded them to agree to all reasonable [conditions], and [promised] that he would persuade the king that he must needs be a friend unto them.
11:15	Then Maccabeus consented to all that Lysias desired, being careful of the common good; and whatsoever Maccabeus wrote unto Lysias concerning the Jews, the king granted it.
11:16	For there were letters written unto the Jews from Lysias to this effect: Lysias unto the people of the Jews [sendeth] greeting:
11:17	John and Absalon, who were sent from you, delivered me the petition subscribed, and made request for the performance of the contents thereof.
11:18	Therefore what things soever were meet to be reported to the king, I have declared them, and he hath granted as much as might be.
11:19	If then ye will keep yourselves loyal to the state, hereafter also will I endeavour to be a means of your good.
11:20	But of the particulars I have given order both to these, and the other that came from me, to commune with you.
11:21	Fare ye well. The hundred and eight and fortieth year, the four and twentieth day of [the month] Dioscorinthius.
11:22	Now the king's letter contained these words: King Antiochus unto his brother Lysias [sendeth] greeting:
11:23	since our father is translated unto the gods, our will is, that they that are in our realm live quietly, that every one may attend upon his own affairs.
11:24	We understand also that the Jews would not consent to our father, for to be brought unto the customs of the Gentiles, but had rather keep their own manner of living: for the which cause they require of us, that we should suffer them to live after their own laws.
11:25	Wherefore our mind is, that this nation shall be in rest, and we have determined to restore them their temple, that they may live according to the customs of their forefathers.
11:26	Thou shalt do well therefore to send unto them, and grant them peace, that when they are certified of our mind, they may be of good comfort, and ever go cheerfully about their own affairs.
11:27	And the letter of the king unto the nation of the Jews was after this manner: King Antiochus [sendeth] greeting unto the council, and the rest of the Jews;
11:28	If ye fare well, we have our desire; we are also in good health.
11:29	Menelaus declared unto us, that your desire was to return home, and to follow your own business:
11:30	wherefore they that will depart shall have safe conduct till the thirtieth day of Xanthicus with security.
11:31	And the Jews shall use their own kind of meats and laws, as before: and none of them any manner of ways shall be molested for things ignorantly done.
11:32	I have sent also Menelaus, that he may comfort you.
11:33	Fare ye well. In the hundred forty and eighth year, [and] the fifteenth [day] of [the month] Xanthicus.
11:34	The Romans also sent unto them a letter containing these words: Quintus Memmius and Titus Manlius, ambassadors of the Romans, [send] greeting unto the people of the Jews.
11:35	Whatsoever Lysias the king's cousin hath granted, therewith we also are well pleased.
11:36	But touching such things as he judged to be referred to the king, after ye have advised thereof, send one forthwith, that we may declare as it is convenient for you: for we are now going to Antioch.
11:37	Therefore send some with speed, that we may know what is your mind.
11:38	Farewell. This hundred and eight and fortieth year, the fifteenth day of [the month] Xanthicus.
12:1	When these covenants were made, Lysias went unto the king, and the Jews were about their husbandry.
12:2	But of the governors of several places, Timotheus, and Apollonius the [son] of Genneus, also Hieronymus, and Demophon, and beside them Nicanor the governor of Cyprus, would not suffer them to be quiet, and live in peace.
12:3	The men of Joppe also did such an ungodly deed: they prayed the Jews that dwelt among them to go with their wives and children into the boats which they had prepared, as though they had meant them no hurt.
12:4	Who accepted of it according to the common decree of the city, as being desirous to live in peace and suspecting nothing: but when they were gone forth into the deep, they drowned no less than two hundred of them.
12:5	When Judas heard of this cruelty done unto his countrymen, he commanded those that were with him [to make them ready].
12:6	And calling upon God the righteous Judge, he came against those murderers of his brethren, and burnt the haven by night, and set the boats on fire, and those that fled thither he slew.
12:7	And when the town was shut up, he went backward, as if he would return to root out all them of the city of Joppe.
12:8	But when he heard that the Jamnites were minded to do in like manner unto the Jews that dwelt among them,
12:9	he came upon the Jamnites also by night, and set fire on the haven and the navy, so that the light of the fire was seen at Jerusalem two hundred and forty furlongs off.
12:10	Now when they were gone from thence nine furlongs in their journey toward Timotheus, no fewer than five thousand [men on foot] and five hundred horsemen of the Arabians set upon him.
12:11	Whereupon there was a very sore battle; but Judas' side by the help of God got the victory; so that the Nomades of Arabia, being overcome, besought Judas for peace, promising both to give him cattle, and to pleasure him otherwise.
12:12	Then Judas, thinking indeed that they would be profitable in many things, granted them peace: whereupon they shook hands, and so they departed to their tents.
12:13	He went also about to make a bridge to a certain strong city, which was fenced about with walls, and inhabited by people of divers countries; and the name of it was Caspis.
12:14	But they that were within it put such trust in the strength of the walls and provision of victuals, that they behaved themselves rudely toward them that were with Judas, railing and blaspheming, and uttering such words as were not to be spoken.
12:15	Wherefore Judas with his company, calling upon the great Lord of the world, who without any rams or engines of war did cast down Jericho in the time of Joshua, gave a fierce assault against the walls,
12:16	and took the city by the will of God, and made unspeakable slaughters, insomuch that a lake two furlongs broad near adjoining thereunto, being filled full, was seen running with blood.
12:17	Then departed they from thence seven hundred and fifty furlongs, and came to Characa unto the Jews that are called Tubieni.
12:18	But as for Timotheus, they found him not in the places: for before he had dispatched any thing, he departed from thence, having left a very strong garrison in a certain hold.
12:19	Howbeit Dositheus and Sosipater, who were of Maccabeus' captains, went forth, and slew those that Timotheus had left in the fortress, above ten thousand men.
12:20	And Maccabeus ranged his army by bands, and set them over the bands, and went against Timotheus, who had about him an hundred and twenty thousand men of foot, and two thousand and five hundred horsemen.
12:21	Now when Timotheus had knowledge of Judas' coming, he sent the women and children and the other baggage unto a fortress called Carnion: for the town was hard to besiege, and uneasy to come unto, by reason of the straitness of all the places.
12:22	But when Judas his first band came in sight, the enemies, being smitten with fear and terror through the appearing of him that seeth all things, fled amain, one running this way, another that way, so as that they were often hurt of their own men, and wounded with the points of their own swords.
12:23	Judas also was very earnest in pursuing them, killing those wicked wretches, of whom he slew about thirty thousand men.
12:24	Moreover Timotheus himself fell into the hands of Dositheus and Sosipater, whom he besought with much craft to let him go with his life, because he had many of the Jews' parents, and the brethren of some of them, who, if they put him to death, should not be regarded.
12:25	So when he had assured them with many words that he would restore them without hurt, according to the agreement, they let him go for the saving of their brethren.
12:26	Then Maccabeus marched forth to Carnion, and to the temple of Atargatis, and there he slew five and twenty thousand persons.
12:27	And after he had put to flight and destroyed them, Judas removed the host toward Ephron, a strong city, wherein Lysias abode, and a great multitude of divers nations, and the strong young men kept the walls, and defended them mightily: wherein also was great provision of engines and darts.
12:28	But when Judas and his company had called upon Almighty God, who with his power breaketh the strength of his enemies, they won the city, and slew twenty and five thousand of them that were within.
12:29	From thence they departed to Scythopolis, which lieth six hundred furlongs from Jerusalem.
12:30	But when the Jews that dwelt there had testified that the Scythopolitans dealt lovingly with them, and entreated them kindly in the time of their adversity;
12:31	they gave them thanks, desiring them to be friendly still unto them: and so they came to Jerusalem, the feast of the weeks approaching.
12:32	And after the [feast], called Pentecost, they went forth against Gorgias the governor of Idumea,
12:33	who came out with three thousand men of foot and four hundred horsemen.
12:34	And it happened that in their fighting together a few of the Jews were slain.
12:35	At which time Dositheus, one of Bacenor's company, who was on horseback, and a strong man, was still upon Gorgias, and taking hold of his coat drew him by force; and when he would have taken that cursed man alive, a horseman of Thracia coming upon him smote off his shoulder, so that Gorgias fled unto Marisa.
12:36	Now when they that were with Gorgias had fought long, and were weary, Judas called upon the Lord, that he would shew himself to be their helper and leader of the battle.
12:37	And with that he began in his own language, and sung psalms with a loud voice, and rushing unawares upon Gorgias' men, he put them to flight.
12:38	So Judas gathered his host, and came into the city of Odollam. And when the seventh day came, they purified themselves, as the custom was, and kept the sabbath in the same place.
12:39	And upon the day following, as the use had been, Judas and his company came to take up the bodies of them that were slain, and to bury them with their kinsmen in their fathers' graves.
12:40	Now under the coats of every one that was slain they found things consecrated to the idols of the Jamnites, which is forbidden the Jews by the law. Then every man saw that this was the cause wherefore they were slain.
12:41	All men therefore praising the Lord, the righteous Judge, who had opened the things that were hid,
12:42	betook themselves unto prayer, and besought him that the sin committed might wholly be put out of remembrance. Besides, that noble Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves from sin, forsomuch as they saw before their eyes the things that came to pass for the sins of those that were slain.
12:43	And when he had made a gathering throughout the company to the sum of two thousand drachms of silver, he sent it to Jerusalem to offer a sin offering, doing therein very well and honestly, in that he was mindful of the resurrection:
12:44	for if he had not hoped that they that were slain should have risen again, it had been superfluous and vain to pray for the dead.
12:45	And also in that he perceived that there was great favour laid up for those that died godly, it was an holy and good thought. Whereupon he made a reconciliation for the dead, that they might be delivered from sin.
13:1	In the hundred forty and ninth year it was told Judas, that Antiochus Eupator was coming with a great power into Judea,
13:2	and with him Lysias his protector, and ruler of his affairs, having either of them a Grecian power of footmen, an hundred and ten thousand, and horsemen five thousand and three hundred, and elephants two and twenty, and three hundred chariots armed with hooks.
13:3	Menelaus also joined himself with them, and with great dissimulation encouraged Antiochus, not for the safeguard of the country, but because he thought to have been made governor.
13:4	But the King of kings moved Antiochus' mind against this wicked wretch, and Lysias informed the king that this man was the cause of all mischief, so that the king commanded to bring him unto Berea, and to put him to death, as the manner is in that place.
13:5	Now there was in that place a tower of fifty cubits high, full of ashes, and it had a round instrument, which on every side hanged down into the ashes.
13:6	And whosoever was condemned of sacrilege, or had committed any other grievous crime, there did all men thrust him unto death.
13:7	Such a death it happened that wicked man to die, not having so much as burial in the earth; and that most justly:
13:8	for inasmuch as he had committed many sins about the altar, whose fire and ashes were holy, he received his death in ashes.
13:9	Now the king came with a barbarous and haughty mind to do far worse to the Jews, than had been done in his father's time.
13:10	Which things when Judas perceived, he commanded the multitude to call upon the Lord night and day, that if ever at any other time, he would now also help them, being at the point to be put from their law, from their country, and from the holy temple:
13:11	and that he would not suffer the people, that had even now been but a little refreshed, to be in subjection to the blasphemous nations.
13:12	So when they had all done this together, and besought the merciful Lord with weeping and fasting, and lying flat upon the ground three days long, Judas, having exhorted them, commanded they should be in a readiness.
13:13	And Judas, being apart with the elders, determined, before the king's host should enter into Judea, and get the city, to go forth and try the matter [in fight] by the help of the Lord.
13:14	So when he had committed [all] to the Creator of the world, and exhorted his soldiers to fight manfully, even unto death, for the laws, the temple, the city, the country, and the commonwealth, he camped by Modin:
13:15	and having given the watchword to them that were about him, Victory is of God; with the most valiant and choice young men he went in into the king's tent by night, and slew in the camp about four thousand men, and the chiefest of the elephants, with all that were upon him.
13:16	And at last they filled the camp with fear and tumult, and departed with good success.
13:17	This was done in the break of the day, because the protection of the Lord did help him.
13:18	Now when the king had taken a taste of the manliness of the Jews, he went about to take the holds by policy,
13:19	and marched toward Bethsura, which was a strong hold of the Jews: but he was put to flight, failed, and lost of his men:
13:20	for Judas had conveyed unto them that were in it such things as were necessary.
13:21	But Rhodocus, who was in the Jews' host, disclosed the secrets to the enemies; therefore he was sought out, and when they had gotten him, they put him in prison.
13:22	The king treated with them in Bethsura the second time, gave his hand, took their's, departed, fought with Judas, was overcome:
13:23	heard that Philip, who was left over the affairs in Antioch, was desperately bent, confounded, intreated the Jews, submitted himself, and sware to all equal conditions, agreed with them, and offered sacrifice, honoured the temple, and dealt kindly with the place,
13:24	and accepted well of Maccabeus, made him principal governor from Ptolemais unto the Gerrhenians;
13:25	came to Ptolemais: the people there were grieved for the covenants; for they stormed, because they would make their covenants void.
13:26	Lysias went up to the judgment seat, said as much as could be in defence of the cause, persuaded, pacified, made them well affected, returned to Antioch. Thus it went touching the king's coming and departing.
14:1	After three years was Judas informed, that Demetrius the [son] of Seleucus, having entered by the haven of Tripolis with a great power and navy,
14:2	had taken the country, and killed Antiochus, and Lysias his protector.
14:3	Now one Alcimus, who had been high priest, and had defiled himself wilfully in the times of their mingling [with the Gentiles], seeing that by no means he could save himself, nor have any more access to the holy altar,
14:4	came to king Demetrius in the hundred and one and fiftieth year, presenting unto him a crown of gold, and a palm, and also of the boughs which were used solemnly in the temple: and so that day he held his peace.
14:5	Howbeit, having gotten opportunity to further his foolish enterprise, [and] being called into council by Demetrius, and asked how the Jews stood affected, and what they intended, he answered thereunto:
14:6	Those of the Jews that be called Assideans, whose captain is Judas Maccabeus, nourish war, and are seditious, and will not let the realm be in peace.
14:7	Therefore I, being deprived of mine ancestors' honour, I mean the high priesthood, am now come hither:
14:8	first, verily for the unfeigned care I have of things pertaining to the king; and secondly, even for that I intend the good of mine own citizens: for all our nation is in no small misery through the unadvised dealing of them aforesaid.
14:9	Wherefore, O king, seeing thou knowest all these things, be careful for the country, and our nation, which is pressed on every side, according to the clemency that thou readily shewest unto all.
14:10	For as long as Judas liveth, it is not possible that the state should be quiet.
14:11	This was no sooner spoken of him, but others of the king's friends, being maliciously set against Judas, did more incense Demetrius.
14:12	And forthwith calling Nicanor, who had been master of the elephants, and making him governor over Judea, he sent him forth,
14:13	commanding him to slay Judas, and to scatter them that were with him, and to make Alcimus high priest of the great temple.
14:14	Then the heathen, that had fled out of Judea from Judas, came to Nicanor by flocks, thinking the harm and calamities of the Jews to be their welfare.
14:15	Now when the Jews heard of Nicanor's coming, and that the heathen were up against them, they cast earth upon their heads, and made supplication to him that had established his people for ever, and who always helpeth his portion with manifestation of his presence.
14:16	So at the commandment of the captain they removed straightways from thence, and came near unto them at the town of Dessau.
14:17	Now Simon, Judas' brother, had joined battle with Nicanor, but was somewhat discomfited through the sudden silence of his enemies.
14:18	Nevertheless Nicanor, hearing of the manliness of them that were with Judas, and the courageousness that they had to fight for their country, durst not try the matter by the sword.
14:19	Wherefore he sent Posidonius, and Theodotus, and Mattathias, to make peace.
14:20	So when they had taken long advisement thereupon, and the captain had made the multitude acquainted therewith, and it appeared that they were all of one mind, they consented to the covenants,
14:21	and appointed a day to meet in together by themselves: and when the day came, and stools were set for either of them,
14:22	Judas placed armed men ready in convenient places, lest some treachery should be suddenly practised by the enemies: so they made a peaceable conference.
14:23	Now Nicanor abode in Jerusalem, and did no hurt, but sent away the people that came flocking unto him.
14:24	And he would not willingly have Judas out of his sight: for he loved the man from his heart.
14:25	He prayed him also to take a wife, and to beget children: so he married, was quiet, and took part of this life.
14:26	But Alcimus, perceiving the love that was betwixt them, and considering the covenants that were made, came to Demetrius, and told him that Nicanor was not well affected toward the state: for that he had ordained Judas, a traitor to his realm, to be the king's successor.
14:27	Then the king being in a rage, and provoked with the accusations of the most wicked man, wrote to Nicanor, signifying that he was much displeased with the covenants, and commanding him that he should send Maccabeus prisoner in all haste unto Antioch.
14:28	When this came to Nicanor's hearing, he was much confounded in himself, and took it grievously that he should make void the articles which were agreed upon, the man being in no fault.
14:29	But because there was no dealing against the king, he watched his time to accomplish this thing by policy.
14:30	Notwithstanding, when Maccabeus saw that Nicanor began to be churlish unto him, and that he entreated him more roughly than he was wont, perceiving that such sour behaviour came not of good, he gathered together not a few of his men, and withdrew himself from Nicanor.
14:31	But the other, knowing that he was notably prevented by Judas' policy, came into the great and holy temple, and commanded the priests, that were offering their usual sacrifices, to deliver him the man.
14:32	And when they sware that they could not tell where the man was whom he sought,
14:33	he stretched out his right hand toward the temple, and made an oath in this manner: If ye will not deliver me Judas as a prisoner, I will lay this temple of God even with the ground, and I will break down the altar, and erect a notable temple unto Bacchus.
14:34	After these words, he departed. Then the priests lifted up their hands toward heaven, and besought him that was ever a defender of their nation, saying in this manner;
14:35	Thou, O Lord of all things, who hast need of nothing, wast pleased that the temple of thine habitation should be among us:
14:36	therefore now, O holy Lord of all holiness, keep this house ever undefiled, which lately was cleansed, and stop every unrighteous mouth.
14:37	Now was there accused unto Nicanor one Razis, one of the elders of Jerusalem, a lover of his countrymen, and a man of very good report, who for his kindness was called a father of the Jews.
14:38	For in the former times, when they mingled not themselves with the Gentiles, he had been accused of Judaism, and did boldly jeopard his body and life with all vehemency for the religion of the Jews.
14:39	So Nicanor, willing to declare the hate that he bare unto the Jews, sent above five hundred men of war to take him:
14:40	for he thought by taking him to do the Jews much hurt.
14:41	Now when the multitude would have taken the tower, and violently broken into the outer door, and bade that fire should be brought to burn it, he being ready to be taken on every side fell upon his sword;
14:42	choosing rather to die manfully, than to come into the hands of the wicked, to be abused otherwise than beseemed his noble birth:
14:43	but missing his stroke through haste, the multitude also rushing within the doors, he ran boldly up to the wall, and cast himself down manfully among the thickest of them.
14:44	But they quickly giving back, and a space being made, he fell down into the midst of the void place.
14:45	Nevertheless, while there was yet breath within him, being inflamed with anger, he rose up; and though his blood gushed out like spouts of water, and his wounds were grievous, yet he ran through the midst of the throng; and standing upon a steep rock,
14:46	when as his blood was now quite gone, he plucked out his bowels, and taking them in both his hands, he cast them upon the throng, and calling upon the Lord of life and spirit to restore him those again, he thus died.
15:1	But Nicanor, hearing that Judas and his company were in the strong places about Samaria, resolved without any danger to set upon them on the sabbath day.
15:2	Nevertheless the Jews that were compelled to go with him said, O destroy not so cruelly and barbarously, but give honour to that day, which he, that seeth all things, hath honoured with holiness above [other days].
15:3	Then the most ungracious wretch demanded, if there were a Mighty one in heaven, that had commanded the sabbath day to be kept.
15:4	And when they said, There is in heaven a living Lord, and mighty, who commanded the seventh day to be kept:
15:5	then said the other, And I also am mighty upon earth, and I command to take arms, and to do the king's business. Yet he obtained not to have his wicked will done.
15:6	So Nicanor in exceeding pride and haughtiness determined to set up a public monument of his victory over Judas and them that were with him.
15:7	But Maccabeus had ever sure confidence that the Lord would help him:
15:8	wherefore he exhorted his people not to fear the coming of the heathen against them, but to remember the help which in former times they had received from heaven, and now to expect the victory and aid, which should come unto them from the Almighty.
15:9	And so comforting them out of the law and the prophets, and withal putting them in mind of the battles that they won afore, he made them more cheerful.
15:10	And when he had stirred up their minds, he gave them their charge, shewing them therewithal the falsehood of the heathen, and the breach of oaths.
15:11	Thus he armed every one of them, not so much with defence of shields and spears, as with comfortable and good words: and beside that, he told them a dream worthy to be believed, as if it had been so indeed, which did not a little rejoice them.
15:12	And this was his vision: That Onias, who had been high priest, a virtuous and a good man, reverend in conversation, gentle in condition, well spoken also, and exercised from a child in all points of virtue, holding up his hands prayed for the whole body of the Jews.
15:13	This done, in like manner there appeared a man with gray hairs, and exceeding glorious, who was of a wonderful and excellent majesty.
15:14	Then Onias answered, saying, This is a lover of the brethren, who prayeth much for the people, and for the holy city, [to wit], Jeremias the prophet of God.
15:15	Whereupon Jeremias holding forth his right hand gave to Judas a sword of gold, and in giving it spake thus,
15:16	Take this holy sword, a gift from God, with the which thou shalt wound the adversaries.
15:17	Thus being well comforted by the words of Judas, which were very good, and able to stir them up to valour, and to encourage the hearts of the young men, they determined not to pitch camp, but courageously to set upon them, and manfully to try the matter by conflict, because the city and the sanctuary and the temple were in danger.
15:18	For the care that they took for their wives, and their children, their brethren, and kinsfolks, was in least account with them: but the greatest and principal fear was for the holy temple.
15:19	Also they that were in the city took not the least care, being troubled for the conflict abroad.
15:20	And now, when as all looked what should be the trial, and the enemies were already come near, and the army was set in array, and the beasts conveniently placed, and the horsemen set in wings,
15:21	Maccabeus seeing the coming of the multitude, and the divers preparations of armour, and the fierceness of the beasts, stretched out his hands toward heaven, and called upon the Lord that worketh wonders, knowing that victory cometh not by arms, but even as it seemeth good to him, he giveth it to such as are worthy:
15:22	therefore in his prayer he said after this manner: O Lord, thou didst send thine angel in the time of Ezekias king of Judea, and didst slay in the host of Sennacherib an hundred fourscore and five thousand:
15:23	wherefore now also, O Lord of heaven, send a good angel before us for a fear and dread unto them;
15:24	and through the might of thine arm let those be stricken with terror, that come against thy holy people to blaspheme. And he ended thus.
15:25	Then Nicanor and they that were with him came forward with trumpets and songs.
15:26	But Judas and his company encountered the enemies with invocation and prayer.
15:27	So that fighting with their hands, and praying unto God with their hearts, they slew no less than thirty and five thousand men: for through the appearance of God they were greatly cheered.
15:28	Now when the battle was done, returning again with joy, they knew that Nicanor lay dead in his harness.
15:29	Then they made a great shout and a noise, praising the Almighty in their own language.
15:30	And [Judas], who was ever the chief defender of the citizens both in body and mind, and who continued his love toward his countrymen all his life, commanded to strike off Nicanor's head, and his hand with his shoulder, and bring them to Jerusalem.
15:31	So when he was there, and had called them of his nation together, and set the priests before the altar, he sent for them that were of the tower,
15:32	and shewed them vile Nicanor's head, and the hand of that blasphemer, which with proud brags he had stretched out against the holy temple of the Almighty.
15:33	And when he had cut out the tongue of that ungodly Nicanor, he commanded that they should give it by pieces unto the fowls, and hang up the reward of his madness before the temple.
15:34	So every man praised toward the heaven the glorious Lord, saying, Blessed be he that hath kept his own place undefiled.
15:35	He hanged also Nicanor's head upon the tower, an evident and manifest sign unto all of the help of the Lord.
15:36	And they ordained all with a common decree in no case to let that day pass without solemnity, but to celebrate the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which in the Syrian tongue is called Adar, the day before Mardocheus' day.
15:37	Thus went it with Nicanor: and from that time forth the Hebrews had the city in their power. And here will I make an end.
15:38	And if [I have done] well, and as is fitting the story, it is that which I desired: but if slenderly and meanly, it is that which I could attain unto.
15:39	For as it is hurtful to drink wine or water alone; and as wine mingled with water is pleasant, and delighteth the taste: even so speech finely framed delighteth the ears of them that read the story. And here shall be an end.

== King James Version (KJV)
King James Version (1769), public domain. Text from eBible.org

1:1	The brethren, the Jews that be at Jerusalem and in the land of Judea, wish unto the brethren, the Jews that are throughout Egypt health and peace:
1:2	God be gracious unto you, and remember his covenant that he made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, his faithful servants;
1:3	And give you all an heart to serve him, and to do his will, with a good courage and a willing mind;
1:4	And open your hearts in his law and commandments, and send you peace,
1:5	And hear your prayers, and be at one with you, and never forsake you in time of trouble.
1:6	And now we be here praying for you.
1:7	What time as Demetrius reigned, in the hundred threescore and ninth year, we the Jews wrote unto you in the extremity of trouble that came upon us in those years, from the time that Jason and his company revolted from the holy land and kingdom,
1:8	And burned the porch, and shed innocent blood: then we prayed unto the Lord, and were heard; we offered also sacrifices and fine flour, and lighted the lamps, and set forth the loaves.
1:9	And now see that ye keep the feast of tabernacles in the month Casleu.
1:10	In the hundred fourscore and eighth year, the people that were at Jerusalem and in Judea, and the council, and Judas, sent greeting and health unto Aristobulus, king Ptolemeus’ master, who was of the stock of the anointed priests, and to the Jews that were in Egypt:
1:11	Insomuch as God hath delivered us from great perils, we thank him highly, as having been in battle against a king.
1:12	For he cast them out that fought within the holy city.
1:13	For when the leader was come into Persia, and the army with him that seemed invincible, they were slain in the temple of Nanea by the deceit of Nanea’s priests.
1:14	For Antiochus, as though he would marry her, came into the place, and his friends that were with him, to receive money in name of a dowry.
1:15	Which when the priests of Nanea had set forth, and he was entered with a small company into the compass of the temple, they shut the temple as soon as Antiochus was come in:
1:16	And opening a privy door of the roof, they threw stones like thunderbolts, and struck down the captain, hewed them in pieces, smote off their heads and cast them to those that were without.
1:17	Blessed be our God in all things, who hath delivered up the ungodly.
1:18	Therefore whereas we are now purposed to keep the purification of the temple upon the five and twentieth day of the month Casleu, we thought it necessary to certify you thereof, that ye also might keep it, as the feast of the tabernacles, and of the fire, which was given us when Neemias offered sacrifice, after that he had builded the temple and the altar.
1:19	For when our fathers were led into Persia, the priests that were then devout took the fire of the altar privily, and hid it in an hollow place of a pit without water, where they kept it sure, so that the place was unknown to all men.
1:20	Now after many years, when it pleased God, Neemias, being sent from the king of Persia, did send of the posterity of those priests that had hid it to the fire: but when they told us they found no fire, but thick water;
1:21	Then commanded he them to draw it up, and to bring it; and when the sacrifices were laid on, Neemias commanded the priests to sprinkle the wood and the things laid thereupon with the water.
1:22	When this was done, and the time came that the sun shone, which afore was hid in the cloud, there was a great fire kindled, so that every man marvelled.
1:23	And the priests made a prayer whilst the sacrifice was consuming, I say, both the priests, and all the rest, Jonathan beginning, and the rest answering thereunto, as Neemias did.
1:24	And the prayer was after this manner; O Lord, Lord God, Creator of all things, who art fearful and strong, and righteous, and merciful, and the only and gracious King,
1:25	The only giver of all things, the only just, almighty, and everlasting, thou that deliverest Israel from all trouble, and didst choose the fathers, and sanctify them:
1:26	Receive the sacrifice for thy whole people Israel, and preserve thine own portion, and sanctify it.
1:27	Gather those together that are scattered from us, deliver them that serve among the heathen, look upon them that are despised and abhorred, and let the heathen know that thou art our God.
1:28	Punish them that oppress us, and with pride do us wrong.
1:29	Plant thy people again in thy holy place, as Moses hath spoken.
1:30	And the priests sung psalms of thanksgiving.
1:31	Now when the sacrifice was consumed, Neemias commanded the water that was left to be poured on the great stones.
1:32	When this was done, there was kindled a flame: but it was consumed by the light that shined from the altar.
1:33	So when this matter was known, it was told the king of Persia, that in the place, where the priests that were led away had hid the fire, there appeared water, and that Neemias had purified the sacrifices therewith.
1:34	Then the king, inclosing the place, made it holy, after he had tried the matter.
1:35	And the king took many gifts, and bestowed thereof on those whom he would gratify.
1:36	And Neemias called this thing Naphthar, which is as much as to say, a cleansing: but many men call it Nephi.
2:1	It is also found in the records, that Jeremy the prophet commanded them that were carried away to take of the fire, as it hath been signified:
2:2	And how that the prophet, having given them the law, charged them not to forget the commandments of the Lord, and that they should not err in their minds, when they see images of silver and gold, with their ornaments.
2:3	And with other such speeches exhorted he them, that the law should not depart from their hearts.
2:4	It was also contained in the same writing, that the prophet, being warned of God, commanded the tabernacle and the ark to go with him, as he went forth into the mountain, where Moses climbed up, and saw the heritage of God.
2:5	And when Jeremy came thither, he found an hollow cave, wherein he laid the tabernacle, and the ark, and the altar of incense, and so stopped the door.
2:6	And some of those that followed him came to mark the way, but they could not find it.
2:7	Which when Jeremy perceived, he blamed them, saying, As for that place, it shall be unknown until the time that God gather his people again together, and receive them unto mercy.
2:8	Then shall the Lord shew them these things, and the glory of the Lord shall appear, and the cloud also, as it was shewed under Moses, and as when Solomon desired that the place might be honourably sanctified.
2:9	It was also declared, that he being wise offered the sacrifice of dedication, and of the finishing of the temple.
2:10	And as when Moses prayed unto the Lord, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the sacrifices: even so prayed Solomon also, and the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offerings.
2:11	And Moses said, Because the sin offering was not to be eaten, it was consumed.
2:12	So Solomon kept those eight days.
2:13	The same things also were reported in the writings and commentaries of Neemias; and how he founding a library gathered together the acts of the kings, and the prophets, and of David, and the epistles of the kings concerning the holy gifts.
2:14	In like manner also Judas gathered together all those things that were lost by reason of the war we had, and they remain with us,
2:15	Wherefore if ye have need thereof, send some to fetch them unto you.
2:16	Whereas we then are about to celebrate the purification, we have written unto you, and ye shall do well, if ye keep the same days.
2:17	We hope also, that the God, that delivered all his people, and gave them all an heritage, and the kingdom, and the priesthood, and the sanctuary,
2:18	As he promised in the law, will shortly have mercy upon us, and gather us together out of every land under heaven into the holy place: for he hath delivered us out of great troubles, and hath purified the place.
2:19	Now as concerning Judas Maccabeus, and his brethren, and the purification of the great temple, and the dedication of the altar,
2:20	And the wars against Antiochus Epiphanes, and Eupator his son,
2:21	And the manifest signs that came from heaven unto those that behaved themselves manfully to their honour for Judaism: so that, being but a few, they overcame the whole country, and chased barbarous multitudes,
2:22	And recovered again the temple renowned all the world over, and freed the city, and upheld the laws which were going down, the Lord being gracious unto them with all favour:
2:23	All these things, I say, being declared by Jason of Cyrene in five books, we will assay to abridge in one volume.
2:24	For considering the infinite number, and the difficulty which they find that desire to look into the narrations of the story, for the variety of the matter,
2:25	We have been careful, that they that will read may have delight, and that they that are desirous to commit to memory might have ease, and that all into whose hands it comes might have profit.
2:26	Therefore to us, that have taken upon us this painful labour of abridging, it was not easy, but a matter of sweat and watching;
2:27	Even as it is no ease unto him that prepareth a banquet, and seeketh the benefit of others: yet for the pleasuring of many we will undertake gladly this great pains;
2:28	Leaving to the author the exact handling of every particular, and labouring to follow the rules of an abridgement.
2:29	For as the master builder of a new house must care for the whole building; but he that undertaketh to set it out, and paint it, must seek out fit things for the adorning thereof: even so I think it is with us.
2:30	To stand upon every point, and go over things at large, and to be curious in particulars, belongeth to the first author of the story:
2:31	But to use brevity, and avoid much labouring of the work, is to be granted to him that will make an abridgment.
2:32	Here then will we begin the story: only adding thus much to that which hath been said, that it is a foolish thing to make a long prologue, and to be short in the story itself.
3:1	Now when the holy city was inhabited with all peace, and the laws were kept very well, because of the godliness of Onias the high priest, and his hatred of wickedness,
3:2	It came to pass that even the kings themselves did honour the place, and magnify the temple with their best gifts;
3:3	Insomuch that Seleucus of Asia of his own revenues bare all the costs belonging to the service of the sacrifices.
3:4	But one Simon of the tribe of Benjamin, who was made governor of the temple, fell out with the high priest about disorder in the city.
3:5	And when he could not overcome Onias, he gat him to Apollonius the son of Thraseas, who then was governor of Celosyria and Phenice,
3:6	And told him that the treasury in Jerusalem was full of infinite sums of money, so that the multitude of their riches, which did not pertain to the account of the sacrifices, was innumerable, and that it was possible to bring all into the king’s hand.
3:7	Now when Apollonius came to the king, and had shewed him of the money whereof he was told, the king chose out Heliodorus his treasurer, and sent him with a commandment to bring him the foresaid money.
3:8	So forthwith Heliodorus took his journey; under a colour of visiting the cities of Celosyria and Phenice, but indeed to fulfil the king’s purpose.
3:9	And when he was come to Jerusalem, and had been courteously received of the high priest of the city, he told him what intelligence was given of the money, and declared wherefore he came, and asked if these things were so indeed.
3:10	Then the high priest told him that there was such money laid up for the relief of widows and fatherless children:
3:11	And that some of it belonged to Hircanus son of Tobias, a man of great dignity, and not as that wicked Simon had misinformed: the sum whereof in all was four hundred talents of silver, and two hundred of gold:
3:12	And that it was altogether impossible that such wrongs should be done unto them, that had committed it to the holiness of the place, and to the majesty and inviolable sanctity of the temple, honoured over all the world.
3:13	But Heliodorus, because of the king’s commandment given him, said, That in any wise it must be brought into the king’s treasury.
3:14	So at the day which he appointed he entered in to order this matter: wherefore there was no small agony throughout the whole city.
3:15	But the priests, prostrating themselves before the altar in their priests’ vestments, called unto heaven upon him that made a law concerning things given to be kept, that they should safely be preserved for such as had committed them to be kept.
3:16	Then whoso had looked the high priest in the face, it would have wounded his heart: for his countenance and the changing of his colour declared the inward agony of his mind.
3:17	For the man was so compassed with fear and horror of the body, that it was manifest to them that looked upon him, what sorrow he had now in his heart.
3:18	Others ran flocking out of their houses to the general supplication, because the place was like to come into contempt.
3:19	And the women, girt with sackcloth under their breasts, abounded in the streets, and the virgins that were kept in ran, some to the gates, and some to the walls, and others looked out of the windows.
3:20	And all, holding their hands toward heaven, made supplication.
3:21	Then it would have pitied a man to see the falling down of the multitude of all sorts, and the fear of the high priest being in such an agony.
3:22	They then called upon the Almighty Lord to keep the things committed of trust safe and sure for those that had committed them.
