1 MAKKABEES
TO THE READER

EDITION OF THE GREEK TEXT

The NETS translation of the book of 1 Makkabees is based upon the critical edition of the Greek text published by W. Kappler (Septuaginta: Vetus Testamentum Graecum Auctoritate Societatis Litterarum Göttingensis editum IX. 1: Maccabaeorum liber I [Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2nd rev. ed., 1967]). Kappler’s text has been adjusted at 10.49 where there is confusion among the manuscripts between the names Alexander (Balas) and Demetrius. Although the context suggests that Alexander defeated Demetrius in battle then pursued and killed him, the Kappler text follows the readings of those manuscripts that name Demetrius as the winner, even though he was killed in this battle. The variant readings in Kappler’s critical apparatus, which support the historical fact that Alexander emerged victorious, have been preferred in this case.¹

TRANSLATION PROFILE OF THE GREEK

Already in antiquity the existence of an original Semitic—probably Hebrew—Vorlage of 1 Makkabees was documented by early writers.² The first-century Jewish historian Josephus may have had occasion to consult the original Hebrew text as he paraphrased substantial parts of its Greek translation in his Jewish Antiquities.³ But it is more certain that the Christian Bible scholars Origen (third century) and Jerome (late fourth/early fifth centuries) knew of the existence of the Hebrew text of 1 Makkabees. Origen is quoted by the fourth-century Church historian Eusebius as referring to a “Makkabean History” outside of the twenty-two book Hebrew scriptural canon; Origen identifies this book by its Hebrew title “Sarbethsabanaiel.”⁴ Jerome also, in his preface to the books of Samuel and Kings, clearly distinguishes the “Hebrew First Book of Makkabees” from the “Second Greek Book,” which ostensibly was 2 Makkabees.⁵

Modern scholars generally confirm the ancient viewpoint that our Greek text of 1 Makkabees is a translation of a long lost Hebrew Vorlage.⁶ The Semitic character of the original work is readily apparent in the extant Greek translation.⁷ Parataxis—a distinctive linguistic characteristic of Hebrew—is ubiquitous in 1 Makkabees except for the speeches and hymns scattered throughout the book. What has been said with regard to the LXX in general applies most especially to 1 Makkabees: ”… there is no syntax, only parataxis. The whole is one great scheme of clauses connected by , and we have to trust the sense to tell us which is to be so emphasized as to make it into the apodosis.”⁸ Other literary characteristics of 1 Makkabees identified by scholars as indicating a Hebrew Vorlage are: 1) the occurrence of traditional biblical phrases such as “and it came to pass” and “in those days”; 2) the presence of many expressions that appear to have been copied from biblical texts; 3) the direct transliteration of certain proper names from their original forms (e.g., Ramathaim, 11.34; Imalkoue 11.39; Chaphenatha, 12.37; Asaramel, 14.27); 4) the use of Jewish names for the months (e.g., Chaseleu, 1.54; 4.52, 59; Adar, 7.43, 49; Eloul, 14.27; Sabat, 16.14); 5) the presence of archaic terminology, pious addresses, and poems; 6) the large number and variety of Semitic idioms; 7) the incorporation of official documents; and 8) the fact that some difficulties in the Greek text can be explained as misunderstandings of the original Hebrew.⁹

The author of the original version of 1 Makkabees has been praised for having written in an elegant Hebrew style that was modeled purposely after the historical books of the Bible—Judges, Samuel, Kings and Chronicles.¹⁰ The faithfulness of 1 Makkabees to traditional biblical historiography implies that the writer may have considered his work to be a continuation of the Chronicler’s history.¹¹ The Greek translation of 1 Makkabees also seems to have been crafted by someone who shared the same conservative perspective as the original author. Scholars extol the careful, extremely literal Jewish-Greek translational style of 1 Makkabees and even consider it to be a deliberate choice on the part of the translator, whose exceptional vocabulary betrays a considerable facility with the Greek language.¹² The translator may have been making a political statement by choosing to follow traditional Jewish parataxis, as opposed to more correct Greek syntax. Continuing in the tradition of the original author, and of the Makkabees themselves, our translator deliberately rejected “Hellenism” in order to support the traditional linguistic style of his own Jewish cultural heritage.

THE NETS TRANSLATION OF 1 MAKKABEES

The strategy followed in the present translation has been dictated by the special circumstances surrounding the preservation of the text of 1 Makkabees: 1) there is general agreement that the extant Greek text is a translation from a Semitic Vorlage; 2) no fragments of the Vorlage are known to have survived, even among the Dead Sea Scrolls; and 3) the Greek translation of 1 Makkabees is our only link to the vanished original, given that all the other ancient versions of this book ultimately derive from the Greek.¹³ Though in books extant in both Hebrew (Aramaic) and Greek, the NRSV functions as base text for NETS, as a matter of principle, in 1 Maccabees such a role has been accorded the NRSV purely for the sake of convenience. The difference between NETS and NRSV typically reflects a difference in translation philosophy.

Throughout the NETS translation an effort has been put forth to represent Greek words consistently with the same corresponding English terms. Exception has been made for recurring Greek words that require a different meaning within a specific context. For example, the plural of the word for “force,” , was rendered as “forces” throughout with the exception of 12.49. The word “infantry” was used in this case to distinguish these forces from the “cavalry” referred in the same verse. “Forces and cavalry” would seem redundant in English, since cavalry could also be described as forces.

Special care has been taken in the NETS translation to distinguish different Greek words of similar meaning by rendering them consistently with the same English terms. The most pertinent examples are a variety of words that denote holy things and places generically, and temples and liturgical items more specifically. Attention to these terms was necessitated by their tendency to appear in clusters, as in 4.36–58 where references to “holy” places and things are interspersed. The following chart delineates the occurrence of these words throughout 1 Makkabees:

as temple: 6.2; 10.43,
84; 11.4; 13.52; 15.9; 16.20

as house for an idol: 1.47; 10.83

as shrine: 1.22; 2.8; 4.49, 50, 57; 7.36

as holy precinct: 1.21, 36, 37 (2x), 39, 45, 46

as sacred precinct: 1.47; 5.43, 44

:

as holy things: 2.12; 3.43, 58; 7.42; 10.39 (2x), 44; 13.3, 6; 14.29, 31, 42, 43
as holy places: 3.51; 4.36, 41, 43, 48; 6.18, 54; 7.33; 9.54; 14.15 (2x), 36, 48; 15.7

EDITORIAL POLICY

The present translation follows the versification in Kappler’s Göttingen text when it differs from—and is obviously superior to—that of the NRSV (cf. 1.43; 9.55, 67; 10.76; 13.18; 14.27, 43). In those cases in which personal pronouns occur in the text, but their referent is ambiguous or left unnamed, the referent has been supplied and the pronoun is noted in the footnotes (cf. 1.36; 1.54; 5.16, 27; 6.24, 31, 62; 9.11, 40, 48; 10.76, 78; 11.4, 53; 12.4, 46; 13.19–20, 29; 15.26, 36).

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

In the preparation of the NETS translation a number of other translations were consulted regularly in order to avoid reproducing any one of them too closely: the King James Version, Today’s English Version, the New Revised Standard Version, the Douay Old Testament, the Knox Translation, the New American Bible, and the New Jerusalem Bible as presented most handily in J. R. Kohlenberger III, ed., The Parallel Apocrypha (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997). Also very helpful were the texts of J. A. Goldstein, 1 Maccabees and S. Tedesche, The First Book of Maccabees (Dropsie College Edition of Jewish Apocryphal Literature; New York: Harper & Brothers, 1950).

GEORGE T. ZERVOS

______________________________________________________________________

1 And it happened after the triumph of Alexander the Macedonian the son of Philip, who came out of the land of Chettiim and defeated Darius, king of the Persians and Medes, and became king in his place, formerly being king of Greece—²and he conducted many wars and seized fortresses and slaughtered the kings of the earth. ³And he penetrated to the ends of the earth and took the spoils of a multitude of nations. And the earth became quiet before him, and he was exalted, and his heart was uplifted. ⁴And he gathered a very powerful force and ruled over countries, nations and tyrants, and they became tributary to him.

5 And after this he fell upon his bed and knew that he was dying. ⁶And he called his distinguished servants, who had been raised with him from their youth, and divided his kingdom among them while he was still living. ⁷And Alexander ruled for twelve years and died.

8 And his servants took control, each in his own place. ⁹And they all put on crowns after he died, as did their sons after them for many years, and they multiplied evils on the earth.

10 And out of them arose a sinful root, Antiochus Epiphanes son of Antiochus the king, who had been a hostage in Rome and became king in the one hundred thirty-seventh year of the kingdom of the Greeks.

11 In those days out of Israel came sons, transgressors of the law, and persuaded many, saying, “Let us go and make a covenant with the nations around us, because from the time we separated ourselves from them many evils have found us.” ¹²And the proposition seemed good in their eyes; ¹³so some of the people took courage and went to the king, and he gave them the authority to follow the statutes of the nations. ¹⁴And they built a gymnasium in Hierosolyma according to the precepts of the nations, ¹⁵and they fashioned foreskins for themselves and apostatized from the holy covenant and joined themselves to the nations and sold themselves to do evil.

16 And the kingdom was ready in the sight of Antiochus, and he undertook to become king of the land of Egypt so that he might rule over the two kingdoms. ¹⁷And he invaded Egypt with a heavily armed host, with chariots and elephants and a large fleet. ¹⁸And he made war against Ptolemy, king of Egypt, and Ptolemy turned from before him and fled, and many fell wounded. ¹⁹And they seized the fortified cities in the land of Egypt, and he took the spoils of the land of Egypt.

20 And Antiochus returned after conquering Egypt in the one hundred forty-third year and went up against Israel and went up against Hierosolyma with a heavily armed host. ²¹And he entered the holy precinct with arrogance and took the golden altar and the lamp stand for the light and all its utensils ²²and the table of presentation and the libation bowls and the saucers and the golden censers and the veil and the crowns, and he stripped off all the gold ornamentation on the façade of the shrine. ²³And he took the silver and the gold and the precious vessels, and he took the hidden treasures, which he found. ²⁴And taking everything, he left for his own land

and carried out murder
and spoke with great arrogance.

²⁵ And there was great mourning in Israel, in
         every place of theirs.

²⁶     And rulers and elders groaned,

virgins and young men weakened,

and the beauty of the women was
deformed.

²⁷ Every bridegroom took up lamentation;
she who sat in the bridal chamber was in
         mourning.

²⁸ And the land quaked for those dwelling in it,
and all the house of Iakob was clothed
         with shame.

29 Two years later the king sent a chief revenue agent to the cities of Iouda, and he came to Ierousalem with a heavily-armed host. ³⁰And he spoke peaceful words to them with deceit, and they trusted him. But he fell upon the city suddenly and struck it a great blow, and he destroyed many people from Israel. ³¹And he took the spoils of the city and burned it with fire and tore down its houses and the walls around it. ³²And they took the women and the children captive and took possession of the livestock. ³³And they reconstructed the city of Dauid with a large and fortified wall with fortified towers, and it became a citadel for them. ³⁴And they stationed a sinful nation there, lawless men, and they became strong in it. ³⁵And they stockpiled weapons and food, and gathering the plunder of Ierousalem, they stored it there and became a great threat.

³⁶ It^a became an ambush for the holy precinct
and an evil enemy to Israel continuously.

³⁷ And they poured out innocent blood
         around the holy precinct
and defiled the sanctuary.

³⁸ And the residents of Ierousalem left because
         of them,
and it became a residence for foreigners

and became foreign to those born of her,
and her children abandoned her.

³⁹ Her holy precinct became deserted as a
         wilderness;
her feasts were turned to mourning,

her sabbaths to disgrace,
her honor to scorn.

⁴⁰ Her dishonor was multiplied to equal her
         former glory,

and her exaltation was turned to
mourning.

41 And the king wrote to all his kingdom for all to be as one people ⁴²and for each to abandon his own precepts; all the nations complied with the dictum of the king. ⁴³And many also from Israel approved of his service and sacrificed to idols and profaned the sabbath. ⁴⁴And the king sent documents carried by the hand of messengers to Ierousalem and the cities of Iouda for them to follow precepts foreign to the land ⁴⁵and to withhold whole burnt offerings and sacrifice and libation from the holy precinct and to profane sabbaths and feasts ⁴⁶and to defile holy precinct and holy ones, ⁴⁷to build altarsb and sacred precincts and houses to idols and to sacrifice swine and common animals ⁴⁸and to leave their sons uncircumcised, to make their souls abominable in every unclean and profane thing, ⁴⁹so as to forget the law and to change all the statutes. ⁵⁰And whoever would not abide by the command of the king would die.

51 According to all these words he wrote to all his kingdom and appointed supervisors over all the people and commanded all the cities of Iouda to sacrifice city by city. ⁵²And many of the people joined them, everyone who abandoned the law, and they did evil in the land. ⁵³And they forced Israel into hiding places, into every one of their places of refuge.

54 And on the fifteenth day of Chaseleu in the one hundred and forty-fifth year, he^c constructed an abomination of desolation on the altar, and in the cities around Iouda they built altars^{b 55}and burned incense at the doors of the houses and in the city squares. ⁵⁶And the books of the law which they found they tore up and burned with fire. ⁵⁷And wherever there was found in someone’s possession a book of the covenant, or if someone was conforming to the law, the judgment of the king put them to death. ⁵⁸And they were using their power on those who were found in Israel month by month in the cities. ⁵⁹On the twenty-fifth of the month they were sacrificing on the altar^b that was on top of the sacrificial altar. ⁶⁰And the women who had circumcised their children they put to death according to the ordinance, ⁶¹and they hung the babies from their necks and put to death their families and those who circumcised them.