3:23	Nevertheless Heliodorus executed that which was decreed.
3:24	Now as he was there present himself with his guard about the treasury, the Lord of spirits, and the Prince of all power, caused a great apparition, so that all that presumed to come in with him were astonished at the power of God, and fainted, and were sore afraid.
3:25	For there appeared unto them an horse with a terrible rider upon him, and adorned with a very fair covering, and he ran fiercely, and smote at Heliodorus with his forefeet, and it seemed that he that sat upon the horse had complete harness of gold.
3:26	Moreover two other young men appeared before him, notable in strength, excellent in beauty, and comely in apparel, who stood by him on either side; and scourged him continually, and gave him many sore stripes.
3:27	And Heliodorus fell suddenly unto the ground, and was compassed with great darkness: but they that were with him took him up, and put him into a litter.
3:28	Thus him, that lately came with a great train and with all his guard into the said treasury, they carried out, being unable to help himself with his weapons: and manifestly they acknowledged the power of God.
3:29	For he by the hand of God was cast down, and lay speechless without all hope of life.
3:30	But they praised the Lord, that had miraculously honoured his own place: for the temple; which a little afore was full of fear and trouble, when the Almighty Lord appeared, was filled with joy and gladness.
3:31	Then straightways certain of Heliodorus’ friends prayed Onias, that he would call upon the most High to grant him his life, who lay ready to give up the ghost.
3:32	So the high priest, suspecting lest the king should misconceive that some treachery had been done to Heliodorus by the Jews, offered a sacrifice for the health of the man.
3:33	Now as the high priest was making an atonement, the same young men in the same clothing appeared and stood beside Heliodorus, saying, Give Onias the high priest great thanks, insomuch as for his sake the Lord hath granted thee life:
3:34	And seeing that thou hast been scourged from heaven, declare unto all men the mighty power of God. And when they had spoken these words, they appeared no more.
3:35	So Heliodorus, after he had offered sacrifice unto the Lord, and made great vows unto him that had saved his life, and saluted Onias, returned with his host to the king.
3:36	Then testified he to all men the works of the great God, which he had seen with his eyes.
3:37	And when the king asked Heliodorus, who might be a fit man to be sent yet once again to Jerusalem, he said,
3:38	If thou hast any enemy or traitor, send him thither, and thou shalt receive him well scourged, if he escape with his life: for in that place, no doubt, there is an especial power of God.
3:39	For he that dwelleth in heaven hath his eye on that place, and defendeth it; and he beateth and destroyeth them that come to hurt it.
3:40	And the things concerning Heliodorus, and the keeping of the treasury, fell out on this sort.
4:1	This Simon now, of whom we spake afore, having been a betrayer of the money, and of his country, slandered Onias, as if he had terrified Heliodorus, and been the worker of these evils.
4:2	Thus was he bold to call him a traitor, that had deserved well of the city, and tendered his own nation, and was so zealous of the laws.
4:3	But when their hatred went so far, that by one of Simon’s faction murders were committed,
4:4	Onias seeing the danger of this contention, and that Apollonius, as being the governor of Celosyria and Phenice, did rage, and increase Simon’s malice,
4:5	He went to the king, not to be an accuser of his countrymen, but seeking the good of all, both publick and private:
4:6	For he saw that it was impossible that the state should continue quiet, and Simon leave his folly, unless the king did look thereunto.
4:7	But after the death of Seleucus, when Antiochus, called Epiphanes, took the kingdom, Jason the brother of Onias laboured underhand to be high priest,
4:8	Promising unto the king by intercession three hundred and threescore talents of silver, and of another revenue eighty talents:
4:9	Beside this, he promised to assign an hundred and fifty more, if he might have licence to set him up a place for exercise, and for the training up of youth in the fashions of the heathen, and to write them of Jerusalem by the name of Antiochians.
4:10	Which when the king had granted, and he had gotten into his hand the rule he forthwith brought his own nation to Greekish fashion.
4:11	And the royal privileges granted of special favour to the Jews by the means of John the father of Eupolemus, who went ambassador to Rome for amity and aid, he took away; and putting down the governments which were according to the law, he brought up new customs against the law:
4:12	For he built gladly a place of exercise under the tower itself, and brought the chief young men under his subjection, and made them wear a hat.
4:13	Now such was the height of Greek fashions, and increase of heathenish manners, through the exceeding profaneness of Jason, that ungodly wretch, and no high priest;
4:14	That the priests had no courage to serve any more at the altar, but despising the temple, and neglecting the sacrifices, hastened to be partakers of the unlawful allowance in the place of exercise, after the game of Discus called them forth;
4:15	Not setting by the honours of their fathers, but liking the glory of the Grecians best of all.
4:16	By reason whereof sore calamity came upon them: for they had them to be their enemies and avengers, whose custom they followed so earnestly, and unto whom they desired to be like in all things.
4:17	For it is not a light thing to do wickedly against the laws of God: but the time following shall declare these things.
4:18	Now when the game that was used every fifth year was kept at Tyrus, the king being present,
4:19	This ungracious Jason sent special messengers from Jerusalem, who were Antiochians, to carry three hundred drachms of silver to the sacrifice of Hercules, which even the bearers thereof thought fit not to bestow upon the sacrifice, because it was not convenient, but to be reserved for other charges.
4:20	This money then, in regard of the sender, was appointed to Hercules’ sacrifice; but because of the bearers thereof, it was employed to the making of gallies.
4:21	Now when Apollonius the son of Menestheus was sent into Egypt for the coronation of king Ptolemeus Philometor, Antiochus, understanding him not to be well affected to his affairs, provided for his own safety: whereupon he came to Joppa, and from thence to Jerusalem:
4:22	Where he was honourably received of Jason, and of the city, and was brought in with torch alight, and with great shoutings: and so afterward went with his host unto Phenice.
4:23	Three years afterward Jason sent Menelaus, the aforesaid Simon’s brother, to bear the money unto the king, and to put him in mind of certain necessary matters.
4:24	But he being brought to the presence of the king, when he had magnified him for the glorious appearance of his power, got the priesthood to himself, offering more than Jason by three hundred talents of silver.
4:25	So he came with the king’s mandate, bringing nothing worthy the high priesthood, but having the fury of a cruel tyrant, and the rage of a savage beast.
4:26	Then Jason, who had undermined his own brother, being undermined by another, was compelled to flee into the country of the Ammonites.
4:27	So Menelaus got the principality: but as for the money that he had promised unto the king, he took no good order for it, albeit Sostratis the ruler of the castle required it:
4:28	For unto him appertained the gathering of the customs. Wherefore they were both called before the king.
4:29	Now Menelaus left his brother Lysimachus in his stead in the priesthood; and Sostratus left Crates, who was governor of the Cyprians.
4:30	While those things were in doing, they of Tarsus and Mallos made insurrection, because they were given to the king’s concubine, called Antiochus.
4:31	Then came the king in all haste to appease matters, leaving Andronicus, a man in authority, for his deputy.
4:32	Now Menelaus, supposing that he had gotten a convenient time, stole certain vessels of gold out of the temple, and gave some of them to Andronicus, and some he sold into Tyrus and the cities round about.
4:33	Which when Onias knew of a surety, he reproved him, and withdrew himself into a sanctuary at Daphne, that lieth by Antiochia.
4:34	Wherefore Menelaus, taking Andronicus apart, prayed him to get Onias into his hands; who being persuaded thereunto, and coming to Onias in deceit, gave him his right hand with oaths; and though he were suspected by him, yet persuaded he him to come forth of the sanctuary: whom forthwith he shut up without regard of justice.
4:35	For the which cause not only the Jews, but many also of other nations, took great indignation, and were much grieved for the unjust murder of the man.
4:36	And when the king was come again from the places about Cilicia, the Jews that were in the city, and certain of the Greeks that abhorred the fact also, complained because Onias was slain without cause.
4:37	Therefore Antiochus was heartily sorry, and moved to pity, and wept, because of the sober and modest behaviour of him that was dead.
4:38	And being kindled with anger, forthwith he took away Andronicus his purple, and rent off his clothes, and leading him through the whole city unto that very place, where he had committed impiety against Onias, there slew he the cursed murderer. Thus the Lord rewarded him his punishment, as he had deserved.
4:39	Now when many sacrileges had been committed in the city by Lysimachus with the consent of Menelaus, and the fruit thereof was spread abroad, the multitude gathered themselves together against Lysimachus, many vessels of gold being already carried away.
4:40	Whereupon the common people rising, and being filled with rage, Lysimachus armed about three thousand men, and began first to offer violence; one Auranus being the leader, a man far gone in years, and no less in folly.
4:41	They then seeing the attempt of Lysimachus, some of them caught stones, some clubs, others taking handfuls of dust, that was next at hand, cast them all together upon Lysimachus, and those that set upon them.
4:42	Thus many of them they wounded, and some they struck to the ground, and all of them they forced to flee: but as for the churchrobber himself, him they killed beside the treasury.
4:43	Of these matters therefore there was an accusation laid against Menelaus.
4:44	Now when the king came to Tyrus, three men that were sent from the senate pleaded the cause before him:
4:45	But Menelaus, being now convicted, promised Ptolemee the son of Dorymenes to give him much money, if he would pacify the king toward him.
4:46	Whereupon Ptolemee taking the king aside into a certain gallery, as it were to take the air, brought him to be of another mind:
4:47	Insomuch that he discharged Menelaus from the accusations, who notwithstanding was cause of all the mischief: and those poor men, who, if they had told their cause, yea, before the Scythians, should have been judged innocent, them he condemned to death.
4:48	Thus they that followed the matter for the city, and for the people, and for the holy vessels, did soon suffer unjust punishment.
4:49	Wherefore even they of Tyrus, moved with hatred of that wicked deed, caused them to be honourably buried.
4:50	And so through the covetousness of them that were of power Menelaus remained still in authority, increasing in malice, and being a great traitor to the citizens.
5:1	About the same time Antiochus prepared his second voyage into Egypt:
5:2	And then it happened, that through all the city, for the space almost of forty days, there were seen horsemen running in the air, in cloth of gold, and armed with lances, like a band of soldiers,
5:3	And troops of horsemen in array, encountering and running one against another, with shaking of shields, and multitude of pikes, and drawing of swords, and casting of darts, and glittering of golden ornaments, and harness of all sorts.
5:4	Wherefore every man prayed that that apparition might turn to good.
5:5	Now when there was gone forth a false rumour, as though Antiochus had been dead, Jason took at the least a thousand men, and suddenly made an assault upon the city; and they that were upon the walls being put back, and the city at length taken, Menelaus fled into the castle:
5:6	But Jason slew his own citizens without mercy, not considering that to get the day of them of his own nation would be a most unhappy day for him; but thinking they had been his enemies, and not his countrymen, whom he conquered.
5:7	Howbeit for all this he obtained not the principality, but at the last received shame for the reward of his treason, and fled again into the country of the Ammonites.
5:8	In the end therefore he had an unhappy return, being accused before Aretas the king of the Arabians, fleeing from city to city, pursued of all men, hated as a forsaker of the laws, and being had in abomination as an open enemy of his country and countrymen, he was cast out into Egypt.
5:9	Thus he that had driven many out of their country perished in a strange land, retiring to the Lacedemonians, and thinking there to find succour by reason of his kindred:
5:10	And he that had cast out many unburied had none to mourn for him, nor any solemn funerals at all, nor sepulchre with his fathers.
5:11	Now when this that was done came to the king’s ear, he thought that Judea had revolted: whereupon removing out of Egypt in a furious mind, he took the city by force of arms,
5:12	And commanded his men of war not to spare such as they met, and to slay such as went up upon the houses.
5:13	Thus there was killing of young and old, making away of men, women, and children, slaying of virgins and infants.
5:14	And there were destroyed within the space of three whole days fourscore thousand, whereof forty thousand were slain in the conflict; and no fewer sold than slain.
5:15	Yet was he not content with this, but presumed to go into the most holy temple of all the world; Menelaus, that traitor to the laws, and to his own country, being his guide:
5:16	And taking the holy vessels with polluted hands, and with profane hands pulling down the things that were dedicated by other kings to the augmentation and glory and honour of the place, he gave them away.
5:17	And so haughty was Antiochus in mind, that he considered not that the Lord was angry for a while for the sins of them that dwelt in the city, and therefore his eye was not upon the place.
5:18	For had they not been formerly wrapped in many sins, this man, as soon as he had come, had forthwith been scourged, and put back from his presumption, as Heliodorus was, whom Seleucus the king sent to view the treasury.
5:19	Nevertheless God did not choose the people for the place’s sake, but the place for the people’s sake.
5:20	And therefore the place itself, that was partaker with them of the adversity that happened to the nation, did afterward communicate in the benefits sent from the Lord: and as it was forsaken in the wrath of the Almighty, so again, the great Lord being reconciled, it was set up with all glory.
5:21	So when Antiochus had carried out of the temple a thousand and eight hundred talents, he departed in all haste unto Antiochia, weening in his pride to make the land navigable, and the sea passable by foot: such was the haughtiness of his mind.
5:22	And he left governors to vex the nation: at Jerusalem, Philip, for his country a Phrygian, and for manners more barbarous than he that set him there;
5:23	And at Garizim, Andronicus; and besides, Menelaus, who worse than all the rest bare an heavy hand over the citizens, having a malicious mind against his countrymen the Jews.
5:24	He sent also that detestable ringleader Apollonius with an army of two and twenty thousand, commanding him to slay all those that were in their best age, and to sell the women and the younger sort:
5:25	Who coming to Jerusalem, and pretending peace, did forbear till the holy day of the sabbath, when taking the Jews keeping holy day, he commanded his men to arm themselves.
5:26	And so he slew all them that were gone to the celebrating of the sabbath, and running through the city with weapons slew great multitudes.
5:27	But Judas Maccabeus with nine others, or thereabout, withdrew himself into the wilderness, and lived in the mountains after the manner of beasts, with his company, who fed on herbs continually, lest they should be partakers of the pollution.
6:1	Not long after this the king sent an old man of Athens to compel the Jews to depart from the laws of their fathers, and not to live after the laws of God:
6:2	And to pollute also the temple in Jerusalem, and to call it the temple of Jupiter Olympius; and that in Garizim, of Jupiter the Defender of strangers, as they did desire that dwelt in the place.
6:3	The coming in of this mischief was sore and grievous to the people:
6:4	For the temple was filled with riot and revelling by the Gentiles, who dallied with harlots, and had to do with women within the circuit of the holy places, and besides that brought in things that were not lawful.
6:5	The altar also was filled with profane things, which the law forbiddeth.
6:6	Neither was it lawful for a man to keep sabbath days or ancient fasts, or to profess himself at all to be a Jew.
6:7	And in the day of the king’s birth every month they were brought by bitter constraint to eat of the sacrifices; and when the fast of Bacchus was kept, the Jews were compelled to go in procession to Bacchus, carrying ivy.
6:8	Moreover there went out a decree to the neighbour cities of the heathen, by the suggestion of Ptolemee, against the Jews, that they should observe the same fashions, and be partakers of their sacrifices:
6:9	And whoso would not conform themselves to the manners of the Gentiles should be put to death. Then might a man have seen the present misery.
6:10	For there were two women brought, who had circumcised their children; whom when they had openly led round about the city, the babes hanging at their breasts, they cast them down headlong from the wall.
6:11	And others, that had run together into caves near by, to keep the sabbath day secretly, being discovered by Philip, were all burnt together, because they made a conscience to help themselves for the honour of the most sacred day.
6:12	Now I beseech those that read this book, that they be not discouraged for these calamities, but that they judge those punishments not to be for destruction, but for a chastening of our nation.
6:13	For it is a token of his great goodness, when wicked doers are not suffered any long time, but forthwith punished.
6:14	For not as with other nations, whom the Lord patiently forbeareth to punish, till they be come to the fulness of their sins, so dealeth he with us,
6:15	Lest that, being come to the height of sin, afterwards he should take vengeance of us.
6:16	And therefore he never withdraweth his mercy from us: and though he punish with adversity, yet doth he never forsake his people.
6:17	But let this that we have spoken be for a warning unto us. And now will we come to the declaring of the matter in a few words.
6:18	Eleazar, one of the principal scribes, an aged man, and of a well favoured countenance, was constrained to open his mouth, and to eat swine’s flesh.
6:19	But he, choosing rather to die gloriously, than to live stained with such an abomination, spit it forth, and came of his own accord to the torment,
6:20	As it behoved them to come, that are resolute to stand out against such things, as are not lawful for love of life to be tasted.
6:21	But they that had the charge of that wicked feast, for the old acquaintance they had with the man, taking him aside, besought him to bring flesh of his own provision, such as was lawful for him to use, and make as if he did eat of the flesh taken from the sacrifice commanded by the king;
6:22	That in so doing he might be delivered from death, and for the old friendship with them find favour.
6:23	But he began to consider discreetly, and as became his age, and the excellency of his ancient years, and the honour of his gray head, whereon was come, and his most honest education from a child, or rather the holy law made and given by God: therefore he answered accordingly, and willed them straightways to send him to the grave.
6:24	For it becometh not our age, said he, in any wise to dissemble, whereby many young persons might think that Eleazar, being fourscore years old and ten, were now gone to a strange religion;
6:25	And so they through mine hypocrisy, and desire to live a little time and a moment longer, should be deceived by me, and I get a stain to mine old age, and make it abominable.
6:26	For though for the present time I should be delivered from the punishment of men: yet should I not escape the hand of the Almighty, neither alive, nor dead.
6:27	Wherefore now, manfully changing this life, I will shew myself such an one as mine age requireth,
6:28	And leave a notable example to such as be young to die willingly and courageously for the honourable and holy laws. And when he had said these words, immediately he went to the torment:
6:29	They that led him changing the good will they bare him a little before into hatred, because the foresaid speeches proceeded, as they thought, from a desperate mind.
6:30	But when he was ready to die with stripes, he groaned, and said, It is manifest unto the Lord, that hath the holy knowledge, that whereas I might have been delivered from death, I now endure sore pains in body by being beaten: but in soul am well content to suffer these things, because I fear him.
6:31	And thus this man died, leaving his death for an example of a noble courage, and a memorial of virtue, not only unto young men, but unto all his nation.
7:1	It came to pass also, that seven brethren with their mother were taken, and compelled by the king against the law to taste swine’s flesh, and were tormented with scourges and whips.
7:2	But one of them that spake first said thus, What wouldest thou ask or learn of us? we are ready to die, rather than to transgress the laws of our fathers.
7:3	Then the king, being in a rage, commanded pans and caldrons to be made hot:
7:4	Which forthwith being heated, he commanded to cut out the tongue of him that spake first, and to cut off the utmost parts of his body, the rest of his brethren and his mother looking on.
7:5	Now when he was thus maimed in all his members, he commanded him being yet alive to be brought to the fire, and to be fried in the pan: and as the vapour of the pan was for a good space dispersed, they exhorted one another with the mother to die manfully, saying thus,
7:6	The Lord God looketh upon us, and in truth hath comfort in us, as Moses in his song, which witnessed to their faces, declared, saying, And he shall be comforted in his servants.
7:7	So when the first was dead after this manner, they brought the second to make him a mocking stock: and when they had pulled off the skin of his head with the hair, they asked him, Wilt thou eat, before thou be punished throughout every member of thy body?
7:8	But he answered in his own language, and said, No. Wherefore he also received the next torment in order, as the former did.
7:9	And when he was at the last gasp, he said, Thou like a fury takest us out of this present life, but the King of the world shall raise us up, who have died for his laws, unto everlasting life.
7:10	After him was the third made a mocking stock: and when he was required, he put out his tongue, and that right soon, holding forth his hands manfully.
7:11	And said courageously, These I had from heaven; and for his laws I despise them; and from him I hope to receive them again.
7:12	Insomuch that the king, and they that were with him, marvelled at the young man’s courage, for that he nothing regarded the pains.
7:13	Now when this man was dead also, they tormented and mangled the fourth in like manner.
7:14	So when he was ready to die he said thus, It is good, being put to death by men, to look for hope from God to be raised up again by him: as for thee, thou shalt have no resurrection to life.
7:15	Afterward they brought the fifth also, and mangled him.
7:16	Then looked he unto the king, and said, Thou hast power over men, thou art corruptible, thou doest what thou wilt; yet think not that our nation is forsaken of God;
7:17	But abide a while, and behold his great power, how he will torment thee and thy seed.
7:18	After him also they brought the sixth, who being ready to die said, Be not deceived without cause: for we suffer these things for ourselves, having sinned against our God: therefore marvellous things are done unto us.
7:19	But think not thou, that takest in hand to strive against God, that thou shalt escape unpunished.
7:20	But the mother was marvellous above all, and worthy of honourable memory: for when she saw her seven sons slain within the space of one day, she bare it with a good courage, because of the hope that she had in the Lord.
7:21	Yea, she exhorted every one of them in her own language, filled with courageous spirits; and stirring up her womanish thoughts with a manly stomach, she said unto them,
7:22	I cannot tell how ye came into my womb: for I neither gave you breath nor life, neither was it I that formed the members of every one of you;
7:23	But doubtless the Creator of the world, who formed the generation of man, and found out the beginning of all things, will also of his own mercy give you breath and life again, as ye now regard not your own selves for his laws’ sake.
7:24	Now Antiochus, thinking himself despised, and suspecting it to be a reproachful speech, whilst the youngest was yet alive, did not only exhort him by words, but also assured him with oaths, that he would make him both a rich and a happy man, if he would turn from the laws of his fathers; and that also he would take him for his friend, and trust him with affairs.
7:25	But when the young man would in no case hearken unto him, the king called his mother, and exhorted her that she would counsel the young man to save his life.
7:26	And when he had exhorted her with many words, she promised him that she would counsel her son.
7:27	But she bowing herself toward him, laughing the cruel tyrant to scorn, spake in her country language on this manner; O my son, have pity upon me that bare thee nine months in my womb, and gave thee suck three years, and nourished thee, and brought thee up unto this age, and endured the troubles of education.
7:28	I beseech thee, my son, look upon the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, and consider that God made them of things that were not; and so was mankind made likewise.
7:29	Fear not this tormentor, but, being worthy of thy brethren, take thy death that I may receive thee again in mercy with thy brethren.
7:30	Whiles she was yet speaking these words, the young man said, Whom wait ye for? I will not obey the king’s commandment: but I will obey the commandment of the law that was given unto our fathers by Moses.
7:31	And thou, that hast been the author of all mischief against the Hebrews, shalt not escape the hands of God.
7:32	For we suffer because of our sins.
7:33	And though the living Lord be angry with us a little while for our chastening and correction, yet shall he be at one again with his servants.
7:34	But thou, O godless man, and of all other most wicked, be not lifted up without a cause, nor puffed up with uncertain hopes, lifting up thy hand against the servants of God:
7:35	For thou hast not yet escaped the judgment of Almighty God, who seeth all things.
7:36	For our brethren, who now have suffered a short pain, are dead under God’s covenant of everlasting life: but thou, through the judgment of God, shalt receive just punishment for thy pride.
7:37	But I, as my brethren, offer up my body and life for the laws of our fathers, beseeching God that he would speedily be merciful unto our nation; and that thou by torments and plagues mayest confess, that he alone is God;
7:38	And that in me and my brethren the wrath of the Almighty, which is justly brought upon our nation, may cease.
7:39	Then the king being in a rage, handed him worse than all the rest, and took it grievously that he was mocked.
7:40	So this man died undefiled, and put his whole trust in the Lord.
7:41	Last of all after the sons the mother died.
7:42	Let this be enough now to have spoken concerning the idolatrous feasts, and the extreme tortures.
8:1	Then Judas Maccabeus, and they that were with him, went privily into the towns, and called their kinsfolks together, and took unto them all such as continued in the Jews’ religion, and assembled about six thousand men.
8:2	And they called upon the Lord, that he would look upon the people that was trodden down of all; and also pity the temple profaned of ungodly men;
8:3	And that he would have compassion upon the city, sore defaced, and ready to be made even with the ground; and hear the blood that cried unto him,
8:4	And remember the wicked slaughter of harmless infants, and the blasphemies committed against his name; and that he would shew his hatred against the wicked.
8:5	Now when Maccabeus had his company about him, he could not be withstood by the heathen: for the wrath of the Lord was turned into mercy.
8:6	Therefore he came at unawares, and burnt up towns and cities, and got into his hands the most commodious places, and overcame and put to flight no small number of his enemies.
8:7	But specially took he advantage of the night for such privy attempts, insomuch that the fruit of his holiness was spread every where.
8:8	So when Philip saw that this man increased by little and little, and that things prospered with him still more and more, he wrote unto Ptolemeus, the governor of Celosyria and Phenice, to yield more aid to the king’s affairs.
8:9	Then forthwith choosing Nicanor the son of Patroclus, one of his special friends, he sent him with no fewer than twenty thousand of all nations under him, to root out the whole generation of the Jews; and with him he joined also Gorgias a captain, who in matters of war had great experience.
8:10	So Nicanor undertook to make so much money of the captive Jews, as should defray the tribute of two thousand talents, which the king was to pay to the Romans.
8:11	Wherefore immediately he sent to the cities upon the sea coast, proclaiming a sale of the captive Jews, and promising that they should have fourscore and ten bodies for one talent, not expecting the vengeance that was to follow upon him from the Almighty God.
8:12	Now when word was brought unto Judas of Nicanor’s coming, and he had imparted unto those that were with him that the army was at hand,
8:13	They that were fearful, and distrusted the justice of God, fled, and conveyed themselves away.
8:14	Others sold all that they had left, and withal besought the Lord to deliver them, sold by the wicked Nicanor before they met together:
8:15	And if not for their own sakes, yet for the covenants he had made with their fathers, and for his holy and glorious name’s sake, by which they were called.
8:16	So Maccabeus called his men together unto the number of six thousand, and exhorted them not to be stricken with terror of the enemy, nor to fear the great multitude of the heathen, who came wrongly against them; but to fight manfully,
8:17	And to set before their eyes the injury that they had unjustly done to the holy place, and the cruel handling of the city, whereof they made a mockery, and also the taking away of the government of their forefathers:
8:18	For they, said he, trust in their weapons and boldness; but our confidence is in the Almighty who at a beck can cast down both them that come against us, and also all the world.
8:19	Moreover, he recounted unto them what helps their forefathers had found, and how they were delivered, when under Sennacherib an hundred fourscore and five thousand perished.
8:20	And he told them of the battle that they had in Babylon with the Galatians, how they came but eight thousand in all to the business, with four thousand Macedonians, and that the Macedonians being perplexed, the eight thousand destroyed an hundred and twenty thousand because of the help that they had from heaven, and so received a great booty.
8:21	Thus when he had made them bold with these words, and ready to die for the law and the country, he divided his army into four parts;
8:22	And joined with himself his own brethren, leaders of each band, to wit Simon, and Joseph, and Jonathan, giving each one fifteen hundred men.
8:23	Also he appointed Eleazar to read the holy book: and when he had given them this watchword, The help of God; himself leading the first band,
8:24	And by the help of the Almighty they slew above nine thousand of their enemies, and wounded and maimed the most part of Nicanor’s host, and so put all to flight;
8:25	And took their money that came to buy them, and pursued them far: but lacking time they returned:
8:26	For it was the day before the sabbath, and therefore they would no longer pursue them.
8:27	So when they had gathered their armour together, and spoiled their enemies, they occupied themselves about the sabbath, yielding exceeding praise and thanks to the Lord, who had preserved them unto that day, which was the beginning of mercy distilling upon them.
8:28	And after the sabbath, when they had given part of the spoils to the maimed, and the widows, and orphans, the residue they divided among themselves and their servants.
8:29	When this was done, and they had made a common supplication, they besought the merciful Lord to be reconciled with his servants for ever.
8:30	Moreover of those that were with Timotheus and Bacchides, who fought against them, they slew above twenty thousand, and very easily got high and strong holds, and divided among themselves many spoils more, and made the maimed, orphans, widows, yea, and the aged also, equal in spoils with themselves.
8:31	And when they had gathered their armour together, they laid them up all carefully in convenient places, and the remnant of the spoils they brought to Jerusalem.
8:32	They slew also Philarches, that wicked person, who was with Timotheus, and had annoyed the Jews many ways.
8:33	Furthermore at such time as they kept the feast for the victory in their country they burnt Callisthenes, that had set fire upon the holy gates, who had fled into a little house; and so he received a reward meet for his wickedness.
8:34	As for that most ungracious Nicanor, who had brought a thousand merchants to buy the Jews,
8:35	He was through the help of the Lord brought down by them, of whom he made least account; and putting off his glorious apparel, and discharging his company, he came like a fugitive servant through the midland unto Antioch having very great dishonour, for that his host was destroyed.
8:36	Thus he, that took upon him to make good to the Romans their tribute by means of captives in Jerusalem, told abroad, that the Jews had God to fight for them, and therefore they could not be hurt, because they followed the laws that he gave them.
9:1	About that time came Antiochus with dishonour out of the country of Persia
9:2	For he had entered the city called Persepolis, and went about to rob the temple, and to hold the city; whereupon the multitude running to defend themselves with their weapons put them to flight; and so it happened, that Antiochus being put to flight of the inhabitants returned with shame.
9:3	Now when he came to Ecbatane, news was brought him what had happened unto Nicanor and Timotheus.
9:4	Then swelling with anger. he thought to avenge upon the Jews the disgrace done unto him by those that made him flee. Therefore commanded he his chariotman to drive without ceasing, and to dispatch the journey, the judgment of God now following him. For he had spoken proudly in this sort, That he would come to Jerusalem and make it a common burying place of the Jews.
9:5	But the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, smote him with an incurable and invisible plague: or as soon as he had spoken these words, a pain of the bowels that was remediless came upon him, and sore torments of the inner parts;
9:6	And that most justly: for he had tormented other men’s bowels with many and strange torments.
9:7	Howbeit he nothing at all ceased from his bragging, but still was filled with pride, breathing out fire in his rage against the Jews, and commanding to haste the journey: but it came to pass that he fell down from his chariot, carried violently; so that having a sore fall, all the members of his body were much pained.
9:8	And thus he that a little afore thought he might command the waves of the sea, (so proud was he beyond the condition of man) and weigh the high mountains in a balance, was now cast on the ground, and carried in an horselitter, shewing forth unto all the manifest power of God.
9:9	So that the worms rose up out of the body of this wicked man, and whiles he lived in sorrow and pain, his flesh fell away, and the filthiness of his smell was noisome to all his army.
9:10	And the man, that thought a little afore he could reach to the stars of heaven, no man could endure to carry for his intolerable stink.
9:11	Here therefore, being plagued, he began to leave off his great pride, and to come to the knowledge of himself by the scourge of God, his pain increasing every moment.
9:12	And when he himself could not abide his own smell, he said these words, It is meet to be subject unto God, and that a man that is mortal should not proudly think of himself if he were God.
9:13	This wicked person vowed also unto the Lord, who now no more would have mercy upon him, saying thus,
9:14	That the holy city (to the which he was going in haste to lay it even with the ground, and to make it a common buryingplace,) he would set at liberty:
9:15	And as touching the Jews, whom he had judged not worthy so much as to be buried, but to be cast out with their children to be devoured of the fowls and wild beasts, he would make them all equals to the citizens of Athens:
9:16	And the holy temple, which before he had spoiled, he would garnish with goodly gifts, and restore all the holy vessels with many more, and out of his own revenue defray the charges belonging to the sacrifices:
9:17	Yea, and that also he would become a Jew himself, and go through all the world that was inhabited, and declare the power of God.
9:18	But for all this his pains would not cease: for the just judgment of God was come upon him: therefore despairing of his health, he wrote unto the Jews the letter underwritten, containing the form of a supplication, after this manner:
9:19	Antiochus, king and governor, to the good Jews his citizens wisheth much joy, health, and prosperity:
9:20	If ye and your children fare well, and your affairs be to your contentment, I give very great thanks to God, having my hope in heaven.
9:21	As for me, I was weak, or else I would have remembered kindly your honour and good will returning out of Persia, and being taken with a grievous disease, I thought it necessary to care for the common safety of all:
9:22	Not distrusting mine health, but having great hope to escape this sickness.
9:23	But considering that even my father, at what time he led an army into the high countries. appointed a successor,
9:24	To the end that, if any thing fell out contrary to expectation, or if any tidings were brought that were grievous, they of the land, knowing to whom the state was left, might not be troubled:
9:25	Again, considering how that the princes that are borderers and neighbours unto my kingdom wait for opportunities, and expect what shall be the event. I have appointed my son Antiochus king, whom I often committed and commended unto many of you, when I went up into the high provinces; to whom I have written as followeth:
9:26	Therefore I pray and request you to remember the benefits that I have done unto you generally, and in special, and that every man will be still faithful to me and my son.
9:27	For I am persuaded that he understanding my mind will favourably and graciously yield to your desires.
9:28	Thus the murderer and blasphemer having suffered most grievously, as he entreated other men, so died he a miserable death in a strange country in the mountains.
9:29	And Philip, that was brought up with him, carried away his body, who also fearing the son of Antiochus went into Egypt to Ptolemeus Philometor.
10:1	Now Maccabeus and his company, the Lord guiding them, recovered the temple and the city:
10:2	But the altars which the heathen had built in the open street, and also the chapels, they pulled down.
10:3	And having cleansed the temple they made another altar, and striking stones they took fire out of them, and offered a sacrifice after two years, and set forth incense, and lights, and shewbread.
10:4	When that was done, they fell flat down, and besought the Lord that they might come no more into such troubles; but if they sinned any more against him, that he himself would chasten them with mercy, and that they might not be delivered unto the blasphemous and barbarous nations.
10:5	Now upon the same day that the strangers profaned the temple, on the very same day it was cleansed again, even the five and twentieth day of the same month, which is Casleu.
10:6	And they kept the eight days with gladness, as in the feast of the tabernacles, remembering that not long afore they had held the feast of the tabernacles, when as they wandered in the mountains and dens like beasts.
10:7	Therefore they bare branches, and fair boughs, and palms also, and sang psalms unto him that had given them good success in cleansing his place.
10:8	They ordained also by a common statute and decree, That every year those days should be kept of the whole nation of the Jews.
10:9	And this was the end of Antiochus, called Epiphanes.
10:10	Now will we declare the acts of Antiochus Eupator, who was the son of this wicked man, gathering briefly the calamities of the wars.
10:11	So when he was come to the crown, he set one Lysias over the affairs of his realm, and appointed him his chief governor of Celosyria and Phenice.
10:12	For Ptolemeus, that was called Macron, choosing rather to do justice unto the Jews for the wrong that had been done unto them, endeavoured to continue peace with them.
10:13	Whereupon being accused of the king’s friends before Eupator, and called traitor at every word because he had left Cyprus, that Philometor had committed unto him, and departed to Antiochus Epiphanes, and seeing that he was in no honourable place, he was so discouraged, that he poisoned himself and died.
10:14	But when Gorgias was governor of the holds, he hired soldiers, and nourished war continually with the Jews:
10:15	And therewithall the Idumeans, having gotten into their hands the most commodious holds, kept the Jews occupied, and receiving those that were banished from Jerusalem, they went about to nourish war.
10:16	Then they that were with Maccabeus made supplication, and besought God that he would be their helper; and so they ran with violence upon the strong holds of the Idumeans,
10:17	And assaulting them strongly, they won the holds, and kept off all that fought upon the wall, and slew all that fell into their hands, and killed no fewer than twenty thousand.
10:18	And because certain, who were no less than nine thousand, were fled together into two very strong castles, having all manner of things convenient to sustain the siege,
10:19	Maccabeus left Simon and Joseph, and Zaccheus also, and them that were with him, who were enough to besiege them, and departed himself unto those places which more needed his help.
10:20	Now they that were with Simon, being led with covetousness, were persuaded for money through certain of those that were in the castle, and took seventy thousand drachms, and let some of them escape.
10:21	But when it was told Maccabeus what was done, he called the governors of the people together, and accused those men, that they had sold their brethren for money, and set their enemies free to fight against them.