62 But many in Israel remained strong and fortified themselves not to eat common things. ⁶³And they preferred to die so as not to be contaminated by food and not to defile the holy covenant, and they died. ⁶⁴And there was a very great wrath upon Israel.

2 In those days Mattathias son of Ioannes son of Symeon, a priest of the sons of Ioarib, left Ierousalem and settled in Modein. ²And he had five sons, Ioannes, who was called Gaddi, ³Simon, who was called Thassi, ⁴Ioudas, who was called Makkabaios, ⁵Eleazaros, who was called Auaran, Ionathes, who was called Apphous. ⁶And he saw the blasphemies occurring in Iouda and in Ierousalem ⁷and said,

“Woe to me, why was I born to see this,
the destruction of my people and the
         destruction of the holy city?

And they lived there when it^d was delivered
         into the hands of enemies,

the holy precinct into the hands of
foreigners.

⁸ And her shrine became as a man without
         honor.

⁹ The vessels of her glory were taken
         captive.

Her infants were killed in her city squares,
her young people by the sword of an
         enemy.

¹⁰ What nation did not possess her in its
         kingdom
nor seize her spoils?

¹¹ All her adornment was removed;
from being free she became a slave.

¹² And look, our ^eholy places^e, our beauty
and our glory were devastated.

And the nations defiled them.

¹³     Why is there still life in us?”

14 And Mattathias and his sons tore their garments and put on sackcloth and mourned intensely.

15 And the agents of the king, who were enforcing the apostasy, came to the city of Modein to sacrifice. ¹⁶And many from Israel came to them, and Mattathias and his sons gathered together. ¹⁷And the agents of the king answered and said to Mattathias, saying, “You are a ruler, both glorious and great in this city, and supported by sons and brothers. ¹⁸Now you come forward first and execute the ordinance of the king, as have done all the nations and the men of Iouda and those remaining in Ierousalem. And you and your sons will be among the Friends of the king, and you and your sons will be glorified with silver and gold and much compensation.”

19 And Mattathias answered and said with a loud voice, “If all the nations which are in the realm of the king obey him so as to apostatize, each one from the religion of their fathers, and adopt his commandments, ²⁰both I and my sons and my brothers will walk in the covenant of our fathers. ²¹God help us if we abandon the law and the statutes; ²²we will not obey the words of the king nor deviate from our religion to the right or to the left.”

23 And as he finished speaking these words, a Judean man came within sight of all to sacrifice on the altar^a in Modein in accordance with the ordinance of the king. ²⁴And Mattathias saw this, and he became zealous, and his kidneys became stirred up. And his anger arose in judgment. And running, he slaughtered him on the altar^{a 25}and killed the agent of the king, who was forcing them to sacrifice at that time, and tore down the altar^a. ²⁶And he became zealous in the law as Phinees had done against Zambri son of Salom.

27 And Mattathias cried out in the city with a loud voice, saying, “Let everyone who is zealous in the law and is upholding the covenant follow me.” ²⁸And he and his sons fled to the mountains and abandoned everything they had in the city.

29 At that time many who were seeking righteousness and judgment descended to the wilderness to live there, ³⁰they, their sons, their wives and their livestock, because evils worsened upon them. ³¹And it was announced to the king’s men and to his forces that were in Ierousalem, the city of Dauid, that the men who had spurned the commandment of the king went into hiding in the wilderness. ³²And many chased after them and overtaking them, marshaled against them and engaged them in battle on the day of the sabbaths. ³³And they said to them, “Enough! Come out, and do according to the dictum of the king, and you will live.” ³⁴And they said, “We will not come out. Nor will we execute the dictum of the king to defile the day of the sabbaths.” ³⁵And they^b increased the battle against them. ³⁶But they neither answered them nor threw a stone against them nor even secured their hiding places, ³⁷saying, “Let us all die in our simplicity. Heaven and earth bear witness to us that you destroy us unjustly.” ³⁸And they fell upon them in battle on the sabbaths, and they and their wives and their children and their livestock died, as many as one thousand human souls.

39 And Mattathias and his friends learned of this, and they mourned over them greatly. ⁴⁰And they said, a man to his neighbor, “If we all do as our brothers did and do not fight against the nations for our lives and for our statutes, now quickly they will annihilate us from the land.” ⁴¹And they decided on that day saying, “Every person who comes against us in battle on the day of the sabbaths, let us fight against them, and we will not all die as our brothers died in the hiding places.”

42 At that time a gathering of Hasideans joined together with them, strong in power, from Israel, every one of them volunteering for the law. ⁴³And all the fugitives from the evils were added to them and became a support for them. ⁴⁴And they assembled a force and struck down sinners in their wrath and lawless men in their anger, and the rest fled to the nations to be saved. ⁴⁵And Mattathias and his friends went around and tore down the altars^{a 46}and circumcised by force all the uncircumcised boys they found within the borders of Israel. ⁴⁷And they persecuted the children of insolence, and their mission was successful by their hand. ⁴⁸And they reclaimed the law out of the hands of the nations and out of the hands of the kings, and they gave no support to the sinner.

49 And the days drew near for Mattathias to die, and he said to his sons, “Now arrogance and reproach have been established, a time of destruction and fierce wrath. ⁵⁰Now, children, be zealous in the law, and give your lives for the covenant of our fathers.

51 “Remember the works of our fathers, which they did in their generations, and receive great glory and an everlasting name. ⁵²Was not Abraam found faithful in temptation, and it was accounted to him as righteousness? ⁵³Ioseph in the time of his affliction observed the commandment and became lord of Egypt. ⁵⁴Phinees our father, by becoming zealous with zeal, received a covenant of everlasting priesthood. ⁵⁵Iesous, by fulfilling the command, became a judge in Israel. ⁵⁶Chaleb, by bearing witness in the assembly, received an inheritance of land. ⁵⁷Dauid, by his mercy, inherited the throne of a kingdom forever. ⁵⁸Elias, by becoming greatly zealous for the law, was taken up into heaven. ⁵⁹Hananias, Azarias and Misael, because of their faith, were saved from fire. ⁶⁰Daniel, by his simplicity, was rescued from the mouth of lions.

61 “Therefore, keep in mind from generation to generation that all who hope in him will not weaken. ⁶²And do not fear on account of the words of a sinner, because their glory will become dung and worms. ⁶³Today they will be elevated, but tomorrow they will not be found, because they will have returned to their dust and their counsels will be lost. ⁶⁴Children, be brave, and be strong in the law, for by it you will be glorified.

65 “And look, Symeon your brother, I know that he is a man of counsel. Hear him all the days. He shall be as a father to you. ⁶⁶And Ioudas Makkabaios has been strong in power since his youth. He shall be commander of the army and shall fight the war of the peoples. ⁶⁷And you shall draw to you all those who observe the law and execute vengeance for your people. ⁶⁸Return what is due to the nations, and be attentive to the ordinance of the law.”

69 And he blessed them and was joined to his fathers. ⁷⁰And he died in the one hundred forty-sixth year and was buried among the tombs of his ancestors in Modein. And all Israel mourned for him with great mourning.

3 And Ioudas his son who was called Makkabaios, rose up in his place, ²and all his brothers helped him, as did all who had joined his father. And they fought the war for Israel with gladness.

³ And he spread glory to his people
and put on a breastplate like a giant and
         strapped on his war instruments.

And he conducted battles,
protecting the camp by the sword.

⁴ And he resembled a lion in his works
and was like a whelp roaring in the
         hunt.

⁵ And seeking out the lawless, he persecuted
         them

and burned up those who disturbed his
people.

⁶ And the lawless drew back for fear of him,
and all the workers of lawlessness were
         disturbed,

and salvation was successful by his hand.

⁷ And he caused bitterness to many kings,
and gladness to Iakob by his works,
and his memory will be a blessing
         forever.

⁸ And he went through the cities of Iouda
and annihilated the impious from it
and turned away wrath from Israel.

⁹ And his name was known to the ends of the
         earth,

and he gathered together those who were
lost.

10 And Apollonius gathered together the nations and a large force from Samaria, to make war against Israel. ¹¹And Ioudas found out, and he went out to meet him. And he struck and killed him. And many fell wounded, and the rest fled. ¹²And they took their spoils, and Ioudas took the dagger of Apollonius and fought with it all his days.

13 And Seron, the commander of the force of Syria, heard that Ioudas had gathered a force and an assembly of troops loyal to him who were going out with him to battle. ¹⁴And he said, “I will make a name for myself and will be glorified in the kingdom. And I will make war on Ioudas and those with him who disregard the dictum of the king.” ¹⁵And there was added a powerful company of impious men, and it went up with him to help him take revenge on the descendants of Israel.

16 And he drew near to the ascent of Baithoron, and Ioudas went out to meet him with few companions. ¹⁷But as they saw the company coming to meet them, they said to Ioudas, “How will we, being so few, be able to fight against such a powerful multitude? And we are weak, having eaten nothing today.” ¹⁸And Ioudas said, “It is easy for many to be ensnared by the hands of a few. And it makes no difference before heaven to save by many or by a few. ¹⁹For victory in war is not in the multitude of force, but rather, power is from heaven. ²⁰They come against us with great arrogance and lawlessness, to eliminate us and our wives and our children, to despoil us. ²¹But we fight for our lives and our precepts, ²²and he himself will smash them before us. You, therefore, do not be afraid of them.”

23 When he had finished speaking, he drove upon them suddenly. And Seron and his company were smashed before him. ²⁴And they pursued him on the descent of Baithoron down to the plain. And eight hundred men of them fell, and the rest fled to the land of Phylistiim. ²⁵Thus began the fear of Ioudas and his brothers, and dread fell upon the nations all around them. ²⁶And his name reached the king himself, and every nation was discussing the battles of Ioudas.

27 But when Antiochus heard these words, he raged in anger and sent for and gathered together all the forces of his kingdom, a very powerful company. ²⁸And he opened his treasury and gave rations to his forces for a year. And he commanded them to be prepared for every service. ²⁹But he saw that the money from the treasuries had given out, and the taxes of the country were few because of the dissension and affliction that he had brought upon the land by revoking the precepts, which existed from the first days. ³⁰And he was concerned that he might not have as much as he usually had for his expenditures and for the gifts, which he used to give before with a liberal hand when he exceeded the kings preceding him. ³¹And he was greatly frustrated in his soul and decided to go to Persia and to take the taxes from those countries and to gather much money.

32 And he left Lysias, a distinguished man of the royal family, over the affairs of the king from the Euphrates river to the borders of Egypt ³³and to raise Antiochus his son until he returned. ³⁴And he gave to him^a half of his forces and the elephants and commanded him concerning everything he was considering and concerning the inhabitants of Judea and Ierousalem, ³⁵to send a force against them to wipe out and to destroy the strength of Israel and the remnant of Ierousalem and to remove the memory of them from the place ³⁶and to settle alien sons in all their regions and to parcel out their land by lot. ³⁷And the king took the half of the forces that remained and departed from Antioch, from the city of his kingdom in the one hundred and forty-seventh year. And he crossed over the Euphrates river and went through the upper countries.

38 And Lysias selected Ptolemy son of Dorymenes and Nicanor and Gorgias, powerful men from the Friends of the king, ³⁹and sent with them forty thousand men and seven thousand cavalry to go into the land of Iouda and to devastate it according to the dictum of the king. ⁴⁰And he^a departed together with their whole force, and they came and camped near Ammaous in the flatland. ⁴¹And the merchants of the land heard their name, and they took silver and very much gold and shackles and came to the camp to take the sons of Israel as servants. And there were added to them a force from Syria and from the land of the allophyles.

42 And Ioudas and his brothers saw that the evils were multiplied and that the forces were camped within their borders and learned of the orders of the king, which he had commanded to do to the people for destruction and annihilation, ⁴³and they said, each to his neighbor, “Let us raise up the ruination of our people and make war for our people and the ^bholy places^b.” ⁴⁴And the congregation gathered together to be ready for battle and to pray and to request mercy and compassion.

⁴⁵ And Ierousalem was uninhabited like a
         wilderness.

There was no one going in or going out
of those born of her.

And the holy precinct was downtrodden,
and sons of aliens were in the citadel,
a dwelling-place for the nations.

And enjoyment was taken away from Iakob,
and flute and cinyra^c ceased.

46 And they gathered together and came to Massepha across from Ierousalem, for there was a place of prayer formerly in Massepha for Israel. ⁴⁷And they fasted on that day and wrapped themselves in sackcloth and ashes on their head and tore their clothes. ⁴⁸And they spread out the book of the law, seeking that concerning which the nations inquire of the images of their idols. ⁴⁹And they brought the garments of the priesthood, the first products and the tithes, and they aroused^d the Nazirites who had fulfilled their days. ⁵⁰And they cried out loudly to heaven saying,

“What shall we do to these,
and where shall we carry them?

⁵¹ And your ^bholy places^b have been
         downtrodden and defiled,

and your priests are in mourning and
humiliation.

⁵² And look, the nations have gathered
         together against us to annihilate us.

You know what they are contemplating
against us.

⁵³ How will we be able to withstand them face
         to face,
if you do not help us?”

54 And they trumpeted with the trumpets and cried out with a great shout. ⁵⁵And after this, Ioudas established leaders of the people, officers of thousands and officers of hundreds and officers of fifties and officers of tens. ⁵⁶And he said to those who were building houses and were betrothed to women and were planting vineyards and were cowards to return each one to his home according to the law. ⁵⁷And the company departed and camped to the south of Ammaous.

58 And Ioudas said, “Gird yourselves, and become strong sons. And be ready in the morning to do battle with these nations, which have gathered together against us to annihilate us and our ^bholy places^b. ⁵⁹For it is better for us to die in battle than to look upon the evils of our nation and of our ^bholy places^b. ⁶⁰But as is the will of heaven, thus shall he do.”

4 And Gorgias took five thousand men and one thousand select cavalry. And the company departed by night ²in order to fall upon the camp of the Judeans and strike them suddenly. And the sons of the citadel were his guides. ³And Ioudas learned this, and he and his strongest men went out to defeat the force of the king, which was at Ammaous, ⁴while the forces were still scattered from the camp. ⁵And Gorgias arrived at the camp of Ioudas at night and found no one, and he sought them in the mountains, because he said, “These men are fleeing from us.”

6 And at daybreak Ioudas was seen in the plain with three thousand men, except that they had no coverings^e and dagger as they wanted. ⁷And they saw the camp of the nations, strong, heavily-defended and with cavalry encircling it, and these were instructed for war. ⁸And Ioudas said to the men who were with him, “Do not fear their multitude, and do not be cowardly at their charge. ⁹Remember how our fathers were saved in the Red Sea when Pharao was pursuing them in force. ¹⁰And now let us cry out to heaven, if he will desire us and will remember the covenant of our fathers and will smash this company in front of us today. ¹¹And all the nations will know that there is one who redeems and saves Israel.”

12 And the allophyles lifted up their eyes and saw them coming from the opposite side, ¹³and they came out of the camp to battle. And those who were with Ioudas trumpeted ¹⁴and joined battle with them. And the nations were smashed and fled to the plain. ¹⁵But all the hindmost fell by the sword. And they pursued them as far as Gazera and as far as the flatlands of Idumea, Azotus and Jamnia, and of them three thousand men fell. ¹⁶And Ioudas and his force returned from chasing after them. ¹⁷And he said to the people, “Do not desire plunder, for the battle is before us. ¹⁸And Gorgias and the force in the mountain are near us. But now, stand against our enemies, and do battle against them, and after that take the plunder freely.”

19 Just as Ioudas was concluding these things, a certain detachment was seen peering out of the mountain. ²⁰And they saw that they had been routed, and they^a were burning the camp, for the smoke that was being seen made apparent what had happened. ²¹Now when they comprehended these things, they became very frightened. And perceiving also the army of Ioudas in the plain ready in battle order, ²²they all fled to the land of the allophyles. ²³And Ioudas turned to the plundering of the camp, and they took much gold and silver, blue and sea purple cloth and great wealth. ²⁴And returning, they sang hymns and blessed toward heaven, “for he is good, for his mercy is forever.” ²⁵And a great salvation came about in Israel on that day.

26 And as many of the allophyles survived, when they arrived, they informed Lysias of everything that had happened. ²⁷Upon hearing, he became confused and disheartened, because things that he did not want had happened to Israel, and what resulted was not what the king had commanded him. ²⁸And in the following year he mustered sixty thousand select men and five thousand cavalry in order to make war on them. ²⁹And they came into Idumea and camped at Baithsoura, and Ioudas met them with ten thousand men.

30 And he saw the powerful army, and he prayed and said, “Blessed are you, the savior of Israel, who smashed the attack of the powerful one by the hand of your slave Dauid and delivered the camp of the allophyles into the hands of Ionathes son of Saoul and of the bearer of his armor. ³¹Entrap this camp in the hand of your people Israel, and let them be put to shame in their army and their cavalry. ³²Give them cowardice, and melt the boldness of their strength, and let them be shaken in their ruination. ³³Subdue them by the sword of those who love you, and let all those who know your name praise you with hymns.”

34 And they joined battle with each other, and from the army of Lysias fell five thousand men, and they fell from before them. ³⁵And seeing the developing rout of his own formation but the complete boldness of Ioudas and how they were ready to live or die bravely, Lysias departed to Antioch and was enlisting foreign troops, [and] becoming numerous again in order to return to Judea.

36 But Ioudas and his brothers said, “Look, our enemies have been smashed. Let us go up to purify and rededicate the ^bholy places^b.” ³⁷And the whole company gathered together and went up to Mount Sion. ³⁸And they saw the holy precinct desolate and the altar defiled and the doors burned and plants growing in the courts as in a thicket or as in one of the mountains and the chambers of the priests demolished. ³⁹And they tore their garments and mourned with great mourning. And they spread ashes on themselves ⁴⁰and fell on their faces on the ground. And they trumpeted with the signal trumpets and cried out to heaven.

41 Then Ioudas ordered men to fight those in the citadel until he could purify the ^bholy places^b. ⁴²And he selected uncorrupted priests, devotees of the law, ⁴³and they purified the ^bholy places^b and took the stones of pollution to an unclean place. ⁴⁴And they took counsel concerning the altar of whole burnt offering, which had been defiled, as to what they should do with it. ⁴⁵And there fell to them a good counsel, to tear it down so that it would not become a reproach to them, because the nations defiled it. And they tore down the altar ⁴⁶and put away the stones on the mount of the house in a suitable place until a prophet would come to give an answer concerning these things. ⁴⁷And they took whole stones according to the law and built a new altar like the former one. ⁴⁸And they built the ^bholy places^b and the inner areas of the house and sanctified the courts. ⁴⁹And they made new holy vessels and brought the lamp stand and the altar of incense and the table into the shrine. ⁵⁰And they burned incense on the altar and lit the lamps, which were on the lamp stand, and they gave light in the shrine. ⁵¹And they placed loaves on the table and spread out the veils and finished all the works which they made.

52 And they arose on the morning of the twenty-fifth of the ninth month, this being the month Chaseleu, of the one hundred and forty-eighth year, ⁵³and they offered sacrifice according to the law on the new altar of whole burnt offerings that they made. ⁵⁴During the same time and on the same day on which the nations defiled it, on that day it was rededicated with songs and lyres and cinyras^c and cymbals. ⁵⁵And all the people fell on their face and did obeisance and blessed toward heaven, which made them successful. ⁵⁶And they accomplished the rededication of the altar in eight days and offered whole burnt offerings with gladness. And they offered a sacrifice of salvation and praise. ⁵⁷And they decorated the façade of the shrine with gold crowns and small shields and renewed the gates and priest’s chambers and furnished them with doors. ⁵⁸And very great gladness came upon the people, and their disgrace before the nations was removed.

59 And Ioudas, his brothers and the whole assembly of Israel established that the days of the rededication of the altar would be commemorated in their times, year by year, eight days from the twenty-fifth of the month Chaseleu, with gladness and joy.

60 And they constructed at that time all around Mount Sion high walls and fortified towers so that the nations would not return and trample them down as they did before. ⁶¹And he^d stationed a force there to defend it, and he fortified it to defend Baithsoura so that the people would have a fortress facing Idumea.

5 And it happened, when the surrounding nations heard that the altar had been built and the holy precinct had been rededicated as before, and they were greatly angered ²and decided to annihilate the race of Iakob who were in their midst. And they began to kill among the people and to drive them out. ³And Ioudas made war against the sons of Esau in Idumea, against Akrabattene, because they were besieging Israel. And he struck them a mighty blow and reduced them and took their spoils. ⁴And he remembered the evil of the sons of Baian, who were to the people as a snare and as a trap by ambushing them on the roads. ⁵And they were confined by him to the towers, and he marshaled his troops against them and anathematized them and burned their towers with fire together with all those who were inside. ⁶And he crossed over against the sons of Ammon and found a strong band and many people with Timothy their leader. ⁷And he engaged in many battles against them, and they were smashed before him, and he defeated them. ⁸And he occupied Iazer and its daughters^a and returned to Judea.

9 And the nations in Galaad gathered together against the Israelites who were within their borders, to eliminate them, but they fled to the fortress of Dathema. ¹⁰And they sent letters to Ioudas and his brothers, saying, “The nations around us are gathered together against us to annihilate us. ¹¹And they are preparing to come and occupy the fortress in which we have taken refuge, and Timothy is the leader of their force. ¹²Now then come, and deliver us from their hand for a multitude of us has fallen. ¹³And all our brothers who are in the area of Toubia have been killed, and they have captured their wives and their children and belongings and destroyed about a thousand men there.”

14 While the letters were being read, look, other messengers were arriving from Galilee, having torn their garments, giving a report similar to these words, ¹⁵saying that there was gathered against them, from Ptolemais and Tyre and Sidon and “even all the Galilee of the allophyles, to annihilate us.” ¹⁶Now when Ioudas and the people heard these words, a great assembly was gathered together to decide what they should do for their kindred who were in affliction and were embattled by them. ¹⁷And Ioudas said to Simon his brother, “Select men for yourself, and go, and rescue your kindred who are in Galilee. And I and Ionathan my brother will go to Galaaditis.” ¹⁸And he left Iosephos the son of Zacharias, and Azarias, a leader of the people, with the remainder of the force in Judea for defense. ¹⁹And he commanded them saying, “Protect this people, and do not join battle against the nations until we return.” ²⁰And three thousand men were allotted to Simon to go to Galilee, and to Ioudas eight thousand men for Galaaditis.

21 And Simon went to Galilee and conducted many battles against the nations, and the nations were smashed from before him. ²²And he pursued them as far as the gate of Ptolemais, and from the nations up to three thousand men fell, and he took their spoils. ²³And he took those^b from Galilee and in Arbatta with the women and children and everything that was theirs and led them to Judea with great gladness.

24 And Ioudas Makkabaios and Ionathan his brother crossed over the Jordan and went three days’ journey in the wilderness. ²⁵And they came upon the Nabateans and met with them peacefully. And they related to them everything that had happened to their kindred in Galaaditis ²⁶and that many of them were captive in Bosora and Bosor, in Alema, Chaspho, Maked and Karnain. “All these cities are fortified and great. ²⁷And in the remaining cities of Galaaditis also there are captives. They^c are marshalling troops, to assault the fortresses tomorrow and to take them and to annihilate all these people in one day.”

28 And Ioudas and his army turned away by the road into the wilderness toward Bosora suddenly and took the city. And he killed every male by the edge of the sword and took all their spoils and burned it with fire. ²⁹And he departed from there by night, and they went as far as the fortress. ³⁰And it happened in the morning, they lifted up their eyes, look, a large crowd of people, which was innumerable, carrying ladders and siege engines to take the fortress, and they were battling them. ³¹And Ioudas saw that the battle had begun, and the screaming of the city went up as far as heaven with trumpeting and great screaming, ³²and he said to the men of his force, “Fight today for our kindred.” ³³And he went out in three divisions from behind them, and they trumpeted with the trumpets and cried out in prayer. ³⁴And the army of Timothy recognized that it was Makkabaios, and they fled from before him, but he struck them a heavy blow, and up to eight thousand of their men fell on that day.

35 And he turned aside to Maapha and made war on it and took it. And he killed every male in it and took its spoils and burned it with fire. ³⁶From there he departed and occupied Chaspho, Maked and Bosor and the remaining cities of Galaaditis.

37 After these developments Timothy gathered another army and camped before Raphon on the other side of the wadi. ³⁸And Ioudas sent agents to spy out the camp, and they reported to him saying, “There are gathered together to him all the nations surrounding us, a very great force. ³⁹And he has even hired Arabs to help them, and they are camped on the other side of the wadi ready to come against you in battle.” And Ioudas went out to meet them.

40 And Timothy said to the commanders of his force as Ioudas and his army came near to the wadi of water, “If he crosses over towards us first, we will not be able to withstand him for he is powerful enough to prevail against us. ⁴¹But if he becomes cowardly and camps on the other side of the river, we will cross over towards him and will prevail against him.” ⁴²But when Ioudas came near to the stream of water, he set the scribes of the people at the stream and commanded them, saying, “Do not allow any person to camp, but let them all come into the battle.” ⁴³And he crossed over against them first, and all the people were behind him. And the nations were smashed from before him, and they threw down their weapons and fled to the sacred precinct in Karnain. ⁴⁴And they occupied the city and burned the sacred precinct with fire together with all who were in it. And Karnain was vanquished, and they were no longer able to stand before Ioudas.

45 And Ioudas gathered together all of Israel who were in Galaaditis from the small to the great and their wives and their children and belongings, a very great company, to come to the land of Iouda. ⁴⁶And they came as far as Ephron. And this was a great city on the road, very well fortified, and it was not possible to go around it to the right or to the left, but only to go through the middle of it. ⁴⁷But the people who were from the city closed them out and blocked the gates with stones.

48 And Ioudas sent a message to them with peaceful words, saying, “We will pass through your land to return to our land, and no one will do you harm; we will only pass by on foot.” But they did not want to open to him. ⁴⁹And Ioudas gave the order to announce to the army for each to camp in the place where they were. ⁵⁰And the men of the force camped, and he made war on the city all that day and all night, and the city was delivered into his hand. ⁵¹And he destroyed every male by the edge of the sword. And he demolished it^a and took its spoils and passed through the city over those who had been killed.

52 And they crossed over the Jordan to the large plain before Baithsan. ⁵³And Ioudas was gathering the stragglers and encouraging the people all along the road until he came to the land of Iouda. ⁵⁴And they went up to Mount Sion with gladness and joy and offered whole burnt offerings, because no one of them fell until they returned in peace.