10:22	So he slew those that were found traitors, and immediately took the two castles.
10:23	And having good success with his weapons in all things he took in hand, he slew in the two holds more than twenty thousand.
10:24	Now Timotheus, whom the Jews had overcome before, when he had gathered a great multitude of foreign forces, and horses out of Asia not a few, came as though he would take Jewry by force of arms.
10:25	But when he drew near, they that were with Maccabeus turned themselves to pray unto God, and sprinkled earth upon their heads, and girded their loins with sackcloth,
10:26	And fell down at the foot of the altar, and besought him to be merciful to them, and to be an enemy to their enemies, and an adversary to their adversaries, as the law declareth.
10:27	So after the prayer they took their weapons, and went on further from the city: and when they drew near to their enemies, they kept by themselves.
10:28	Now the sun being newly risen, they joined both together; the one part having together with their virtue their refuge also unto the Lord for a pledge of their success and victory: the other side making their rage leader of their battle
10:29	But when the battle waxed strong, there appeared unto the enemies from heaven five comely men upon horses, with bridles of gold, and two of them led the Jews,
10:30	And took Maccabeus betwixt them, and covered him on every side weapons, and kept him safe, but shot arrows and lightnings against the enemies: so that being confounded with blindness, and full of trouble, they were killed.
10:31	And there were slain of footmen twenty thousand and five hundred, and six hundred horsemen.
10:32	As for Timotheus himself, he fled into a very strong hold, called Gawra, where Chereas was governor.
10:33	But they that were with Maccabeus laid siege against the fortress courageously four days.
10:34	And they that were within, trusting to the strength of the place, blasphemed exceedingly, and uttered wicked words.
10:35	Nevertheless upon the fifth day early twenty young men of Maccabeus’ company, inflamed with anger because of the blasphemies, assaulted the wall manly, and with a fierce courage killed all that they met withal.
10:36	Others likewise ascending after them, whiles they were busied with them that were within, burnt the towers, and kindling fires burnt the blasphemers alive; and others broke open the gates, and, having received in the rest of the army, took the city,
10:37	And killed Timotheus, that was hid in a certain pit, and Chereas his brother, with Apollophanes.
10:38	When this was done, they praised the Lord with psalms and thanksgiving, who had done so great things for Israel, and given them the victory.
11:1	Not long after this, Lysias the king’s protector and cousin, who also managed the affairs, took sore displeasure for the things that were done.
11:2	And when he had gathered about fourscore thousand with all the horsemen, he came against the Jews, thinking to make the city an habitation of the Gentiles,
11:3	And to make a gain of the temple, as of the other chapels of the heathen, and to set the high priesthood to sale every year:
11:4	Not at all considering the power of God but puffed up with his ten thousands of footmen, and his thousands of horsemen, and his fourscore elephants.
11:5	So he came to Judea, and drew near to Bethsura, which was a strong town, but distant from Jerusalem about five furlongs, and he laid sore siege unto it.
11:6	Now when they that were with Maccabeus heard that he besieged the holds, they and all the people with lamentation and tears besought the Lord that he would send a good angel to deliver Israel.
11:7	Then Maccabeus himself first of all took weapons, exhorting the other that they would jeopard themselves together with him to help their brethren: so they went forth together with a willing mind.
11:8	And as they were at Jerusalem, there appeared before them on horseback one in white clothing, shaking his armour of gold.
11:9	Then they praised the merciful God all together, and took heart, insomuch that they were ready not only to fight with men, but with most cruel beasts, and to pierce through walls of iron.
11:10	Thus they marched forward in their armour, having an helper from heaven: for the Lord was merciful unto them
11:11	And giving a charge upon their enemies like lions, they slew eleven thousand footmen, and sixteen hundred horsemen, and put all the other to flight.
11:12	Many of them also being wounded escaped naked; and Lysias himself fled away shamefully, and so escaped.
11:13	Who, as he was a man of understanding, casting with himself what loss he had had, and considering that the Hebrews could not be overcome, because the Almighty God helped them, he sent unto them,
11:14	And persuaded them to agree to all reasonable conditions, and promised that he would persuade the king that he must needs be a friend unto them.
11:15	Then Maccabeus consented to all that Lysias desired, being careful of the common good; and whatsoever Maccabeus wrote unto Lysias concerning the Jews, the king granted it.
11:16	For there were letters written unto the Jews from Lysias to this effect: Lysias unto the people of the Jews sendeth greeting:
11:17	John and Absolom, who were sent from you, delivered me the petition subscribed, and made request for the performance of the contents thereof.
11:18	Therefore what things soever were meet to be reported to the king, I have declared them, and he hath granted as much as might be.
11:19	And if then ye will keep yourselves loyal to the state, hereafter also will I endeavour to be a means of your good.
11:20	But of the particulars I have given order both to these and the other that came from me, to commune with you.
11:21	Fare ye well. The hundred and eight and fortieth year, the four and twentieth day of the month Dioscorinthius.
11:22	Now the king’s letter contained these words: King Antiochus unto his brother Lysias sendeth greeting:
11:23	Since our father is translated unto the gods, our will is, that they that are in our realm live quietly, that every one may attend upon his own affairs.
11:24	We understand also that the Jews would not consent to our father, for to be brought unto the custom of the Gentiles, but had rather keep their own manner of living: for the which cause they require of us, that we should suffer them to live after their own laws.
11:25	Wherefore our mind is, that this nation shall be in rest, and we have determined to restore them their temple, that they may live according to the customs of their forefathers.
11:26	Thou shalt do well therefore to send unto them, and grant them peace, that when they are certified of our mind, they may be of good comfort, and ever go cheerfully about their own affairs.
11:27	And the letter of the king unto the nation of the Jews was after this manner: King Antiochus sendeth greeting unto the council, and the rest of the Jews:
11:28	If ye fare well, we have our desire; we are also in good health.
11:29	Menelaus declared unto us, that your desire was to return home, and to follow your own business:
11:30	Wherefore they that will depart shall have safe conduct till the thirtieth day of Xanthicus with security.
11:31	And the Jews shall use their own kind of meats and laws, as before; and none of them any manner of ways shall be molested for things ignorantly done.
11:32	I have sent also Menelaus, that he may comfort you.
11:33	Fare ye well. In the hundred forty and eighth year, and the fifteenth day of the month Xanthicus.
11:34	The Romans also sent unto them a letter containing these words: Quintus Memmius and Titus Manlius, ambassadors of the Romans, send greeting unto the people of the Jews.
11:35	Whatsoever Lysias the king’s cousin hath granted, therewith we also are well pleased.
11:36	But touching such things as he judged to be referred to the king, after ye have advised thereof, send one forthwith, that we may declare as it is convenient for you: for we are now going to Antioch.
11:37	Therefore send some with speed, that we may know what is your mind.
11:38	Farewell. This hundred and eight and fortieth year, the fifteenth day of the month Xanthicus.
12:1	When these covenants were made, Lysias went unto the king, and the Jews were about their husbandry.
12:2	But of the governours of several places, Timotheus, and Apollonius the son of Genneus, also Hieronymus, and Demophon, and beside them Nicanor the governor of Cyprus, would not suffer them to be quiet and live in peace.
12:3	The men of Joppa also did such an ungodly deed: they prayed the Jews that dwelt among them to go with their wives and children into the boats which they had prepared, as though they had meant them no hurt.
12:4	Who accepted of it according to the common decree of the city, as being desirous to live in peace, and suspecting nothing: but when they were gone forth into the deep, they drowned no less than two hundred of them.
12:5	When Judas heard of this cruelty done unto his countrymen, he commanded those that were with him to make them ready.
12:6	And calling upon God the righteous Judge, he came against those murderers of his brethren, and burnt the haven by night, and set the boats on fire, and those that fled thither he slew.
12:7	And when the town was shut up, he went backward, as if he would return to root out all them of the city of Joppa.
12:8	But when he heard that the Jamnites were minded to do in like manner unto the Jews that dwelt among them,
12:9	He came upon the Jamnites also by night, and set fire on the haven and the navy, so that the light of the fire was seen at Jerusalem two hundred and forty furlongs off.
12:10	Now when they were gone from thence nine furlongs in their journey toward Timotheus, no fewer than five thousand men on foot and five hundred horsemen of the Arabians set upon him.
12:11	Whereupon there was a very sore battle; but Judas’ side by the help of God got the victory; so that the Nomades of Arabia, being overcome, besought Judas for peace, promising both to give him cattle, and to pleasure him otherwise.
12:12	Then Judas, thinking indeed that they would be profitable in many things, granted them peace: whereupon they shook hands, and so they departed to their tents.
12:13	He went also about to make a bridge to a certain strong city, which was fenced about with walls, and inhabited by people of divers countries; and the name of it was Caspis.
12:14	But they that were within it put such trust in the strength of the walls and provision of victuals, that they behaved themselves rudely toward them that were with Judas, railing and blaspheming, and uttering such words as were not to be spoken.
12:15	Wherefore Judas with his company, calling upon the great Lord of the world, who without rams or engines of war did cast down Jericho in the time of Joshua, gave a fierce assault against the walls,
12:16	And took the city by the will of God, and made unspeakable slaughters, insomuch that a lake two furlongs broad near adjoining thereunto, being filled full, was seen running with blood.
12:17	Then departed they from thence seven hundred and fifty furlongs, and came to Characa unto the Jews that are called Tubieni.
12:18	But as for Timotheus, they found him not in the places: for before he had dispatched any thing, he departed from thence, having left a very strong garrison in a certain hold.
12:19	Howbeit Dositheus and Sosipater, who were of Maccabeus’ captains, went forth, and slew those that Timotheus had left in the fortress, above ten thousand men.
12:20	And Maccabeus ranged his army by bands, and set them over the bands, and went against Timotheus, who had about him an hundred and twenty thousand men of foot, and two thousand and five hundred horsemen.
12:21	Now when Timotheus had knowledge of Judas’ coming, he sent the women and children and the other baggage unto a fortress called Carnion: for the town was hard to besiege, and uneasy to come unto, by reason of the straitness of all the places.
12:22	But when Judas his first band came in sight, the enemies, being smitten with fear and terror through the appearing of him who seeth all things, fled amain, one running into this way, another that way, so as that they were often hurt of their own men, and wounded with the points of their own swords.
12:23	Judas also was very earnest in pursuing them, killing those wicked wretches, of whom he slew about thirty thousand men.
12:24	Moreover Timotheus himself fell into the hands of Dositheus and Sosipater, whom he besought with much craft to let him go with his life, because he had many of the Jews’ parents, and the brethren of some of them, who, if they put him to death, should not be regarded.
12:25	So when he had assured them with many words that he would restore them without hurt, according to the agreement, they let him go for the saving of their brethren.
12:26	Then Maccabeus marched forth to Carnion, and to the temple of Atargatis, and there he slew five and twenty thousand persons.
12:27	And after he had put to flight and destroyed them, Judas removed the host toward Ephron, a strong city, wherein Lysias abode, and a great multitude of divers nations, and the strong young men kept the walls, and defended them mightily: wherein also was great provision of engines and darts.
12:28	But when Judas and his company had called upon Almighty God, who with his power breaketh the strength of his enemies, they won the city, and slew twenty and five thousand of them that were within,
12:29	From thence they departed to Scythopolis, which lieth six hundred furlongs from Jerusalem,
12:30	But when the Jews that dwelt there had testified that the Scythopolitans dealt lovingly with them, and entreated them kindly in the time of their adversity;
12:31	They gave them thanks, desiring them to be friendly still unto them: and so they came to Jerusalem, the feast of the weeks approaching.
12:32	And after the feast, called Pentecost, they went forth against Gorgias the governor of Idumea,
12:33	Who came out with three thousand men of foot and four hundred horsemen.
12:34	And it happened that in their fighting together a few of the Jews were slain.
12:35	At which time Dositheus, one of Bacenor’s company, who was on horseback, and a strong man, was still upon Gorgias, and taking hold of his coat drew him by force; and when he would have taken that cursed man alive, a horseman of Thracia coming upon him smote off his shoulder, so that Gorgias fled unto Marisa.
12:36	Now when they that were with Gorgias had fought long, and were weary, Judas called upon the Lord, that he would shew himself to be their helper and leader of the battle.
12:37	And with that he began in his own language, and sung psalms with a loud voice, and rushing unawares upon Gorgias’ men, he put them to flight.
12:38	So Judas gathered his host, and came into the city of Odollam, And when the seventh day came, they purified themselves, as the custom was, and kept the sabbath in the same place.
12:39	And upon the day following, as the use had been, Judas and his company came to take up the bodies of them that were slain, and to bury them with their kinsmen in their fathers’ graves.
12:40	Now under the coats of every one that was slain they found things consecrated to the idols of the Jamnites, which is forbidden the Jews by the law. Then every man saw that this was the cause wherefore they were slain.
12:41	All men therefore praising the Lord, the righteous Judge, who had opened the things that were hid,
12:42	Betook themselves unto prayer, and besought him that the sin committed might wholly be put out of remembrance. Besides, that noble Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves from sin, forsomuch as they saw before their eyes the things that came to pass for the sins of those that were slain.
12:43	And when he had made a gathering throughout the company to the sum of two thousand drachms of silver, he sent it to Jerusalem to offer a sin offering, doing therein very well and honestly, in that he was mindful of the resurrection:
12:44	For if he had not hoped that they that were slain should have risen again, it had been superfluous and vain to pray for the dead.
12:45	And also in that he perceived that there was great favour laid up for those that died godly, it was an holy and good thought. Whereupon he made a reconciliation for the dead, that they might be delivered from sin.
13:1	In the hundred forty and ninth year it was told Judas, that Antiochus Eupator was coming with a great power into Judea,
13:2	And with him Lysias his protector, and ruler of his affairs, having either of them a Grecian power of footmen, an hundred and ten thousand, and horsemen five thousand and three hundred, and elephants two and twenty, and three hundred chariots armed with hooks.
13:3	Menelaus also joined himself with them, and with great dissimulation encouraged Antiochus, not for the safeguard of the country, but because he thought to have been made governor.
13:4	But the King of kings moved Antiochus’ mind against this wicked wretch, and Lysias informed the king that this man was the cause of all mischief, so that the king commanded to bring him unto Berea, and to put him to death, as the manner is in that place.
13:5	Now there was in that place a tower of fifty cubits high, full of ashes, and it had a round instrument which on every side hanged down into the ashes.
13:6	And whosoever was condemned of sacrilege, or had committed any other grievous crime, there did all men thrust him unto death.
13:7	Such a death it happened that wicked man to die, not having so much as burial in the earth; and that most justly:
13:8	For inasmuch as he had committed many sins about the altar, whose fire and ashes were holy, he received his death in ashes.
13:9	Now the king came with a barbarous and haughty mind to do far worse to the Jews, than had been done in his father’s time.
13:10	Which things when Judas perceived, he commanded the multitude to call upon the Lord night and day, that if ever at any other time, he would now also help them, being at the point to be put from their law, from their country, and from the holy temple:
13:11	And that he would not suffer the people, that had even now been but a little refreshed, to be in subjection to the blasphemous nations.
13:12	So when they had all done this together, and besought the merciful Lord with weeping and fasting, and lying flat upon the ground three days long, Judas, having exhorted them, commanded they should be in a readiness.
13:13	And Judas, being apart with the elders, determined, before the king’s host should enter into Judea, and get the city, to go forth and try the matter in fight by the help of the Lord.
13:14	So when he had committed all to the Creator of the world, and exhorted his soldiers to fight manfully, even unto death, for the laws, the temple, the city, the country, and the commonwealth, he camped by Modin:
13:15	And having given the watchword to them that were about him, Victory is of God; with the most valiant and choice young men he went in into the king’s tent by night, and slew in the camp about four thousand men, and the chiefest of the elephants, with all that were upon him.
13:16	And at last they filled the camp with fear and tumult, and departed with good success.
13:17	This was done in the break of the day, because the protection of the Lord did help him.
13:18	Now when the king had taken a taste of the manliness of the Jews, he went about to take the holds by policy,
13:19	And marched toward Bethsura, which was a strong hold of the Jews: but he was put to flight, failed, and lost of his men:
13:20	For Judas had conveyed unto them that were in it such things as were necessary.
13:21	But Rhodocus, who was in the Jews’ host, disclosed the secrets to the enemies; therefore he was sought out, and when they had gotten him, they put him in prison.
13:22	The king treated with them in Bethsum the second time, gave his hand, took their’s, departed, fought with Judas, was overcome;
13:23	Heard that Philip, who was left over the affairs in Antioch, was desperately bent, confounded, intreated the Jews, submitted himself, and sware to all equal conditions, agreed with them, and offered sacrifice, honoured the temple, and dealt kindly with the place,
13:24	And accepted well of Maccabeus, made him principal governor from Ptolemais unto the Gerrhenians;
13:25	Came to Ptolemais: the people there were grieved for the covenants; for they stormed, because they would make their covenants void:
13:26	Lysias went up to the judgment seat, said as much as could be in defence of the cause, persuaded, pacified, made them well affected, returned to Antioch. Thus it went touching the king’s coming and departing.
14:1	After three years was Judas informed, that Demetrius the son of Seleucus, having entered by the haven of Tripolis with a great power and navy,
14:2	Had taken the country, and killed Antiochus, and Lysias his protector.
14:3	Now one Alcimus, who had been high priest, and had defiled himself wilfully in the times of their mingling with the Gentiles, seeing that by no means he could save himself, nor have any more access to the holy altar,
14:4	Came to king Demetrius in the hundred and one and fiftieth year, presenting unto him a crown of gold, and a palm, and also of the boughs which were used solemnly in the temple: and so that day he held his peace.
14:5	Howbeit having gotten opportunity to further his foolish enterprize, and being called into counsel by Demetrius, and asked how the Jews stood affected, and what they intended, he answered thereunto:
14:6	Those of the Jews that he called Assideans, whose captain is Judas Maccabeus, nourish war and are seditious, and will not let the rest be in peace.
14:7	Therefore I, being deprived of mine ancestors’ honour, I mean the high priesthood, am now come hither:
14:8	First, verily for the unfeigned care I have of things pertaining to the king; and secondly, even for that I intend the good of mine own countrymen: for all our nation is in no small misery through the unadvised dealing of them aforersaid.
14:9	Wherefore, O king, seeing knowest all these things, be careful for the country, and our nation, which is pressed on every side, according to the clemency that thou readily shewest unto all.
14:10	For as long as Judas liveth, it is not possible that the state should be quiet.
14:11	This was no sooner spoken of him, but others of the king’s friends, being maliciously set against Judas, did more incense Demetrius.
14:12	And forthwith calling Nicanor, who had been master of the elephants, and making him governor over Judea, he sent him forth,
14:13	Commanding him to slay Judas, and to scatter them that were with him, and to make Alcimus high priest of the great temple.
14:14	Then the heathen, that had fled out of Judea from Judas, came to Nicanor by flocks, thinking the harm and calamities of the Jews to be their welfare.
14:15	Now when the Jews heard of Nicanor’s coming, and that the heathen were up against them, they cast earth upon their heads, and made supplication to him that had established his people for ever, and who always helpeth his portion with manifestation of his presence.
14:16	So at the commandment of the captain they removed straightways from thence, and came near unto them at the town of Dessau.
14:17	Now Simon, Judas’ brother, had joined battle with Nicanor, but was somewhat discomfited through the sudden silence of his enemies.
14:18	Nevertheless Nicanor, hearing of the manliness of them that were with Judas, and the courageousness that they had to fight for their country, durst not try the matter by the sword.
14:19	Wherefore he sent Posidonius, and Theodotus, and Mattathias, to make peace.
14:20	So when they had taken long advisement thereupon, and the captain had made the multitude acquainted therewith, and it appeared that they were all of one mind, they consented to the covenants,
14:21	And appointed a day to meet in together by themselves: and when the day came, and stools were set for either of them,
14:22	Ludas placed armed men ready in convenient places, lest some treachery should be suddenly practised by the enemies: so they made a peaceable conference.
14:23	Now Nicanor abode in Jerusalem, and did no hurt, but sent away the people that came flocking unto him.
14:24	And he would not willingly have Judas out of his sight: for he love the man from his heart
14:25	He prayed him also to take a wife, and to beget children: so he married, was quiet, and took part of this life.
14:26	But Alcimus, perceiving the love that was betwixt them, and considering the covenants that were made, came to Demetrius, and told him that Nicanor was not well affected toward the state; for that he had ordained Judas, a traitor to his realm, to be the king’s successor.
14:27	Then the king being in a rage, and provoked with the accusations of the most wicked man, wrote to Nicanor, signifying that he was much displeased with the covenants, and commanding him that he should send Maccabeus prisoner in all haste unto Antioch.
14:28	When this came to Nicanor’s hearing, he was much confounded in himself, and took it grievously that he should make void the articles which were agreed upon, the man being in no fault.
14:29	But because there was no dealing against the king, he watched his time to accomplish this thing by policy.
14:30	Notwithstanding, when Maccabeus saw that Nicanor began to be churlish unto him, and that he entreated him more roughly than he was wont, perceiving that such sour behaviour came not of good, he gathered together not a few of his men, and withdrew himself from Nicanor.
14:31	But the other, knowing that he was notably prevented by Judas’ policy, came into the great and holy temple, and commanded the priests, that were offering their usual sacrifices, to deliver him the man.
14:32	And when they sware that they could not tell where the man was whom he sought,
14:33	He stretched out his right hand toward the temple, and made an oath in this manner: If ye will not deliver me Judas as a prisoner, I will lay this temple of God even with the ground, and I will break down the altar, and erect a notable temple unto Bacchus.
14:34	After these words he departed. Then the priests lifted up their hands toward heaven, and besought him that was ever a defender of their nation, saying in this manner;
14:35	Thou, O Lord of all things, who hast need of nothing, wast pleased that the temple of thine habitation should be among us:
14:36	Therefore now, O holy Lord of all holiness, keep this house ever undefiled, which lately was cleansed, and stop every unrighteous mouth.
14:37	Now was there accused unto Nicanor one Razis, one of the elders of Jerusalem, a lover of his countrymen, and a man of very good report, who for his kindness was called a father of the Jews.
14:38	For in the former times, when they mingled not themselves with the Gentiles, he had been accused of Judaism, and did boldly jeopard his body and life with all vehemency for the religion of the Jews.
14:39	So Nicanor, willing to declare the hate that he bare unto the Jews, sent above five hundred men of war to take him:
14:40	For he thought by taking him to do the Jews much hurt.
14:41	Now when the multitude would have taken the tower, and violently broken into the outer door, and bade that fire should be brought to burn it, he being ready to be taken on every side fell upon his sword;
14:42	Choosing rather to die manfully, than to come into the hands of the wicked, to be abused otherwise than beseemed his noble birth:
14:43	But missing his stroke through haste, the multitude also rushing within the doors, he ran boldly up to the wall, and cast himself down manfully among the thickest of them.
14:44	But they quickly giving back, and a space being made, he fell down into the midst of the void place.
14:45	Nevertheless, while there was yet breath within him, being inflamed with anger, he rose up; and though his blood gushed out like spouts of water, and his wounds were grievous, yet he ran through the midst of the throng; and standing upon a steep rock,
14:46	When as his blood was now quite gone, he plucked out his bowels, and taking them in both his hands, he cast them upon the throng, and calling upon the Lord of life and spirit to restore him those again, he thus died.
15:1	But Nicanor, hearing that Judas and his company were in the strong places about Samaria, resolved without any danger to set upon them on the sabbath day.
15:2	Nevertheless the Jews that were compelled to go with him said, O destroy not so cruelly and barbarously, but give honour to that day, which he, that seeth all things, hath honoured with holiness above all other days.
15:3	Then the most ungracious wretch demanded, if there were a Mighty one in heaven, that had commanded the sabbath day to be kept.
15:4	And when they said, There is in heaven a living Lord, and mighty, who commanded the seventh day to be kept:
15:5	Then said the other, And I also am mighty upon earth, and I command to take arms, and to do the king’s business. Yet he obtained not to have his wicked will done.
15:6	So Nicanor in exceeding pride and haughtiness determined to set up a publick monument of his victory over Judas and them that were with him.
15:7	But Maccabeus had ever sure confidence that the Lord would help him:
15:8	Wherefore he exhorted his people not to fear the coming of the heathen against them, but to remember the help which in former times they had received from heaven, and now to expect the victory and aid, which should come unto them from the Almighty.
15:9	And so comforting them out of the law and the prophets, and withal putting them in mind of the battles that they won afore, he made them more cheerful.
15:10	And when he had stirred up their minds, he gave them their charge, shewing them therewithall the falsehood of the heathen, and the breach of oaths.
15:11	Thus he armed every one of them, not so much with defence of shields and spears, as with comfortable and good words: and beside that, he told them a dream worthy to be believed, as if it had been so indeed, which did not a little rejoice them.
15:12	And this was his vision: That Onias, who had been high priest, a virtuous and a good man, reverend in conversation, gentle in condition, well spoken also, and exercised from a child in all points of virtue, holding up his hands prayed for the whole body of the Jews.
15:13	This done, in like manner there appeared a man with gray hairs, and exceeding glorious, who was of a wonderful and excellent majesty.
15:14	Then Onias answered, saying, This is a lover of the brethren, who prayeth much for the people, and for the holy city, to wit, Jeremias the prophet of God.
15:15	Whereupon Jeremias holding forth his right hand gave to Judas a sword of gold, and in giving it spake thus,
15:16	Take this holy sword, a gift from God, with the which thou shalt wound the adversaries.
15:17	Thus being well comforted by the words of Judas, which were very good, and able to stir them up to valour, and to encourage the hearts of the young men, they determined not to pitch camp, but courageously to set upon them, and manfully to try the matter by conflict, because the city and the sanctuary and the temple were in danger.
15:18	For the care that they took for their wives, and their children, their brethren, and folks, was in least account with them: but the greatest and principal fear was for the holy temple.
15:19	Also they that were in the city took not the least care, being troubled for the conflict abroad.
15:20	And now, when as all looked what should be the trial, and the enemies were already come near, and the army was set in array, and the beasts conveniently placed, and the horsemen set in wings,
15:21	Maccabeus seeing the coming of the multitude, and the divers preparations of armour, and the fierceness of the beasts, stretched out his hands toward heaven, and called upon the Lord that worketh wonders, knowing that victory cometh not by arms, but even as it seemeth good to him, he giveth it to such as are worthy:
15:22	Therefore in his prayer he said after this manner; O Lord, thou didst send thine angel in the time of Ezekias king of Judea, and didst slay in the host of Sennacherib an hundred fourscore and five thousand:
15:23	Wherefore now also, O Lord of heaven, send a good angel before us for a fear and dread unto them;
15:24	And through the might of thine arm let those be stricken with terror, that come against thy holy people to blaspheme. And he ended thus.
15:25	Then Nicanor and they that were with him came forward with trumpets and songs.
15:26	But Judas and his company encountered the enemies with invocation and prayer.
15:27	So that fighting with their hands, and praying unto God with their hearts, they slew no less than thirty and five thousand men: for through the appearance of God they were greatly cheered.
15:28	Now when the battle was done, returning again with joy, they knew that Nicanor lay dead in his harness.
15:29	Then they made a great shout and a noise, praising the Almighty in their own language.
15:30	And Judas, who was ever the chief defender of the citizens both in body and mind, and who continued his love toward his countrymen all his life, commanded to strike off Nicanor’s head, and his hand with his shoulder, and bring them to Jerusalem.
15:31	So when he was there, and called them of his nation together, and set the priests before the altar, he sent for them that were of the tower,
15:32	And shewed them vile Nicanor’s head, and the hand of that blasphemer, which with proud brags he had stretched out against the holy temple of the Almighty.
15:33	And when he had cut out the tongue of that ungodly Nicanor, he commanded that they should give it by pieces unto the fowls, and hang up the reward of his madness before the temple.
15:34	So every man praised toward the heaven the glorious Lord, saying, Blessed be he that hath kept his own place undefiled.
15:35	He hanged also Nicanor’s head upon the tower, an evident and manifest sign unto all of the help of the Lord.
15:36	And they ordained all with a common decree in no case to let that day pass without solemnity, but to celebrate the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which in the Syrian tongue is called Adar, the day before Mardocheus’ day.
15:37	Thus went it with Nicanor: and from that time forth the Hebrews had the city in their power. And here will I make an end.
15:38	And if I have done well, and as is fitting the story, it is that which I desired: but if slenderly and meanly, it is that which I could attain unto.
15:39	For as it is hurtful to drink wine or water alone; and as wine mingled with water is pleasant, and delighteth the taste: even so speech finely framed delighteth the ears of them that read the story. And here shall be an end.

== Septuagint (Greek) (LXX)
Greek Septuagint as printed by Brenton (1851), public domain. Text from eBible.org

1:1	ΤΟΙΣ ἀδελφοῖς τοῖς κατʼ Αἴγυπτον Ἰουδαίοις χαίρειν· οἱ ἀδελφοὶ οἱ ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις Ἰουδαῖοι, καὶ οἱ ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ τῆς Ἰουδαίας, εἰρήνην ἀγαθήν.
1:2	Καὶ ἀγαθοποιήσαι ὑμῖν ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ μνησθείη τῆς διαθήκης αὐτοῦ τῆς πρὸς Ἁβραὰμ, καὶ Ἰσαὰκ, καὶ Ἰακὼβ τῶν δούλων αὐτοῦ τῶν πιστῶν.
1:3	Καὶ δῴη ὑμῖν καρδίαν πᾶσιν εἰς τὸ σέβεσθαι αὐτὸν, καὶ ποιεῖν αὐτοῦ τὰ θελήματα καρδίᾳ μεγάλῃ, καὶ ψυχῇ βουλομένῃ·
1:4	Καὶ διανοίξαι τὴν καρδίαν ὑμῶν ἐν τῷ νόμῳ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐν τοῖς προστάγμασι, καὶ εἰρήνην ποιήσαι,
1:5	καὶ ἐπακούσαι ὑμῶν τῶν δεήσεων, καὶ καταλλαγείη ὑμῖν, καὶ μὴ ὑμᾶς ἐγκαταλίποι ἐν καιρῷ πονηρῷ.
1:6	Καὶ νῦν ὧδέ ἐσμεν προσευχόμενοι περὶ ὑμῶν.
1:7	Βασιλεύοντος Δημητρίου ἔτους ἑκατοστοῦ ἑξηκοστοῦ ἐννατου, ἡμεῖς ὁ Ιουδαῖοι γεγραφήκαμεν ὑμῖν ἐν τῇ θλίψει, καὶ ἐν τῇ ἀκμῇ τῇ ἐπελθούσῃ ἡμῖν ἐν τοῖς ἔτεσι τούτοις, ἀφʼ οὗ ἀπέστη Ἰάσων καὶ οἱ μετʼ αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τῆς ἁγίας γῆς, καὶ τῆς βασιλείας·
1:8	καὶ ἐνεπύρισαν τὸν πυλῶνα, καὶ ἐξέχεαν αἷμα ἀθῶον· καὶ ἐδεήθημεν τοῦ Κυρίου, καὶ εἰσηκούσθημεν, καὶ προσηνέγκαμεν θυσίαν, καὶ σεμίδαλιν, καὶ ἐξήψαμεν τοὺς λύχνους, καὶ προεθήκαμεν τοὺς ἄρτους.
1:9	Καὶ νῦν ἵνα ἄγητε τὰς ἡμέρας τῆς σκηνοπηγίας τοῦ Χασελεὺ μηνός.
1:10	Ἔτους ἑκατοστοῦ ὀγδοηκοστοῦ καὶ ὀγδόου οἱ ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις, καὶ οἱ ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ, καὶ ἡ γερουσία, καὶ Ἰούδας Ἀριστοβούλῳ διδασκάλῳ Πτολεμαίου τοῦ βασιλέως, ὄντι δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ τῶν χριστῶν ἱερέων γένους, καὶ τοῖς ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ Ἰουδαίοις, χαίρειν καὶ ὑγιαίνειν.
1:11	Ἐκ μεγάλων κινδύνων ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ σεσωσμένοι, μεγάλως εὐχαριστοῦμεν αὐτῷ, ὡς ἂν πρὸς βασιλέα παρατασσόμενοι.
1:12	Αὐτὸς γὰρ ἐξέβρασε τοὺς παραταξαμένους ἐν τῇ ἁγίᾳ πόλει.
1:13	Εἰς γὰρ τὴν Περσίδα γενόμενος ὁ ἡγεμὼν, καὶ ἡ περὶ αὐτὸν ἀνυπόστατος δοκοῦσα εἶναι δύναμις, κατεκόπησαν ἐν τῷ τῆς Ναναίας ἱερῷ, παραλογισμῷ χρησαμένων τῶν περὶ τὴν Ναναίαν ἱερέων.
1:14	Ὡς γὰρ συνοικήσων αὐτῇ παρεγένετο εἰς τὸν τόπον ὅ, τε Ἀντίοχος, καὶ οἱ σὺν αὐτῷ φίλοι, χάριν τοῦ λαβεῖν τὰ χρήματα εἰς φερνῆς λόγον·
1:15	Καὶ προθέντων αὐτὰ τῶν ἱερέων τῆς Ναναίος, κᾀκείνου προσελθόντος μετʼ ὀλίγων εἰς τὸν περίβολον τοῦ τεμένους, συγκλείσαντες τὸ ἱερὸν, ὡς εἰσῆλθεν Ἀντίοχος,
1:16	ἀνοίξαντες τὴν τοῦ φατνώματος κρυπτὴν θύραν, βάλλοντες πέτρους συνεκεραύνωσαν τὸν ἡγεμόνα, καὶ μέλη ποιήσαντες, καὶ τὰς κεφαλὰς ἀφελόντες, τοῖς ἔξω παρέῤῥιψαν.
1:17	Κατὰ πάντα εὐλογητὸς ἡμῶν ὁ Θεὸς, ὃς παρέδωκε τοὺς ἀσεβήσαντας.
1:18	Μέλλοντες οὖν ἄγειν ἐν τῷ Χασελεὺ πέμπτῃ καὶ εἰκάδι τὸν καθαρισμὸν τοῦ ἱεροῦ, δεόν ἡγησάμεθα διασαφῆσαι ὑμῖν, ἵνα καὶ αὐτοὶ ἄγητε τῆς σκηνοπηγίας καὶ τοῦ πυρός, ὅτε Νεεμίας οἰκοδομήσας τό, τε ἱερὸν καὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον, ἀνήνεγκε θυσίαν.
1:19	Καὶ γὰρ ὅτε εἰς τὴν Περσικὴν ἤγοντο οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν, οἵ τότε εὐσεβεῖς ἱερεῖς λαβόντες ἀπὸ τοῦ πυρὸς τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου λαθραίως, κατέκρυψαν ἐν κοιλώματι φρέατος τάξιν ἔχοντος ἀνύδρον, ἐν ᾧ κατησφαλίσαντο, ὥστε πᾶσιν ἄγνωστον εἶναι τὸν τόπον.
1:20	Διελθόντων δὲ ἐτῶν ἱκανῶν, ὅτε ἔδοξεν τῷ Θεῷ, ἀποσταλεὶς Νεεμίας ὑπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως τῆς Περσίδος, τοὺς ἐκγόνους τῶν ἱερέων τῶν ἀποκρυψάντων ἔπεμψεν ἐπὶ τὸ πῦρ·
1:21	ὡς δὲ διεσάφησαν ἡμῖν μὴ εὑρηκέναι πῦρ, ἀλλὰ ὕδωρ παχύ, ἐκέλευσεν αὐτοὺς ἀποβάψαντας φέρειν· ὡς δὲ ἀνηνέχθη τὰ τῶν θυσιῶν, ἐκέλευσε τοὺς ἱερεῖς Νεεμίας ἐπιῤῥᾶναι τῷ ὕδατι τά τε ξύλα, καὶ τὰ ἐπικείμενα.