55 And in the days during which Ioudas and Ionathan were in the land of Galaad and Simon his brother was in Galilee before Ptolemais, ⁵⁶Ioseph the son of Zacharias and Azarias, commanders of the force, heard of the heroic actions and of the war which they executed. ⁵⁷And they said, “Let us make a name for ourselves also, and let us go to make war against the nations around us.” ⁵⁸And they gave orders to the men of the force that was with them and went to Jamnia. ⁵⁹And Gorgias and his men came out of the city to meet them in battle. ⁶⁰And Iosephos and Azarias were routed and were pursued as far as the borders of Judea, and on that day up to two thousand of the people of Israel fell. ⁶¹And there was a great rout among the people, because they did not listen to Ioudas and his brothers, intending to act heroically. ⁶²But they were not of the seed of those men to whom was given salvation to Israel by their hand.

63 And the man Ioudas and his brothers were glorified greatly before all Israel and all the nations where their name was heard. ⁶⁴And they would gather together praising them.

65 And Ioudas and his brothers went out and made war on the sons of Esau in the land to the south. And he struck Chebron and its daughters^b and tore down its fortresses and burned the towers all around it. ⁶⁶And he departed to go to the land of the allophyles and was going through Marisa. ⁶⁷On that day priests fell in battle, desiring to act heroically in it by going into battle thoughtlessly. ⁶⁸And Ioudas turned away to Azotus, a land of the allophyles, and tore down their altars^c and burned the carvings of their gods with fire and took the spoils of the cities and returned to Iouda.

6 And King Antiochus was going through the upper lands and heard that Elymais is a city in Persia distinguished for its wealth in silver and gold. ²And the temple that is in it is very wealthy, and there are golden coverings^d and breastplate and weapons, which Alexander left there, the son of Philip, the king, the Macedonian, who first became king over the Greeks. ³And he came and sought to take the city and to plunder it, and he was not able, because word of it became known to people from the city, ⁴and they stood up against him in battle. And he fled and departed from there with great sorrow to return to Babylon.

5 And someone came to him in Persia reporting that the armies that were going to Judea had been routed ⁶and that Lysias went initially with a powerful force but was turned back from before them^e, and they^e were strengthened by the weapons and power and much plunder that they took from the armies that they had cut down ⁷and that they tore down the abomination that he had built on the altar in Ierousalem and encircled the holy precinct with high walls as it had been before, and also Baithsoura, his city.

8 And it happened, when the king heard these words, he was astonished and greatly shaken, and he fell upon his bed and fell into illness from grief, because things did not happen for him as he desired. ⁹And he remained there rather many days, because intense grief mounted in him and he reckoned that he was dying. ¹⁰And he called all his Friends and said to them, “Sleep eludes my eyes, and I am disheartened from worry. ¹¹And I said in my heart, ‘To what affliction have I come, and how great is the cataclysm in which I am now?’ For I was kind and beloved in my authority. ¹²But now I remember the evils which I did in Ierousalem. And I took all the silver and gold vessels that were in it, and I sent men to annihilate the inhabitants of Iouda in vain. ¹³I know that, because of these things, these evils have found me, and now look, I am perishing with great grief in a foreign land.”

14 And he called Philip, one of his Friends, and established him over his whole kingdom. ¹⁵And he gave him his crown and robe and the seal ring in order to guide Antiochus his son and raise him to be king. ¹⁶And Antiochus the king died there in the one hundred forty-ninth year. ¹⁷And Lysias found out that the king had died, and he established Antiochus his son to be king in his place, whom he had raised as a youth, and he called his name Eupator.

18 And the men from the citadel had shut Israel in around the ^aholy places^a and were seeking to do harm by every means and to support the nations. ¹⁹And Ioudas determined to eliminate them and summoned all the people together to besiege them. ²⁰And they gathered together and besieged them in the one hundred fiftieth year. And he built siege towers and engines. ²¹But a group of them broke out of the siege and some of the impious of Israel joined themselves to them. ²²And they went to the king and said, “How long will you not do justice and avenge our kindred? ²³We were pleased to be subject to your father and to go by the things he said and to follow his ordinances. ²⁴But the sons of our people besieged it^b because of this and became alienated from us; furthermore, as many of us as were found were put to death, and our inheritances were seized. ²⁵And not only upon us did they lay hands, but also upon all things along their borders. ²⁶And look, today they are camped against the citadel in Ierousalem to take it, and they have fortified the holy precinct and Baithsoura. ²⁷And if you do not forestall them with haste, they will do more than these things, and you will not be able to restrain them.”

28 And the king became angry when he heard this and gathered together all his Friends, commanders of his army and those over the cavalry. ²⁹And from other kingdoms and from the islands of the seas mercenary forces came to him. ³⁰And the number of his forces was one hundred thousand foot soldiers and twenty thousand cavalry and thirty-two elephants trained in war. ³¹And they came through Idumea and camped at Baithsoura. And they battled for many days and built siege engines, but they^c came out and burned them and fought bravely.

32 And Ioudas departed from the citadel and camped at Baithzacharia, opposite the camp of the king. ³³And the king arose early in the morning and led the army in haste down the road to Baithzacharia. And the forces prepared for battle and trumpeted with the trumpets. ³⁴And they showed the elephants juice of grapes and black berries to incite them to war. ³⁵And they divided the beasts among the phalanxes and positioned with each elephant a thousand men with chain mail breastplates and copper helmets on their heads, and there were also five hundred select cavalry assigned to each beast. ³⁶These ahead of time were wherever the beast was and went with it wherever it went. They would never separate from it. ³⁷And there were wooden towers on them, on each beast, sturdy, covered, tied on it with devices, and on each one were four men of strength, who fought upon them, and its Indian handler. ³⁸And he stationed the rest of the cavalry on the sides at both flanks of the army as raiders and as guards for the phalanxes. ³⁹Now as the sun shone on the gold and copper shields, the mountains glittered with them and glowed as lamps of fire.

40 And a certain part of the army of the king spread out on the high mountains and some of the lower ones, and they were advancing securely and in order. ⁴¹And everyone trembled who heard the sound made by the multitude of them and by the marching of the multitude and the clashing of the weapons, for the army was very great and mighty. ⁴²And Ioudas and his army drew near to do battle, and six hundred men of the army of the king fell. ⁴³And Eleazaros Auaran saw one of the beasts plated with royal armor, and it stood above all the other beasts, and he thought that the king was on it. ⁴⁴And he gave himself up to save his people and to secure for himself an everlasting name. ⁴⁵And he ran at him boldly, into the middle of the phalanx, and was killing to the right and to the left, and they separated before him on each side. ⁴⁶And he got down under the elephant and stabbed it underneath and killed it, but it fell to the ground on top of him, and he died there. ⁴⁷And they^c saw the might of the kingdom and the charge of the forces, and they turned back from them.

48 But the men from the army of the king went up to meet them in Ierousalem, and the king camped in Judea and at Mount Sion. ⁴⁹And he made peace with the people of Baithsoura, and they came out of the city, because there was no food for them there to be shut in it, because it was sabbath in the land. ⁵⁰And the king took Baithsoura and stationed a guard there to hold it. ⁵¹And he camped against the holy precinct for many days and set up there siege towers and machines and devices to hurl fire and stones and to shoot arrows and slings. ⁵²And theyc themselves also made machines against their machines and battled for many days. ⁵³But there was no food in the depositories, because it was the seventh year, and those who had been rescued from the nations into Judea consumed the remainder of the stores. ⁵⁴And few men remained in the ^aholy places^a, because the famine prevailed over them, and they were scattered, each one to his own place.

55 And Lysias heard that Philip, whom King Antiochus, while he was still living, had appointed to raise Antiochus his son to be king, ⁵⁶had returned from Persia and Media, and the forces that had gone with the king were with him, and that he was seeking to gain control of the government. ⁵⁷And he hurried and assented to withdraw and said to the king and to the leaders of the force and to the men, “We are dying out every day, and our food is limited, and the place we are besieging is strong, and the business of the kingdom is pressing upon us. ⁵⁸Let us now offer terms to these people, and let us make peace with them and with every nation of them. ⁵⁹And let us permit them to live in accordance with their precepts as before, for on account of those precepts, which we dispersed, they became angered and did all these things.

60 And the speech was satisfactory to the king and to the rulers, and he proposed to them^a to make peace, and they accepted. ⁶¹And the king and the rulers swore an oath to them, and on this basis they^a came out of the fortress. ⁶²And the king entered into Mount Sion and saw the fortification of the place, but he set aside the oath which he swore and commanded and tore down the surrounding wall. ⁶³And he departed quickly and returned to Antioch, and he found Philip governing the city. And he made war upon him and took the city by force.

7 In the one hundred fifty-first year, Demetrius son of Seleucus left Rome and ascended with a few men to a seaside city and became king there. ²And it happened as he was going into the royal palace of his fathers, his forces apprehended Antiochus and Lysias to lead them to him. ³But when this action became known to him, he said, “Do not show me their faces.” ⁴And the forces killed them, and Demetrius sat on the throne of his kingdom.

5 And all the lawless and impious men of Israel came to him, and Alcimus, who wanted to be a priest, led them. ⁶And they denounced the people to the king, saying, “Ioudas and his brothers destroyed all your Friends and scattered us out of our land. ⁷Now then, send a man whom you trust, and let him go to see all the destruction which he has done to us and to the country of the king, and let him punish them and everyone who gave assistance to them.”

8 And the king selected Bacchides from the Friends of the king, who governed the area beyond the river and was a great man in the kingdom and was faithful to the king. ⁹And he sent him and the impious Alcimus, and he bestowed the priesthood upon him, and he commanded him to execute vengeance on the sons of Israel. ¹⁰And they departed and came with a large force to the land of Iouda, and he sent messengers to Ioudas and his brothers with peaceful words with deception. ¹¹But they did not pay attention to their words, for they saw that they came with a large force.

12 And a company of scribes met before Alcimus and Bacchides to seek their rights. ¹³And the Hasideans were the first among the Israelites, and they sought peace from them, ¹⁴for they said, “A man, a priest of the seed of Aaron, came with the forces, and he will not treat us unjustly.” ¹⁵And he spoke peaceful words with them and swore to them, saying, “We will not seek to do evil to you or to your friends.” ¹⁶And they trusted him, but he apprehended from among them sixty men and killed them in one day according to the word which was written,

¹⁷ “The flesh of your holy ones and their blood
they poured out around Ierousalem,
and there was no one to bury them.”

¹⁸And fear and trembling of them fell upon all the people, for they said, “There is no truth and judgment in them, for they have violated the stipulation and the oath which they swore.”

19 And Bacchides departed from Ierousalem and camped at Bethzaith. And he sent and apprehended many of the men who had deserted to him and some of the people, and he killed them in the great pit. ²⁰And he entrusted the country to Alcimus and left a force with him to help him, and Bacchides returned to the king.

21 And Alcimus struggled to gain the high priesthood, ²²and all those who were stirring up their people joined together with him. And they prevailed over the land of Iouda and did great harm in Israel. ²³And Ioudas saw all the evil that Alcimus and those with him had done to the sons of Israel, which was more than the nations had done. ²⁴And he went out into all the regions all around Judea and executed vengeance on the men who had deserted, and they were prevented from going out into the country. ²⁵But when Alcimus saw that Ioudas and those with him had strengthened, he also knew that he would not be able to resist them, and he returned to the king and denounced their misdeeds.

26 And the king sent Nicanor, one of his distinguished commanders, who hated and was hostile to Israel, and he commanded him to annihilate the people. ²⁷And Nicanor came to Ierousalem with a large force and sent a message to Ioudas and his brothers with peaceful words with deceit, saying, ²⁸“Let there be no warfare between me and you. I will come with a few men in order to see you personally with peace.”

29 And he came to Ioudas, and they greeted each other peacefully, but the enemies were ready to seize Ioudas. ³⁰Word of this became known to Ioudas, that he came to him with deceit, and he became terrified of him and did not want to see his face again. ³¹Nicanor learned that his plan had been revealed, and he came out to meet Ioudas in battle near Chapharsalama. ³²Around five hundred men of those with Nicanor fell, and they fled to the city of Dauid.

33 After these developments Nicanor went up to Mount Sion, and some of the priests from the ^bholy places^b and some of the elders from the people came out to greet him peacefully and to show him the whole burnt offering that was being offered in behalf of the king. ³⁴But he mocked them and ridiculed them and defiled them and spoke arrogantly. ³⁵And he swore with anger, saying, “If Ioudas and his army do not surrender themselves into my hands now, in the future, if I return in peace, I will burn down this house.” And he went out with great anger. ³⁶And the priests went in and stood in front of the altar and the shrine and wept and said,

³⁷ “You have selected this house for your name
         to be invoked in it,

to be a house of prayer and supplication
for your people.

³⁸ Execute vengeance on this man and on his
         army,

and let them fall by the sword.

Remember their blasphemies,
and do not allow them to endure.”

39 And Nicanor went out of Ierousalem and camped in Baithoron, and the Syrian force met him. ⁴⁰And Ioudas camped in Adasa with three thousand men. And Ioudas prayed and said, ⁴¹“When the men from the king blasphemed, your angel came out and killed one hundred eighty-five thousand of them. ⁴²In the same manner smash this army before us today, and let the rest know that he spoke wickedly against your ^aholy places^a, and judge him according to his wickedness.”