1:22	Ὡς δὲ ἐγένετο τοῦτο, καὶ χρόνος διῆλθεν ὅτε ἥλιος ἀνέλαμψε πρότερον ἐπινεφὴς ὤν, ἀνήφθη πυρὰ μεγάλη, ὥστε θαυμάσαι πάντας.
1:23	Προσευχὴν δὲ ἐποιήσαντο οἱ ἱερεῖς δαπανωμένης τῆς θυσίας, οἵ τε ἱερεῖς, καὶ πάντες, καταρχομένου Ἰωνάθου, τῶν δὲ λοιπῶν ἐπιφωνούντων, ὡς Νεεμίου.
1:24	Ἦν δὲ ἡ προσευχὴ τὸν τρόπον ἔχουσα τοῦτον· Κύριε Κύριε ὁ Θεὸς ὁ πάντων κτίστης, ὁ φοβερὸς, καὶ ἰσχυρὸς, καὶ δίκαιος, καὶ ἐλεήμων, ὁ μόνος βασιλεὺς καὶ χρηστὸς,
1:25	ὁ μόνος χορηγός, ὁ μόνος δίκαιος, καὶ παντοκράτωρ, καὶ αἰώνιος, ὁ διασώζων τὸν Ἰσραὴλ ἐκ παντος κακοῦ, ὁ ποιήσας τοὺς πατέρας ἐκλεκτούς, καὶ ἁγιάσας αὐτούς,
1:26	πρόσδεξαι τὴν θυσίαν ὑπὲρ παντὸς τοῦ λαοῦ σου Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ διαφύλαξον τὴν μερίδα σου καὶ καθαγίασον.
1:27	Ἐπισυνάγαγε τὴν διασπορὰν ἡμῶν, ἐλευθέρωσον τοὺς δουλεύοντας ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσι, τοὺς ἐξουθενημένους καὶ βδελυκτοὺς ἔπιδε, καὶ γνώτωσαν τὰ ἔθνη ὅτι σὺ εἶ ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν.
1:28	Βασάνισον τοὺς καταδυναστεύοντας, καὶ ἐξυβρίζοντας ἐν ὑπερηφανίᾳ·
1:29	Καταφύτευσον τὸν λαόν σου εἰς τὸν τόπον τὸν ἅγιόν σου, καθὼς εἶπε Μωυσῆς.
1:30	Οἱ δὲ ἱερεῖς ἐπέψαλλον τοὺς ὕμνους.
1:31	Καθὼς δὲ ἀνηλώθη τὰ τῆς θυσίας, καὶ τὸ περιλειπόμενον ὕδωρ, ὁ Νεεμίας ἐκέλευσε λίθους μείζονας καταχεῖν.
1:32	Ὡς δὲ τοῦτο ἐγενήθη, φλὸξ ἀνήφθη· τοῦ δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου ἀντιλάμψαντος φωτὸς ἐδαπανήθη.
1:33	Ὡς δὲ φανερὸν ἐγενήθη τὸ πρᾶγμα, καὶ διηγγέλη τῷ βασιλεῖ τῶν Περσῶν, ὅτι εἰς τὸν τόπον οὗ τὸ πῦρ ἄπέκρυψαν οἱ μεταχθέντες ἱερεῖς, τὸ ὕδωρ ἐφάνη, ἀφʼ οὗ καὶ οἱ περὶ τὸν Νεεμίαν ἥγνισαν τὰ τῆς θυσίας.
1:34	Περιφράξας δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἱερὸν ἐποίησε, δοκιμάσας τὸ πρᾶγμα.
1:35	Καὶ οἷς ἐχαρίζετο ὁ βασιλεὺς πολλὰ διάφορα ἐλάμβανε καὶ μετεδίδου.
1:36	Προσηγόρευσαν δὲ οἱ περὶ τὸν Νεεμίαν τοῦτο Νέφθαρ, ὃ διερμηνεύεται Καθαρισμός· καλεῖται δὲ παρὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς Νεφθαεί.
2:1	Εὑρίσκεται δὲ ἐν ταῖς ἀπογραφαῖς Ἱερεμίας ὁ προφήτης, ὅτι ἐκέλευσε τοῦ πυρὸς λαβεῖν τοὺς μεταγινομένους, ὡς σεσήμανται,
2:2	καὶ ὡς ἐνετείλατο τοῖς μεταγενομένοις ὁ προφήτης, δοὺς αὐτοῖς τὸν νόμον, ἵνα μὴ ἐπιλάθωνται τῶν προσταγμάτων τοῦ Κυρίου, καὶ ἵνα μὴ ἀποπλανηθῶσι ταῖς διανοίαις, βλέποντες ἀγάλματα χρυσᾶ καὶ ἀργυρᾶ, καὶ τὸν περὶ αὐτὰ κόσμον.
2:3	Καὶ ἕτερα τοιαῦτα λέγων, παρεκάλει μὴ ἀποστῆναι τὸν νόμον ἀπὸ τῆς καρδίας αὐτῶν.
2:4	Ἦν δὲ ἐν τῇ γραφῇ, ὡς τὴν σκηνὴν καὶ τὴν κιβωτὸν ἐκέλευσεν ὁ προφήτης, χρηματισμοῦ γενηθέντος, αὐτῷ συνακολουθεῖν, ὡς δὲ ἐξῆλθεν εἰς τὸ ὄρος οὗ ὁ Μωυσῆς ἀναβὰς ἐθεάσατο τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ κληρονομίαν.
2:5	Καὶ ἐλθὼν ὁ Ἱερεμίας εὗρεν οἶκον ἀντρώδη, καὶ τὴν σκηνὴν, καὶ τὴν κιβωτὸν, καὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον τοῦ θυμιάματος εἰσήνεγκεν ἐκεῖ, καὶ τὴν θύραν ἐνέφραξε.
2:6	Καὶ προσελθόντες τινὲς τῶν συνακολουθούντων ὥστε ἐπισημῄνασθαι τὴν ὁδὸν, καὶ οὐκ ἠδυνήθησαν εὑρεῖν.
2:7	Ὡς δὲ ὁ Ἱερεμίας ἔγνω, μεμψάμενος αὐτοῖς εἶπεν, ὅτι καὶ ἄγνωστος ὁ τόπος ἔσται ἕως ἂν συναγάγῃ ὁ Θεὸς ἐπισυναγωγὴν τοῦ λαοῦ, καὶ ἵλεως γένηται.
2:8	Καὶ τότε ὁ Κύριος ἀναδείξει ταῦτα, καὶ ὀφθήσεται ἡ δόξα τοῦ Κυρίου καὶ ἡ νεφέλη, ὡς καὶ ἐπὶ Μωυσῇ ἐδηλοῦτο, ὡς καὶ ὁ Σαλωμὼν ἠξίωσεν ἵνα ὁ τόπος καθαγιασθῇ μεγάλως.
2:9	Διεσαφεῖτο δὲ καὶ ὡς σοφίαν ἔχων ἀνήνεγκε θυσίαν ἐγκαινισμοῦ, καὶ τῆς τελειώσεως τοῦ ἱεροῦ.
2:10	Καθὼς καὶ Μωυσῆς προσηύξατο πρὸς Κύριον, καὶ κατέβη πῦρ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ τὰ τῆς θυσίας ἐδαπάνησεν· οὕτως καὶ Σαλωμὼν προσηύξατο, καὶ καταβὰν τὸ πῦρ ἀνήλωσε τὰ ὁλοκαυτώματα.
2:11	Καὶ εἶπε Μωυσῆς, διὰ τὸ μὴ βεβρῶσθαι τὸ περὶ τῆς ἁμαρτίας, ἀνηλώθη.
2:12	Ὡσαύτως καὶ ὁ Σαλωμὼν τὰς ὀκτὼ ἡμέρας ἤγαγεν.
2:13	Ἐξηγοῦντο δὲ καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἀναγραφαῖς, καὶ ἐν τοῖς ὑπομνηματισμοῖς τοῖς κατὰ τὸν Νεεμίαν τὰ αὐτά, καὶ ὡς καταβαλλόμενος βιβλιοθήκην, ἐπισυνήγαγε τὰ περὶ τῶν βασιλέων καὶ προφητῶν, καὶ τὰ τοῦ Δαυεὶδ, καὶ ἐπιστολὰς βασιλέων περὶ ἀναθημάτων.
2:14	Ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ Ἰούδας, τὰ διαπεπτωκότα διὰ τὸν πόλεμον τὸν γεγονότα ἡμῖν ἐπισυνήγαγε πάντα, καὶ ἔστι παρʼ ἡμῖν.
2:15	Ὧν οὖν ἐὰν χρείαν ἔχητε, τοὺς ἀποκομιοῦντας ὑμῖν ἀποστέλλετε.
2:16	Μέλλοντες οὖν ἄγειν τὸν καθαρισμὸν, ἐγράψαμεν ὑμῖν· καλῶς οὖν ποιήσετε ἄγοντες τὰς ἡμέρας.
2:17	Ὁ δὲ Θεὸς ὁ σώσας τὸν πάντα λαὸν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀποδοὺς τὴν κληρονομίαν πᾶσι, καὶ τὸ βασίλειον, καὶ τὸ ἱεράτευμα, καὶ τὸν ἁγιασμὸν.
2:18	Καθὼς ἐπηγγείλατο διὰ τοῦ νόμου ἐλπίζομεν γὰρ ἐπὶ τῷ Θεῷ, ὅτι ταχέως ἡμᾶς ἐλεήσει, καὶ ἐπισυνάξει ἐκ τῆς ὑπὸ τὸν οὐρανὸν εἰς τὸν ἅγιον τόπον· ἐξείλετο γὰρ ἡμᾶς ἐκ μεγάλων κακῶν, καὶ τὸν τόπον ἐκαθάρισε.
2:19	Τὰ δὲ κατὰ τὸν Ἰούδαν τὸν Μακκαβαῖον, καὶ τοὺς τούτου ἀδελφοὺς, καὶ τὸν τοῦ ἱεροῦ τοῦ μεγάλου καθαρισμὸν, καὶ τὸν τοῦ βωμοῦ ἐγκαινισμὸν,
2:20	ἔτι τε τοὺς πρὸς Ἀντιοχον τὸν Ἐπιφανῆ, καὶ τὸν τούτου υἱὸν Εὐπάτορα πολέμους,
2:21	καὶ τὰς ἐξ οὐρανοῦ γενομένας ἐπιφανείας τοῖς ὑπὲρ τοῦ Ἰουδαϊσμοῦ φιλοτίμως ἀνδραγαθήσασιν, ὡστε τὴν ὅλην χώραν ὀλίγους ὄντας λεηλατεῖν, καὶ τὰ βάρβαρα πλήθη διώκειν.
2:22	Καὶ τὸ περιβόητον καθʼ ὅλην τὴν οἰκουμένην ἱερὸν ἀνακομίσασθαι, καὶ τὴν πόλιν ἐλευθερῶσαι, καὶ τοὺς μέλλοντας καταλύεσθαι νόμους ἐπανορθῶσαι, τοῦ Κυρίου μετὰ πάσης ἐπιεικείας ἵλεω γενομένου αὐτοῖς,
2:23	τὰ ὑπὸ Ἰάσωνος τοῦ Κυρηναίου δεδηλωμένα διὰ πέντε βιβλίων, πειρασόμεθα διʼ ἑνὸς συντάγματος ἐπιτεμεῖν.
2:24	Συνορῶντες γὰρ τὸ χύμα τῶν ἀριθμῶν, καὶ τὴν οὖσαν δυσχέρειαν τοῖς θέλουσιν εἰσκυκλεῖσθαι τοῖς τῆς ἱστορίας διηγήμασι διὰ τὸ πλῆθος τῆς ὕλης,
2:25	ἐφροντίσαμεν τοῖς μὲν βουλομένοις ἀναγινώσκειν ψυχαγωγίαν, τοῖς δέ φιλοφρονοῦσιν εἰς τὸ διὰ μνήμης ἀναλαβεῖν εὐκοπίαν, πᾶσι δὲ τοῖς ἐντυγχάνουσιν ὠφέλειαν.
2:26	Καὶ ἡμῖν μὲν τοῖς τὴν κακοπάθειαν ἐπιδεδεγμένοις τῆς ἐπιτομῆς οὐ ῥᾴδιον, ἱδρῶτος δὲ καὶ ἀγρυπνίας τὸ πρᾶγμα·
2:27	καθάπερ τῷ παρασκευάζοντι συμπόσιον, καὶ ζητοῦντι τὴν ἑτέρων λυσιτέλειαν οὐκ εὐχερές μὲν, ὅμως διὰ τὴν τῶν πολλῶν εὐχαριστίαν, ἡδέως τὴν κακοπάθειαν ὑποίσομεν,
2:28	τὸ μὲν διακριβοῦν περὶ ἑκάστων τῷ συγγραφεῖ παραχωρήσαντες, τὸ δὲ ἐπιπορεύεσθαι τοῖς ὑπογραμμοῖς τῆς ἐπιτομῆς διαπονοῦντες.
2:29	Καθάπερ γὰρ τῆς καινῆς οἰκίας ἀρχιτέκτονι τῆς ὅλης καταβολῆς φροντιστέον, τῷ δὲ ἐγκαίειν καὶ ζωγραφεῖν ἐπιχειροῦντι, τὰ ἐπιτήδεια πρὸς διακόσμησιν ἐξεταστέον· οὕτω δοκῶ καὶ ἐπὶ ἡμῖν.
2:30	Τὸ μὲν ἐμβατεύειν, καὶ περί πάντων ποιεῖσθαι λόγον καὶ πολυπραγμονεῖν ἐν τοῖς καταμέρος, τῷ τῆς ἱστορίας ἀρχηγέτῃ καθήκει·
2:31	Τὸ δὲ σύντομον τῆς λέξεως μεταδιώκειν, καὶ τὸ ἐξεργαστικὸν τῆς πραγματείας παραιτεῖσθαι, τῷ τὴν μετάφρασιν ποιουμένῳ συγχωρητέον.
2:32	Ἐντεῦθεν οὖν ἀρξώμεθα τῆς διηγήσεως, τοῖς προειρημένοις τοσοῦτον ἐπιζεύξαντες· εὔηθες γὰρ τὸ μὲν πρὸ τῆς ἱστορίας πλεονάζειν, τὴν δὲ ἱστορίαν ἐπιτεμεῖν.
3:1	Τῆς ἁγίας τοίνυν πόλεως κατοικουμένης μετὰ πάσης εἰρήνης, καὶ τῶν νόμων ἕτι κάλλιστα συντηρουμένων διὰ τὴν Ὀνίου τοῦ ἀρχιερέως εὐσέβειάν τε καὶ μισοπονηρίαν,
3:2	συνέβαινε καὶ αὐτοὺς τοὺς βασιλεῖς τιμᾷν τὸν τόπον, καὶ τὸ ἱερὸν ἀποστολαῖς ταῖς κρατίσταις δοξάζειν,
3:3	ὥστε καὶ Σέλευκον τὸν τῆς Ἀσίας βασιλέα χορηγεῖν ἐκ τῶν ἰδίων προσόδων πάντα τὰ πρὸς τὰς λειτουργίας τῶν θυσιῶν ἐπιβάλλοντα δαπανήματα.
3:4	Σίμων δέ τις ἐκ τῆς Βενιαμὶν φυλῆς προστάτης τοῦ ἱεροῦ καθεσταμένος, διηνέχθη τῷ ἀρχιερεῖ περὶ τῆς κατὰ τὴν πόλιν παρανομίας·
3:5	καὶ νικῆσαι τὸν Ὀνίαν μὴ δυνάμενος, ἦλθε πρὸς Ἀπολλώνιον Θρασαίου, τὸν κατʼ ἐκεῖνον τὸν καιρὸν κοιλῆς Συρίας καὶ Φοινίκης στρατηγόν.
3:6	Καὶ προσήγγειλε περὶ τοῦ χρημάτων ἀμυθήτων γέμειν τὸ ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις γαζοφυλάκιον, ὥστε τὸ πλῆθος τῶν διαφόρων ἐναρίθμητον εἶναι, καὶ μὴ προσήκειν αὐτὰ πρὸς τὸν τῶν θυσιῶν λόγον, εἶναι δὲ δυνατὸν ὑπὸ τὴν τοῦ βασιλέως ἐξουσίαν πεσεῖν ἅπαντα ταῦτα.
3:7	Συμμίξας δὲ ὁ Ἀπολλώνιος τῷ βασιλεῖ, περὶ τῶν μηνυθέντων αὐτῷ χρημάτων ἐνεφάνισεν· ὁ δὲ προχειρισάμενος Ἡλιόδωρον τὸν ἐπὶ τῶν πραγμάτων, ἀπέστειλε δοὺς ἐντολὰς, τὴν τῶν προειρημένων χρημάτων ἐκκομιδὴν ποιήσασθαι.
3:8	Εὐθέως δὲ ὁ Ἡλιόδωρος ἐποιεῖτο τὴν παρείαν, τῇ μὲν ἐμφάσει ὡς τὰς κατὰ κοίλην Συρίαν καὶ Φοινίκην πόλεις ἐφοδεύσων, τῷ πράγματι δὲ τὴν τοῦ βασιλέως πρόθεσιν ἐπιτελέσων.
3:9	Παραγενηθεὶς δὲ εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα, καὶ φιλοφρόνως ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀρχιερέως τῆς πόλεως ἀποδεχθείς, ἀνέθετο περὶ τοῦ γεγονότος ἐμφανισμοῦ, καὶ τίνος ἕνεκεν πάρεστι διεσάφήσεν· ἐπυνθάνετο δὲ εἰ ταῖς ἀληθείαις ταῦτα οὕτως ἔχοντα τυγχάνει.
3:10	Τοῦ δὲ ἀρχιερέως ὑποδείξαντος παραθήκας εἶναι χηρῶν τε καὶ ὀρφανῶν,
3:11	τινὰ δὲ καὶ Ὑρκανοῦ τοῦ Τωβίου σφόδρα ἀνδρὸς ἐν ὑπεροχῇ κειμένου, οὐχ ὥσπερ ἦν διαβάλλων ὁ δυσσεβὴς Σίμων, τὰ δὲ πάντα ἀργυρίου τετρακόσια τάλαντα, χρυσίου δὲ διακόσια·
3:12	ἀδικηθῆναι δὲ τοὺς πεπιστευκότας τῇ τοῦ τόπου ἁγιωσύνῃ, καὶ τῇ τοῦ τετιμημένου κατὰ τὸν σύμπαντα κόσμον ἱεροῦ σεμνότητι καὶ ἀσυλίᾳ, παντελῶς ἀμήχανον εἶναι.
3:13	Ὁ δὲ Ἡλιόδωρος διʼ ἃς εἶχε βασιλικὰς ἐντολὰς, πάντως ἔλεγεν εἰς τὸ βασιλικὸν ἀναληπτέα ταῦτα εἶναι.
3:14	Ταξάμενος δὲ ἡμέραν εἰσῄει τὴν περὶ τούτων ἐπίσκεψιν οἰκονομήσων· ἦν δὲ οὐ μικρὰ καθʼ ὅλην τὴν πόλιν ἀγωνία.
3:15	Οἱ δὲ ἱερεῖς πρὸ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου ἐν ταῖς ἱερατικαῖς στολαῖς ῥίψαντες ἑαυτοὺς, ἐπεκαλοῦντο εἰς οὐρανὸν τὸν περὶ παραθήκης νομοθετήσαντα τοῖς παρακαταθεμένοις ταῦτα σῶα διαφυλάξαι.
3:16	Ἦν δὲ ὁρῶντα τὴν τοῦ ἀρχιερέως ἰδέαν, τιτρώσκεσθαι τὴν διάνοιαν· ἡ γὰρ ὄψις καὶ τὸ τῆς χρόας παρηλλαγμένον ἐνέφαινε τὴν κατὰ ψυχὴν ἀγωνίαν.
3:17	Περιεκέχυτο γὰρ περὶ τὸν ἄνδρα δέος τι καὶ φρικασμὸς σώματος, διʼ ὧν πρόδηλον ἐγένετο τοῖς θεωροῦσι τὸ κατὰ καρδίαν ἐνεστὸς ἄλγος.
3:18	Οἱ δὲ ἐκ τῶν οἰκιῶν ἀγεληδὸν ἐξεπήδων ἐπὶ πάνδημον ἱκετείαν, διὰ τὸ μέλλειν εἰς καταφρόνησιν ἔρχεσθαι τὸν τόπον.
3:19	Ὑπεζωσμέναι δὲ ὑπὸ τοὺς μαστοὺς αἱ γυναῖκες σάκκους κατὰ τὰς ὁδοὺς ἐπλήθυον· αἱ δὲ κατάκλειστοι τῶν παρθένων, αἱ μὲν συνέτρεχον ἐπὶ τοὺς πυλῶνας, αἱ δὲ ἐπὶ τὰ τείχη, τινὲς δὲ διὰ τῶν θυρίδων διεξέκυπτον.
3:20	Πᾶσαι δὲ προτείνουσαι τὰς χεῖρας εἰς τὸν οὐρανον, ἐποιοῦντο τὴν λιτανείαν·
3:21	Ἐλεεῖν δʼ ἦν τὴν τοῦ πλήθους παμμιγῆ πρόπτωσιν, τήν τε τοῦ μεγάλως διαγωνιῶντος ἀρχιερέως προσδοκίαν.
3:22	Οἱ μὲν οὖν ἐπεκαλοῦντο τὸν παντοκράτορα Θεὸν τὰ πεπιστευμένα τοῖς πεπιστευκόσι σῶα διαφυλάγγειν μετὰ πάσης ἀσφαλείας.
3:23	Ὁ δὲ Ἡλιόδωρος τὸ διεγνωσμένον ἐπετέλει.
3:24	Αὐτόθι δὲ αὐτοῦ σὺν τοῖς δορυφόροις κατὰ τὸ γαζοφυλάκιον ἤδη παρόντος, ὁ τῶν πατέρων Κύριος καὶ πάσης ἐξουσίας δυνάστης ἐπιφάνειαν μεγάλην ἐποίησεν, ὥστε πάντας τοὺς κατατολμήσαντας συνελθεῖν, καταπλαγέντας τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ δύναμιν, εἰς ἔκλυσιν καὶ δειλίαν τραπῆναι.
3:25	Ὤφθη γάρ τις ἵππος αὐτοῖς φοβερὸν ἔχων τὸν ἐπιβάτην, καὶ καλλίστῃ σαγῇ διακεκοσμημένος, φερόμενος δὲ ῥύδην ἐνέσεισε τῷ Ἡλιοδώρῳ τὰς ἐμπροσθίους ὁπλάς· ὁ δὲ ἐπικαθήμενος ἐφαίνετο χρυσῆν πανοπλίαν ἔχων.
3:26	Ἕτεροι δὲ δύο προεφάνησαν αὐτῷ νεανίαι, τῇ ῥώμῃ μὲν ἐκπρεπεῖς, κάλλιστοι δὲ τῇ δόξῃ, διαπρεπεῖς δὲ τὴν περιβολήν· οἳ καὶ παρασταντες ἐξ ἑκατέρου μέρους, ἐμαστίγουν αὐτὸν ἀδιαλείπτως, πολλὰς ἐπιῤῥιπτοῦντες αὐτῷ πληγάς.
3:27	Ἄφνω δὲ πεσόντα πρὸς τὴν γῆν, καὶ πολλῷ σκότει περιχυθέντα, συναρπάσαντες, καὶ εἰς φορεῖον ἐνθέντες,
3:28	τὸν ἄρτι μετὰ πολλῆς παραδρομῆς καὶ πάσης δορυφορίας εἰς τὸ προειρημένον εἰσελθόντα γαζοφυλάκιον, ἔφερον ἀβοήθητον ἑαυτῷ καθεστῶτα, φανερῶς τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ δυναστείαν ἐπεγνωκότες.
3:29	Καὶ ὁ μὲν διὰ τὴν θείαν ἐνέργειαν ἄφωνος καὶ πάσης ἐστερημένος ἐλπίδος καὶ σωτηρίας ἔῤῥιπτο.
3:30	Οἱ δὲ τὸν κύριον εὐλόγουν τὸν παραδοξάζοντα τὸν ἑαυτοῦ τόπον· καὶ τὸ μικρῷ πρότερον δέους καὶ ταραχῆς γέμον ἱερὸν, τοῦ παντοκράτορος ἐπιφανέντος Κυρίου, χαρᾶς καὶ εὐφροσύνης ἐπεπλήρωτο.
3:31	Ταχὺ δέ τινες τῶν τοῦ Ἡλιοδώρου συνήθων ἠξίουν τὸν Ὀνίαν ἐπικαλέσασθαι τὸν ὕψιστον, καὶ τὸ ζῇν χαρίσασθι τῷ παντελῶς ἐν ἐσχάτῃ πνοῇ κειμένῳ.
3:32	Ὕποπτος δὲ γενόμενος ὁ ἀρχιερεῦς, μήποτε διάληψιν ὁ βασιλεὺς σχῇ, κακουργίαν τινὰ περὶ τὸν Ἡλιόδωρον ὑπὸ τῶν Ἰουδαίων συντετελέσθαι, προσήγαγε θυσίαν ὑπὲρ τῆς τοῦ ἀνδρὸς σωτηρίας.
3:33	Ποιουμένου δὲ τοῦ ἀρχιερέως τὸν ἱλασμὸν, οἱ αὐτοὶ νεανίαι πάλιν ἐφάνησαν τῷ Ἡλιοδώρῳ ἐν ταῖς αὐταῖς ἐσθήσεσιν ἐστολισμένοι, καὶ στάντες εἶπον, πολλὰς τῷ Ὀνία τῷ ἀρχιερεῖ χάριτας ἔχε, διὰ γὰρ αὐτὸν σοι κεχάρισται τὸ ζῇν ὁ Κύριος.
3:34	Σὺ δὲ ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ μεμαστιγωμένος διάγγελε πᾶσι τὸ μεγαλεῖον τοῦ Θεοῦ κράτος· ταῦτα δὲ εἰπόντες ἀφανεῖς ἐγένοντο.
3:35	Ὁ δὲ Ἡλιόδωρος θυσίαν ἀνενέγκας τῷ Κυρίῳ, καὶ εὐχὰς μεγίστας εὐξάμενος τῷ τὸ ζῇν περιποιήσαντι, καὶ τὸν Ὀνίαν ἀποδεξάμενος, ἀνεστρατοπέδευσε πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα.
3:36	Ἐξεμαρτύρει δὲ πᾶσιν ἅπερ ἦν ὑπʼ ὄψιν τεθεαμένος ἔργα τοῦ μεγίστου Θεοῦ.
3:37	Τοῦ δὲ βασιλέως ἐπερωτήσαντος τὸν Ἡλιόδωρον, ποῖός τις εἴη ἐπιτήδειος ἔτι ἅπαξ διαπεμφθῆναι εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα, ἔφησεν,
3:38	εἴ τινα ἔχεις πολέμιον ἢ πραγμάτων ἐπίβουλον, πέμψον αὐτὸν ἐκεῖ, καὶ μεμαστιγωμένον αὐτὸν προσδέξῃ, ἐάνπερ καὶ διασωθείη, διὰ τὸ περὶ τὸν τόπον ἀληθῶς εἶναί τινα Θεοῦ δύναμιν.
3:39	Αὐτὸς γὰρ ὁ τὴν κατοικίαν ἐπουράνιον ἔχων, ἐπόπτης ἐστὶ καὶ βοηθὸς ἐκείνου τοῦ τόπου, καὶ τοὺς παραγινομένους ἐπὶ κακώσει, τύπτων ἀπόλλυσι.
3:40	Καὶ τὰ μὲν κατὰ Ἡλιόδωρον, καὶ τὴν τοῦ γαζοφυλακίου τήρησιν οὕτως ἐχώρησεν.
4:1	Ὁ δὲ προειρημένος Σίμων ὁ τῶν χρημάτων καὶ τῆς πατρίδος ἐνδείκτης γεγονὼς, ἐκακολόγει τὸν Ὀνίαν, ὡς αὐτός τε εἴη τὸν Ἡλιόδωρον ἐπισεσεικὼς, καὶ τῶν κακῶν δημιουργὸς καθεστηκώς.
4:2	Καὶ τὸν εὐεργέτην τῆς πόλεως, καὶ τὸν κηδεμόνα τῶν ὁμοεθνῶν, καὶ ζηλωτὴν τῶν νόμων, ἐπίβουλον τῶν πραγμάτων ἐτόλμα λέγειν.
4:3	Τῆς δὲ ἔχθρας ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον προβαινούσης, ὥστε καὶ διά τινος τῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ Σίμωνος δεδοκιμασμένων φόνους συντελεῖσθαι,
4:4	συνορῶν ὁ Ὀνίας τὸ χαλεπὸν τῆς φιλονεικίας, καὶ Ἀπολλώνιον μαίνεσθαι, ὡς τὸν κοίλης Συρίας καὶ Φοινίκης στρατηγὸν, συναύξοντα τὴν κακίαν τοῦ Σίμωνος,
4:5	ὡς τὸν βασιλέα διεκομίσθη, οὐ γινόμενος τῶν πολιτῶν κατήγορος, τὸ δὲ συμφέρον κοινῇ κατʼ ἰδίαν παντὶ τῷ πλήθει σκοπῶν.
4:6	Ἑώρα γὰρ ἄνευ βασιλικῆς προνοίας ἀδύνατον εἶναι τυχεῖν εἰρήνης ἔτι τὰ πράγματα, καὶ τὸν Σίμωνα παῦλαν οὐ ληψόμενον τῆς ἀνοίας.
4:7	Μεταλλάξαντος δὲ τὸν βίον Σελεύκου, καὶ παραλαβόντος τὴν βασιλείαν Ἀντιόχου τοῦ προσαγορευθέντος Ἐπιφανοῦς, ὑπενόθευσεν Ἰάσων ὁ ἀδελφὸς Ὀνίου τὴν ἀρχιερωσύνην,
4:8	ἐπαγγειλάμενος τῷ βασιλεῖ διʼ ἐντεύξεως ἀργυοίου τάλαντα ἑξήκοντα πρὸς τοῖς τριακοσίοις, καὶ προσόδου τινὸς ἄλλης τάλαντα ὀγδοήκοντα,
4:9	πρὸς δὲ τούτοις ὑπισχνεῖτο καὶ ἕτερα διαγράψαι πεντήκοντα πρὸς τοῖς ἑκατόν, ἐὰν συγχωρηθῇ διὰ τῆς ἐξουσίας αὐτοῦ, γυμνάσιον καὶ ἐφηβίαν αὐτῷ συστήσασθαι, καὶ τοὺς ἐν Ἰεροσολύμοις Ἀντιοχεῖς ἀναγράψαι.
4:10	Ἐπινεύσαντος δὲ τοῦ βασιλέως, καὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς κρατήσας, εὐθέως ἐπὶ τὸν Ἑλληνικὸν χαρακτῆρα τοὺς ὁμοφύλους μετῆγε.
4:11	Καὶ τὰ κείμενα τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις φιλάνθρωπα βασιλικὰ διὰ Ἰωάννου τοῦ πατρὸς Εὐπολέμου, τοῦ ποιησαμένου τὴν πρεσβείαν ὑπὲρ φιλίας καὶ συμμαχίας πρὸς τοὺς Ῥωμαίους, παρώσατο· καὶ τὰς μὲν νομίμους καταλύων πολιτείας, παρανόμους ἐθισμοὺς ἐκαίνιζεν.
4:12	Ἀσμένως γὰρ ὑπʼ αὐτὴν τὴν ἀκρόπολιν γυμνάσιον καθίδρυσε, καὶ τοὺς κρατίστους τῶν ἐφήβων ὑποτάσσων, ὑπὸ πέτασον ἦγεν.
4:13	Ἦν δʼ οὕτως ἀκμή τις Ἑλληνισμοῦ, καὶ πρόσβασις ἀλλοφυλισμοῦ διὰ τὴν τοῦ ἀσεβοῦς καὶ οὐκ ἀρχιερέως Ἰάσωνος ὑπερβάλλουσαν ἀναγνείαν,
4:14	ὥστε μηκέτι περὶ τὰς τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου λειτουργίας προθύμους εἶναι τοὺς ἱερεῖς, ἀλλὰ τοῦ μὲν ναοῦ καταφρονοῦντες, καὶ τῶν θυσιῶν ἀμελοῦντες ἔσπευδον μετέχειν τῆς ἐν παλαίστρᾳ παρανόμου χορηγίας, μετὰ τὴν τοῦ δίσκου πρόκλησιν.
4:15	Καὶ τὰς μὲν πατρῴους τιμὰς ἐν οὐδενὶ τιθέμενοι, τὰς δὲ Ἑλληνικὰς δόξας καλλίστας ἡγούμενοι.
4:16	Ὧν χάριν περιέσχεν αὐτοὺς χαλεπὴ περίστασις, καὶ ὧν ἐζήλουν τὰς ἀγωγὰς, καὶ καθάπαν ἤθελον ἐξομοιοῦσθαι, τούτους πολεμίους καὶ τιμωρητὰς ἔσχον.
4:17	Ἀσεβεῖν γὰρ εἰς τοὺς θείους νόμους οὐ ῥᾴδιον, ἀλλὰ ταῦτα ὁ ἀκόλουθος καιρὸς δηλώσει.
4:18	Ἀγομένου δὲ πενταετηρικοῦ ἀγῶνος ἐν Τύρῳ, καὶ τοῦ βασιλέως παρόντος,
4:19	ἀπέστειλεν Ἰάσων ὁ μιαρὸς θεωροὺς ἀπὸ Ἱεροσολύμων Ἀντιοχεῖς ὄντας, παρακομίζοντας ἀργυρίου δραχμὰς τριακοσίας εἰς τὴν τοῦ Ἡρακλέους θυσίαν· ἃς καὶ ἠξίωσαν οἱ παρακομίσαντες μὴ χρῆσθαι πρὸς θυσίαν διὰ τὸ μὴ καθήκειν, εἰς ἑτέραν δὲ καταθέσθαι δαπάνην.
4:20	Ἔπεμψεν οὖν ταῦτα, διὰ μὲν τὸν ἀποστείλαντα εἰς τὴν τοῦ Ἡρακλέους θυσίαν, ἕνεκεν δὲ τῶν παρακομιζόντων, εἰς τὰς τῶν τριήρων κατασκευάς.
4:21	Ἀποσταλέντος δὲ εἰς Αἴγυπτον Ἀπολλωνίου τοῦ Μενεσθέως διὰ τὰ πρωτοκλίσια Πτολεμαίου τοῦ Φιλομήτορος βασιλέως, μεταλαβὼν Ἀντίοχος ἀλλότριον αὐτὸν τῶυ αὐτῶν γεγονέναι πραγμάτων, τῆς κατʼ αὑτὸν ἀσφαλείας ἐφρόντιζεν· ὅθεν εἰς Ἰόππην παραγενόμενος, κατήντησεν εἰς Ἰεροσόλυμα.
4:22	Μεγαλοπρεπῶς δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἰάσωνος καὶ τῆς πόλεως παραδεχθεὶς, μετὰ δᾳδουχίας καὶ βοῶν εἰσπεπόρευται εἶθʼ οὕτως εἰς τὴν Φοινίκην κατεστρατοπέδευσε.
4:23	Μετὰ δὲ τριετῆ χρόνον ἀπέστειλεν Ἰάσων Μενέλαον τὸν τοῦ προσημαινομένου Σίμωνος ἀδελφόν, παρακομίζοντα τὰ χρήματα τῷ βασιλεῖ, καὶ περὶ πραγμάτων ἀναγκαίων ὑπομνηματισμοὺς τελέσοντα.