43 And the armies engaged in battle on the thirteenth of the month Adar. And the army of Nicanor was smashed, and he fell first in battle. ⁴⁴And as his army saw that Nicanor fell, they threw down their weapons and fled. ⁴⁵And they^b pursued them one day’s distance from Adasa until they came to Gazera, and they trumpeted with the signal trumpets behind them. ⁴⁶And people came out of all the surrounding villages of Judea and outflanked them, and they turned back against each other. And all of them fell by the sword, and not even one of them was left. ⁴⁷And they took the plunder and the spoils and cut off the head of Nicanor and his right hand, which he had stretched out arrogantly, and they brought them and exhibited them in Ierousalem. ⁴⁸And the people rejoiced greatly, and they observed that day as a day of great gladness. ⁴⁹And they established the observation of that day every year on the thirteenth of Adar. ⁵⁰And the land of Iouda became quiet for a few days.

8 And Ioudas heard the name of the Romans, that they were powerful in strength and were pleased with all those who allied themselves with them, that they would establish friendship with all those who come to them ²and that they are powerful in strength. And they recounted to him their wars and the heroic actions which they were doing with the Galatians and that they prevailed over them and made them subject to tribute ³and all they did in the land of Spain to gain control over the metals, the silver and the gold which was there ⁴and how they prevailed over the whole place by their strategy and patience, and the place was very far distant from them, and the kings came against them from the ends of the earth until they smashed them and struck them a great blow, while the rest give them tribute every year, ⁵and Philip and Perseus, the king of Kitians^c, and those who came up against them, they smashed them in war and prevailed over them, ⁶and Antiochus the Great, king of Asia, who came against them in war having one hundred twenty elephants and cavalry and chariots and a very large force, and was smashed by them, ⁷and they took him alive and established that he and those who would rule after him would give them a large tribute and would give hostages and territorial cession, ⁸the country of India and Media and Lydia, among the most beautiful of their countries, and taking them from him, they gave them to Eumenes the king, ⁹and that men from Greece wanted to come and annihilate them, ¹⁰but word of this became known to them, and they sent one general against them, and they battled against them, and many of them fell wounded, and they captured their wives and their children and plundered them and took control of their land and tore down their fortresses and enslaved them to this day. ¹¹And the rest of the kingdoms and the islands, as many as ever resisted them, they devastated and enslaved them, ¹²but with their friends and those who were supported by them they maintained friendship, and they got control of kings both near and far, and whoever heard their name feared them. ¹³And those whom they want to help and to be king, they^d are king, and those, whom they want, they remove. And they have been exalted greatly. ¹⁴And in all this not even one of them has put on a crown nor have they wrapped themselves in purple so as to show their power by it. ¹⁵And they built for themselves a council chamber, and every day three hundred twenty senators deliberate continuously about the multitude so that they might live in an orderly way. ¹⁶And they trust one man to rule them each year and to govern all their land, and they all obey the one, and there is no jealousy or envy among them.

17 And Ioudas selected Eupolemus son of Ioannes of Akkos and Jason son of Eleazaros and sent them to Rome to establish friendship and an alliance ¹⁸and to lift the yoke from them, for they saw the kingdom of the Greeks enslaving Israel in servitude. ¹⁹And they went to Rome, and the distance was very long, and they entered into the council chamber and answered and said, ²⁰“Ioudas, who is also called Makkabaios, and his brothers and the multitude of the Judeans sent us to you to establish with you an alliance and peace and to enroll us as allies and friends of yours.” ²¹And the speech was pleasing to them. ²²And this is a copy of the letter which they copied onto brass tablets and sent to Ierousalem to be with them there as a memorial of peace and alliance:

23 “May it be well with the Romans and with the nation of the Judeans on the sea and on land forever, and may sword and enemy be removed far from them. ²⁴But if war should come to Rome first or to any of their allies in all their dominion, ²⁵the nation of the Judeans will be their ally with their whole heart as the time may indicate to them. ²⁶And they will not give to the enemies, neither will they supply wheat, weapons, silver, ships, as it seemed good to Rome, but they will keep their commitments, receiving nothing in return. ²⁷In the same manner, if a war occurs first to the nation of the Judeans, the Romans will be their ally, willingly as the time may indicate to them. ²⁸And to the allies will not be given wheat, weapons, silver, ships, as it seemed good to Rome. And they will keep these commitments and not with deceit. ²⁹According to these words, thus stand the Romans with the citizenry of the Judeans. ³⁰But if after these words the first party and the second party desire to add or subtract, they shall do it by their own choice, and whatever they add or subtract shall be authoritative.”

31 And concerning the evils which king Demetrius is doing to them, we have written to him saying, “Why have you made your yoke heavy on our friends and allies, the Judeans? ³²If then they petition against you again, we will give the judgment to them, and we will make war on you by sea and by land.”

9 And Demetrius heard that Nicanor and his forces had fallen in battle; he again sent Bacchides and Alcimus for the second time to the land of Iouda, and the right flank with them. ²And they traveled the road to Galgala and camped against Maisaloth in Arbela and occupied it and destroyed many people’s lives. ³And in the first month of the one hundred fifty-second year, they camped against Ierousalem, ⁴and they departed and went into Bereth with twenty thousand men and two thousand cavalry.

5 And Ioudas was camped at Elasa, and three thousand selected men with him. ⁶And they saw the multitude of the forces, that they were many, and they became very frightened, and many melted away from the camp; there did not remain of them but eight hundred men.

7 And Ioudas saw that his army had melted away and the battle was pressing him, and he was shattered in spirit, because he did not have time to gather them together. ⁸And he became faint and said to those who were left, “Let us arise and go up against our adversaries. Perhaps we are strong enough to do battle with them.” ⁹But they deterred him, saying, “We are not strong enough, but rather, let us save our lives now. We and our brothers will return and will do battle against them. But we are few.” ¹⁰And Ioudas said, “Far be it from me to do this thing, to flee from them. And if our time has drawn near, and let us die with courage for the sake of our brothers, and let us leave no accusation against our honor.”

11 And the force^a departed from the camp and stood for the engagement with them. And the cavalry was divided into two parts, and the slingers and the archers went ahead of the army as did all the strong warriors. ¹²But Bacchides was on the right flank, and the phalanx approached from both sides. And they blew the trumpets, and the men with Ioudas also trumpeted with their trumpets. ¹³And the earth was shaken from the sound of the armies, and the battle was joined from the morning until evening.

14 And Ioudas saw that Bacchides and the bulk of his army were on the right, and with him came all the bravest in heart. ¹⁵And the right wing was smashed by them, and he pursued them as far as Mount Azotus. ¹⁶And those on the left flank saw that the right flank had been smashed, and they turned on the heels of Ioudas and those with him from behind. ¹⁷And the fighting became heavy and many wounded fell from both sides. ¹⁸And Ioudas fell, and the rest fled.

19 And Ionathan and Simon took Ioudas their brother and buried him in the tomb of their fathers in Modein ²⁰and wept for him. And all Israel mourned him with great mourning and grieved many days and said,

²¹ “How the mighty savior of Israel fell!”

²²And the rest of the words of Ioudas and of the battles and heroic acts which he did and of his greatness were not written down for they were very many.

23 And it happened after the death of Ioudas, the lawless came forth in all the regions of Israel, and all those who worked injustice arose. ²⁴In those days there was a very great famine, and the country deserted with them. ²⁵And Bacchides selected the impious men and established them as masters of the country. ²⁶And they sought out and investigated the friends of Ioudas and led them to Bacchides, and he retaliated against them and taunted them. ²⁷And there was a great affliction in Israel such as had not been since the day that a prophet was not seen among them.

28 And all the friends of Ioudas came together and said to Ionathan, ²⁹“Since your brother Ioudas has died, there is no man like him to come forward and to go against the enemy and Bacchides and those who are hostile to our nation. ³⁰Now then we have chosen you today in his place to be for us a ruler and a leader to fight our war.” ³¹And Ionathan accepted the leadership at that time and rose up in the place of Ioudas his brother.

32 And Bacchides learned this, and he sought to kill him. ³³But Ionathan and Simon his brother and all those with him found out and fled into the wilderness of Thekoe and camped at the water-hole of Asphar. ³⁴And Bacchides learned this on the day of the sabbaths, and he and all his army came to the other side of the Jordan.

35 And he sent his brother, a leader of the host, and requested of his Nabatean friends to store with them the large amount of their baggage. ³⁶But the sons of Iambri from Medaba came out and seized Ioannes and everything that he had and, having them, went away.

37 After these developments, they announced to Ionathan and to Simon his brother that the sons of Iambri are holding a big wedding and are bringing the bride from Nadabath, a daughter of one of the great nobles of Chanaan, with a large convoy. ³⁸And they remembered the blood of Ioannes their brother and they went up and hid under the cover of the mountain. ³⁹And they lifted up their eyes and saw and look, a commotion and a large entourage, and the bridegroom and his friends and his brothers came out to meet them with drums and musicians and many weapons. ⁴⁰And they rose up against them from the ambush and killed them. And many wounded fell, and the rest fled to the mountain, and they^a took all their spoils. ⁴¹And the wedding changed to mourning, and the sound of their musicians to lamentation. ⁴²And they exacted vengeance for the blood of their brother and returned to the marshland of the Jordan.

43 And Bacchides heard this, and he came on the day of the sabbaths as far as the banks of the Jordan with a large force. ⁴⁴And Ionathan said to those with him, “Let us rise up now and fight for our lives, for today is not as yesterday or the third day. ⁴⁵For look, the battle is before us and behind us, and the water of the Jordan is on this side and that, and there is marsh and thicket; there is no place to turn. ⁴⁶Now then, cry out to heaven so that you may be saved from the hand of our enemies.” ⁴⁷And the battle began, and Ionathan stretched out his hand to strike Bacchides, but he turned away from him toward the rear. ⁴⁸And Ionathan and those with him jumped into the Jordan and swam through to the other side, but they^b did not cross through the Jordan against them. ⁴⁹And up to a thousand men with Bacchides fell on that day.

50 And he returned to Ierousalem and built fortified cities in Judea, the fortress in Iericho, and Ammaous and Baithoron and Baithel and Thamnatha Pharathon and Tephon with high walls and gates and bolts. ⁵¹And he placed a guard in them, to be hostile to Israel. ⁵²And he fortified the city of Baithsoura and Gazara and the citadel, and he placed in them forces and stores of food. ⁵³And he took the sons of the leaders of the country as hostages and placed them in the citadel in Ierousalem in detention.

54 And in the one hundred and fifty-third year, in the second month, Alcimus gave the command to tear down the wall of the inner court of the ^choly places^c, and he tore down the works of the prophets. And he began to tear it down, ⁵⁵but at that time Alcimus was stricken, and his works were thwarted. And his mouth was stopped up, and he was paralyzed, and he was no longer able to say a word and command about his own house. ⁵⁶And Alcimus died at that time with great torment. ⁵⁷And Bacchides saw that Alcimus had died, and he returned to the king, and the land of Iouda was quiet for two years.

58 And all the lawless took counsel, saying, “Look, Ionathan and those with him live in peace confidently. Now then, we shall bring Bacchides back, and he will apprehend them all in one night.” ⁵⁹And they went and counseled together with him. ⁶⁰And he departed to come with a large force and sent letters in secret to all his allies in Judea for them to apprehend Ionathan and those with him, but they were not able, because their plan became known. ⁶¹And they^a apprehended from among the men of the country, who were the leaders of the evil, up to fifty men, and killed them.

62 And Ionathan and Simon and those with him withdrew to Baithbasi in the wilderness and rebuilt its ruins and strengthened it. ⁶³And Bacchides learned this, and he gathered together his whole multitude and sent word to those from Judea. ⁶⁴And he came and camped against Baithbasi, and he battled it for many days and made siege engines.

65 And Ionathan left Simon his brother in the city and went out into the country and came with a small number. ⁶⁶And he defeated Odomera and his brothers and the sons of Phasiron in their covert. And they began to strike and were coming up with the forces. ⁶⁷And Simon and those with him came out of the city and burned the siege engines. ⁶⁸And they battled against Bacchides, and he was smashed by them. And they pressed him greatly, because his strategy and his attack were futile. ⁶⁹ And he became enraged with anger at the lawless men who had advised him to come to the country, and they killed many of them and decided to go back to his land.

70 And Ionathan learned this, and he sent emissaries to him to conclude peace with him and to give back the captives to them. ⁷¹And he accepted and did according to his words, and he swore to him not to seek evil for him all the days of his life. ⁷²And he gave back to him the captives whom he had captured formerly from the land of Iouda, and turning back he returned to his land and did not add to come again to their territory. ⁷³And the sword ceased from Israel, and Ionathan lived in Machmas and began to judge the people and removed the impious from Israel.

10 And in the one hundred sixtieth year, Alexander Epiphanes son of Antiochus went up and took Ptolemais. And they accepted him, and he ruled there. ²And Demetrius the king heard this, and he gathered together very many forces and came out to meet him in battle. ³And Demetrius sent letters to Ionathan with peaceful words in order to magnify him, ⁴for he said, “Let us move beforehand to make peace with them before he makes peace with Alexander against us. ⁵For he will remember all the evils which we carried out against him and his brothers and the nation.” ⁶And he gave him authority to muster forces and to prepare weapons and to be his ally; he also said for the hostages in the citadel to be turned over to him.

7 And Ionathan came to Ierousalem and read the letters in the hearing of all the people and of those from the citadel. ⁸And they became very frightened when they heard that the king had given authority to him to muster forces. ⁹And those from the citadel turned the hostages over to Ionathan, and he gave them back to their parents.