4:24	Ὁ δὲ συσταθεὶς τῷ βασιλεῖ, καὶ δοξάσας αὐτὸν τῷ προσώπῳ τῆς ἐξουσίας, εἰς ἑαυτὸν κατήντησε τὴν ἀρχιερωσύνην, ὑπερβαλὼν τὸν Ἰάσωνα τάλαντα ἀργυρίου τριακόσια.
4:25	Λαβὼν δὲ τὰς βασιλικὰς ἐντολὰς παρεγένετο, τῆς μὲν ἀρχιερωσύνης οὐδὲν ἄξιον φέρων, θυμοὺς δὲ ὠμοῦ τυράννου, καὶ θηρὸς βαρβάρου ὀργὰς ἔχων.
4:26	Καὶ ὁ μὲν Ἰάσων ὁ τὸν ἴδιον ἀδελφὸν ὑπονοθεύσας, ὑπονοθευθεὶς ὑφʼ ἑτέρου φυγὰς εἰς τὴν Ἀμμανῖτιν χώραν συνήλαστο.
4:27	Ὁ δὲ Μενέλαος τῆς μὲν ἀρχῆς ἐκράτει, τῶν δὲ ἐπηγγελμένων τῷ βασιλεῖ χρημάτων οὐδὲν εὐτάκτει,
4:28	ποιουμένου δὲ τὴν ἀπαίτησιν Σωστράτου τοῦ τῆς ἀκροπόλεως ἐπάρχου· πρὸς τοῦτον γὰρ ἦν ἡ τῶν φόρων πρᾶξις· διʼ ἣν αἰτίαν οἱ δύο ὑπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως προσεκλήθησαν.
4:29	Καὶ ὁ μὲν Μενέλαος ἀπέλιπε τῆς ἀρχιερωσύνης διάδοχον Λυσίμαχον τὸν ἑαυτοῦ ἀδελφόν, Σώστρατος δὲ, Κράτητα τὸν ἐπὶ τῶν Κυπρίων.
4:30	Τοιούτων δὲ συνεστηκότων, συνέβη Ταρσεῖς, καὶ Μαλλώτας στασιάζειν, διὰ τὸ Ἀντιοχίδι τῇ παλλακῇ τοῦ βασιλέως ἐν δωρεᾷ δεδόσθαι.
4:31	Θᾶττον οὖν ὁ βασιλεὺς ἧκε καταστεῖλαι τὰ πράγματα, καταλιπὼν τὸν διαδεχόμενον Ἀνδρόνικον, τῶν ἐν ἀξιώματι κειμένων.
4:32	Νομίσας δὲ ὁ Μενέλαος εἰληφέναι καιρὸν εὐφυῆ, χρυσώματά τινα τῶν τοῦ ἱεροῦ νοσφισάμενος ἐχαρίσατο τῷ Ἀνδρονίκῳ, καὶ ἕτερα ἐτύγχανε πεπρακὼς εἴς τε Τύρον καὶ τὰς κύκλῳ πόλεις.
4:33	Ἃ καὶ σαφῶς ἐπεγνωκὼς ὁ Ὀνίας, παρήλεγχεν ἀποκεχωρηκὼς εἰς ἄσυλον τόπον, ἐπὶ Δάφνης τῆς πρὸς Ἀντιόχειαν κειμένης.
4:34	Ὅθεν ὁ Μενέλαος λαβὼν ἰδίᾳ τὸν Ἀνδρόνικον, παρεκάλει χειρώσασθαι τὸν Ὀνίαν· ὁ δὲ παραγενόμενος ἐπὶ τὸν Ὀνίαν, καὶ πεισθεὶς ἐπὶ δόλῳ, καὶ δεξιὰς μεθʼ ὅρκων δοὺς, καίπερ ἐν ὑποψίᾳ κείμενος ἔπεισεν ἐκ τοῦ ἀσύλου προελθεῖν, ὃν καὶ παραχρῆμα παρέκλεισεν, οὐκ αἰδεσθεὶς τὸ δίκαιον.
4:35	Διʼ ἣν αἰτίαν οὐ μόνον Ἰουδαῖοι, πολλοὶ δὲ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἐθνῶν ἐδείναζον, καὶ ἐδυσφόρουν ἐπὶ τῷ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἀδίκῳ φόνῳ.
4:36	Τοῦ δὲ βασιλέως ἐπανελθόντος ἀπὸ τῶν κατὰ Κιλικίαν τόπων, ἐνετύγχανον οἱ κατὰ πόλιν Ἰουδαῖοι συμισοπονηρούντων καὶ τῶν Ἑλλήνων, ὑπὲρ τοῦ παρὰ λόγον τὸν Ὀνίαν ἀπεκτάνθαι.
4:37	Ψυχικῶς οὖν ὁ Ἀντίοχος ἐπιλυπηθεὶς, καὶ τραπεὶς εἰς ἔλεον, καὶ δακρύσας διὰ τὴν τοῦ μετηλλαχότος σωφροσύνην, καὶ πολλὴν εὐταξίαν,
4:38	καὶ πυρωθεὶς τοῖς θυμοῖς, παραχρῆμα τὴν τοῦ Ἀνδρονίκου πορφύραν περιελόμενος, καὶ τοὺς χιτῶνας περιῤῥήξας, περιαγαγὼν καθʼ ὅλην τὴν πόλιν, ἐπʼ αὐτὸν τὸν τόπον οὗπερ εἰς τὸν Ὀνίαν ἠσέβησεν, ἐκεῖ τὸν μιαιφόνον ἀπεκόσμησε, τοῦ Κυρίου τὴν ἀξίαν αὐτῷ κόλασιν ἀποδόντος.
4:39	Γενομένων δὲ πολλῶν ἱεροσυλημάτων κατὰ τὴν πόλιν ὑπὸ τοῦ Λυσιμάχου μετὰ τῆς Μενελάου γνώμης, καὶ διαδοθείσης ἔξω τῆς φήμης, ἐπισυνήχθη τὸ πλῆθος ἐπὶ τὸν Λυσίμαχον, χρυσωμάτων ἤδη πολλῶν διενηνεγμένων.
4:40	Ἐπεγειρομένων δὲ τῶν ὄχλων, καὶ ταῖς ὀργαῖς διεμπιπλαμένων, καθοπλίσας ὁ Λυσίμαχος πρὸς τρισχιλίους, κατήρξατο χειρῶν ἀδίκων, προηγησαμένου τινὸς Τυράννου προβεβηκότος τὴν ἡλικίαν, οὐδὲν δὲ ἧττον καὶ τὴν ἄνοιαν.
4:41	Συνιδότες δὲ καὶ τὴν ἐπίθεσιν τοῦ Λυσιμάχου, συναρπάσαντες οἱ μὲν πέτρους, οἱ δὲ ξύλων πάχη, τινὲς δὲ ἐκ τῆς παρακειμένης σποδοῦ δρασσόμενοι, φύρδην ἐνετίνασσον εἰς τοὺς περὶ τὸν Λυσίμαχον.
4:42	Διʼ ἣν αἰτίαν πολλοὺς μὲν αὐτῶν τραυματίας ἐποίησαν, τινὰς δὲ καὶ κατέβαλον, πάντας δὲ εἰς φυγὴν συνήλασαν, αὐτὸν δὲ τὸν ἱερόσυλον παρὰ τὸ γαζοφυλάκιον ἐχειρώσαντο.
4:43	Περὶ δὲ τούτων ἐνέστη κρίσις πρὸς τὸν Μενέλαον.
4:44	Καταντήσαντος δὲ τοῦ βασιλέως εἰς Τύρον, ἐπʼ αὐτοῦ τὴν δικαιολογίαν ἐποιήσαντο οἱ πεμφθέντες ἄνδρες τρεῖς ὑπὸ τῆς γερουσίας.
4:45	Ἤδη δὲ λελειμμένος ὁ Μενέλαος ἐπηγγείλατο χρήματα ἱκανὰ τῷ Πτολεμαίῳ τῷ Δορυμένους πρὸς τὸ πεῖσαι τὸν βασιλέα.
4:46	Ὅθεν ἀπολαβὼν ὁ Πτολεμαῖος εἴς τι περίστυλον ὡς ἀναψύξοντα τὸν βασιλέα, μετέθηκε.
4:47	Καὶ τὸν μὲν τῆς ὅλης κακίας αἴτιον Μενέλαον ἀπέλυσε τῶν κατηγορημάτων, τοῖς δὲ ταλαιπώροις, οἵτινες εἰ καὶ ἐπὶ Σκυθῶν ἔλεγον, ἀπελύθησαν ἄν ἀκατάγνωστοι, τούτοις θάνατον ἐπέκρινε.
4:48	Ταχέως οὖν τὴν ἄδικον ζημίαν ὑπέσχον οἱ ὑπὲρ πόλεως καὶ δήμων καὶ τῶν ἱερῶν σκευῶν προαγορεύσαντες.
4:49	Διʼ ἣν αἰτίαν καὶ Τύριοι μισοπονηρήσαντες τὰ πρὸς τὴν κηδείαν αὐτῶν μεγαλοπρεπῶς ἐχορήγησαν.
4:50	Ὁ δὲ Μενέλαος διὰ τὰς τῶν κρατούντων πλεονεξίας, ἔμενεν ἐπὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς, ἐπιφυόμενος τῇ κακίᾳ, μέγας τῶν πολιτῶν ἐπίβουλος καθεστώς.
5:1	Περὶ δὲ τὸν καιρὸν τοῦτον τὴν δευτέραν ἔφοδον ὁ Ἀντίοχος εἰς Αἴγυπτον ἐστείλατο.
5:2	Συνέβη δὲ καθʼ ὅλην τὴν πόλιν σχεδὸν ἐφʼ ἡμέρας τεσσαράκοντα φαίνεσθαι διὰ τοῦ ἀέρος τρέχοντας ἱππεῖς διαχρύσους στολὰς ἔχοντας, καὶ λόγχας σπειρηδὸν ἐξωπλισμένους,
5:3	καὶ ἴλας ἵππων διατεταγμένας, καὶ προσβολὰς γινομένας, καὶ καταδρομὰς ἑκατέρων, καὶ ἀσπίδων κινήσεις, καὶ καμάκων πλήθη, καὶ μαχαιρῶν σπασμούς, καὶ βελῶν βολὰς, καὶ χρυσῶν κόσμων ἐκλάμψεις, καὶ παντοίους θωρακισμούς.
5:4	Διὸ πάντες ἠξίουν ἐπʼ ἀγαθῷ τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν γενέσθαι.
5:5	Γενομένης δὲ λαλιᾶς ψευδοῦς, ὡς μετηλλαχότος τὸν βίον Ἀντιόχου, παραλαβὼν ὁ Ἰάσων οὐκ ἐλάττους τῶν χιλίων, αἰφνιδίως ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν συνετελέσατο ἐπίθεσιν· τῶν δὲ ἐπὶ τῷ τείχει συνελασθέντων, καὶ τέλος ἤδη καταλαμβανομένης τῆς πόλεως, ὁ Μενέλαος εἰς τὴν ἀκρόπολιν ἐφυγάδευσεν.
5:6	Ὁ δὲ Ἰάσων ἐποιεῖτο σφαγὰς τῶν πολιτῶν τῶν ἰδίων ἀφειδῶς, οὐ συννοῶν τὴν εἰς τοὺς συγγενεῖς εὐημερίαν, δυσημερίαν εἶναι τὴν μεγίστην· δοκῶν δὲ πολεμίων καὶ οὐχ ὁμοεθνῶν τρόπαια καταβάλλεσθαι,
5:7	τῆς μὲν ἀρχῆς οὐκ ἐκράτησε, τὸ δὲ τέλος τῆς ἐπιβουλῆς αἰσχύνην λαβών, φυγὰς πάλιν εἰς τὴν Ἀμμανίτιν ἀπῆλθε.
5:8	Πέρας οὖν κακῆς ἀναστροφῆς ἔτυχεν ἐγκλεισθεὶς πρὸς Ἀρέταν τὸν τῶν Ἀράβων τύραννον, πόλιν ἐκ πόλεως φεύγων, διωκόμενος ὑπὸ πάντων, καὶ στυγούμενος ὡς τῶν νόμων ἀποστάτης, καὶ βδελυσσόμενος ὡς πατρίδος καὶ πολιτῶν δήμιος, εἰς Αἴγυπτον συνεβράσθη.
5:9	Καὶ ὁ συχνοὺς τῆς πατρίδος ἀποξενώσας, ἐπὶ ξένης ἀπώλετο πρὸς Λακεδαιμονίους ἀναχθείς, ὡς διὰ τὴν συγγένειαν τευξόμενος σκέπης.
5:10	Καὶ ὁ πλῆθος ἀτάφων ἐκρίψας ἀπένθητος ἐγενήθη, καὶ κηδείας οὐδʼ ἡστινοσοῦν οὔτε πατρῴου τάφου μετέσχε.
5:11	Προσπεσόντων δὲ τῷ βασιλεῖ περὶ τῶν γεγονότων, διέλαβεν ἀποστατεῖν τὴν Ἰουδαίαν· ὅθεν ἀναζεύξας ἐξ Αἰγύπτου τεθηριωμένος τῇ ψυχῇ, ἔλαβε τὴν μὲν πόλιν δορυάλωτον.
5:12	Καὶ ἐκέλευσε τοῖς στρατιώταις κόπτειν ἀφειδῶς τοὺς ἐμπίπτοντας, καὶ τοὺς εἰς τὰς οἰκίας ἀναβαίνοντας κατασφάζειν.
5:13	Ἐγίνοντο δὲ νέων καὶ πρεσβυτέρων ἀναιρέσιες, ἀνδρῶν τε καὶ γυναικῶν καὶ τέκνων ἀφανισμὸς, παρθένων τε καὶ νηπίων σφαγαί.
5:14	Ὀκτὼ δὲ μυριάδες ἐν ταῖς πάσαις ἡμέραις τρισὶ κατεφθάρησαν, τέσσαρες μὲν ἐν χειρῶν νομαῖς, οὐκ ἧττον δὲ τῶν ἐσφαγμένων ἐπράθησαν.
5:15	Καὶ οὐκ ἀρκεσθεὶς δὲ τούτοις, κατετόλμησεν εἰς τὸ πάσης τῆς γῆς ἁγιώτατον ἱερὸν εἰσελθεῖν, ὁδηγὸν ἔχων τὸν Μενέλαον, τὸν καὶ τῶν νόμων καὶ τῆς πατρίδος προδότην γεγονότα.
5:16	Καὶ ταῖς μιαραῖς χερσὶ τὰ ἱερὰ σκεύη λαμβάνων, καὶ τὰ ὑπʼ ἄλλων βασιλέων ἀνατεθέντα πρὸς αὔξησιν καὶ δόξαν τοῦ τόπου καὶ τιμήν, ταῖς βεβήλοις χερσὶ συσσύρων ἐπεδίδου.
5:17	Καὶ ἐμετεωρίζετο τὴν διάνοιαν ὁ Ἀντίοχος, οὐ συνορῶν ὅτι διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας τῶν τὴν πόλιν οἰκούντων ἀπώργισται βραχέως ὁ Δεσπότης, διὸ γέγονε περὶ τὸν τόπον παρόρασις.
5:18	Εἰ δὲ μὴ συνέβαινε προενέχεσθαι πολλοῖς ἁμαρτήμασι, καθάπερ ὁ Ἡλιόδωρος ὁ πεμφθεὶς ὑπὸ Σελεύκου τοῦ βασιλέως ἐπὶ τὴν ἐπίσκεψιν τοῦ γαζοφυλακίου, οὗτος προαχθεὶς παραχρῆμα μαστιγωθεὶς ἀνετράπη τοῦ θράσους.
5:19	Ἀλλʼ οὐ διὰ τὸν τόπον τὸ ἔθνος, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸ ἔθνος τὸν τόπον ὁ Κύριος ἐξελέξατο.
5:20	Διόπερ καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ τόπος συμμετασχὼν τῶν τοῦ ἔθνους δυσπετημάτων γενομένων, ὕστερον εὐεργετημάτων ὑπὸ τοῦ Κυρίου ἐκοινώνησε· καὶ ὁ καταλειφθεὶς ἐν τῇ τοῦ παντοκράτορος ὀργῇ, πάλιν ἐν τῇ τοῦ μεγάλου Δεσπότου καταλλαγῇ μετὰ πάσης δόξης ἐπανωρθώθη.
5:21	Ὁ γοῦν Ἀντίοχος ὀκτακόσια πρὸς τοῖς χιλίοις ἀπενεγκάμενος ἐκ τοῦ ἱεροῦ τάλαντα, θᾶττον εἰς Ἀντιόχειαν ἐχωρίσθη, οἰόμενος ἀπὸ τῆς ὑπερηφανίας τὴν μὲν γῆν πλωτὴν, καὶ τὸ πέλαγος πορευτὸν θέσθαι διὰ τὸν μετεωρισμὸν τῆς καρδίας.
5:22	Κατέλιπε δὲ καὶ ἐπιστάτας τοῦ κακοῦν τὸ γένος, ἐν μὲν Ἱεροσολύμοις Φίλιππον, τὸ μὲν γένος Φρύγα, τὸν δὲ τρόπον βαρβαρώτερον ἔχοντα τοῦ καταστήσαντος·
5:23	ἐν δὲ Γαριζὶν Ἀνδρόνικον, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις Μενέλαον, ὃς χείριστα τῶν ἄλλων ὑπερῄρετο τοῖς πολίταις, ἀπεχθῆ δὲ πρὸς τοὺς πολίτας Ἰουδαίους ἔχων διάθεσιν.
5:24	Ἔπεμψε δὲ τὸν μυσάρχην Ἀπολλώνιον μετὰ στρατεύματος δισμυρίων πρὸς τοῖς δισχιλίοις, προστάξας τοὺς ἐν ἡλικίᾳ πάντας κατασφάξαι, τὰς δὲ γυναῖκας καὶ νεωτέρους πωλεῖν.
5:25	Οὗτος δὲ παραγενόμενος εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα, καὶ τὸν εἰρηνικὸν ὑποκριθείς, ἐπέσχεν ἕως τῆς ἁγίας ἡμέρας τοῦ σαββάτου· καὶ λαβὼν ἀργοῦντας τοὺς Ἰουδαίους, τοῖς ὑφʼ ἑαυτὸν ἐξοπλησίαν παρήγγειλε.
5:26	Καὶ τοὺς ἐξελθόντας πάντας ἐπὶ τὴν θεωρίαν συνεξεκέντησε, καὶ εἰς τὴν πόλιν σὺν τοῖς ὅπλοις εἰσδραμὼν ἱκανὰ κατέστρωσε πλήθη.
5:27	Ἰούδας δὲ ὁ Μακκαβαῖος δέκατός που γενηθεὶς, καὶ ἀναχωρήσας εἰς τὴν ἔρημον, θηρίων τρόπον ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσι διέζη σὺν τοῖς μετʼ αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὴν χορτώδη τροφὴν σιτούμενοι διατέλουν, πρὸς τὸ μὴ μετασχεῖν τοῦ μολυσμοῦ
6:1	Μετʼ οὐ πολὺν δὲ χρόνον ἐξαπέστειλεν ὁ βασιλεὺς γέροντα Ἀθηναῖον, ἀναγκάζειν τοὺς Ἰουδαίους μεταβαίνειν ἐκ τῶν πατρῴων νόμων, καὶ τοῖς τοῦ Θεοῦ νόμοις μὴ πολιτεύεσθαι,
6:2	μολῦναι δὲ καὶ τὸν ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις νεὼν, καὶ προσονομάσαι Διὸς Ὀλυμπίου, καὶ τὸν ἐν Γαριζὶν, καθὼς ἐτύγχανον οἱ τὸν τόπον οἰκοῦντες, Διὸς Ξενίου.
6:3	Χαλεπὴ δὲ καὶ τοῖς ὄχλοις ἦν καὶ δυσχερὴς ἡ ἐπίστασις τῆς κακίας.
6:4	Τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἱερὸν ἀσωτίας καὶ κώμων ἐπεπλήρωτο ὑπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν ῥαθυμούντων μεθʼ ἑταιρῶν, καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς περιβόλοις γυναιξὶ πλησιαζόντων, ἔτι δὲ τὰ μὴ καθήκοντα ἔνδον φερόντων.
6:5	Τὸ δὲ θυσιαστήριον τοῖς ἀποδιεσταλμένοις ἀπὸ τῶν νόμων ἀθεμίτοις ἐπεπλήρωτο.
6:6	Ἦν δʼ οὔτε σαββατίζειν, οὔτε πατρῴους ἑορτὰς διαφυλάττειν, οὔτε ἁπλῶς Ἰουδαῖον ὁμολογεῖν εἶναι.
6:7	Ἤγοντο δὲ μετὰ πικρᾶς ἀνάγκης εἰς τὴν κατὰ μῆνα τοῦ βασιλέως γενέθλιον ἡμέραν ἐπὶ σπλαγχνισμόν· γενομένης δὲ Διονυσίων ἑορτῆς, ἠναγκάζοντο οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι κισσοὺς ἔχοντες πομπεύειν τῷ Διονύσῳ.
6:8	Ψήφισμα δὲ ἐξέπεσεν εἰς τὰς ἀστυγείτονας πόλεις Ἑλληνίδας, Πτολεμαίων ὑποτιθεμένων τὴν αὐτὴν ἀγωγὴν κατὰ τῶν Ἰουδαίων, ἄγειν καὶ σπλαγχνίζειν·
6:9	τοὺς δὲ μὴ προαιρουμένους μεταβαίνειν ἐπὶ τὰ Ἑλληνικὰ, κατασφάζειν· παρῆν οὖν ὁρᾷν τὴν ἐνεστῶσαν ταλαιπωρίαν.
6:10	Δύο γὰρ γυναῖκες ἀνηνέγθησαν περιτετμηκυῖαι τὰ τέκνα αὐτῶν· τούτων δὲ ἐκ τῶν μαστῶν κρεμάσαντες τὰ βρέφη, καὶ δημοσίᾳ περιαγαγόντες αὐτὰς τὴν πόλιν, κατὰ τοῦ τείχους ἐκρήμνισαν.
6:11	Ἕτεροι δὲ πλησίον συνδραμόντες εἰς τὰ σπήλαια, λεληθότως ἄγειν τὴν ἑβδομάδα, μηνυθέντες τῷ Φιλίππῳ συνεφλογίσθησαν, διὰ τὸ εὐλαβῶς ἔχειν βοηθῆσαι ἑαυτοῖς κατὰ τὴν δόξαν τῆς σεμνοτάτης ἡμέρας.
6:12	Παρακαλῶ οὖν τοὺς ἐντυγχάνοντας τῇδε τῇ βίβλῳ, μὴ συστέλλεσθαι διὰ τὰς συμφορὰς, λογίζεσθαι δὲ τὰς τιμωρίας μὴ πρὸς ὄλεθρον, ἀλλὰ πρὸς παιδείαν τοῦ γένους ἡμῶν εὖναι.
6:13	Καὶ τὸ μὴ πολὺν χρόνον ἐᾶσθαι τοὺς δυσσεβοῦντας, ἀλλʼ εὐθέως περιπίπτειν ἐπιτιμίοις, μεγάλης εὐεργεσίας σημεῖόν ἐστιν.
6:14	Οὐ γὰρ, καθάπερ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἐθνῶν ἀναμένει μακροθυμῶν ὁ Δεσπότης, μέχρι τοῦ καταντήσαντας αὐτοὺς πρὸς ἐκπλήρωσιν ἁμαρτιῶν, κολάσαι, οὕτω καὶ ἐφʼ ἡμῶν ἔκρινεν
6:15	εἶναι, ἵνα μὴ πρὸς τέλος ἀφικομένων ἡμῶν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν, ὕστερον ἡμᾶς ἐκδικᾷ.
6:16	Διόπερ οὐδέ ποτε μὲν τὸν ἔλεον αὐτοῦ ἀφʼ ἡμῶν ἀφίστησι· παιδεύων δὲ μετὰ συμφορᾶς, οὐκ ἐγκαταλείπει τὸν ἑαυτοῦ λαόν.
6:17	Πλὴν ἕως ὑπομνήσεως ταῦθʼ ἡμῖν εἰρήσθω· διʼ ὀλίγων δʼ ἐλευστέον ἐπὶ τὴν διήγησιν.
6:18	Ἐλεάζαρός τις τῶν πρωτευόντων γραμματέων, ἀνὴρ ἤδη προβεβηκὼς τὴν ἡλικίαν, καὶ τὴν πρόσοψιν τοῦ προσώπου κάλλιστος τυγχάνων, ἀναχανὼν ἠναγκάζετο φαγεῖν ὕειον κρέας.
6:19	Ὁ δὲ τὸν μετʼ εὐκλείας θάνατον μᾶλλον ἢ τὸν μετὰ μύσους βίον ἀναδεξάμενος, αὐθαιρέτως ἐπὶ τὸ τύμπανον προσῆγε·
6:20	προπτύσας δέ, καθʼ ὃν ἔδει τρόπον προσέρχεσθαι τοὺς ὑπομένοντας ἀμύνεσθαι, ὧν οὐ θέμις γεύσασθαι διὰ τὴν πρὸς τὸ ζῇν φιλοστοργίαν.
6:21	Οἱ δὲ πρὸς τῷ παρανόμῳ σπλαγχνισμῷ τεταγμένοι, διὰ τὴν ἐκ τῶν παλαιῶν χρόνων πρὸς τὸν ἄνδρα γνῶσιν, ἀπολαβόντες αὐτὸν κατιδίαν παρεκάλουν, ἐνέγκαντα κρέα οἷς καθῆκον αὐτῷ χρήσασθαι διʼ αὐτοῦ παρασκευασθέντα, ὑποκριθῆναι δὲ ὡς ἐσθίοντα τὰ ὑπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως προστεταγμένα τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς θυσίας κρεῶν,
6:22	ἵνα τοῦτο πράξας ἀπολυθῇ τοῦ θανάτου, καὶ διὰ τὴν ἀρχαίαν πρὸς αὐτοὺς φιλίαν τύχῃ φιλανθρωπίας.
6:23	Ὁ δὲ λογισμὸν ἀστεῖον ἀναλαβὼν καὶ ἄξιον τῆς ἡλικίας, καὶ τῆς τοῦ γήρως ὑπεροχῆς, καὶ τῆς ἐπικτήτου καὶ ἐπιφανοῦς πολιᾶς, καὶ τῆς ἐκ παιδὸς καλλίστης ἀνατροφῆς, μᾶλλον δὲ τῆς ἁγίας καὶ θεοκτίστου νομοθεσίας, ἀκολούθως ἀπεφῄνατο, ταχέως λέγων προπέμπειν εἰς τὸν ᾅδην.
6:24	Οὐ γὰρ τῆς ἡμετέρας ἡλικίας ἄξιόν ἐστιν ὑποκριθῆναι, ἵνα πολλοὶ τῶν νέων ὑπολαβόντες Ἐλεάζαρον τὸν ἐννενηκονταετῆ μεταβεβηκέναι εἰς ἀλλοφυλισμόν,
6:25	καὶ αὐτοὶ διὰ τὴν ἐμὴν ὑπόκρισιν, καὶ διὰ τὸ μικρὸν καὶ ἀκαριαῖον ζῇν πλανηθῶσι διʼ ἐμέ, καὶ μῦσος καὶ κηλίδα τοῦ γήρως κατακτήσομαι.
6:26	Εἰ γὰρ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος ἐξελοῦμαι τὴν ἐξ ἀνθρώπων τιμωρίαν, ἀλλὰ τὰς τοῦ παντοκράτορος χεῖρας οὔτε ζῶν οὔτε ἀποθανὼν ἐκφεύξομαι.
6:27	Διόπερ ἀνδρείως μὲν νῦν διαλλάξας τὸν βίον, τοῦ μὲν γήρως ἄξιος φανήσομαι,
6:28	τοῖς δὲ νέοις ὑπόδειγμα γενναῖον καταλελοιπὼς, εἰς τὸ προθύμως καὶ γενναίως ὑπὲρ τῶν σεμνῶν καὶ ἁγίων νόμων ἀπευθανατίζειν· τοσαῦτα δὲ εἰπὼν. ἐπὶ τὸ τύμπανον εὐθέως ἦλθε.
6:29	Τῶν δὲ ἀγόντων τὴν μικρῷ πρότερον εὐμένειαν πρὸς αὐτὸν εἰς δυσμένειαν μεταβαλόντων διὰ τὸ τοὺς προειρημένους λόγους, ὡς αὐτοὶ διελάμβανον, ἀπόνοιαν εἶναι·
6:30	Μέλλων δὲ ταῖς πληγαῖς τελευτᾷν, ἀναστενάξας εἶπε, τῷ Κυρίῳ τῷ τὴν ἁγίαν γνῶσιν ἔχοντι φανερόν ἐστιν, ὅτι δυνάμενος ἀπολυθῆναι τοῦ θανάτου, σκληρὰς ὑποφέρω κατὰ τὸ σῶμα ἀλγηδόνας μαστιγούμενος, κατὰ ψυχὴν δὲ ἡδέως διὰ τὸν αὐτοῦ φόβον ταῦτα πάσχω.
6:31	Καὶ οὗτος οὖν τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον μετήλλαξεν, οὐ μόνον τοῖς νέοις, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς πλείστοις τοῦ ἔθνους τὸν ἑαυτοῦ θάνατον ὑπόδειγμα γενναιότητος καὶ μνημόσυνον ἀρετῆς καταλιπών.
7:1	Συνέβη δὲ καὶ ἑπτὰ ἀδελφοὺς μετὰ τῆς μητρὸν συλληφθέντας ἀναγκάζεσθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως ἀπὸ τῶν ἀθεμίτων ὑείων κρεῶν ἐφάπτεσθαι, μάστιξι καὶ νευραῖς αἰκιζομένους.
7:2	Εἷς δὲ αὐτῶν γενόμενος προήγορος, οὕτως ἔφη, τί μέλλεις ἐρωτᾷν, καὶ μανθάνειν παρʼ ἡμῶν; ἕτοιμοι γὰρ ἀποθνήσκειν ἐσμὲν ἢ παραβαίνειν τοὺς πατρίους νόμους.
7:3	Ἔκθυμος δὲ γενόμενος ὁ βασιλεὺς, προσέταξε τήγανα, καὶ λέβητας ἐκπυροῦν.
7:4	Τῶν δὲ ἐκπυρωθέντων, παραχρῆμα τὸν γενόμενον αὐτῶν προήγορον προσέταξε γλωσσοτομεῖν, καὶ περισκυθίσαντας ἀκρωτηριάζειν, τῶν λοιπῶν ἀδελφῶν, καὶ τῆς μετρὸς, συνορώντων.
7:5	Ἄχρηστον δὲ αὐτὸν τοῖς ὅλοις γενόμενον, ἐκέλευσε τῇ πυρᾷ προσάγειν ἔμπνουν, καὶ τηγανίζειν· τῆς δὲ ἀτμίδος ἐφʼ ἱκανὸν διαδιδούσης τοῦ τηγάνου, ἀλλήλους παρεκάλουν σὺν τῇ μητρὶ γενναίως τελευτᾷν, λέγοντες οὕτως.
7:6	Ὁ Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ἐφορᾷ, καὶ ταῖς ἀληθείαις ἐφʼ ἡμῖν παρακαλεῖται, καθάπερ διὰ τῆς κατὰ πρόσωπον ἀντιμαρτυρούσης ᾠδῆς διεσάφησε Μωυσῆς, λέγων, καὶ ἐπὶ τοῖς δούλοις αὐτοῦ παρακληθήσεται.
7:7	Μεταλλάξαντος δὲ τοῦ πρώτου τὸν τρόπον τοῦτον, τὸν δεύτερον ἦγον ἐπὶ τὸν ἐμπαιγμόν· καὶ τὸ τῆς κεφαλῆς δέρμα σὺν ταῖς θριξὶ περισύραντες, ἐπηρώτων, εἰ φάγεσαι πρὸ τοῦ τιμωρηθῆναι τὸ σῶμα κατὰ μέλος;
7:8	Ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς τῇ πατρίῳ φωνῇ εἶπεν, οὐχί· διόπερ καὶ
7:9	οὗτος τὴν ἑξῆς ἔλαβε βάσανον, ὡς ὁ πρῶτος. Ἐν ἐσχάτῇ δὲ πνοῇ γενόμενος, εἶπε, σὺ μὲν ἀλάστωρ ἐκ τοῦ παρόντος ἡμᾶς ζῇν ἀπολύεις, ὁ δὲ τοῦ κόσμου βασιλεὺς ἀποθανόντας ἡμᾶς ὑπὲρ τῶν αὐτοῦ νόμων εἰς αἰώνιον ἀναβίωσιν ζωῆς ἡμᾶς ἀναστήσει.
7:10	Μετὰ δὲ τοῦτον ὁ τρίτος ἐνεπαίζετο, καὶ τὴν γλῶσσαν αἰτηθεὶς ταχέως προέβαλε, καὶ τὰς χεῖρας εὐθαρσῶς προέτεινε,
7:11	καὶ γενναίως εἶπεν, ἐξ οὐρανοῦ ταῦτα κέκτημαι, καὶ διὰ τοὺς αὐτοῦ νόμους ὑπερορῶ ταῦτα, καὶ παρʼ αὐτοῦ ταῦτα πάλιν ἐλπίζω κομίσασθαι.
7:12	Ὥστε αὐτὸν τὸν βασιλέα καὶ τοὺς σὺν αὐτῷ ἐκπλήσσεσθαι τὴν τοῦ νεανίσκου ψυχὴν, ὡς ἐν οὐδενὶ τὰς ἀλγηδόνας ἐτίθετο.
7:13	Καὶ τούτου δὲ μεταλλάξαντος, τὸν τέταρτον ὡσαύτως ἐβασάνιζον αἰκιζόμενοι.
7:14	Καὶ γεννόμενος πρὸς τὸ τελευτᾷν, οὕτως ἔφη, αἱρετὸν μεταλλάσσοντας ὑπʼ ἀνθρώπων τὰς ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ προσδοκᾷν ἐλπίδας, πάλιν ἀναστήσεσθαι ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ· σοὶ μὲν γὰρ ἀνάστασις εἰς ζωὴν οὐκ ἔσται.
7:15	Ἐχομένως δὲ τὸν πέμπτον προσάγοντες ᾐκίζοντο.
7:16	Ὁ δὲ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἰδὼν, εἶπεν, ἐξουσίαν ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἔχων φθαρτὸς ὤν, ὅ θελεις ποιεῖς· μὴ δόκει δὲ τὸ γένος ἡμῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ καταλελεῖφθαι.
7:17	Σὺ δὲ καρτέρει, καὶ θεώρει τὸ μεγαλεῖον αὐτοῦ κράτος, ὡς σὲ καὶ τὸ σπέρμα σου βασανίσει.
7:18	Μετὰ δὲ τοῦτον ἦγον τὸν ἕκτον, καὶ μέλλων ἀποθνήσκειν, ἔφη, μὴ πλανῶ μάτην, ἡμεῖς γὰρ διʼ ἑαυτοὺς ταῦτα πάσχομεν ἁμαρτάνοντες εἰς τὸν ἑαυτῶν Θεὸν, διὸ ἄξια θαυμασμοῦ γέγονε.
7:19	Σὺ δὲ μὴ νομίσῃς ἀθῶος ἔσεσθαι, θεομαχεῖν ἐπιχειρήσας.
7:20	Ὑπεραγόντως δὲ ἡ μήτηρ θαυμαστὴ καὶ μνήμης ἀγαθῆς ἀξία, ἥτις ἀπολλυμένους υἱοὺς ἑπτὰ συνορῶσα μιᾶς ὑπὸ καιρὸν ἡμέρας, εὐψύχως ἔφερε διὰ τὰς ἐπὶ Κύριον ἐλπίδας.
7:21	Ἕκαστον δὲ αὐτῶν παρεκάλει τῇ πατρίῳ φωνῇ, γενναίῳ πεπληρωμένη φρονήματι, καὶ τὸν θῆλυν λογισμὸν ἄρσενι θυμῷ διεγείρασα, λέγουσα πρὸς αὐτοὺς,
7:22	οὐδʼ οἶδʼ ὅπως εἰς τὴν ἐμὴν ἐφάνητε κοιλίαν, οὐδὲ ἐγὼ τὸ πνεῦμα καὶ τὴν ζωὴν ὑμῖν ἐχαρισάμην, καὶ τὴν ἑκάστου στοιχείωσιν οὐκ ἐγὼ διερύθμισα.
7:23	Τοιγαροῦν ὁ τοῦ κόσμου κτίστης ὁ πλάσας ἀνθρώπου γένεσιν, καὶ πάντων ἐξευρὼν γένεσιν, καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα καὶ τὴν ζωὴν ὑμῖν πάλιν ἀποδώσει μετʼ ἐλέους, ὡς νῦν ὑπερορᾶτε ἑαυτοὺς διὰ τοὺς αὐτοῦνόμους.
7:24	Ὁ δὲ Ἀντίοχος οἰόμενος καταφρονεῖσθαι, καὶ τὴν ὀνειδίζουσαν ὑφορώμενος φωνὴν, ἔτι τοῦ νεωτέρου περιόντος, οὐ μόνον διὰ λόγων ἐποιεῖτο τὴν παράκλησιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ διʼ ὅρκων ἐπίστου, ἅμα πλουτιεῖν καὶ μακαριστὸν ποιήσειν μεταθέμενον ἀπὸ τῶν πατρίων νόμων, καὶ φίλον ἕξειν, καὶ χρείας ἐμπιστεύσειν.
7:25	Τοῦ δὲ νεανίου μηδαμῶς προσέχοντος, προσκαλεσάμενος ὁ βασιλεὺς τὴν μητέρα, παρήνει τοῦ μειρακίου γενέσθαι σύμβουλον ἐπὶ σωτηρία.
7:26	Πολλὰ δὲ αὐτοῦ παραινέσαντος, ἐπεδέξατο πείσειν τὸν υἱόν.
7:27	Προσκύψασα δὲ αὐτῷ, χλευάσασα τὸν ὠμὸν τύραννον, οὕτως ἔφησε τῇ πατρῴᾳ φωνῇ, υἱὲ, ἐλέησόν με τὴν ἐν γαστρὶ περιενέγκασάν σε μῆνας ἐννέα, καὶ θηλάσασάν σε ἔτη τρία, καὶ ἐκθρέψασάν σε καὶ ἀγαγοῦσαν εἰς τὴν ἡλικίαν ταύτην, καὶ τροφοφορήσασαν.
7:28	Ἀξιῶ σε, τέκνον, ἀναβλέψαντα εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν, καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτοῖς πάντα ἰδόντα, γνῶναι ὅτι ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων ἐποίησεν αὐτὰ ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένος οὕτως γεγένηται,
7:29	μὴ φοβηθῇς τὸν δήμιον τοῦτον, ἀλλὰ τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἄξιος γενόμενος, ἐπίδεξαι τὸν θάνατον, ἵνα ἐν τῷ ἐλέει σὺν τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς σου κομίσωμαί σε.
7:30	Ἔτι δὲ ταύτης καταλεγούσης ὁ νεανίας εἶπε, τίνα μένετε; οὐχ ὑπακούω τοῦ προστάγματος τοῦ βασιλέως· τοῦ δὲ προστάγματος ἀκούω τοῦ νόμου τοῦ δοθέντος τοῖς πατράσιν ἡμῶν διὰ Μωυσέως.
7:31	Σὺ δὲ πάσης κακίας εὑρετὴς γενόμενος εἰς τοὺς Ἑβραίους, οὐ μὴ διαφύγῃς τὰς χεῖρας τοῦ Θεοῦ.
7:32	Ἡμεῖς γὰρ διὰ τὰς ἑαυτῶν ἁμαρτίας πάσχομεν.
7:33	Εἰ δὲ χάριν ἐπιπλήξεως καὶ παιδείας ὁ ζῶν Κύριος ἡμῶν βραχέως ἐπώργισται, καὶ πάλιν καταλλαγήσεται τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ δούλοις.
7:34	Σὺ δὲ ὦ ἀνόσιε, καὶ πάντων ἀνθρώπων μιαρώτατε, μὴ μάτην μετεωρίζου φρυαττόμενος ἀδήλοις ἐλπίσιν, ἐπὶ τοὺς δούλους αὐτοῦ ἐπαιρόμενος χεῖρα.
7:35	Οὔπω γὰρ τὴν τοῦ παντοκράτορος ἐπόπτου Θεοῦ κρίσιν ἐκπέφευγας.
7:36	Οἱ μὲν γὰρ νῦν ἡμέτεροι ἀδελφοὶ βραχὺν ὑπενέγκαντες πόνον, ἀεννάου ζωῆς ὑπὸ διαθήκην Θεοῦ πεπτώκασι· σὺ δὲ τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ κρίσει δίκαια τὰ πρόστιμα τῆς ὑπετηφανίας ἀποίσῃ.
7:37	Ἐγὼ δὲ καθάπερ οἱ ἀδελφοί μου, καὶ σῶμα καὶ ψυχὴν προδίδωμι περὶ τῶν πατρίων νόμων, ἐπικαλούμενος τὸν Θεὸν ἵλεων ταχὺ τῷ ἔθνει γενέσθαι, καὶ σὲ μετὰ ἐτασμῶν καὶ μαστίγων ἐξομολογήσασθαι, διότι μόνος αὐτὸς Θεός ἐστιν,
7:38	ἐν ἐμοὶ δὲ καὶ τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς μου στῆναι τὴν τοῦ παντοκράτορος ὀργὴν τὴν ἐπὶ τὸ σύμπαν ἡμῶν γένος δικαίως ἐπηγμένην.
7:39	Ἔκθυμος δὲ γενόμενος ὁ βασιλεὺς, τούτῳ παρὰ τοὺς ἄλλους χειρίστως ἀπήντησε, πικρῶς φέρων ἐπὶ τῷ μυκτηρισμῷ.
7:40	Καὶ οὗτος οὖν καθαρὸς τὸν βίον μετήλλαξε, παντελῶς ἐπὶ τῷ Κυρίῳ πεποιθώς.
7:41	Ἐσχάτη δὲ τῶν υἱῶν ἡ μήτηρ ἐτελεύτησε.
7:42	Τὰ μὲν οὖν περὶ σπλαγχνισμοὺς, καὶ τὰς ὑπερβαλλούσας αἰκίας ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον δεδηλώσθω.
8:1	Ἰούδας δὲ ὁ Μακκαβαῖος καὶ οἱ σὺν αὐτῷ, παρεισπορευόμενοι λεληθότως εἰς τὰς κώμας, προσεκαλοῦντο τοὺς συγγενεῖς, καὶ τοὺς μεμενηκότας ἐν τῷ Ἰουδαϊσμῷ προσλαβόμενοι, συνήγαγον εἰς ἑξακισχιλίους.
8:2	Καὶ ἐπεκαλοῦντο τὸν Κύριον ἐπιδεῖν ἐπὶ τὸν ὑπὸ πάντων καταπατούμενον λαόν, οἰκτεῖραι δὲ καὶ τὸν ναὸν, τὸν ὑπὸ τῶν ἀσεβῶν ἀνθρώπων βεβηλωθέντα,
8:3	ἐλεῆσαι δὲ καὶ τὴν καταφθειρομένην πόλιν καὶ μέλλουσαν ἰσόπεδον γίνεσθαι, καὶ τῶν καταβοώντων πρὸς αὐτὸν αἱμάτων εἰσακοῦσαι,
8:4	μνησθῆναι δὲ καὶ τῆς τῶν ἀναμαρτήτων νηπίων παρανόμου ἀπωλείας, καὶ περὶ τῶν γενομένων εἰς τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ βλασφημιῶν, καὶ μισοπονηρῆσαι.
8:5	Γενόμενος δὲ ἐν συστήματι ὁ Μακκαβαῖος, ἀνυπόστατος ἤδη τοῖς ἔθνεσιν ἐγίνετο, τῆς ὀργῆς τοῦ Κυρίου εἰς ἔλεον τραπείσης.
8:6	Πόλεις δὲ καὶ κώμας ἀπροσδοκήτως ἐρχόμενος ἐνεπίμπρα, καὶ τοὺς ἐπικαίρους τόπους ἀπολαμβάνων, οὐκ ὀλίγους τῶν πολεμίων ἐνίκα τροπούμενος.
8:7	Μάλιστα τὰς νύκτας πρὸς τὰς τοιαύτας ἐπιβουλὰς συνεργοὺς ἐλάμβανε· καὶ λαλιά τις τῆς εὐανδρίας αὐτοῦ διεχεῖτο πανταχῆ.
8:8	Συνορῶν δὲ ὁ Φίλιππος κατὰ μικρὸν εἰς προκοπὴν ἐρχόμενον τὸν ἄνδρα πυκνότερον δὲ ἐν ταῖς εὐημερίαις προβαίνοντα, πρὸς Πτολεμαῖον τὸν κοίλης Συρίας καὶ Φοινίκης στρατηγὸν ἔγραψεν ἐπιβοηθεῖν τοῖς τοῦ βασιλέως πράγμασιν.
8:9	Ὁ δὲ ταχέως προχειρισάμενος, Νικάνορα τὸν τοῦ Πατρόκλου, τῶν πρώτων φίλως, ἀπέστειλεν, ὑποτάξας παμφύλων ἔθνη οὐκ ἐλάττους τῶν δισμυρίων, τὸ σύμπαν τῶν Ἰουδαίως ἐξᾶραι γένος· συνέστησε δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ Γοργίαν ἄνδρα στρατηγὸν, καὶ ἐν πολεμικαῖς χρείαις πείραν ἔχοντα.
8:10	Διεστήσατο δὲ ὁ Νικάνωρ τὸν φόρον τῷ βασιλεῖ τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις ὄντα ταλάντων δισχιλίων ἐκ τῆς τῶν Ἰουδαίων αἰχμαλωσίας ἐκπληρώσειν.
8:11	Εὐθέως δὲ εἰς τὰς παραθαλασσίους πόλεις ἀπέστειλε προσκαλούμενος ἐπʼ ἀγορασμὸν Ἰουδαϊκῶν σωμάτων, ὑπισχνούμενον ἐννενήκοντα σώματα ταλάντου παραχωρήσειν· οὐ προσδεχόμενος τὴν παρὰ τοῦ παντοκράτορος μέλλουσαν παρακολουθήσειν ἐπʼ αὐτῷ δίκην.
8:12	Τῷ δὲ ʼΙούδᾳ προσέπεσε περὶ τῆς τοῦ Νικάνορος ἐφόδου· καὶ μεταδόντος αὐτοῦ σὺν αὐτῷ τὴν παρουσίαν τοῦ στρατοπέδου,
8:13	οἱ δει λανδροῦντες καὶ ἀπιστοῦντες τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ δίκην, διεδίδρασκον, καὶ ἐξετόπιζον ἑαυτούς.
8:14	Οἱ δὲ τὰ περιλελειμμένα πάντα ἐπώλουν, ὁμοῦ δὲ τὸν Κύριον ἠξίουν ῥύσασθαι τοὺς ὑπὸ τοῦ δυσσεβοῦς Νικάνορος πρὶν συντυχεῖν πεπραμένους.
8:15	Καὶ εἰ μὴ διʼ αὐτούς, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὰς πρὸς τοὺς πατέρας αὐτῶν διαθήκας, καὶ ἕνεκεν τῆς ἐπʼ αὐτοὺς ἐπικλήσεως τοῦ σεμνοῦ καὶ μεγαλοπρεποῦς ὀνόματος αὐτοῦ.
8:16	Συναγαγὼν δὲ ὁ Μακκαβαῖος τοὺς περὶ αὐτὸν ὄντας τὸν ἀριθμὸν ἑξακισχιλίους, παρεκάλει μὴ καταπλαγῆναι τοὺς πολεμίους, μηδὲ εὐλαβεῖσθαι τὴν τῶν ἀδίκως παραγινομένων ἐπʼ αὐτοὺς ἐθνῶν πολυπληθίαν, ἀγωνίσασθαι δὲ γενναίως,
8:17	πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν λαβόντας τὴν ἀνόμως εἰς τὸν ἅγιον τόπον συντετελεσμένην ὑπʼ αὐτῶν ὕβριν, καὶ τὸν τῆς ἐμπεπαιγμένης πόλεως αἰκισμόν, ἔτι δὲ τὴν τῆς προγονικῆς πολιτείας κατάλυσιν.
8:18	Οἱ μὲν γὰρ ὅπλοις πεποίθασιν ἅμα καὶ τόλμαις, ἔφησεν, ἡμεῖς δὲ ἐπὶ τῷ παντοκράτορι Θεῷ δυναμένῳ καὶ τοὺς ἐρχομένους ἐφʼ ἡμᾶς, καὶ τὸν ὅλον κόσμον ἐν ἑνὶ νεύματι καταβαλεῖν, πεποίθαμεν.
8:19	Προσαναλεξάμενος δὲ αὐτοῖς καὶ τὰς ἐπὶ τῶν προγόνων γενομένας ἀντιλήψεις, καὶ τὴν ἐπὶ Σενναχηρεὶμ τῶν ἑκατὸν ὀγδοήκοντα πέντε χιλιάδων ὡς ἀπώλοντο.
8:20	Καὶ τὴν ἐν τῇ Βαβυλωνίᾳ τὴν πρὸς αὐτοὺς Γαλάτας παράταξιν γενομένην, ὡς οἱ πάντες ἐπὶ τὴν χρείαν ἦλθον ὀκτακισχιλιοι σὺν Μακεδόσι τετρακισχιλίοις, τῶν Μακεδόνων ἀπορουμένων, οἱ ὀκτακισχίλιοι τὰς δώδεκα μυρίαδας ἀπώλεσαν διὰ τὴν γενομένην αὐτοῖς ἀπʼ οὐρανοῦ βοήθειαν, καὶ ὠφέλειαν πολλὴν ἔλαβον.
8:21	Ἐφʼ οἷς εὐθαρσεῖς αὐτοὺς παραστήσας, καὶ ἑτοίμους ὑπὲρ τῶν νόμων καὶ τῆς πατρίδος ἀποθνήσκειν, τετραμερές τι τὸ στράτευμα ἐποίησε·
8:22	τάξας καὶ τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς αὐτοῦ προηγουμένους ἑκατέρας τάξεως, Σίμωνα καὶ Ἰώσηφον καὶ Ἰωνάθαν, ὑποτάξας ἑκάστῳ χιλίους πρὸς τοῖς πεντακοσίοις,
8:23	ἔτι δὲ καὶ Ἐλεάζαρον, παραγνοὺς τὴν ἱερὰν βίβλον, καὶ δοὺς σύνθημα Θεοῦ βοηθείας, τῆς πρώτης σπείρας αὐτὸς προηγούμενος, συνέβαλε τῷ Νικάνορι.
8:24	Γενομένου δὲ αὐτοῖς τοῦ παντοκράτορος συμμάχου, κατέσφαξαν τῶν πολεμίων ὑπὲρ τοὺς ἐννακισχιλίους, τραυματίας δὲ καὶ τοῖς μέλεσιν ἀναπήρους τὸ πλεῖστον μέρος τῆς τοῦ Νικάνορος στρατιᾶς ἐποίησαν, πάντας δὲ φυγεῖν ἠνάγκασαν.
8:25	Τὰ δὲ χρήματα τῶν παραγεγονότων ἐπὶ τὸν ἀγορασμὸν αὐτῶν ἔλαβον· συνδιώξαντες δὲ αὐτοὺς ἐφʼ ἱκανὸν, ἀνέλυσαν ὑπὸ τῆς ὥρας συγκλειόμενοι.
8:26	Ἦν γὰρ ἡ πρὸ τοῦ σαββάτου, διʼ ἥν αἰτίαν οὐκ ἐμακροθύμησαν κατατρέχοντες αὐτούς.
8:27	Ὁπλολογήσαντες δὲ αὐτοὺς, καὶ τὰ σκῦλα ἐκδύσαντες τῶν πολεμίων, περὶ τὸ σάββατον ἐγίνοντο, περισσῶς εὐλογοῦντες, καὶ ἐξομολογούμενοι τῷ Κυρίῳ τῷ διασώσαντι αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν ἡμέραν ταύτην, ἀρχὴν ἐλέους τάξαντος αὐτοῖς.
8:28	Μετὰ δὲ τὸ σάββατον τοῖς ᾐκισμένοις, καὶ ταῖς χήραις, καὶ ὀρφανοῖς, μερίσαντες ἀπὸ τῶν σκύλων, τὰ λοιπὰ αὐτοὶ καὶ τὰ παιδία ἐμερίσαντο.
8:29	Ταῦτα δὲ διαπραξάμενοι, καὶ κοινὴν ἱκετείαν ποιησάμενοι, τὸν ἐλεήμονα Κύριον ἠξίουν εἰς τέλος, καταλλαγῆναι τοῖς αὐτοῦ δούλοις.
8:30	Καὶ τῶν περὶ Τιμόθεον καὶ Βακχίδην συνεριζοντων, ὑπὲρ τοὺς δισμυρίους αὐτῶν ἀνεῖλον, καὶ ὀχυρωμάτων ὑψηλῶν εὖ μάλα ἐγκρατεῖς ἐγένοντο· καὶ λάφυρα πλεῖστα ἐμερίσαντο, ἰσομοίρους ἑαυτοὺς καὶ τοῖς ᾐκισμένοις, καὶ ὀρφανοῖς, καὶ χήραις, ἔτι δὲ καὶ πρεσβυτέροις ποιήσαντες.
8:31	Ὁπλολογήσαντες δὲ αὐτοὺς, ἐπιμελῶς πάντα συνέθηκαν εἰς τοὺς ἐπικαίρους τόπους, τὰ δὲ λοιπὰ τῶν σκύλων ἤνεγκαν εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα.
8:32	Τὸν δὲ φυλάρχην τῶν περὶ Τιμόθεον ἀνεῖλον, ἀνοσιώτατον ἄνδρα καὶ πολλὰ τοὺς Ἰουδαίους ἐπιλελυπηκότα.
8:33	Ἐπινίκια δὲ ἄγοντες ἐν τῇ πατρίδι, τοὺς ἐμπρήσαντας τοὺς ἱεροὺς πυλῶνας, Καλλισθένην, καί τινας ἄλλους ὑφῆψαν εἰς ἓν οἰκίδιον πεφευγότας, οἵ τινες ἄξιον τῆς δυσσεβείας ἐκομίσαντομισθόν.
8:34	Ὁ δὲ τρισαλιτήριος Νικάνωρ, ὁ τοὺς χιλίους ἐμπόρους ἐπὶ τὴν πράσιν τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἀγαγὼν,
8:35	ταπεινωθεὶς ὑπὸ τῶν κατʼ αὑτὸν νομιζομένων ἐλαχίστων εἶναι, τῇ τοῦ Κυρίου βοηθείᾳ, τὴν δοξικὴν ἀποθέμενος ἐσθῆτα, διὰ τῆς μεσογείου, δραπέτου τρόπον ἔρημον ἑαυτὸν ποιήσας, ἧκεν εἰς Ἀντιόχειαν, ὑπεράγαν δυσημερήσας ἐπὶ τῇ τοῦ στρατοῦ διαφθορᾷ.
8:36	Καὶ ὁ τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις ἀναδεξάμενος φόρον ἀπὸ τῆς τῶν ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις αἰχμαλωσίας κατορθώσασθαι, κατήγγελλεν ὑπέρμαχον ἔχειν τὸν Θεὸν τοὺς Ἰουδαίους, καὶ διὰ τὸν τρόπον τοῦτον ἀτρώτους εἶναι τοὺς Ἰουδαίους, διὰ τὸ ἀκολουθεῖν τοῖς ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ προτεταγμένοις νόμοις.
9:1	Περὶ δὲ τὸν καιρὸν ἐκεῖνον ἐτύγχανεν Ἀντίοχος ἀναλελυκὼς ἀκόσμως ἐκ τῶν κατὰ τὴν Περσίδα τόπων.
9:2	Εἰσεληλύθει γὰρ εἰς τὴν λεγομένην Περσέπολιν, καὶ ἐπεχείρησεν ἱεροσυλεῖν, καὶ τὴν πόλιν συνέχειν· διὸ δὴ τῶν πληθῶν ὁρμησάντων, ἐπὶ τὴν τῶν ὅπλων βοήθειαν ἐτράπησαν· καὶ συνέβη τροπωθέντα τὸν Ἀντίοχον ὑπὸ τῶν ἐγχωρίων, ἀσχήμονα τὴν ἀναζυγὴν ποιήσασθαι.
9:3	Ὄντι δὲ αὐτῷ κατʼ Ἐκβάτανα, προσέπεσε τὰ κατὰ Νικάνορα, καὶ τοὺς περὶ Τιμόθεον, γεγονότα.
9:4	Ἐπαρθεὶς δὲ τῷ θυμῷ, ᾤετο καὶ τὴν τῶν πεφυγαδευκότων αὐτὸν κακίαν εἰς τοὺς Ἰουδαίους ἐναπερείσασθαι· διὸ συνέταξε τὸν ἁρματηλάτην ἀδιαλείπτως ἐλαύνοντα κατανύειν τὴν πορείαν, τῆς ἐξ οὐρανοῦ δὴ κρίσεως συνούσης αὐτῷ· οὕτως γὰρ ὑπερηφάνως εἶπε, πολυάνδριον Ἰουδαίων Ἱεροσόλυμα ποιήσω παραγενόμενος ἐκεῖ.
9:5	Ὁ δὲ πανεπόπτης Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ἐπάταξεν αὐτὸν ἀνιάτῳ καὶ ἀοράτῳ πληγῇ· ἄρτι δὲ αὐτοῦ καταλήξαντος τὸν λόγον, ἔλαβεν αὐτὸν ἀνήκεστος τῶν σπλάγχνων ἀλγηδὼν, καὶ πικραὶ τῶν ἔνδον βάσανοι,
9:6	πάνυ δικαίως, τὸν πολλαῖς καὶ ξενιζούσαις συμφοραῖς ἑτέρων σπλάγχνα βασανίσαντα.
9:7	Ὁ δʼ οὐδαμῶς τῆς ἀγερωχίας ἔληγεν· ἔτι δὲ καὶ τῆς ὑπερηφανίας ἐπεπλήρωτο, πῦρ πνέων τοῖς θυμοῖς ἐπὶ τοὺς Ἰουδαίους, καὶ κελεύων ἐποξύνειν τὴν πορείαν· συνέβη δὲ καὶ πεσεῖν αὐτὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἅρματος φερομένου ῥοίζῳ, καὶ δυσχερεῖ πτώματι περιπεσόντα, πάντα τὰ μέλη τοῦ σώματος ἀποστρεβλοῦσθαι.
9:8	Ὁ δʼ ἄρτι δοκῶν τοῖς τῆς θαλάσσης κύμασιν ἐπιτάσσειν, διὰ τὴν ὑπὲρ ἄνθρωπον ἀλαζονείαν, καὶ πλάστιγγι τὰ τῶν ὀρέων οἰόμενος ὕψη στήσειν, κατὰ γῆν γενόμενος, ἐν φορείῳ παρεκομίζετο, φανερὰν τοῦ Θεοῦ πᾶσι τὴν δύναμιν ἐνδεικνύμενος·
9:9	ὥστε καὶ ἐκ τοῦ σώματος τοῦ δυσσεβοῦς σκώληκας ἀναζεῖν, καὶ ζῶντος ἐν ὀδύναις καὶ ἀλγηδόσι τὰς σάρκας αὐτοῦ διαπίπτειν, ὑπὸ δὲ τῆς ὀσμῆς αὐτοῦ πᾶν τὸ στρατόπεδον βαρύνεσθαι τῇν σαπρίᾳ.
9:10	Καὶ τὸν μικρῷ πρότερον τῶν οὐρανίων ἄστρων ἅπτεσθαι δοκοῦντα, παρακομίζειν οὐδεὶς ἐδύνατο, διὰ τὸ τῆς ὀσμῆς ἀφόρητον βάρος.
9:11	Ἐνταῦθα οὖν ἤρξατο τὸ πολὺ τῆς ὑπερηφανίας λήγειν ὑποτεθραυσμένος, καὶ εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν ἔρχεσθαι θείᾳ μάστιγι κατὰ στιγμὴν ἐπιτεινόμενος ταῖς ἀλγηδόσι.
9:12	Καὶ μηδὲ τῆς ὀσμῆς αὐτοῦ δυνάμενος ἀνέχεσθαι, ταῦτʼ ἔφη, δίκαιον ὑποτάσσεσθαι τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ μὴ θνητὸν ὄντα ἰσόθεα φρονεῖν ὑπερηφανῶς.
9:13	Ηὔχετο δὲ ὁ μιαρὸς πρὸς τὸν οὐκέτι αὐτὸν ἐλεήσοντα δεσπότην, οὕτω λέγων,
9:14	τὴν μὲν ἁγίαν πόλιν ἣν σπεύδων παρεγίνετο ἰσόπεδον ποιῆσαι, καὶ πολυάνδριον οἰκοδομῆσαι, ἐλευθέραν ἀναδεῖξαι·
9:15	τοὺς δὲ Ἰουδαίους, οὕς διεγνώκει μηδὲ ταφῆς ἀξιῶσαι, οἰωνοβρώτους δὲ σὺν τοῖς νηπίοις ἐκρίψειν θηρίοις, πάντας αὐτοὺς ἴσους Ἀθηναίοις ποιήσειν·
9:16	ὃν δὲ πρότερον ἐσκύλευσεν ἅγιον νεὼν, καλλίστοις ἀναθήμασι κοσμήσειν, καὶ τὰ ἱερὰ σκεύη πολυπλάσια πάντα ἀποδώσειν, τὰς δὲ ἐπιβαλλούσας πρὸς τὰς θυσίας συντάξεις ἐκ τῶν ἰδίων προσόδων χορηγήσειν·
9:17	πρὸς δὲ τούτοις, καὶ Ἰουδαῖο ἔσεσθαι, καὶ πάντα τόπον οἰκητὸν ἐπελεύσεσθαι καταγγέλλοντα τὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ κράτος.
9:18	Οὐδαμῶς δὲ ληγόντων τῶν πόνων, ἐπεληλύθει γὰρ ἐπʼ αὐτὸν δικαία ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ κρίσις, τὰ κατʼ αὐτὸν ἀπελπίσας, ἔγραψε πρὸς τοὺς Ἰουδαίους τὴν ὑπογεγραμμένην ἐπιστολήν, ἱκετηρίας τάξιν ἔχουσαν, περιέχουσαν δὲ οὕτως·
9:19	Τοῖς χρηστοῖς Ἰουδαίοις τοῖς πολίταις πολλὰ χαίρειν, καὶ ὑγιαίνειν, καὶ εὖ πράττειν, βασιλεὺς καὶ στρατηγὸς Ἀντίοχος.
9:20	Εἰ ἔῤῥωσθε, καὶ τὰ τέκνα καὶ τὰ ἴδια κατὰ γνώμην ἔστιν ὑμῖν, εὔχομαι μὲν τῷ Θεῷ τὴν μεγίστην χάριν, εἰς οὐρανὸν τὴν ἐλπίδα ἔχων.
9:21	Κᾀγὼ δὲ ἀσθενῶς διεκείμην, ὑμῶν τὴν τιμὴν καὶ τὴν εὔνοιαν ἄν ἐμνημόνευον φιλοστόργως· ἐπανάγων ἐκ τῶν περὶ τὴν Περσίδα τόπων, καὶ περιπεσὼν ἀσθενείᾳ δυσχέρειαν ἐχούσῃ, ἀναγκαῖον ἡγησάμην φροντίσαι τῆς κοινῆς πάντων ἀσφαλείας·
9:22	Οὐκ ἀπογινώσκων τὰ κατʼ ἐμαυτόν, ἀλλὰ ἔχων πολλὴν ἐλπίδα ἐκφεύξεσθαι τὴν ἀσθένειαν,
9:23	θεωρῶν δὲ ὅτι καὶ ὁ πατήρ καθʼ οὓς καιροὺς εἰς τοὺς ἄνω τόπους ἐστρατοπέδευσεν, ἀνέδειξε τὸν διαδεξόμενον,
9:24	ὅπως ἐάν τι παράδοξον ἀποβαίνῃ, ἤ καὶ προσαγγελθῇ τι δυοχερὲς, εἰδότες οἱ κατὰ τὴν χώραν ᾧ καταλέλειπται τὰ πράγματα, μὴ ἐπιταράσσωνται·
9:25	Πρὸς δὲ τούτοις κατανοῶν τοὺς παρακειμένους δυνάστας, καὶ γειτνιῶντας τῇ βασιλείᾳ τοῖς καιροῖς ἐπέχοντας, προσδεχομένους τὸ ἀποβησόμενον, ἀναδέδειχα τὸν υἱὸν μου Ἀντίοχον βασιλέα, ὃν πολλάκις ἀνατρέχων εἰς τὰς ἐπάνω σατραπείας τοῖς πλείστοις ὑμῶν παρακατετιθέμην καὶ συνίστων· γέγραφα δὲ πρὸς αὐτὸν τὰ ὑπογεγραμμένα.
9:26	Παρακαλῶ οὖν ὑμᾶς καὶ ἀξιῶ, μεμνημένους τῶν εὐεργεσιῶν κοινῇ καὶ κατιδίαν, ἕκαστον συντηρεῖν τὴν οὖσαν εὔνοιαν εἰς ἐμὲ καὶ τὸν υἱόν μου.
9:27	Πέπεισμαι γὰρ αὐτὸν ἐπιεικῶς καὶ φιλανθρώπως παρακολουθοῦντα τῇ ἐμῇ προαιρέσει, συμπεριενεχθήσεσθαι ὑμῖν.
9:28	Ὁ μὲν οὖν ἀνδροφόνος καὶ βλάσφημος τὰ χείριστα παθών, ὡς ἑτέρους διέθηκεν, ἐπὶ ξένης ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσιν οἰκτίστῳ μόρῳ κατέσπρεψε τὸν βίον.
9:29	Παρεκομίζετο δὲ τὸ σῶμα Φίλιππος ὁ σύντροφος αὐτοῦ· ὃς καὶ διευλαβηθεὶς τὸν υἱὸν Ἀντιόχου, πρὸς Πτολεμαῖον τὸν Φιλομήτορα εἰς Αἴγυπτον διεκομίσθη.
10:1	Μακκαβαῖος δὲ καὶ οἱ σὺν αὐτῷ, τοῦ Κυρίου προάγοντος αὐτοὺς, τὸ μὲν ἱερὸν ἐκομίσαντο καὶ τὴν πόλιν,
10:2	τοὺς δὲ κατὰ τὴν ἀγορὰν βωμοὺς ὑπὸ τῶν ἀλλοφύλων δεδημιουργημένους, ἔτι δὲ τεμένη καθεῖλον.
10:3	Καὶ τὸν νεὼν καθαρίσαντες, ἕτερον θυσιαστήριον ἐποίησαν, καὶ πυρώσαντες λίθους, καὶ πῦρ ἐκ τούτων λαβόντες, ἀνήνεγκαν θυσίαν μετὰ διετῆ χρόνον, καὶ θυμίαμα καὶ λύχνους, καὶ τῶν ἄρτων τὴν πρόθεσιν ἐποιήσαντο.
10:4	Ταῦτα δὲ ποιήσαντες ἠξίωσαν τὸν Κύριον πεσόντες ἐπὶ κοιλίαν, μηκέτι περιπεσεῖν τοιούτοις κακοῖς, ἀλλʼ ἐάν ποτε καὶ ἁμάρτωσιν, ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ μετʼ ἐπιεικείας παιδεύεσθαι, καὶ μὴ βλασφήμοις καὶ βαρβάροις ἔθνεσι παραδίδοσθαι.
10:5	Ἐν ᾗ δὲ ἡμέρᾳ ὁ νεὼς ὑπὸ ἀλλοφύλων ἐβεβηλώθη, συνέβη κατὰ τὴν αὐτὴν ἡμέραν τὸν καθαρισμὸν γενέσθαι τοῦ ναοῦ, τῇ πέμπτῃ καὶ εἰκάδι τοῦ αὐτοῦ μηνὸς, ὅς ἐστι Χασελεῦ.
10:6	Καὶ μετʼ εὐφροσύνης ἦγον ἡμέρας ὀκτὼ σκηνωμάτων τρόπον, μνημονεύοντες ὡς πρὸ μικροῦ χρόνου τὴν τῶν σκηνῶν ἑορτὴν ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσι καὶ ἐν τοῖς σπηλαίοις θηρίων τρόπον ἦσαν νεμόμενοι.
10:7	Διὸ θύρσους καὶ κλάδους ὡραίους, ἔτι δὲ φοίνικας ἔχοντες, ὕμνους ἀνέφερον τῷ εὐοδώσαντι καθαρισθῆναι τὸν ἑαυτοῦ τόπον.
10:8	Ἐδογμάτισαν δὲ μετὰ κοινοῦ προστάγματος καὶ ψηφίσματος παντὶ τῷ τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἔθνει κατʼ ἐνιαυτὸν ἄγειν τάσδε τὰς ἡμέρας.
10:9	Καὶ τὰ μὲν τῆς Ἀντιόχου τοῦ προσαγορευθέντος Ἐπιφανοῦς τελευτῆς οὕτως εἶχε.
10:10	Νυνὶ δὲ τὰ κατὰ τὸν Εὐπάτορα Ἀντίοχον, υἱὸν δὲ τοῦ ἀσεβοῦς γενόμενον, δηλώσομεν, αὐτά συντέμνοντες τὰ τῶν πολέμων κακά.
10:11	Αὐτὸς γὰρ παραλαβὼν βασιλείαν, ἀνέδειξεν ἐπὶ τῶν πραγμάτων Λυσίαν τινά, κοίλης δὲ Συρίας καὶ Φοινίκης στρατηγὸν πρώταρχον.
10:12	Πτολεμαῖος γὰρ ὁ καλούμενος Μάκρων τὸ δίκαιον συντηρεῖν προηγούμενος εἰς τοὺς Ἰουδαίους διὰ τὴν γεγονυῖαν εἰς αὐτοὺς ἀδικίαν, καί ἐπειρᾶτο τὰ πρὸς αὐτοὺς εἰρηνικῶς διεξάγειν.
10:13	Ὅθεν κατηγορούμενος ὑπὸ τῶν φίλων πρὸς τὸν Εὐπάτορα, καὶ προδότης παρέκαστα ἀκούων, διὰ τὸ τὴν Κύπρον ἐμπιστευθέντα ὑπὸ τοῦ Φιλομήτορος ἐκλιπεῖν, καὶ πρὸς Ἀντίοχον τὸν Ἐπιφανῆ ἀναχωρῆσαι, μήτʼ εὐγενῆ τὴν ἐξουσίαν ἔχων, ὑπʼ ἀθυμίας φαρμακεύσας ἑαυτὸν ἐξέλιπε τὸν βίον.
10:14	Γοργίας δὲ γενόμενος στρατηγὸς τῶν τόπων, ἐξενοτρόφει, καὶ παρέκαστα πρὸς τοὺς Ἰουδαίους ἐπολεμοτρόφει,
10:15	Ὁμοῦ δὲ τούτῳ καὶ οἱ Ἰδουμαῖοι ἐγκρατεῖς ἐπικαίρων ὀχυρωμάτων ὄντες, ἐγύμναζον τοὺς Ἰουδαίους, καὶ τοὺς φυγαδευθέντας ἀπὸ Ἰεροσολύμων προσλαβόμενοι πολεμοτροφεῖν ἐπεχείρουν.