10 And Ionathan established his residence in

Ierousalem and began to build and renew the city. ¹¹And he said to those who were doing the works to build the walls also around Mount Sion from four-foot stones for fortification, and they did thus.

12 And the aliens who were in the fortresses, which Bacchides had built, fled. ¹³And each one abandoned his place and went back to his own land. ¹⁴Only in Baithsoura were some of those left who had abandoned the law and the ordinances, for it became a place of refuge.

15 And Alexander the king heard all the offers that Demetrius had sent to Ionathan, and they recounted to him the battles and the heroic acts that he and his brothers had done and the troubles that they had had. ¹⁶And he said, “Surely, we shall not find one such man? And now let us make him our Friend and ally.” ¹⁷And he wrote letters and sent them to him according to these words, saying,

18 “King Alexander to his brother Ionathan, greeting. ¹⁹We have heard about you, that you are a man powerful in strength and suitable to be our Friend. ²⁰And now we have appointed you today to be high priest of your nation and to be called a Friend of the king”—and he sent him purple vestments and a golden crown—”and to think about things as we do and to keep friendship toward us.”

21 And Ionathan put on the holy vestments in the seventh month of the one hundred sixtieth year at the feast of tent pitching, and he mustered forces and prepared many weapons.

22 And Demetrius heard of these developments, and he was grieved and said, ²³“What is this that we have done, that Alexander has acted before us to establish friendship with the Judeans for support. ²⁴I also will write them words of invitation and exaltation and gifts so that they may be with me for support.” ²⁵And he sent a message to them according to these words,

“King Demetrius to the nation of the Judeans, greeting. ²⁶Since you have kept your treaties with us and have remained in our friendship and have not gone over to our enemies, we have heard this and rejoiced. ²⁷And now persist in keeping faith with us, and we will return good things to you in exchange for what you do for us. ²⁸We will grant you many exemptions and will give you gifts.

29 “And now I release you and exempt all the Judeans from tribute and from the levy of salt and the crown taxes. ³⁰Also, instead of the third of the grain and the half of the tree fruit which is due for me to receive, I discontinue from today and henceforth collecting them from the land of Iouda and from the three districts annexed to it from Samaritis and Galilee from this very day and for all time. ³¹And let Ierousalem be holy and exempt, as also its borderlands—tithes and taxes. ³²Furthermore, I release my authority over the citadel in Ierousalem and grant to the high priest to establish in it whatever men he selects to guard it. ³³And every soul of the Judeans who was taken hostage from the land of Iouda into all my kingdom I set free without ransom, and let every one exempt them from taxes on their livestock also.

34 “And all the feasts and sabbaths and new moons and designated days, and three days before a feast and three after a feast, let all these days be tax-free and exempt for all Judeans who are in my kingdom. ³⁵And no one will have authority to demand payment from or to bother any one of them about any thing.

36 “And let some of the Judeans be enrolled in the forces of the king up to thirty thousand men, and provisions will be given to them as is appropriate for all the forces of the king. ³⁷And some of them will be stationed in the large fortresses of the king, and some of these will be assigned to the affairs of the kingdom, which are confidential. And let those who are over them and the rulers be from their own people, and let them follow their laws, as also the king ordered in the land of Iouda.

38 “And let the three districts that were annexed to Judea from the country of Samaria be combined with Judea for the purpose of being considered to be under one rule and not to obey any other authority but that of the high priest. ³⁹Ptolemais and the land belonging to it I have given as a gift to the ^aholy places^a in Ierousalem for the appropriate expenditures of the ^aholy places^a. ⁴⁰Furthermore, I will give every year fifteen thousand shekels of silver out of the accounts of the king from the places belonging to him. ⁴¹And all the excess that they did not pay out from the revenues, as they did among the first nations, from now on they shall give for the works of the house^a. ⁴²And in addition to this, five thousand shekels of silver, as much as they received from the revenues of the holy place out of the account every year, these also are remitted, because they belong to the priests who are ministering. ⁴³And all who take refuge in the temple in Ierousalem and in all its areas, because they are in debt to the king or for any other reason, let them and everything that is theirs be set free in my kingdom.

44 “And the cost of constructing and renewing the buildings of the ^aholy places^a also shall be paid from the account of the king. ⁴⁵And the cost of constructing the walls of Ierousalem and fortifying it all around shall be paid from the account of the king, as shall that of constructing the walls in Judea.”

46 But when Ionathan and the people heard these words, they did not believe them nor accept them, because they remembered the great evil that he did in Israel and how he oppressed them greatly. ⁴⁷And they preferred Alexander, because it was he who began to speak to them with peaceful words, and they allied themselves with him all his days.

48 And Alexander the king gathered together large forces and camped opposite Demetrius. ⁴⁹And the two kings joined in battle, and the army of Demetrius fled, and Alexander pursued him, and he prevailed over them. ⁵⁰And he sustained the battle forcefully until the sun set, and Demetrius fell on that day.

51 And Alexander sent ambassadors to Ptolemy, king of Egypt, with these words, saying, ⁵²“Whereas I have returned to my kingdom and have sat on the throne of my fathers and have taken hold of the government and have crushed Demetrius and have taken control of our land, ⁵³and I joined battle with him, and he and his army were smashed by us, and we have sat on the throne of his kingdom, ⁵⁴And now let us establish friendship with each other, and now give me your daughter as a wife, and I will become your son-in-law and will give gifts to you and to her, which are worthy of you.”

55 And Ptolemy the king answered, saying, “It was a good day on which you returned to the land of your fathers and sat on the throne of their kingdom. ⁵⁶And now I will do for you what you wrote, but meet me in Ptolemais so that we may see each other, and I will become your father-in-law as you have said.”

57 And Ptolemy came out of Egypt, he and his daughter, and came to Ptolemais in the one hundred sixty-second year. ⁵⁸And Alexander the king met him, and he gave him Cleopatra his daughter and held her wedding in Ptolemais as kings with great pomp.

59 And Alexander the king wrote to Ionathan to come to a meeting with him, ⁶⁰and he came with pomp to Ptolemais and met with the two kings, and he gave silver and gold to them and to their Friends and many gifts, and he found favor before them. ⁶¹And some corrupt men from Israel gathered together against him, lawless men, to petition against him, but the king did not pay attention to them. ⁶²And the king gave orders, and they removed Ionathan’s garments from him and clothed him in purple, and they did thus. ⁶³And the king seated him with himself and said to his rulers, “Go out with him to the middle of the city, and announce that no one is to petition against him concerning any thing, and let no one bother him for any reason.” ⁶⁴And it happened as the petitioners saw his prestige, as he had announced it, and saw him clothed in purple, they all fled. ⁶⁵And the king honored him and listed him among his First Friends and made him general and provincial governor. ⁶⁶And Ionathan returned to Ierousalem with peace and gladness.

67 And in the one hundred sixty-fifth year Demetrius son of Demetrius came from Crete to the land of his fathers. ⁶⁸And Alexander the king learned this, and he was greatly grieved and returned to Antioch. ⁶⁹And Demetrius appointed Apollonius, who was over Coele-Syria, and he gathered a large force and camped in Jamnia. And he sent a message to Ionathan the high priest saying,

70 “You alone rise up against us, and I have become an object of ridicule and derision because of you. And why do you have authority over us in the mountains? ⁷¹Now then, if you are confident in your forces, come down to us on the plain, and let us measure ourselves with each other there, because with me is the army of the cities. ⁷²Ask, and learn who I am and who the rest are who are helping us. And they say, ‘You are not able to stand against us, because twice your fathers were routed in their land.’ ⁷³And now you will not be able to withstand the cavalry and so much force on the plain where there is no stone or rock, nor any place to flee.”

74 But when Ionathan heard the words of Apollonius, he was moved in thought. And he selected ten thousand men and came out of Ierousalem, and Simon his brother met him to help him. ⁷⁵And he camped at Joppe, but those from the city closed him out, because there was a garrison of Apollonius in Joppe, and they made war against it, ⁷⁶and those in the city became afraid and opened it, and Ionathan took control of Joppe.

77 And Apollonius heard this, and he marshaled three thousand cavalry and a large force and went to Azotus as if he were passing through. And simultaneously he advanced to the plain, because he had a multitude of cavalry and trusted in it. ⁷⁸And he^a chased after him into Azotus, and the two armies joined in battle. ⁷⁹But Apollonius secretly left a thousand cavalry behind them. ⁸⁰And Ionathan understood that there was an ambush behind him, and they surrounded his army and shot arrows at the people from morning until the afternoon. ⁸¹But the people stood, as Ionathan had ordered, and the enemy cavalry grew tired.

82 And Simon drew in his force and joined battle with the phalanx, for the cavalry had broken up, and they^b were smashed by him and fled. ⁸³ And the cavalry was scattered in the plain, and they fled to Azotus and entered Bethdagon, the house of their idol, to be saved. ⁸⁴And Ionathan burned Azotus and the cities surrounding it and took their spoils, and the temple of Dagon, and those who had taken refuge in it he burned with fire. ⁸⁵And those who fell by the dagger, together with those who were burned, were about eight thousand men.

86 And Ionathan departed from there and camped against Ascalon, and the people from the city came out to meet him with great pomp.

87 And Ionathan returned to Ierousalem with those who were with him having many spoils. ⁸⁸And it happened, when Alexander the king heard of these developments, he even added to honor Ionathan, ⁸⁹and he sent him a golden brooch, as is the custom, to be given to the Kinsmen of kings. And he gave him Akkaron and all its regions as his dependency.

11 And the king of Egypt assembled many forces, like the sand that is at the edge of the sea, and many ships and sought to take control of the kingdom of Alexander by deceit and to add it to his own kingdom. ²And he set out for Syria with peaceful words, and the people from the cities opened to him and met him, because it was the command of Alexander the king to meet him, because he was his father-in-law. ³But as he entered into the cities, Ptolemy stationed forces as a guard in each city.

4 When he drew near to Azotus, they showed him the burnt temple of Dagon and Azotus and its outskirts in ruins and bodies scattered around and the burned corpses which he^a had burned in the war, for they made piles of them along his way. ⁵And they recounted to the king the things that Ionathan had done in order to blame him, but the king kept silent. ⁶And Ionathan met the king at Joppe with pomp, and they greeted each other and slept there. ⁷And Ionathan went with the king as far as the river called Eleutherus, and he returned to Ierousalem.

8 But King Ptolemy took control of the cities on the coast as far as Seleuceia by the sea, and he was contemplating evil thoughts about Alexander. ⁹And he sent ambassadors to Demetrius the king, saying, “Come, let us conclude an agreement between ourselves, and I will give you my daughter, whom Alexander has, and you will rule over the kingdom of your father. ¹⁰For I have changed my mind about giving my daughter to him, because he has sought to kill me.” ¹¹And he blamed him, because he desired his kingdom. ¹²And he took his daughter away and gave her to Demetrius, and he became alienated from Alexander, and their hostility became apparent.

13 And Ptolemy entered Antioch and put on the crown of Asia, and he placed two crowns on his head, that of Egypt and of Asia. ¹⁴But Alexander the king was in Cilicia during those times, because the people from those places were rebelling. ¹⁵And Alexander heard of this, and he came against him in battle. And Ptolemy marched out and met him with a strong troop and routed him. ¹⁶And Alexander fled to Arabia to hide himself there, and King Ptolemy was exalted. ¹⁷And Zabdiel the Arab cut off the head of Alexander and sent it to Ptolemy. ¹⁸But King Ptolemy died on the third day, and his men who were in his fortresses were destroyed by the people in the fortresses. ¹⁹And Demetrius became king in the one hundred sixty-seventh year.

20 In those days Ionathan gathered together men from Judea to assault the citadel in Ierousalem, and they made many siege engines against it. ²¹But certain people who hated their nation, lawless men, went to the king and reported to him that Ionathan was besieging the citadel. ²²And when he heard this he became angry, and as soon as he heard it, he marched immediately and came to Ptolemais, and he wrote Ionathan not to besiege the citadel and to present himself to him for a meeting in Ptolemais most speedily.

23 But when Ionathan heard this, he directed that the siege continue, and he selected some of the elders of Israel and some of the priests and put himself in danger. ²⁴And taking silver, gold and clothing and many other gifts, he went to the king in Ptolemais and found favor before him. ²⁵And certain lawless men from his nation petitioned against him, ²⁶but the king did to him as his predecessors did to him before him and exalted him before all his Friends. ²⁷And he bestowed upon him the high priesthood and as many other honors as he had before and made him be counted among his First Friends. ²⁸And Ionathan requested that the king make Judea tax-free, as well as the three districts and Samaritis, and pledged to him three hundred talents. ²⁹And the king was pleased and wrote letters to Ionathan concerning all these things in this way:

30 “King Demetrius to Ionathan his brother and the nation of the Judeans, greeting. ³¹This copy of the letter that we wrote to Lasthenes our relative concerning you we have also written to you so that you may know its contents. ³²‘King Demetrius to Lasthenes his Father, greeting. ³³To the nation of the Judeans, who are our friends and continue to do what is right toward us, we have decided to do good because of their good will toward us. ³⁴We have guaranteed for them the boundaries of Judea as well as the three districts of Aphairema and Lydda and Ramathaim; these were added to Judea from Samaritis, with all the areas belonging to them, for all those who sacrifice in Ierousalem in exchange for the royal taxes that the king received from them formerly every year from the produce of the earth and from the tree fruits. ³⁵ And the other revenues belonging to us from the present time, from the tithes and the taxes that belong to us, and the lakes of salt and the crown taxes that belong to us, all these we will excuse for them. ³⁶And not one of these shall be set aside from the present time on forever. ³⁷Now then take care to make a copy of this, and let it be given to Ionathan, and let it be put on the holy mountain in a prominent place.’ “

38 And Demetrius the king saw that the land became quiet before him, and no one opposed him, and he dismissed all his forces, each one to his own place, except for the foreign forces whom he had enlisted from the islands of the nations. But all the forces that had served under his fathers were hostile to him. ³⁹And Trypho was one of those who were with Alexander formerly, and he saw that all the forces were complaining against Demetrius, and he went to Imalkoue the Arab, who was raising Antiochus, the small son of Alexander, ⁴⁰and was watching over him until he could hand him over to him so that he could rule in his father’s place. And he reported to him all that Demetrius had accomplished and the hostility that his forces showed toward him, and he remained there many days.

41 And Ionathan sent a message to Demetrius the king to remove the soldiers of the citadel from Ierousalem, and the soldiers in the fortresses, for they were battling Israel. ⁴²And Demetrius sent a message to Ionathan, saying, “Not only will I do these things to you and to your nation, but I will glorify you and your nation greatly, if I have the opportunity. ⁴³Now then, you will do right to send men to me who will ally themselves with me, because all my forces have revolted.” ⁴⁴And Ionathan sent three thousand men powerful in strength to him in Antioch, and they came to the king, and the king rejoiced at their arrival.

45 And the people from the city gathered together in the middle of the city up to one hundred and twenty thousand men, and they wanted to kill the king. ⁴⁶But the king fled into the court. And the people of the city seized the thoroughfares of the city and began to fight. ⁴⁷And the king called the Judeans for help, and they all together came to him and scattered throughout the city and killed on that day up to a hundred thousand. ⁴⁸And they burned the city and took many spoils on that day and saved the king. ⁴⁹And the people of the city saw that the Judeans had taken control of the city as they wanted, and they became weakened in their spirit and called out to the king with supplication, saying, ⁵⁰“Make a treaty with us, and let the Judeans stop fighting us and the city.” ⁵¹And they threw down their weapons and made peace. And the Judeans were glorified before the king and before all those in his kingdom. And they became renowned in his kingdom and returned to Ierousalem having many spoils.

52 And Demetrius the king sat upon the throne of his kingdom, and the land became quiet before him. ⁵³But he falsified everything he had said and became alienated from Ionathan and did not return the favors that he^a had given to him, but pressed him greatly.

54 Now after these things Trypho returned, and with him Antiochus, a rather young boy, and he became king and put on a crown. ⁵⁵And all the forces that Demetrius had cast off gathered together and fought against him, and he fled and was routed. ⁵⁶Trypho took the beasts and took control of Antioch. ⁵⁷And Antiochus the younger wrote to Ionathan saying, “I bestow upon you the high priesthood and establish you over the four districts and to be among the Friends of the king.” ⁵⁸And he sent him gold plate and table utensils, and he gave him the authority to drink from gold goblets and to be clothed in purple and to have a gold brooch. ⁵⁹And he established Simon his brother commander from the ascent of Tyre as far as the borders of Egypt.

60 And Ionathan went out and crossed over beyond the river and among the cities, and the whole force of Syria gathered to him in alliance. And he came to Ascalon, and the people of the city met him with pomp. ⁶¹And he went from there to Gaza, but the people of Gaza closed him out. And he besieged it and burned its outskirts with fire and plundered them^b. ⁶²And the people of Gaza appealed to Ionathan, and he made a treaty with them and took the sons of their rulers as hostages and sent them to Ierousalem. And he went through the country as far as Damascus.

63 And Ionathan heard that the commanders of Demetrius had arrived in Kedes in Galilee with a large force desiring to remove him from his position. ⁶⁴And he met with them but left his brother Simon in the country. ⁶⁵And Simon camped against Baithsoura and fought it for many days and shut them in. ⁶⁶And they appealed to him to make a treaty, and he made one with him, and he removed them from there and took control of the city and put a garrison in it.

67 And Ionathan and his army camped at the water of Gennesar. And early in the morning they went to the plain of Hasor, ⁶⁸and look, an army of the allophyles met him in the plain. And they laid an ambush for him in the mountains, but they met him face to face. ⁶⁹Now those who were in the ambush came out of their hiding places and joined battle. ⁷⁰And all those with Ionathan fled; not one of them was left except Mattathias the son of Absalomos and Ioudas the son of Chalphi, commanders of the army of the forces. ⁷¹And Ionathan tore his clothes and put dirt on his head and prayed. ⁷²And he turned around towards them in battle and routed them, and they fled. ⁷³And his own men, who were fleeing, saw this, and they returned to him and pursued them with him as far as Kedes, as far as their camp, and they encamped there. ⁷⁴And on that day up to three thousand men of the allophyles fell, and Ionathan returned to Ierousalem.

12 And Ionathan saw that the time was opportune for him, and he selected men and sent them to Rome to affirm and to renew the friendship with them. ²And to the Spartans and other places he sent letters for the same purpose. ³ And they went to Rome and entered the council chamber and said, “Ionathan the high priest and the nation of the Judeans sent us to renew friendship with them and the alliance as before.” ⁴And they^c gave letters to them for the people in each place to conduct them to the land of Iouda with peace.

5 And this is a copy of the letters that Ionathan wrote to the Spartans: ⁶“Ionathan the high priest and the senate of the nation and the priests and remaining citizenry of the Judeans to their brothers the Spartans, greeting. ⁷Already beforehand letters were sent to Onias the high priest from Areius, who was king over you, that you are our brothers as the copy indicates. ⁸And Onias received the man who had been sent with honor and accepted the letters in which it was made clear concerning the alliance and friendship. ⁹We too, then, not being in need of these things and taking comfort in the holy books in our possession, ¹⁰have endeavored to send this proposal to renew our brotherhood and friendship toward you so as not to be alienated from you, for many seasons have passed since you sent your message to us. ¹¹We then, at every opportunity continuously both at our feasts and the other appropriate days, remember you in the sacrifices that we offer and in the prayers as is proper and fitting to remember brothers. ¹²And we rejoice at your glory. ¹³But many afflictions have encircled us, and many wars, and the kings around us have made war upon us. ¹⁴We then decided not to bother you and the rest of our allies and friends in these wars, ¹⁵for we have the help from heaven helping us, and we were rescued from our enemies, and our enemies were humbled. ¹⁶Therefore, we selected Numenius son of Antiochus and Antipater son of Jason and sent them to the Romans to renew the former friendship and alliance with them. ¹⁷We then commanded them to come also to you and to greet you and to deliver to you the letters from us concerning the renewal and our brotherhood. ¹⁸And now you will do well to respond to us regarding these things.”

19 And this is a copy of the letter^a that they sent to Onias: ²⁰“Ares, king of the Spartans, to Onias the great priest, greeting. ²¹It has been found in a document concerning the Spartans and the Judeans that they are brothers and that they are of the descendants of Abraam. ²²And now that we know these things, you will do well to write us concerning your peace. ²³We in turn write to you: ‘Your livestock and your belongings are ours and ours are yours.’ Therefore, we commanded that they^b apprise you accordingly.”

24 And Ionathan heard that the commanders of Demetrius had returned with a large force, more than before, to fight against him, ²⁵and he departed from Ierousalem and met them in the country Hamathitis, for he did not give them the opportunity to march into his country. ²⁶And he sent spies into their camp, and they returned and informed him that they were marshalling troops to fall upon them by night. ²⁷So as the sun was setting, Ionathan gave orders to those with him to be vigilant and to be ready for battle with their weapons through the whole night, and he posted advanced guards around the camp. ²⁸And his opponents heard that Ionathan and those with him had prepared for battle, and they became frightened and cowered in their spirit, and they lit fires in their camp. ²⁹But Ionathan and those with him did not know it until morning, for they saw the lights burning. ³⁰And Ionathan chased after them but did not catch them, for they had crossed the Eleutherus river. ³¹And Ionathan turned aside to the Arabs, who are called Zabadeans, and defeated them and took their spoils. ³²And he set out and went to Damascus and passed through all that country.

33 And Simon also went out and passed through as far as Ascalon and the fortresses close by. And he turned aside to Joppe and occupied it, ³⁴for he heard that they wanted to surrender the fortress to those with Demetrius, and he placed a garrison there to guard it.

35 And Ionathan returned and assembled the elders of the people and took counsel with them to build fortresses in Judea ³⁶and to elevate the walls of Ierousalem and to raise up a high wall between the citadel and the city, to separate it from the city in order that it could be isolated so that they^c could neither buy nor sell. ³⁷And they gathered together to build the city, and part of the wall of the wadi to the east had fallen, and he repaired that which was called Chaphenatha. ³⁸Simon also built Adida in Sephela, and he fortified it and erected gates and bolts.

39 And Trypho sought to become king of Asia and to put on the crown and to stretch out his hand against Antiochus the king. ⁴⁰But he was afraid, lest Ionathan not allow him and lest he fight against them, and he sought a way to apprehend and destroy him, and he departed and came to Baithsan. ⁴¹And Ionathan came out to meet him with forty thousand selected men in battle order, and he came to Baithsan. ⁴²And Trypho saw that he had come with a large force, and he was afraid to stretch out his hand against him. ⁴³And he received him with honor and introduced him to all his Friends and gave him gifts and gave orders to his Friends and to his forces to obey him as they would himself. ⁴⁴And he said to Ionathan, “Why have you wearied all these people without there being a war with us? ⁴⁵And now send them to their homes and select for yourself a few men who will be with you and come with me to Ptolemais, and I will turn it over to you, and the other fortresses and the other forces and all those in the royal service, and I will turn and leave. For this reason I am present.”

46 And trusting him, he^d did as he said; he sent away the forces, and they went to the land of Judea. ⁴⁷And he left with himself three thousand men of whom he left two thousand in Galilee, and one thousand went with him. ⁴⁸But when Ionathan entered into Ptolemais, the people of Ptolemais shut the gates and apprehended him, and all those who entered with him they killed by the sword.

49 And Trypho sent infantry and cavalry to Galilee and the great plain to destroy all those who were with Ionathan. ⁵⁰But they knew that he had been apprehended and destroyed together with those who were with him, and they encouraged themselves and marched close together ready for battle. ⁵¹And the pursuers saw that it was a matter of life or death for them, and they turned back. ⁵² And they all came to the land of Judea in peace, and they mourned for Ionathan and those with him and were very afraid, and all Israel mourned with great mourning. ⁵³And all the nations around them sought to annihilate them, for they said, “They have no ruler or helper. Now then, let us do battle with them and wipe out the memory of them from people.”

13 And Simon heard that Trypho gathered together a large force to come into the land of Iouda and to devastate it, ²and he saw the people, that they were trembling and fearful, and he went up to Ierousalem and gathered the people. ³And he encouraged them and said to them, “You yourselves know all that I and my brothers and the house of my father have done for the laws and the ^aholy places^a, and the wars and the hardships that we have seen. ⁴For this reason all my brothers have perished for the sake of Israel, and I have been left alone. ⁵And now far be it from me to preserve my life in any time of affliction, for I am not greater than my brothers. ⁶But I will take vengeance for my nation and for the ^aholy places^a and for your women and children, for all the nations have gathered together to annihilate us out of enmity.”

7 And the spirit of the people was rekindled as they heard these words, ⁸and they responded with a loud voice, saying, “You are our leader in place of Ioudas and Ionathan your brother. ⁹Fight our war, and all that you say to us we will do.” ¹⁰And he gathered together all the fighting men and hurried to finish the walls of Ierousalem and fortified it all around. ¹¹And he sent Ionathan the son of Apsalomos and with him a sufficient force to Joppe and expelled those in it and remained there in it.

12 And Trypho departed from Ptolemais with a large force to enter into the land of Judea, and Ionathan was with him under guard. ¹³But Simon camped in Adida facing the plain. ¹⁴And Trypho learned that Simon had risen up in place of Ionathan his brother and that he was about to join battle with him, and he sent ambassadors to him, saying, ¹⁵“On account of the money that Ionathan your brother owed to the royal treasury for the position he held, we are detaining him. ¹⁶And now send one hundred talents of silver and two of his sons as hostages so that if he is freed he will not rebel against us, and we will free him.”

17 And Simon knew that they were speaking to him with deceit, and he sent for the silver and the boys so as not to raise great animosity in the people, ¹⁸who would say, “Because I did not send the silver and the boys to him he^b perished.” ¹⁹And he sent the boys and the hundred talents, but he^c deceived him and did not free Ionathan.

20 And after these things Trypho came to march into the country and to devastate it, and they circled around on the road to Adora. But Simon and his army marched parallel with him to whatever place he went. ²¹But the men in the citadel were sending envoys to Trypho urging him to come to them through the wilderness and to send food to them. ²²And Trypho prepared all his cavalry to go, but on that night there was very much snow, and he did not go because of the snow. And he departed and went to Galaaditis. ²³ But as he drew near to Baskama, he killed Ionathan, and he was buried there. ²⁴And Trypho returned and went back to his land.