10:16	Οἱ δὲ περὶ τὸν Μακκαβαῖον, ποιησάμενοι λιτανείαν, καὶ ἀξιώσαντες τὸν Θεὸν σύμμαχον αὐτοῖς γενέσθαι, ἐπὶ τὰ τῶν Ἰδουμαίων ὀχυρώματα ὥρμησαν,
10:17	οἷς καὶ προσβαλόντες εὐρώστως, ἐγκρατεῖς ἐγένοντο τῶν τόπων, πάντας τε τοὺς ἐπὶ τῷ τείχει μαχομένους ἠμύναντο· κατέσφαζόν δε τοὺς ἐμπίπτοντας, ἀνεῖλον δὲ οὐχ ἧττον τῶν δισμυρίων.
10:18	Συμφυγόντων δὲ οὐκ ἔλαττον τῶν ἐννακισχιλίων εἰς δύο πύργους ὀχυροὺς εὖ μάλα, καὶ πάντα τὰ πρὸς πολιορκίαν ἔχοντας,
10:19	ὁ Μακκαβαῖος εἰς ἐπείγοντας τόπους ἀπολιπὼν Σίμωνα καὶ Ἰώσηφον, ἔτι δὲ καὶ Ζακχαῖον καὶ τοὺς σὺν αὐτῷ ἱκανοὺς πρὸς τὴν τούτων πολιορκίαν, αὐτὸς ἐχωρίσθη.
10:20	Οἱ δὲ περὶ τὸν Σίμωνα φιλαργυρήσαντες ὑπό τινων τῶν ἐν τοῖς πύργοις ἐπείσθησαν ἀργυρίῳ· ἑπτάκις δὲ μυριάδας δραχμὰς λαβόντες, εἴασάν τινας διαῤῥυῆναι.
10:21	Προσαγγελθέντος δὲ τῷ Μακκαβαίῳ περὶ τοῦ γεγονότος, συναγαγὼν τοὺς ἡγουμένους τοῦ λαοῦ, κατηγόρησεν ὡς ἀργυρίου πεπράκασι τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς, τοὺς πολεμίους κατʼ αὐτῶν ἀπολύσαντες.
10:22	Τούτους μὲν οὖν προδότας γενομένους ἀπέκτεινε, καὶ παραχρῆμα τοὺς δύο πύργους κατελάβετο.
10:23	Τοῖς δὲ ὅπλοις τὰ πάντα ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν εὐοδούμενος, ἀπώλεσεν ἐν τοῖς δυσὶν ὀχυρώμασι πλείους τῶν δισμυρίων.
10:24	Τιμόθεος δὲ ὁ πρότερον ἡττηθεὶς ὑπὸ τῶν Ἰουδαίων, συναγαγὼν ξένας δυνάμεις παμπληθεῖς, καὶ τοὺς τῆς Ἀσίας γενομένους ἵππους συναθροίσας οὐκ ὀλίγους, παρῆν ὡς δοριάλωτον ληψόμενος τὴν Ἰουδαίαν.
10:25	Οἱ δὲ περὶ τὸν Μακκαβαῖον, συνεγγίζοντος αὐτοῦ, πρὸς ἱκετείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐτράπησαν, γῇ τὰς κεφαλὰς καταπάσαντες, καὶ τὰς ὀσφύας σάκκοις ζώσαντες,
10:26	ἐπὶ τὴν ἀπέναντι τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου κρηπίδα προσπεσόντες, ἠξίουν ἵλεων αὐτοῖς γενόμενον ἐχθρεῦσαι τοῖς ἐχθροῖς αὐτῶν, καὶ ἀντικεῖσθαι τοῖς ἀντικειμένοις, καθὼς ὁ νόμος διασαφεῖ.
10:27	Γενόμενοι δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς δεήσεως, ἀναλαβόντες τὰ ὅπλα, προῆγον ἀπὸ τῆς πόλεως ἐπὶ πλεῖον· συνεγγίσαντες δὲ τοῖς πολεμίοις, ἐφʼ ἑαυτῶν ἦσαν.
10:28	Ἄρτι δὲ τῆς ἀνατολῆς διαδεχομένης, προσέβαλον ἑκάτεροι· οἱ μὲν ἔγγυον ἔχοντες εὐημερίας καὶ νίκης μετʼ ἀρετῆς τὴν ἐπὶ τὸν Κύριον καταφυγὴν, οἱ δὲ καθηγεμόνα τῶν ἀγώνων ταττόμενοι τὸν θυμόν.
10:29	Γενομένης δὲ καρτερᾶς μάχης, ἐφάνησαν τοῖς ὑπεναντίοις ἐξ οὐρανοῦ ἐφʼ ἵππων χρυσοχαλίνων ἄνδρες πέντε διαπρεπεῖς, καὶ ἀφηγούμενοι τῶν Ἰουδαίων οἱ δύο,
10:30	καὶ τὸν Μακκαβαῖον μέσον λαβόντες, καὶ σκεπάζοντες ταῖς ἑαυτῶν πανοπλίαις, ἄτρωτον διεφύλαττον· εἰς δὲ τοὺς ὑπεναντίους τοξεύματα καὶ κεραυνοὺς ἐξεῤῥίπτουν· διὸ συγχυθέντες ἀορασίᾳ, κατεκόπτοντο ταραχῆς πεπληρωμένοι.
10:31	Κατεσφάγησαν δὲ δισμύριοι πρὸς τοῖς πεντακοσίοις, ἱππεῖς δὲ ἑξακόσιοι.
10:32	Αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ Τιμόθεος συνέφυγεν εἰς Γάζαρα λεγόμενον ὀχύρωμα, εὖ μάλα φρούριον, στρατηγοῦντος ἐκεῖ Χαιρέου.
10:33	Οἱ δὲ περὶ τὸν Μακκαβαῖον ἄσμενοι περιεκάθισαν τὸ φρούριον ἡμέρας τέσσαρας.
10:34	Οἱ δὲ ἔνδον τῇ ἐρυμνότητι τοῦ τόπου πεποιθότες, ὑπεράγαν ἐβλασφήμουν, καὶ λόγους ἀθεμίτους προΐοντο.
10:35	Ὑποφαινούσης δὲ τῆς πέμπτης ἡμέρας, εἴκοσι νεανίαι τῶν περὶ τὸν Μακκαβαῖον πυρωθέντες τοῖς θυμοῖς διὰ τὰς βλασφημίας, προσβαλόντες τῷ τείχει, ἀῤῥενωδῶς καὶ θηριώδει θυμῷ τὸν ἐμπίπτοντα ἔκοπτον,
10:36	ἕτεροι δὲ ὁμοίως προσαναβάντες ἐν τῷ περισπασμῷ πρὸς τοὺς ἔνδον, ἐνεπίμπρων τοὺς πύργους, καὶ πυρὰς ἀνάψαντες ζῶντας τοὺς βλασφήμους κατέκαιον· οἱ δὲ τὰς πύλας διέκοπτον, εἰσδεξάμενοι δὲ τὴν λοιπὴν τάξιν, προκατελάβοντο τὴν πόλιν,
10:37	καὶ τὸν Τιμόθεον ἀποκεκρυμμένον ἔν τινι λάκκῳ κατέσφαξαν, καὶ τὸν τούτου ἀδελφὸν Χαιρέαν, καὶ τὸν Ἀπολλοφάνη.
10:38	Ταῦτα δὲ διαπραξάμενοι, μεθʼ ὕμνων καὶ ἐξομολογήσεων εὐλόγουν τῷ Κυρίῳ τῷ μεγάλως εὐεργετοῦντι τὸν Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ τὸ νῖκος αὐτοῖς διδόντι.
11:1	Μετʼ ὀλίγον δὲ παντελῶς χρόνον Λυσίας ἐπίτροπος τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ συγγενὴς, καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν πραγμάτων, λίαν βαρέως φέρων ἐπὶ τοῖς γεγονόσι,
11:2	συναθροίσας περὶ τὰς ὀκτὼ μυριάδας καὶ τὴν ἵππον πᾶσαν, παρεγένετο ἐπὶ τοὺς Ἰουδαίους, λογιζόμενος τὴν μὲν πόλιν Ἕλλησιν οἰκητήριον ποιήσειν,
11:3	τὸ δὲ ἱερὸν ἀργυρολόγητον καθὼς τὰ λοιπὰ τῶν ἐθνῶν τεμένη, πρατὴν δὲ τὴν ἀρχιερωσύνην κατʼ ἔτος ποιήσειν,
11:4	οὐδαμῶς ἐπιλογιζόμενος τὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ κράτος, πεφρενωμένος δὲ ταῖς μυριάσι τῶν πεζῶν καὶ ταῖς χιλιάσι τῶν ἱππέων καὶ τοῖς ἐλέφασι τοῖς ὀγδοήκοντα.
11:5	Εἰσελθὼν δὲ εἰς τὴν Ἰουδαίαν, καὶ συνεγγίσας τῷ Βαιθσούρᾳ, ὄντι μὲν ἐρυμνῷ χωρίῳ, ἀπὸ δὲ Ἱεροσολύμων ἀπέχοντι ὡσεὶ σταδίους πέντε, τοῦτο ἔθλιβεν.
11:6	Ὡς δὲ μετέλαβον οἱ περὶ τὸν Μακκαβαῖον πολιορκοῦντα αὐτὸν τὰ ὀχυρώματα, μετʼ ὀδύρμῶν καὶ δακρύων ἱκέτευον σὺν τοῖς ὄχλοις τὸν Κύριον, ἀγαθὸν ἄγγελον ἀποστεῖλαι πρὸς σωτηρίαν τῷ Ἰσραήλ.
11:7	Αὐτὸς δὲ πρῶτος ὁ Μακκαβαῖος ἀναλαβὼν τὰ ὅπλα προετρέψατο τοὺς ἄλλους, ἅμα αὐτῷ διακινδυνεύοντας, ἐπιβοηθεῖν τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς αὐτῶν· ὁμοῦ δὲ καὶ προθύμως ἐξώρμησαν.
11:8	Αὐτόθι δὲ καὶ πρὸς τοῖς Ἱεροσολύμοις ὄντων, ἐφάνη προηγούμενος αὐτῶν ἔφιππος ἐν λευκῇ ἐσθῆτι, πανοπλίαν χρυσῆν κραδαίνων.
11:9	Ὁμοῦ δὲ πάντες εὐλόγησαν τὸν ἐλεήμονα Θεὸν, καὶ ἐπεῤῥώσθησαν ταῖς ψυχαῖς, οὐ μόνον ἀνθρώπους ἀλλὰ καὶ θῆρας τοὺς ἀγριωτάτους, καὶ σιδηρᾶ τείχη τιτρώσκειν ὄντες ἕτοιμοι.
11:10	Προσῆγον ἐν διασκευῇ τὸν ἀπʼ οὐρανοῦ σύμμαχον ἔχοντες, ἐλεήσαντος αὐτοὺς τοῦ Κυρίου.
11:11	Λεοντηδὸν δὲ ἐντινάξαντες εἰς τοὺς πολεμίους, κατέστρωσαν αὐτῶν χιλίους πρὸς τοῖς μυρίοις, ἱππεῖς δὲ ἑξακοσίους πρὸς τοῖς χιλίοις· τοὺς δὲ πάντας ἠνάγκασαν φυγεῖν.
11:12	Οἱ πλείονες δὲ αὐτῶν τραυματίαι γυμνοὶ διεσώθησαν· καὶ αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ Λυσίας αἰσχρῶς φεύγων διεσώθη.
11:13	Οὐκ ἄνους δὲ ὑπάρχων, πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ἀντιβάλλων τὸ γεγονὸς περὶ ἐαυτὸν ἐλάσσωμα, καὶ συννοήσας ἀνικήτους εἶναι τοὺς Ἑβραίους, τοῦ πάντα δυναμένου Θεοῦ συμμαχοῦντος αὐτοῖς,
11:14	προσαποστείλας ἔπεισε συλλύσεσθαι ἐπὶ πᾶσι τοῖς δικαίοις· καὶ διότι καὶ τὸν βασιλέα πείσειν φίλον αὐτοῖς ἀναγκάζειν γενέσθαι.
11:15	Ἐπένευσε δὲ ὁ Μακκαβαῖος ἐπὶ πᾶσιν οἷς ὁ Λυσίας παρεκάλει τοῦ συμφέροντος φροντίζων· ὅσα γὰρ ὁ Μακκαβαῖος ἐπέδωκε τῷ Λυσίᾳ διὰ γραπτῶν περὶ τῶν Ἰουδαίων, συνεχώρησεν ὁ βασιλεύς.
11:16	Ἦσαν γὰρ αἱ γεγραμμέναι τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις ἐπιοτολαὶ παρὰ μὲν Λυσίου περιέχουσαι τὸν τρόπον τοῦτον· Λυσίας τῷ πλήθει τῶν Ἰουδαίων χαίρειν.
11:17	Ἰωάννης καὶ Ἀβεσσαλὼμ οἱ πεμφθέντες παρʼ ὑμῶν, ἐπιδόντες τὸν ὑπογεγραμμένον χρηματισμὸν, ἠξίουν περὶ τῶν διʼ αὐτοῦ σημαινομένων.
11:18	Ὅσα μὲν οὖν ἔδει καὶ τῷ βασιλεῖ προσενεχθῆναι διεσάφησα, ἃ δὲ ἦν ἐνδεχόμενα, συνεχώρησεν.
11:19	Ἐὰν μὲν οὖν συντηρήσητε τὴν εἰς τὰ πράγματα εὔνοιαν, καὶ εἰς τὸ λοιπὸν πειράσομαι παραίτιος ὑμῖν ἀγαθῶν γενέσθαι.
11:20	Ὑπὲρ δὲ τῶν κατὰ μέρος ἐντέταλμαι τούτοις τε καὶ τοῖς παρʼ ἐμοῦ διαλεχθῆναι ὑμῖν.
11:21	Ἔῤῥωσθε· ἔτους ἑκατοστοῦ τεσσαρακοστοῦ ὀγδόου, Διοσκορινθίου εἰκοστῇ τετάρτῃ.
11:22	Ἡ δὲ τοῦ βασιλέως ἐπιστολὴ περιεῖχεν οὕτως· βασιλεὺς Ἀντίοχος τῷ ἀδελφῷ Λυσίᾳ χαίρειν.
11:23	Τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν εἰς θεοὺς μεταστάντος, βουλόμενοι τοὺς ἐκ τῆς βασιλείας ἀταράχους ὄντας γενέσθαι πρὸς τὴν τῶν ἰδίων ἐπιμέλειαν,
11:24	ἀκηκοότες τοὺς Ἰουδαίους μὴ συνευδοκοῦντας τῇ τοῦ πατρὸς ἐπὶ τὰ Ἑλληνικὰ μεταθέσει, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἑαυτῶν ἀγωγὴν αἱρετίζοντας, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἀξιοῦντας συγχωρηθῆναι αὐτοῖς τὰ νόμιμα αὐτῶν·
11:25	Αἱρούμενοι οὖν καὶ τοῦτο τὸ ἔθνος ἐκτὸς ταραχῆς εἶναι, κρίνομεν τό, τε ἱερὸν αὐτοῖς ἀποκατασταθῆναι, καὶ πολιτεύεσθαι κατὰ τὰ ἐπὶ τῶν προγόνων αὐτῶν ἔθη.
11:26	Εὖ οὖν ποιήσεις διαπεμψάμενος πρὸς αὐτοὺς καὶ δοὺς δεξιὰς, ὅπως εἰδότες τὴν ἡμετέραν προαίρεσιν, εὔθυμοί τε ὦσι, καὶ ἡδέως διαγίνωνται πρὸς τὴν τῶν ἰδίων ἀντίληψιν.
11:27	Πρὸς δὲ τὸ ἔθνος ἡ τοῦ βασιλέως ἐπιστολὴ τοιαύτη ἦν· βασιλεὺς Ἀντίοχος τῇ γερουσίᾳ τῶν Ἰουδαίων καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις Ἰουδαίοις χαίρειν.
11:28	Εἰ ἔῤῥωσθε, εἴη ἂν ὡς βουλόμεθα· καὶ αὐτοὶ δὲ ὑγιαίνομεν.
11:29	Ἐνεφάνισεν ἡμῖν ὁ Μενέλαος βούλεσθαι κατελθόντας ὑμᾶς γίνεσθαι πρὸς τοῖς ἰδίοις.
11:30	Τοῖς οὖν καταπορευομένοις μέχρι τριακάδος Ξανθικοῦ ὑπάρξει δεξιὰ μετὰ τῆς ἀδείας,
11:31	χρῆσθαι τοὺς Ἰουδαίους τοῖς ἑαυτῶν δαπανήμασι καὶ νόμοις καθὰ καὶ τὸ πρότερον, καὶ οὐδεὶς αὐτῶν κατʼ οὐδένα τρόπον παρενοχληθήσεται περὶ τῶν ἠγνοημένων.
11:32	Πέπομφα δὲ καὶ τὸν Μενέλαον παρακαλέσοντα ὑμᾶς.
11:33	Ἔῤῥωσθε· ἔτους ἑκατοστοῦ τεσσαρακοστοῦ ὀγδόου, Ξανθικοῦ πέμπτῃ καὶ δεκάτῃ.
11:34	Ἔπεμψαν δὲ καὶ οἱ Ῥωμαιοῖ πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἐπιστολὴν ἔχουσαν οὕτως· Κόϊντος Μέμμιος, Τίτος Μάνλιος, πρεσβύται Ῥωμαίων, τῷ δήμῳ τῶν Ἰουδαίων χαίρειν.
11:35	Ὑπὲρ ὧν Λυσίας ὁ συγγενὴς τοῦ βασιλέως συνεχώρησεν ὑμῖν, καὶ ἡμεῖς συνευδοκοῦμεν.
11:36	Ἃ δὲ ἔκρινε προσανενεχθῆναι τῷ βασιλεῖ, πέμψατέ τινα παραχρῆμα ἐπισκεψάμενοι περὶ τούτων, ἵνα ἐκθῶμεν ὡς καθήκει ὑμῖν· ἡμεῖς γὰρ προσάγομεν πρὸς Ἀντιόχειαν.
11:37	Διὸ σπεύσατε, καὶ πέμψατέ τινας, ὅπως καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐπιγνῶμεν ὁποίας ἐστὲ γνώμης.
11:38	Ὑγιαίνετε· ἔτους ἑκατοστοῦ τεσσαρακοστοῦ ὀγδόου, Ξανθικοῦ πέμπτῃ καὶ δεκάτῃ.
12:1	Γενομένων τῶν συνθηκῶν τούτων, ὁ μὲν Λυσίας ἀπῄει πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα, οἱ δὲ Ἰουδαῖοι περὶ τὴν γεωργίαν ἐγίνοντο.
12:2	Τῶν δὲ κατὰ τόπον στρατηγῶν Τιμόθεος καὶ Ἀπολλώνιος ὁ τοῦ Γενναίου, ἔτι δὲ Ἱερώνυμος καὶ Δημοφὼν, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις Νικάνωρ ὁ Κυπριάρχης, οὐκ εἴων αὐτοὺς εὐσταθεῖς, καὶ τὰ τῆς ἡσυχίας ἄγειν.
12:3	Ἰοππίται δὲ τηλικοῦτο συνετέλεσαν τὸ δυσσέβημα· παρακαλέσαντες τοὺς σὺν αὐτοῖς οἰκοῦντας Ἰουδαίους ἐμβῆναι εἰς τὰ παρασταθέντα ὑπʼ αὐτῶν σκάφη σὺν γυναιξὶ καὶ τέκνοις, ὡς μηδεμιᾶς ἐνεστώσης πρὸς αὐτοὺς δυσμενείας,
12:4	κατὰ δὲ τὸ κοινὸν τῆς πόλεως ψήφισμα, καὶ τούτων ἐπιδεξαμένων ὡς ἂν εἰρηνεύειν θελόντων, καὶ μηδὲν ὕποπτον ἐχόντων, ἐπαναχθέντας αὐτοὺς ἐβύθισαν, ὄντας οὐκ ἔλαττον τῶν διακοσίων.
12:5	Μεταλαβὼν δὲ Ἰούδας τὴν γεγονυῖαν εἰς τοὺς ὁμοεθνεῖς ὠμότητα, παραγγείλας τοῖς περὶ αὐτὸν ἀνδράσι,
12:6	καὶ ἐπικαλεσάμενος τὸν δίκαιον κριτὴν Θεὸν, παρεγένετο ἐπὶ τοὺς μιαιφόνους τῶν ἀδελφῶν· καὶ τὸν μὲν λιμένα νύκτωρ ἐνέπρησε, καὶ τὰ σκάφη κατέφλεξε, τοὺς δὲ ἐκεῖ συμφυγόντας ἐξεκέντησε.
12:7	Τοῦ δὲ χωρίου συγκλεισθέντος, ἀνέλυσεν, ὡς πάλιν ἥξων καὶ τὸ σύμπαν τῶν Ἰοππιτῶν ἐκριζῶσαι πολίτευμα.
12:8	Μεταλαβὼν δὲ καὶ τοὺς ἐν Ἰαμνείᾳ τὸν αὐτὸν ἐπιτελεῖν βουλομένους τρόπον τοῖς παροικοῦσιν Ἰουδαίοις,
12:9	καὶ τοῖς Ἰαμνίταις νυκτὸς ἐπιβαλὼν, ὑφῆψε τὸν λιμένα σὺν τῷ στόλῳ, ὥστε φαίνεσθαι τὰς αὐγὰς τοῦ φέγγους εἰς τὰ Ἱεροσόλυμα, σταδίων ὄντων διακοσίων τεσσαράκοντα.
12:10	Ἐκεῖθεν δὲ ἀποσπασθέντων σταδίους ἐννέα, ποιουμένων τὴν πορείαν ἐπὶ τὸν Τιμόθεον, προσέβαλον Ἄραβες αὐτῷ οὐκ ἐλάττους τῶν πεντακισχιλίων, ἱππεῖς δὲ πεντακόσιοι.
12:11	Γενομένης δὲ καρτερᾶς μάχης, καὶ τῶν περὶ τὸν Ἰούδαν διὰ τὴν παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ βοήθειαν εὐημερησάντων, ἐλαττωθέντες οἱ Νομάδες Ἄραβες ἠξίουν δοῦναι τὸν Ἰούδαν δεξιὰν αὐτοῖς, ὑπισχνούμενοι καὶ βοσκήματα δώσειν, καὶ ἐν τοῖς λοιποῖς ὠφελήσειν αὐτούς.
12:12	Ἰούδας δὲ ὑπολαβὼν ὡς ἀληθῶς ἐν πολλοῖς αὐτοὺς χρησίμους, ἐπεχώρησεν εἰρήνην ἄξειν πρὸς αὐτούς· καὶ λαβόντες δεξιὰς, εἰς τὰς σκηνὰς αὐτῶν ἐχωρίσθησαν.
12:13	Ἐπέβαλε δὲ καὶ ἐπί τινα πόλιν γεφυροῦν ὀχυρὰν καὶ τείχεσι περιπεφραγμένην, καὶ παμμιγέσιν ἔθνεσι κατοικουμένην, ὄνομα δὲ Κάσπιν.
12:14	Οἱ δʼ ἔνδον πεποιθότες τῇ τῶν τειχέων ἐρυμνότητι, τῇ τε τῶν βρωμάτων παραθέσει, ἀναγωγότερον ἐχρῶντο, τοῖς περὶ τὸν Ἰούδαν λοιδοροῦντες, καὶ προσέτι βλασφημοῦντες, καὶ λαλοῦντες ἃ μὴ θέμις.
12:15	Οἱ δὲ περὶ τὸν Ἰούδαν ἐπικαλεσάμενοι τὸν μέγαν τοῦ κόσμου δυνάστην, τὸν ἄτερ κριῶν καὶ μηχανῶν ὀργανικῶν κατακρημνίσαντα τὴν Ἱεριχὼ κατὰ τοὺς Ἰησοῦ χρόνους, ἐνέσεισαν θηριωδῶς τῷ τείχει.
12:16	Καταλαβόμενοί τε τὴν πόλιν τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ θελήσει, ἀμυθήτους ἐποιήσαντο σφαγὰς, ὥστε τὴν παρακειμένην λίμνην τὸ πλάτος ἔχουσαν σταδίων δύο, κατάῤῥυτον αἵματι πεπληρωμένην φαίνεσθαι.
12:17	Ἐκεῖθεν δὲ ἀποσπάσαντες σταδίους ἑπτακοσίους πεντήκοντα διήνυσαν εἰς τὸν Χάρακα, πρὸς τοὺς λεγομένους Τουβιήνους Ἰουδαίους.
12:18	Καὶ Τιμόθεον μὲν ἐπὶ τῶν τόπων οὐ κατέλαβον, ἄπρακτόν τε ἀπὸ τῶν τόπων ἐκλελυκότα, καταλελοιπότα δὲ φρουρὰν ἔν τινι τόπῳ, καὶ μάλα ὀχυράν.
12:19	Δωσίθεος δὲ καὶ Σωσίπατρος τῶν περὶ τὸν Μακκαβαῖον ἡγεμόνων, ἐξοδεύσαντες ἀπώλεσαν τοὺς ὑπὸ Τιμοθέου καταλειφθέντας ἐν τῷ ὀχυρώματι πλείους τῶν μυρίων ἀνδρῶν.
12:20	Ὁ δὲ Μακκαβαῖος διατάξας τὴν ἑαυτοῦ στρατιὰν σπειρηδὸν, κατέστησεν αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ τῶν σπείρων, καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν Τιμόθεον ὥρμησεν ἔχοντα περὶ αὐτὸν μυριάδας δώδεκα πεζῶν, ἱππεῖς δὲ χιλίους πρὸς τοῖς πεντακοσίοις.
12:21	Τὴν δὲ ἔφοδον μεταλαβὼν Ἰούδα, ὁ Τιμόθεος προεξαπέστειλε τὰς γυναῖκας, καὶ τὰ τέκνα, καὶ τὴν ἄλλην ἀποσκευὴν εἰς τὸ λεγόμενον Καρνίον· ἦν γὰρ δυσπολιόρκητον καὶ δυσπρόσιτον τὸ χωρίον διὰ τὴν τῶν πάντων τῶν τόπων στενότητα.
12:22	Ἐπιφανείσης δὲ τῆς Ἰούδα σπείρας πρώτης, καὶ γενομένου δέους ἐπὶ τοὺς πολεμίους, φόβου τε ἐκ τῆς τοῦ πάντα ἐφορῶντος ἐπιφανείας γενομένου ἐπʼ αὐτοὺς, εἰς φυγὴν ὥρμησαν ἄλλος ἀλλαχῃ φερόμενος, ὥστε πολλάκις ὑπὸ τῶν ἰδίων βλάπτεσθαι, καὶ ταῖς τῶν ξιφῶν ἀκμαῖς ἀναπείρεσθαι.
12:23	Ἐποιεῖτο δὲ τὸν διωγμὸν εὐτονώτερον Ἰούδας, συγκεντῶν τοὺς ἀλιτηρίους, διέφθειρέ τε εἰς μυριάδας τρεῖς ἀνδρῶν.
12:24	Αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ Τιμόθεος ἐμπεσὼν τοῖς περὶ τὸν Δωσίθεον καὶ Σωσίπατρον, ἠξίου μετὰ πολλῆς γοητείας ἐξαφεῖναι σῶον αὐτόν· διὰ τὸ πλειόνων μὲν γονεῖς, ὧν δὲ ἀδελφοὺς ἔχειν, καὶ τούτους ἀλογηθῆναι συμβήσεται, εἰ ἀποθάνοι.
12:25	Πιστώσαντος δὲ αὐτοῦ διὰ πλειόνων τὸν ὁρισμὸν ἀποκαταστήσειν τούτους ἀπημάντους, ἀπέλυσαν αὐτὸν ἕνεκα τῆς τῶν ἀδελφῶν σωτηρίας.
12:26	Ἐξελθὼν δὲ ἐπὶ τὸ Καρνίον καὶ τὸ Ἀταργατεῖον, κατέσφαξε μυριάδας σωμάτων δύο καὶ πεντακισχιλίους.
12:27	Καὶ μετὰ τὴν τούτων τροπὴν καὶ ἀπώλειαν ἐπεστράτευσεν Ἰούδας καὶ ἐπὶ Ἐφρὼν, πόλιν ὀχυρὰν, ἐν ᾗ κατῴκει Λυσίας, καὶ πάμφυλα πλήθη· νεανίαι δὲ πρὸ τῶν τειχῶν καθεστῶτες ῥωμαλέοι ἀπεμάχοντο εὐρώστως, ἐνθάδε ὀργάνων καὶ βελῶν πολλαὶ παραθέσεις ὑπῆρχον.
12:28	Ἐπικαλεσάμενοι δὲ τὸν Δυνάστην τὸν μετὰ κράτους συντρίβοντα τὰς τῶν πολεμίων ἀλκὰς, ἔλαβον τὴν πόλιν ὑποχείριον, καὶ κατέστρωσαν τῶν ἔνδον εἰς μυριάδας δύο καὶ πεντακισχιλίους.
12:29	Ἀναζεύξαντες δὲ ἐκεῖθεν, ὥρμησαν ἐπὶ Σκυθῶν πόλιν, ἀπέχουσαν ἀπὸ Ἱεροσολύμων σταδίους ἑξακοσίους.
12:30	Ἀπομαρτυρησάντων δὲ τῶν ἐκεῖ κατοικούντων Ἰουδαίων, ἣν οἱ Σκυθοπολίται ἔσχον πρὸς αὐτοὺς εὔνοιαν, καὶ ἐν τοῖς τῆς ἀτυχίας καιροῖς ἥμερον ἀπάντησιν ἐποιοῦντο,
12:31	εὐχαριστήσαντες αὐτοῖς, καὶ προσπαρακαλέσαντες καὶ εἰς τὰ λοιπὰ πρὸς τὸ γένος εὐμενεῖς εἶναι, παρεγένοντο εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα, τῆς τῶν ἑβδομάδων ἑορτῆς οὕσης ὑπογύου.
12:32	Μετὰ δὲ τὴν λεγομένην Πεντηκοστὴν, ὥρμησαν ἐπὶ Γοργίαν τὸν τῆς Ἰδουμαίας στρατηγόν.
12:33	Ἐξῆλθε δὲ μετὰ πεζῶν τρισχιλίων, ἱππέων δὲ τετρακοσίων.
12:34	Καὶ παραταξαμένων συνέβη πεσεῖν ὀλίγους τῶν Ἰουδαίων.
12:35	Δωσίθεος δέ τις τῶν τοῦ Βακήνορος, ἔφιππος ἀνὴρ καὶ καρτερὸς, εἴχετο τοῦ Γοργίου, καὶ λαβόμενος τῆς χλαμύδος, ἦγεν αὐτὸν εὐρώστως, καὶ βουλόμενος τὸν κατάρατον λαβεῖν ζωγρίαν, τῶν ἱππέων Θρακῶν τινὸς ἐπενεχθέντος αὐτῷ καὶ τὸν ὦμον καθελόντος, διέφυγεν ὁ Γοργίας εἰς Μαρισά.
12:36	Τῶν δὲ περὶ τὸν Ἔσδριν ἐπιπλεῖον μαχομένων, καὶ κατακόπων ὄντων, ἐπικαλεσάμενος ὁ Ἰούδας τὸν Κύριον σύμμαχον φανῆναι καὶ προοδηγὸν τοῦ πολέμου,
12:37	καταρξάμενος τῇ πατρίῳ φωνῇ τὴν μεθʼ ὕμνων κραυγὴν, ἀναβοήσας, καὶ ἐνσείσας ἀπροσδοκήτως τοῖς περὶ τὸν Γοργίαν, τροπὴν αὐτῶν ἐποιήσατο.
12:38	Ἰούδας δὲ ἀναλαβὼν τὸ στράτευμα, ἦγεν εἰς Ὀδολλὰμ πόλιν· τῆς δὲ ἑβδομάδος ἐπιβαλλούσης, κατὰ τὸν ἐθισμὸν ἁγνισθέντες αὐτόθι τὸ σάββατον διήγαγον.
12:39	Τῇ δὲ ἐχομένῃ ἦλθον οἱ περὶ τὸν Ἰούδαν καθʼ ὃν τρόπον τὸ τῆς χρείας ἐγεγόνει, τὰ τῶν προπεπτωκότων σώματα ἀνακομίσασθαι, καὶ μετὰ τῶν συγγενῶν ἀποκαταστῆσαι εἰς τοὺς πατρῴους τάφους.
12:40	Εὗρον δὲ ἑκάστου τῶν τεθνηκότων ὑπὸ τοὺς χιτῶνας ἱερώματα τῶν ἀπὸ Ἰαμνείας εἰδώλων, ἀφʼ ὧν ὁ νόμος ἀπείργει τοὺς Ἰουδαίους· τοῖς δὲ πᾶσι σαφὲς ἐγένετο διὰ τήνδε τὴν αἰτίαν τούσδε πεπτωκέναι.
12:41	Πάντες οὖν εὐλογήσαντες τοῦ δικαιοκρίτου Κυρίου τοῦ τὰ κεκρυμμένα φανερὰ ποιοῦντος,
12:42	εἰς ἱκετείαν ἐτράπησαν, ἀξιώσαντες τὸ γεγονὸς ἁμάρτημα τελείως ἐξαλειφθῆναι· ὁ δὲ γενναῖος Ἰούδας παρεκάλεσε τὸ πλῆθος συντηρεῖν ἑαυτοὺς ἀναμαρτήτους εἶναι, ὑπʼ ὄψιν ἑωρακότας τὰ γεγονότα, διὰ τὴν τῶν προπεπτωκότων ἁμαρτίαν.
12:43	Ποιησάμενός τε κατʼ ἀνδραλογίαν κατασκευάσματα εἰς ἀργυρίου δραχμὰς δισχιλίας, ἀπέστειλεν εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα προσαγαγεῖν περὶ ἁμαρτίας θυσίαν, πάνυ καλῶς καὶ ἀστείως πράττων, ὑπὲρ ἀναστάσεως διαλογιζόμενος·
12:44	εἰ γὰρ μὴ τοὺς προπεπτωκότας ἀναστῆναι προσεδόκα, περισσὸν ἂν ἦν καὶ ληρῶδες ὑπὲρ νεκρῶν προσεύχεσθαι·
12:45	εἶτʼ ἐμβλέπων τοῖς μετʼ εὐσεβείας κοιμωμένοις κάλλιστον ἀποκείμενον χαριστήριον· ὁσία καὶ εὐσεβὴς ἡ ἐπίνοια· ὅθεν περὶ τῶν τεθνηκότων τὸν ἐξιλασμὸν ἐποιήσατο, τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἀπολυθῆναι.
13:1	Τῷ δὲ ἐννάτῳ καὶ τεσσαρακοστῷ καὶ ἑκατοστῷ ἔτει προσέπεσε τοῖς περὶ τὸν Ἰούδαν, Ἀντίοχον τὸν Εὐπάτορα παραγενέσθαι σὺν πλήθεσιν ἐπὶ τὴν Ἰουδαίαν,
13:2	καὶ σὺν αὐτῷ Λυσίαν τὸν ἐπίτροπον καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν πραγμάτων, ἕκαστον ἔχοντα δύναμιν Ἑλληνικὴν πεζῶν μυριάδας ἕνδεκα, καὶ ἱππεῖς πεντακισχιλίους τριακοσίους, καὶ ἐλέφαντας εἰκοσιδύο, ἅρματα δὲ δρεπανηφόρα τριακόσια.
13:3	Καὶ Μενέλαος δὲ συνέμιξεν αὐτοῖς, καὶ παρεκάλει μετὰ πολλῆς εἰρωνείας τὸν Ἀντίοχον, οὐκ ἐπὶ σωτηρίᾳ τῆς πατρίδος, οἰόμενος δὲ ἐπὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς κατασταθήσεσθαι.
13:4	Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς τῶν βασιλέων ἐξήγειρε τὸν θυμὸν τοῦ Ἀντιόχου ἐπὶ τὸν ἀλιτήριον, καὶ Λυσίου ὑποδείξαντος τοῦτον αἴτιον εἶναι πάντων τῶν κακῶν, προσέταξεν, ὡς ἔθος ἐστὶν ἐν τῷ τόπῳ, προσαπολέσαι ἀγαγόντας αὐτὸν εἰς Βέροιαν.
13:5	Ἔστι δὲ ἐν τῷ τόπῳ πύργος πεντήκοντα πηχῶν πλήρης σποδοῦ οὗτος δὲ ὄργανον εἶχε περιφερὲς πάντοθεν ἀπόκρημνον εἰς τὴν σποδόν.
13:6	Ἐνταῦθα τὸν ἱεροσυλίας ἔνοχον ὄντα, ἢ καί τινων ἄλλων κακῶν ὑπεροχὴν πεποιημένον, ἅπαντες προσωθοῦσιν εἰς ὄλεθρον.
13:7	Τοιούτῳ μόρῳ τὸν παράνομον συνέβη θανεῖν, μηδὲ τῆς γῆς τυχόντα Μενέλαον·
13:8	πάνυ δικαίως. Ἐπεὶ γὰρ συνετελέσατο πολλὰ περὶ τὸν βωμὸν ἁμαρτήματα, οὗ τὸ πῦρ ἁγνὸν ἦν καὶ ἡ σποδὸς, ἐν σποδῷ τὸν θάνατον ἐκομισατο.
13:9	Τοῖς δὲ φρονήμασιν ὁ βασιλεὺς βεβαρβαρωμένος ἤρχετο, τὰ χείριστα τῶν ἐπὶ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ γεγονότων ἐνδειξόμενος τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις.
13:10	Μεταλαβὼν δὲ Ἰούδας ταῦτα, παρήγγειλε τῷ πλήθει διʼ ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτὸς ἐπικαλεῖσθαι τὸν Κύριον, εἴποτε ἄλλοτε, καὶ νῦν ἐπιβοηθεῖν τοῖς τοῦ νόμου καὶ πατρίδος καὶ ἱεροῦ ἁγίου στερεῖσθαι μέλλουσι,
13:11	καὶ τὸν ἄρτι βραχέως ἀνεψυχότα λαὸν μὴ ἐᾶσαι τοῖς δυσφήμοις ἔθνεσιν ὑποχειρίους γενέσθαι.
13:12	Πάντων δὲ τὸ αὐτὸ ποιησάντων ὁμοῦ καὶ καταξιωσάντων τὸν ἐλεήμονα Κύριον μετὰ κλαυθμοῦ καὶ νηστειῶν καὶ προπτώσεως ἐφʼ ἡμέρας τρεῖς ἀδιαλείπτως, παρακαλέσας αὐτοὺς ὁ Ἰούδας ἐκέλευσε παραγίνεσθαι.
13:13	Καθʼ ἑαυτὸν δὲ σὺν τοῖς πρεσβυτέροις γενόμενος, ἐβουλεύσατο πρὶν εἰσβαλεῖν τοῦ βασιλέως τὸ στράτευμα εἰς τὴν Ἰουδαίαν, καὶ γενέσθαι τῆς πόλεως ἐγκρατεῖς, ἐξελθόντας κρῖναι τὰ πράγματα τῇ τοῦ Κυρίου βοηθείᾳ.
13:14	Δοὺς δὲ τὴν ἐπιτροπὴν τῷ κτίστῃ τοῦ κόσμου, παρακαλέσας τοὺς σὺν αὐτῷ γενναίως ἀγωνίσασθαι μέχρι θανάτου περὶ νόμων, περὶ ἱεροῦ, πόλεως, πατρίδος, πολιτείας, ἐποιήσατο περὶ Μωδεῒν τὴν στρατοπεδείαν.
13:15	Δοὺς δὲ τοῖς περὶ αὐτὸν σύνθημα Θεοῦ νίκης, μετὰ νεανίσκων ἀρίστων κεκριμένων ἐπιβαλὼν νύκτωρ ἐπὶ τὴν βασιλικὴν αὐλὴν, ἐν τῇ παρεμβολῇ ἀνεῖλεν εἰς ἄνδρας τετρακισχιλίους, καὶ τὸν πρωτεύοντα τῶν ἐλεφάντων σὺν τῷ κατʼ οἰκίαν ὄχλῳ συνέθηκε,
13:16	καὶ τὸ τέλος τὴν παρεμβολὴν δέους καὶ ταραχῆς ἐπλήρωσαν, καὶ ἐξέλυσαν εὑημεροῦντες.
13:17	Ὑποφαινούσης δὲ ἤδη τῆς ἡμέρας τοῦτʼ ἐγεγόνει, διὰ τὴν ἐπαρήγουσαν αὐτῷ τοῦ Κυρίου σκέπην.
13:18	Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς εἰληφὼς γεῦσιν τῆς τῶν Ἰουδαίων εὐτολμίας, κατεπείρασε διὰ μεθόδων τοὺς τόπους.
13:19	Καὶ ἐπὶ Βαιθσούρᾳ φρούριον ὀχυρὸν τῶν Ἰουδαίων προσῆγεν· καὶ ἐτροποῦτο, προσέκρουεν, ἠλαττονοῦτο.
13:20	Τοῖς δὲ ἔνδον Ἰούδας τὰ δέοντα εἰσέπεμψε.
13:21	Προσήγγειλε δὲ τὰ μυστήρια τοῖς πολεμίοις Ῥόδοκος ἐκ τῆς Ἰουδαϊκῆς τάξεως· ἀνεζητήθη δὲ, καὶ κατελήφθη, καὶ κατεκλείσθη.
13:22	Ἐδευτερολόγησεν ὁ βασιλεὺς τοῖς ἐν Βαιθσούρᾳ δεξιὰν ἔδωκεν, ἔλαβεν, ἀπῄει, προσέβαλε τοῖς περὶ τὸν Ἰούδαν, ἥττων ἐγένετο,
13:23	μετέλαβεν ἀπονενοῆσθαι τὸν Φίλιππον ἐν Ἀντιοχείᾳ τὸν ἀπολελειμμένον ἐπὶ τῶν πραγμάτων, συνεχύθη· τοὺς Ἰουδαίους παρεκάλεσεν, ὑπετάγη, καὶ ὤμοσεν ἐπὶ πᾶσι τοῖς δικαίοις· συνελύθη καὶ θυσίαν προσήγαγεν, ἐτίμησε τὸν νεὼν, καὶ τὸν τόπον ἐφιλανθρώπησε,
13:24	καὶ τὸν Μακκαβαῖον ἀπεδέξατο· κατέλιπε στρατηγὸν ἀπὸ Πτολεμαΐδος ἕως τῶν Γεῤῥηνῶν ἡγεμονίδην,
13:25	ἦλθεν εἰς Πτολεμαΐδα· ἐδυσφόρουν περὶ τῶν συνθηκῶν οἱ Πτολεμαεῖς, ἐδείναζον γὰρ ὑπὲρ ὧν ἠθέλησαν ἀθετεῖν τὰς διαστάλσεις.
13:26	Προσῆλθεν ἐπὶ τὸ βῆμα Λυσίας, ἀπελογήσατο ἐνδεχομένως, συνέπεισε, κατεπρᾴυνεν, εὐμενεῖς ἐποίησεν, ἀνέζευξεν εἰς Ἀντιόχειαν· οὕτω τὰ τοῦ βασιλέως τῆς ἐφόδου καὶ τῆς ἀναζυγῆς ἐχώρησε.
14:1	Μετὰ δὲ τριετῆ χρόνον προσέπεσε τοῖς περὶ τὸν Ἰούδαν, Δημήτριον τὸν τοῦ Σελεύκου διὰ τοῦ κατὰ Τρίπολιν λιμένος εἰσπλεύσαντα μετὰ πλήθους ἰσχυροῦ καὶ στόλου,
14:2	κεκρατηκέναι τῆς χώρας, ἐπανελόμενον Ἀντίοχον καὶ τὸν τούτου ἐπίτροπον Λυσίαν.
14:3	Ἄλκιμος δέ τις προγενόμενος ἀρχιερεὺς, ἑκουσίως δὲ μεμολυμμένος ἐν τοῖς τῆς ἐπιμιξίας χρόνοις, συννοήσας ὅτι καθʼ ὁντιναοῦν τρόπον οὐκ ἔστιν αὐτῷ σωτηρία, οὐδὲ πρὸς ἅγιον θυσιαστήριον ἔτι πρόσοδος,
14:4	ἧκε πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα Δημήτριον πρώτῳ καὶ πεντηκοστῷ καὶ ἑκατοστῷ ἔτει, προσάγων αὐτῷ στέφανον χρυσοῦν καὶ φοίνικα, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις τῶν νομιζομένων θαλλῶν τοῦ ἱεροῦ· καὶ τὴν ἡμέραν ἐκείνην ἡσυχίαν ἔσχε.
14:5	Καιρὸν δὲ λαβὼν τῆς ἰδίας ἀνοίας συνεργὸν, προσκληθεὶς εἰς συνέδριον ὑπὸ τοῦ Δημητρίου, καὶ ἐπερωτηθεὶς ἐν τίνι διαθέσει καὶ βουλῇ καθεστήκασιν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι, πρὸς ταῦτα ἔφη,
14:6	οἱ λεγόμενοι τῶν Ἰουδαίων Ἀσιδαῖοι, ὧν ἀφηγεῖται Ἰούδας ὁ Μακκαβαῖος, πολεμοτροφοῦσι καὶ στασιάζουσιν, οὐκ ἐῶντες τὴν βασιλείαν εὐσταθείας τυχεῖν.
14:7	Ὅθεν ἀφελόμενος τὴν προγονικὴν δόξαν, λέγω δὴ τὴν ἀρχιερωσύνην, δεῦρο νῦν ἐλήλυθα.
14:8	Πρῶτον μὲν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀνηκόντων τῷ βασιλεῖ γνησίως φρονῶν, δεύτερον δὲ καὶ τῶν ἰδίων πολιτῶν στοχαζόμενος· τῇ μὲν γὰρ τῶν προειρημένων ἀλογιστίᾳ τὸ σύμπαν ἡμῶν γένος οὐ μικρῶς ἀκληρεῖ.
14:9	Ἕκαστα δὲ τούτων ἐπεγνωκὼς σὺ βασιλεῦ, καὶ τῆς χώρας καὶ τοῦ περιϊσταμένου γένους ἡμῶν προνοήθητι, καθʼ ἣν ἔχεις πρὸς ἅπαντας εὐαπάντητον φιλανθρωπίαν.
14:10	Ἄχρι γὰρ Ἰούδας περίεστιν, ἀδύνατον εἰρήνης τυχεῖν τὰ πράγματα.
14:11	Τοιούτων δὲ ῥηθέντων ὑπὸ τούτου, θᾶττον οἱ λοιποὶ φίλοι δυσμενῶς ἔχοντες τὰ πρὸς τὸν Ἰούδαν προσεπύρωσαν τὸν Δημήτριον.
14:12	Προσκαλεσάμενος δὲ εὐθέως Νικάνορα τὸν γενόμενον ἐλεφαντάρχην, καὶ στρατηγὸν ἀναδείξας τῆς Ἰουδαίας, ἐξαπέστειλε,
14:13	δοὺς ἐντολὰς, αὐτὸν μὲν τὸν Ἰούδαν ἐπανελέσθαι, τοὺς δὲ σὺν αὐτῷ σκορπίσαι, καταστῆσαι δὲ Ἄλκιμον ἀρχιερέα τοῦ μεγίστου ἱεροῦ.
14:14	Τὰ δὲ ἐκ τῆς Ἰουδαίας πεφυγαδευκότα τὸν Ἰούδαν ἔθνη συνέμισγον ἀγεληδὸν τῷ Νικάνορι, τὰς τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἀτυχίας καὶ συμφορὰς, ἰδίας εὐημερίας δοκοῦντες ἔσεσθαι.
14:15	Ἀκούσαντες δὲ τὴν τοῦ Νικάνορος ἔφοδον καὶ τὴν ἐπίθεσιν τῶν ἐθνῶν, καταπασάμενοι γῆν ἐλιτάνευον τὸν ἄχρι αἰῶνος συστήσαντα τὸν ἑαυτοῦ λαὸν, ἀεὶ δὲ μετʼ ἐπιφανείας ἀντιλαμβανόμενον τῆς ἑαυτοῦ μερίδος.
14:16	Προστάξαντος δὲ τοῦ ἡγουμένου, ἐκεῖθεν εὐθέως ἀνέζευξαν, καὶ συμμίσγουσιν αὐτοῖς ἐπὶ κώμην Δεσσαού.
14:17	Σίμων δὲ ὁ ἀδελφὸς Ἰούδα συμβεβληκῶς ἦν τῷ Νικάνορι, βραχέως δὲ διὰ τὴν αἰφνίδιον τῶν ἀντιπάλων ἀφασίαν ἐπταικώς.
14:18	Ὅμως δὲ ἀκούων ὁ Νικάνωρ ἣν εἶχον οἱ περὶ τὸν Ἰούδαν ἀνδραγαθίαν, καὶ ἐν τοῖς ὑπὲρ τῆς πατρίδος ἀγῶσιν εὐψυχίαν, ἐπευλαβεῖτο τὴν κρίσιν διʼ αἱμάτων ποιήσασθαι·
14:19	Διόπερ ἔπεμψε Ποσιδώνιον καὶ Θεόδοτον καὶ Ματταθίαν, δοῦναι καὶ λαβεῖν δεξιάς.
14:20	Πλείονος δὲ γενομένης περὶ τούτων ἐπισκέψεως, καὶ τοῦ ἡγεμόνος τοῖς πλήθεσιν ἀνακοινωσαμένου, καὶ φανείσης ὁμοψήφου γνώμης, ἐπένευσαν ταῖς συνθήκαις.
14:21	Ἐτάξαντο δὲ ἡμέραν ἐν ᾗ κατʼ ἰδίαν ἥξουσιν εἰς τὸ αὐτό· καὶ προῆλθε, καὶ παρʼ ἑκάστου διαφόρους ἔθεσαν δίφρους.
14:22	Διέταξεν Ἰούδας ἐνόπλους ἑτοίμους ἐν τοῖς ἐπικαίροις τόποις, μήποτε ἐκ τῶν πολεμίων αἰφνιδίως κακουργία γένηται· τὴν ἁρμόζουσαν ἐποιήσαντο κοινολογίαν.
14:23	Διέτριβεν δὲ ὁ Νικάνωρ ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις, καὶ ἔπραττεν οὐθὲν ἄτοπον· τοὺς δὲ συναχθέντας ἀγελαίους ὄχλους ἀπέλυσε.
14:24	Καὶ εἶχε τὸν Ἰούδαν διαπαντὸς ἐν προσώπῳ, ψυχικῶς τῷ ἀνδρὶ προσεκέκλιτο.
14:25	Παρεκάλεσεν αὐτὸν γῆμαι καὶ παιδοποιήσασθαι· ἐγάμησεν, εὐστάθησεν, ἐκοινώνησε βίου.
14:26	Ὁ δὲ Ἄλκιμος συνιδὼν τὴν πρὸς ἀλλήλους εὔνοιαν καὶ τὰς γενομένας συνθήκας, ἀναλαβὼν, ἧκε πρὸς τὸν Δημήτριον, καὶ ἔλεγε τὸν Νικάνορα ἀλλότρια φρονεῖν τῶν πραγμάτων· τὸν γὰρ ἐπίβουλον τῆς βασιλείας Ἰούδαν διάδοχον ἀναδέδειχεν ἑαυτοῦ.
14:27	Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς ἔκθυμος γενόμενος, καὶ ταῖς τοῦ παμπονήρου ἐρεθισθεὶς διαβολαῖς, ἔγραψε Νικάνορι φάσκων, ὑπὲρ μὲν τῶν συνθηκῶν βαρέως φέρειν, κελεύων δὲ τὸν Μακκαβαῖον δέσμιον ἐξαποστέλλειν ταχέως εἰς Ἀντιόχειαν.
14:28	Προσπεσόντων δὲ τούτων τῷ Νικάνορι, συνεκέχυτο καὶ δυσφόρως ἔφερεν, εἰ τὰ διεσταλμένα ἀθετήσει μηδὲν τʼ ἀνδρὸς ἠδικηκότος.
14:29	Ἐπεὶ δὲ τῷ βασιλεῖ ἀντιπράττειν οὐκ ἦν, εὔκαιρον ἐτήρει στρατηγήματι τοῦτʼ ἐπιτελέσαι.
14:30	Ὁ δὲ Μακκαβαῖος αὐστηρότερον διεξάγοντα συνιδὼν τὸν Νικάνορα πρὸς αὐτὸν, καὶ τὴν εἰθισμένην ἀπάντησιν ἀγριωτέραν ἐσχηκότα, νοήσας οὐκ ἀπὸ τοῦ βελτίστου τὴν αὐστηρίαν εἶναι, συστρέψας οὐκ ὀλίγους τῶν περὶ ἑαυτὸν, συνεκρύπτετο τὸν Νικάνορα.
14:31	Συγγνοὺς δὲ ὁ ἕτερος ὅτι γενναίως ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἐστρατήγηται, παραγενόμενος ἐπὶ τὸ μέγιστον καὶ ἅγιον ἱερὸν, τῶν ἱερέων τὰς καθηκούσας θυσίας προσαγόντων, ἐκέλευσε παραδιδόναι τὸν ἄνδρα.
14:32	Τῶν δὲ μεθʼ ὅρκων φασκόντων μὴ γινώσκειν ποῦ ποτʼ ἐστὶν ὁ ζητούμενος,
14:33	προτείνας τὴν δεξιὰν εἰς τὸν νεὼν, ταῦτα ὤμοσεν, ἐὰν μὴ δέσμιόν μοι τὸν Ἰούδαν παραδῶτε, τόνδε τοῦ Θεοῦ σηκὸν εἰς πεδίον ποιήσω, καὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον κατασκάφω, καὶ ἱερὸν ἐνταῦθα τῷ Διονύσῳ ἐπιφανὲς ἀναστήσω.
14:34	Τοσαῦτα δὲ εἰπὼν ἀπῆλθεν· οἱ δὲ ἱερεῖς προτείναντες τὰς χεῖρας εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν, ἐπεκαλοῦντο τὸν διαπαντὸς ὑπέρμαχον τοῦ ἔθνους ἡμῶν, ταῦτα λέγοντες,
14:35	σὺ, Κύριε, τῶν ὅλων ἀπροσδεὴς ὑπάρχων, εὐδόκησας ναὸν τῆς σῆς κατασκηνώσεως ἐν ἡμῖν γενέσθαι.
14:36	Καὶ νῦν, ἅγιε παντὸς ἁγιασμοῦ Κύριε διατήρησον εἰς αἰῶνα ἀμίαντον τόνδε τὸν προσφάτως κεκαθαρισμένον οἶκον.
14:37	Ῥαζὶς δέ τις τῶν ἀπὸ Ἱεροσολύμων πρεσβυτέρων, ἐμηνύθη τῷ Νικάνορι, ἀνὴρ φιλοπολίτης καὶ σφόδρα καλῶς ἀκούων, καὶ κατὰ τὴν εὔνοιαν πατὴρ τῶν Ἰουδαίων προσαγορευόμενος.
14:38	Ἦν γὰρ ἐν τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν χρόνοις τῆς ἀμιξίας κρίσιν εἰσενηνεγμένος Ἰουδαϊσμοῦ, καὶ σῶμα καὶ ψυχὴν ὑπὲρ τοῦ Ἰουδαϊσμοῦ παραβεβλημένος μετὰ πάσης ἐκτενίας.
14:39	Βουλόμενος δὲ Νικάνωρ πρόδηλον ποιῆσαι ἣν εἶχε πρὸς τοὺς Ἰουδαίους δυσμένειαν, ἀπέστειλε στρατιώτας ὑπὲρ τοὺς πεντακοσίους συλλαβεῖν αὐτόν.
14:40	Ἔδοξε γὰρ, ἐκεῖνον συλλαβὼν, τούτοις ἐργάσασθαι συμφοράν,
14:41	Τῶν δὲ πληθῶν μελλόντων τὸν πύργον καταλαβέσθαι, καὶ τὴν αὐλαίαν θύραν βιαζομένων, καὶ κελευόντων πῦρ προσάγειν καὶ τὰς θύρας ὑφάπτειν, περικατάληπτος γενόμενος ὑπέθηκεν ἑαυτῷ ξίφος,
14:42	εὐγενῶς θέλων ἀποθανεῖν, ἤπερ τοῖς ἀλιτηρίοις ὑποχείριος γενέσθαι, καὶ τῆς ἰδίας εὐγενείας ἀναξίως ὑβρισθῆναι.
14:43	Τῇ δὲ πληγῇ μὴ κατευθικτήσας διὰ τὴν τοῦ ἀγῶνος σπουδὴν, καὶ τῶν ὄχλων εἴσω τῶν θυρωμάτων εἰσβαλόντων, ἀναδραμὼν γενναίως ἐπὶ τὸ τεῖχος, κατεκρήμνισεν ἑαυτὸν ἀνδρείως εἰς τοὺς ὄχλους.
14:44	Τῶν δὲ ταχέως ἀναποδισάντων, γενομένου διαστήματος ἦλθε κατὰ μέσον τὸν κενεῶνα.
14:45	Ἔτι δὲ ἔμπνους ὑπάρχων καὶ πεπυρωμένος τοῖς θυμοῖς, ἐξαναστὰς φερομένων κρουνηδὸν τῶν αἱμάτων, καὶ δυσχερῶν ὄντων τῶν τραυμάτων, δρόμῳ τοὺς ὄχλους διελθὼν, καὶ στὰς ἐπί τινος πέτρας ἀποῤῥωγάδος,
14:46	παντελῶς ἔξαιμος ἤδη γενόμενος, προβαλὼν τὰ ἔντερα, καὶ λαβὼν ἑκατέραις ταῖς χερσὶν, ἐνέσεισε τοῖς ὄχλοις· καὶ ἐπικαλεσάμενος τὸν δεσπόζοντα τῆς ζωῆς καὶ τοῦ πνεύματος, ταῦτα αὐτῷ πάλιν ἀποδοῦναι, τόνδε τὸν τρόπον μετήλλαξεν.
15:1	Ὁ δὲ Νικάνωρ μεταλαβὼν τοὺς περὶ τὸν Ἰούδαν ὄντας ἐν τοῖς κατὰ Σαμάρειαν τόποις, ἐβουλεύσατο τῇ τῆς καταπαύσεως ἡμέρᾳ μετὰ πάσης ἀσφαλείας αὐτοῖς ἐπιβαλεῖν.
15:2	Τῶν δὲ κατʼ ἀνάγκην συνεπομένων αὐτῷ Ἰουδαίων, λεγόντων, μηδαμῶς οὕτως ἀγρίως καὶ βαρβάρως ἀπολέσῃς, δόξαν δὲ ἀπομέρισον τῇ προτετιμημένῃ ὑπὸ τοῦ πάντα ἐθορῶντος μεθʼ ἁγιότητος ἡμέρᾳ.
15:3	Ὁ δὲ τρισαλιτήριος ἐπηρώτησεν, εἰ ἔστιν ἐν οὐρανῷ δυνάστης ὁ προστεταχὼς ἄγειν τὴν τῶν σαββάτων ἡμέραν;
15:4	Τῶν δὲ ἀποφῃναμένων, ἔστιν ὁ Κύριος ζῶν αὐτὸς ἐν οὐρανῷ δυνάστης, ὁ κελεύσας ἀσκεῖν τὴν ἑβδομάδα.
15:5	Ὁ δὲ ἕτερος, κᾀγώ φησι, δυνάστης ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ὁ προστάσσων αἴρειν ὅπλα, καὶ τὰς βασιλικὰς χρείας ἐπιτελεῖν· ὅμως οὐ κατέσχεν ἐπιτελέσαι τό σχέτλιον αὐτοῦ βούλημα.
15:6	Καὶ ὁ μὲν Νικάνωρ μετὰ πάσης ἀλαζονείας ὑψαυχενῶν, διεγνώκει κοινὸν τῶν περὶ τὸν Ἰούδαν συστήσασθαι τρόπαιον.
15:7	Ὁ δὲ Μακκαβαῖος ἦν ἀδιαλείπτως πεποιθὼς μετὰ πάσης ἐλπίδος ἀντιλήψεως τεύξασθαι παρὰ τοῦ Κυρίου.
15:8	Καὶ παρεκάλει τοὺς σὺν αὐτῷ μὴ δειλιᾷν τὴν τῶν ἔθνῶν ἔφοδον, ἔχοντας δὲ κατὰ νοῦν τὰ προγεγονότα αὐτοῖς ἁπʼ οὐρανοῦ βοηθήματα, καὶ τανῦν προσδοκᾷν τὴν παρὰ τοῦ παντοκράτορος ἐσομένην αὐτοῖς νίκην καὶ βοήθειαν.
15:9	Καὶ παραμυθούμενος αὐτοὺς ἐκ τοῦ νόμου καὶ τῶν προφητῶν, προσυπομνήσας δὲ αὐτοὺς καὶ τοὺς ἀγῶνας οὓς ἦσαν ἐκτετελεκότες, προθυμοτέρους αὐτοὺς κατέστησε.
15:10	Καὶ τοῖς θυμοῖς διεγείρας αὐτοὺς, παρήγγειλεν, ἅμα παρεπιδεικνὺς τὴν τῶν ἐθνῶν ἀθεσίαν καὶ τὴν τῶν ὅρκων παράβασιν.
15:11	Ἕκαστον δὲ αὐτῶν καθοπλίσας, οὐ τὴν ἀσπίδων καὶ λογχῶν ἀσφάλειαν, ὡς τὴν ἐν τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς λόγοις παράκλησιν, καὶ προσεξηγησάμενος ὄνειρον ἀξιόπιστον ὕπαρ τι πάντας εὔφρανεν.
15:12	Ἦν δὲ ἡ τούτου θεωρία τοιάδε· Ὀνίαν τὸν γενόμενον ἀρχιερέα, ἄνδρα καλὸν καὶ ἀγαθὸν, αἰδήμονα μὲν τὴν ἀπάντησιν, πρᾷον δὲ τὸν τρόπον, καὶ λαλιὰν προϊέμενον πρεπόντως, καὶ ἐκ παιδὸς ἐκμεμελετηκότα πάντα τὰ τῆς ἀρετῆς οἰκεῖα, τοῦτον τὰς χεῖρας προτείναντα κατεύχεσθαι τῷ παντὶ τῶν Ἰουδαίων συστήματι.
15:13	Εἶθʼ οὕτως ἐπιφανῆναι ἄνδρα πολιᾷ καὶ δόξῃ διαφέροντα, θαυμαστὴν δέ τινα καὶ μεγαλοπρεπεστάτην εἶναι τὴν περὶ αὐτὸν ὑπεροχήν.
15:14	Ἀποκριθέντα δὲ τὸν Ὀνιαν εἰπεῖν, ὁ φιλάδελφος οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ πολλὰ προσευχόμενος περὶ τοῦ λαοῦ καὶ τῆς ἁγίας πόλεως, Ἱερεμίας ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ προφήτης.
15:15	Προτείναντα δὲ τὸν Ἱερεμίαν τὴν δεξιὰν παραδοῦναι τῷ Ἰούδᾳ ῥομφαίαν χρυσῆν, διδόντα δὲ προσφωνῆσαι τάδε,
15:16	λάβε τὴν ἁγίαν ῥομφαίαν δῶρον παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ, διʼ ἧς θραύσεις τοὺς ὑπεναντίους.
15:17	Παρακληθέντες δὲ τοῖς Ἰούδα λόγοις πάνυ καλοῖς καὶ δυναμένοις ἐπʼ ἀρετὴν παρορμῆσαι, καὶ ψυχὰς νέων ἐπανορθῶσαι, διέγνωσαν μὴ στρατοπεδεύεσθαι, γενναίως δὲ ἐμφέρεσθαι, καὶ μετὰ πάσης εὐανδρίας ἐμπλακέντες κρῖναι τὰ πράγματα, διὰ τὸ καὶ τὴν πόλιν, καὶ τὰ ἅγια, καὶ τὸ ἱερὸν κινδυνεύειν.
15:18	Ἦν γὰρ ὁ περὶ γυναικῶν καὶ τέκνων, ἔτι δὲ ἀδελφῶν καὶ συγγενῶν ἐν ἥττονι μέρει κείμενος αὐτοῖς ἀγὼν, μέγιστος δὲ καὶ πρῶτος ὁ περὶ τοῦ καθηγιασμένου ναοῦ φόβος.
15:19	Ἦν δὲ καὶ τοῖς ἐν τῇ πόλει κατειλημμένοις οὐ πάρεργος ἀγωνία ταρασσομένοις τῆς ἐν ὑπαίθρῳ προσβολῆς.
15:20	Καὶ πάντων ἤδη προσδοκώντων τὴν ἐσομένην κρίσιν, καὶ ἤδη συμμιξάντων τῶν πολεμίων, καὶ τῆς στρατιᾶς ἐκταγείσης, καὶ τῶν θηρίων ἐπὶ μέρος εὔκαιρον ἀποκατασταθέντων, τῆς τε ἵππου κατὰ κέρας τεταγμένης,
15:21	Συνιδὼν ὁ Μακκαβαῖος τὴν τῶν πληθῶν παρουσίαν, καὶ τῶν ὅπλων τὴν ποικίλην παρασκευὴν, τήν τε τῶν θηρίων ἀγριότητα, προτείνας τὰς χεῖρας εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν, ἐπεκαλέσατο τὸν τερατοποιὸν Κύριον τὸν κατόπτην, γινώσκων ὅτι οὐκ ἔστι διʼ ὅπλων ἡ νίκη, καθὼς δὲ ἂν αὐτῷ κριθείη, τοῖς ἀξίοις περιποιεῖται τὴν νίκην.
15:22	Ἔλεγε δὲ ἐπικαλούμενος τόνδε τὸν τρόπον, σὺ, Δέσποτα, ἀπέστειλας τὸν ἄγγελόν σου ἐπὶ Ἑζεκίου τοῦ βασιλέως τῆς Ἰουδαίας, καὶ ἀνεῖλες ἐκ τῆς παρεμβολῆς Σενναχηρεὶμ εἰς ἑκατὸν ὀγδοηκονταπέντε χιλιάδας.
15:23	Καὶ νῦν, Δυνάστα τῶν οὐρανῶν, ἀπόστειλον ἄγγελον ἀγαθὸν ἔμπροσθεν ἡμῶν εἰς δέος καὶ τρόμον.
15:24	Μεγέθει βραχίονός σου καταπλαγείησαν οἱ μετὰ βλασφημίας παραγενόμενοι ἐπὶ τὸν ἅγιόν σου λαόν· καὶ οὗτος μὲν ἐν τούτοις ἔληξεν.
15:25	Οἱ δὲ περὶ τὸν Νικάνορα μετὰ σαλπίγγων καὶ παιάνων προσῆγον,
15:26	οἱ δὲ περὶ τὸν Ἰούδαν μετʼ ἐπικλήσεως καὶ εὐχῶν συνέμιξαν τοῖς πολεμίοις.
15:27	Καὶ ταῖς μὲν χερσὶν ἀγωνιζόμενοι, ταῖς δὲ καρδίαις πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν εὐχόμενοι, κατέστρωσαν οὐδὲν ἧττον μυριάδων τριῶν καὶ πεντακισχιλίων, τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ μεγάλως εὐφρανθέντες ἐπιφανείᾳ.
15:28	Γενόμενοι δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς χρείας, καὶ μετὰ χαρᾶς ἀναλύοντες, ἐπέγνωσαν προπεπτωκότα Νικάνορα σὺν τῇ πανοπλίᾳ.
15:29	Γενομένης δὲ κραυγῆς καὶ ταραχῆς, εὐλόγουν τὸν Δυνάστην τῇ πατρίῳ φωνῇ.
15:30	Καὶ προσέταξεν ὁ καθʼ ἅπαν σώματι καὶ ψυχῇ πρωταγωνιστὴς ὑπὲρ τῶν πολιτῶν, ὁ τὴν τῆς ἡλικίας εὔνοιαν εἰς ὁμοεθνεῖς διαφυλάξας, τὴν τοῦ Νικάνορος κεφαλὴν ἀποτεμόντας, καὶ τὴν χεῖρα σὺν τῷ ὤμῳ φέρειν εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα.
15:31	Παραγενόμενος δὲ ἐκεῖ, καὶ συγκαλέσας τοὺς ὁμοεθνεῖς, καὶ τοὺς ἱερεῖς πρὸ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου στήσας, μετεπέμψατο τοὺς ἐκ τῆς ἄκρας.
15:32	Καὶ ἐπιδειξάμενος τὴν τοῦ μιαροῦ Νικάνορος κεφαλὴν, καὶ τὴν χεῖρα τοῦ δυσφήμου, ἣν ἐκτείνας ἐπὶ τὸν ἅγιον τοῦ παντοκράτορος οἶκον ἐμεγαλαύχησε.
15:33	Καὶ τὴν γλῶσσαν τοῦ δυσσεβοῦς Νικάνορος ἐκτεμὼν, ἔφη κατὰ μέρος δώσειν τοῖς ὀρνέοις, τὰ δὲ ἐπίχειρα τῆς ἀνοίας κατέναντι τοῦ ναοῦ κρεμᾶσαι.
15:34	Οἱ δὲ πάντες εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν εὐλόγησαν τὸν ἐπιφανῆ Κύριον, λέγοντες, εὐλογητὸς ὁ διατηρήσας τὸν ἑαυτοῦ τόπον ἀμίαντον.
15:35	Ἐξέδησε δὲ τὴν τοῦ Νικάνορος κεφαλὴν ἐκ τῆς ἄκρας, ἐπίδηλον πᾶσι καὶ φανερὸν τῆς τοῦ Κυρίου βοηθείας σημεῖον.
15:36	Καὶ ἐδογμάτισαν πάντες μετὰ κοινοῦ ψηφίσματος μηδαμῶς ἐᾶσαι ἀπαρασήμαντον τὴνδε τὴν ἡμέραν· ἔχειν δὲ ἐπίσημον τὴν τρισκαιδεκάτην τοῦ δωδεκάτου μηνὸς, Ἄδαρ λέγεται τῇ Συριακῇ φωνῇ, πρὸ μιᾶς ἡμέρας τῆς Μαρδοχαϊκῆς ἡμέρας.
15:37	Τῶν οὖν κατὰ Νικάνορα χωρησάντων οὕτω, καὶ ἀπʼ ἐκείνων τῶν καιρῶν κρατηθείσης τῆς πόλεως ὑπὸ τῶν Ἑβραίων. Καὶ αὐτὸς αὐτόθι καταπαύσω τὸν λόγον.
15:38	Καὶ εἰ μὲν καλῶς καὶ εὐθίκτως τῇ συντάξει, τοῦτο καὶ αὐτὸς ἤθελον· εἰ δὲ εὐτελῶς καὶ μετρίως, τοῦτο ἐφικτὸν ἦν μοι.
15:39	Καθάπερ γὰρ οἶνον καταμόνας πίνειν, ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ ὕδωρ πάλιν, πολέμιον· ὃν δὲ τρόπον οἶνος ὕδατι συγκερασθεὶς ἡδὺς, καὶ ἐπιτερπῆ τὴν χάριν ἀποτελεῖ, οὕτω καὶ τὸ τῆς κατασκευῆς τοῦ λόγου τέρπει τὰς ἀκοὰς τῶν ἐντυγχανόντων τῇ συντάξει· ἐνταῦθα δὲ ἔσται ἡ τελευτή.