25 And Simon sent and took the bones of Ionathan his brother and buried him in Modein, the city of his fathers. ²⁶And all Israel mourned for him with great mourning and grieved for him many days. ²⁷And Simon built upon the grave of his father and of his brothers and made it highly visible with hewn stone on the back and on the front. ²⁸He also set up seven pyramids, each one opposite another, for his father and his mother and his four brothers. ²⁹For them^d he devised mechanisms, setting large pillars around them, and he placed suits of armor on the pillars for an everlasting name and beside the suits of armor carved ships to be seen by all those who sail the sea. ³⁰This tomb, which he made in Modein, remains to this day.

31 But Trypho acted with deceit toward the younger Antiochus the king and killed him, ³²and he became king in his place and put on the crown of Asia, and he did great harm in the land. ³³And Simon built the fortresses of Judea and walled them around with high towers and great walls and gates and bolts, and he put food in the fortresses. ³⁴And Simon selected men and sent them to Demetrius the king to bring about exemption for the country, because all the acts of Trypho were robbery. ³⁵And Demetrius the king sent to him in accordance with these developments and replied to him and wrote some such letter to him: ³⁶“King Demetrius to Simon, the high priest and Friend of kings, and the elders and nation of the Judeans, greeting. ³⁷The gold crown and the palm leaf that you sent we have received, and we are ready to make a great peace with you and to write to those over the revenues to exempt you from taxes. ³⁸And whatever agreements we made with you stand, and the fortresses that you built may remain for you. ³⁹We also excuse oversights and violations up to this very day, and the crown tax that you owe, and if any other tax used to be collected in Ierousalem, let it no longer be collected. ⁴⁰And if some of you deserve to be enrolled among our associates, let them be enrolled, and let there be peace among us.”

41 In the one hundred seventieth year the yoke of the nations was lifted from Israel, ⁴²and the people began to write on their documents and transactions, “In the first year of Simon the great high priest, both general and leader of the Judeans.”

43 In those days he camped against Gazara and surrounded it with soldiers. And he made a siege engine and brought it to the city and assaulted one tower and took it. ⁴⁴And the men in the siege engine jumped out into the city, and there was a great commotion in the city. ⁴⁵And the men in the city with their women and their children went up on the wall, tearing their clothes, and they cried out with a loud voice begging Simon to make peace with them, ⁴⁶ and they said, “Do not deal with us according to our evil acts but according to your mercy.” ⁴⁷And Simon reconciled with them and did not fight them but ejected them from the city and cleansed the houses in which the idols were. And thus he entered it singing hymns and praises. ⁴⁸And he removed from it every uncleanness and settled in it men who observed the law, and he further fortified it and built in it a residence for himself.

49 Now those who were in the citadel in Ierousalem were prevented from going in and going out into the country to buy and sell. And they became very hungry, and plenty of them perished in the famine. ⁵⁰And they cried out to Simon to make peace, and he gave it to them. But he ejected them from there and cleansed the citadel from the impurities. ⁵¹And they entered it on the twenty-third day of the second month of the one hundred seventy-first year with praises and palms and with cinyras^a and cymbals and nablas^b and with hymns and with odes that a great enemy was eliminated from Israel. ⁵²And he^c established that that day be observed every year with gladness. And he fortified the temple mount beside the citadel, and he himself and those with him resided there. ⁵³And Simon saw his son Ioannes, that he had become a man, and he made him commander of all the forces, and he resided in Gazara.

14 And in the one hundred seventy-second year Demetrius the king gathered his forces together and went to Media to procure help for himself so that he could do battle with Trypho. ²And Arsaces, the king of Persia and Media, heard that Demetrius had entered into his territory, and he sent one of his commanders to apprehend him alive. ³And he went and defeated the army of Demetrius and apprehended him and led him to Arsaces, and he put him in prison.

⁴ And the land became quiet all the days of
         Simon,
and he sought good things for his nation,

and his authority was pleasing to them,
and his glory all his days.

⁵ And with all his glory he took Joppe as a
         harbor

and made it an entrance way to the
islands of the sea.

⁶ And he widened the borders of his nation
and controlled the country.

⁷ And he gathered many captives
and dominated Gazara and Baithsoura
         and the citadel,

and he took away the uncleanness from it,
and there was no one to oppose him.

⁸ And they were farming their land in peace,
and the land was giving its produce,
and the trees of the plains their fruit.

⁹ Elders were sitting in the city squares;
all were conversing about good things,
and the youths were dressing in splendor
         and uniforms of war.

¹⁰ He furnished food to the cities
and equipped them with implements of
         fortification

until his glorious name was renowned to
the end of the earth.

¹¹ He made peace in the land,
and Israel was glad with great gladness.

¹² And everyone sat under their own vine and
         their own fig tree,
and there was no one to frighten them.

¹³ And a person fighting them disappeared in
         the land,
and the kings were crushed in those days.

¹⁴ And he supported all the humble among his
         people;
he sought out the law,

and he eliminated every lawless and evil
person.

¹⁵ He glorified the ^dholy places^d
and multiplied the vessels of the ^dholy
         places^d.

16 And it was heard in Rome and as far as Sparta that Ionathan had died, and they were greatly grieved. ¹⁷But when they heard that Simon his brother had become high priest in his place and that he was in control of the country and of the cities in it, ¹⁸they wrote to him on brass tablets to renew with him the friendship and alliance which they had established with Ioudas and Ionathan his brothers. ¹⁹And they were read before the assembly in Ierousalem.

20 And this is a copy of the letters^e that the Spartans sent:

“The rulers and the city of the Spartans to Simon the great priest and the elders and the priests and the remaining citizenry of the Judeans, our brothers, greeting. ²¹The ambassadors who were sent to our citizenry announced to us concerning your glory and honor, and we rejoiced at their coming. ²²And we have recorded the things said by them in the public resolutions thus: ‘Numenius son of Antiochus and Antipater son of Jason, ambassadors of the Judeans, came to us renewing their friendship with us. ²³And it was pleasing to the citizenry to receive these men honorably and to place the copy of their words in the official public books so that the citizenry of the Spartans may have a remembrance of them. They also wrote a copy of them for Simon the high priest.’ “

24 After this, Simon sent Numenius to Rome with a large gold shield, a weight of one thousand minas^f, to establish the alliance with them.

25 And when the citizenry heard of these developments they said, “What favor shall we return to Simon and his sons? ²⁶For he himself and his brothers and the house of his father stood firm and fought off the enemies of Israel and established freedom for it.” And they recorded this on brass tablets and placed them on steles on Mount Sion.

27 And this is a copy of the writing: “On the eighteenth day of Eloul, in the one hundred seventy-second year, and this is the third year of Simon the great high priest in Asaramel, ²⁸in the great congregation of priests and of the people and rulers of the nation and of the elders of the country, it was made known to us ²⁹that when many times wars came about in the country, then Simon the son of Mattathias the son of the sons of Ioarib and his brothers put themselves in danger and stood up against the opponents of their nation so that their ^aholy places^a and the law could endure, and they glorified their nation with great glory. ³⁰And Ionathan mobilized his nation and became their high priest and was gathered to his people. ³¹And their enemies decided to march into their country to devastate their country and to stretch out their hands against their ^aholy places^a. ³²Then Simon resisted and fought for his nation. And he spent much of his own money, and he armed the men of the forces of his nation and gave rations to them. ³³And he fortified the cities of Judea and Baithsoura on the borders of Judea, where the weapons of the enemies were formerly, and he stationed there a guard of Judean men. ³⁴And he fortified Joppe by the sea and Gazara on the borders of Azotus in which the enemies resided there formerly. And he settled Judeans there, and all that was appropriate for their reconstruction he placed in them.

35 “And the people saw the faith of Simon and the glory that he determined to bring to his nation, and they made him their leader and high priest, because he had done all these things, and for the justice and faith that he preserved in his nation. And he sought in every way to elevate his people. ³⁶And in his days he was successful in removing by his hands the nations from his country, and those in the city of Dauid and those in Ierousalem who had built a citadel for themselves out of which they would come and desecrate the vicinity of the ^aholy places^a and do great harm to its purity. ³⁷And he settled Judean men in it and fortified it for the security of the country and city, and he heightened the walls of Ierousalem.

38 “And King Demetrius bestowed upon him the high priesthood for these things, ³⁹and he made him one of his Friends and glorified him with great glory. ⁴⁰For he had heard that the Judeans had been called friends, allies and brothers by the Romans and that they had met with the ambassadors of Simon with honor ⁴¹and that the Judeans and the priests were pleased that Simon would be their leader and high priest forever, until a faithful prophet would arise, ⁴²and that he would be commander over them and that the responsibility would be upon him concerning the ^aholy places^a to establish authorities for it over their works and over the country and over the armed forces and over the fortresses ⁴³and that the responsibility would be upon him concerning the ^aholy places^a and that he would be obeyed by all and that all documents in the country would be written in his name and that he would be clothed in purple and wear gold.

44 “And no one of the people or of the priests will be able to set aside any of these resolutions or to dispute anything to be said by him or to convoke a gathering in the country without him or to clothe themselves in purple or to wear a gold brooch. ⁴⁵But whoever acts against or sets aside any of these resolutions shall be culpable.”

46 And all the people were pleased for Simon to be established to act according to all these words. ⁴⁷And Simon accepted and was pleased to be high priest and to be commander and ethnarch of the Judeans and priests and to protect all of them. ⁴⁸And they said for this writing to be set on brass tablets and to put them in the precinct of the ^aholy places^a in a prominent place ⁴⁹and to put copies of them in the treasury so that Simon and his sons might have them.

15 And Antiochus son of Demetrius the king sent letters from the islands of the sea to Simon the priest and ethnarch of the Judeans and to all the nation. ²And their contents were like this: “King Antiochus to Simon the great priest and ethnarch and the nation of the Judeans, greeting. ³ Since certain corrupt men gained control of the kingdom of our fathers, I want to lay claim to the kingdom so that I can restore it as it was formerly, and I have recruited a multitude of forces and have prepared warships, ⁴and I want to disembark into the country so that I can go after those who have corrupted our country and those who have devastated many cities in my kingdom. ⁵Now then, I affirm for you all the tribute from which the kings before me exempted you and as many other payments as they exempted you. ⁶And I have given permission for you to make your own die for coinage in your own country ⁷and for Ierousalem and the ^aholy places^a to be free. And all the weapons that you have prepared and the fortresses that you have built and now control, let them be yours. ⁸And every royal debt and the future royal debts from the present and for all time, let them be annulled for you. ⁹And when we establish our kingdom, we will glorify you and your nation and the temple with great glory so that your glory will become apparent in all the earth.”

10 In the one hundred seventy-fourth year Antiochus went out into the land of his fathers, and all the forces joined with him so that few were with Trypho. ¹¹And Antiochus pursued him, and he^b, fleeing, came to Dora by the sea, ¹²for he knew that evils had converged upon him, and his forces abandoned him. ¹³And Antiochus camped against Dora, and with him one hundred twenty thousand fighting men and eight thousand cavalry. ¹⁴And he surrounded the city, and the ships joined battle from the sea, and he pressed the city from the land and the sea and allowed no one to go out or to go in.

15 And Numenius and those with him came from Rome having letters for the kings and the countries in which were written these things: ¹⁶“Leukios, consul of the Romans, to Ptolemy the king, greeting. ¹⁷The ambassadors of the Judeans came to us as our friends and allies, renewing the original friendship and alliance, having been sent by Simon the high priest and the citizenry of the Judeans. ¹⁸And they brought a gold shield weighing one thousand minas^a. ¹⁹Therefore it pleased us to write to the kings and the countries, for them not to seek evils against them and not to make war on them and their cities and their countries and that they not ally themselves with those who make war on them. ²⁰And it seemed good to us to accept the shield from them. ²¹Therefore if certain corrupt people from their country have taken refuge with you, give them over to Simon the high priest so that he may take vengeance upon them according to their law.”

22 And he wrote the same things to Demetrius the king and to Attalus and Ariarathes and Arsaces ²³ and to all the countries and to Sampsakes and the Spartans and to Delos and to Myndos and to Sicyon and to Caria and to Samos and to Pamphylia and to Lycia and to Halicarnassos and to Rhodes and to Phaselis and to Cos and to Side and to Aradus and Gortyna and Cnidos and Cyprus and Cyrene. ²⁴They also wrote a copy of these things to Simon the high priest.

25 Now Antiochus the king camped against Dora a second time, attacking it constantly and making war machines, and he shut Trypho off from going out and going in. ²⁶And Simon sent to him^b two thousand selected men to fight with him and silver and gold and many implements of war. ²⁷However, he decided not to accept them but to set aside all the agreements he had concluded with him^c formerly and became alienated from him. ²⁸And he^b sent to him Athenobius, one of his Friends, to converse with him, saying, “You are in control of Joppe and Gazara and the citadel in Ierousalem, which are cities of my kingdom. ²⁹You have devastated their regions and have done great harm in the land and have taken control of many places in my kingdom. ³⁰Now then, turn over the cities that you have taken and the taxes of the places of which you have taken possession outside the boundaries of Judea. ³¹Or if not, instead of them give five hundred talents of silver for the destruction that you have caused, and for the taxes of the cities another five hundred talents. Or if not, we will come and make war upon you.”

32 And Athenobius, the Friend of the king, came to Ierousalem and saw the glory of Simon and a cabinet for wine cups with gold and silver plate and considerable ostentation, and he was astounded and announced to him the words of the king. ³³And answering, Simon said to him, “Neither have we taken a foreign land, nor have we taken the property of foreigners, but the inheritance of our fathers, which was held unjustly by our enemies for a certain time. ³⁴But we, seizing the occasion, are clinging to the inheritance of our fathers. ³⁵But concerning Joppe and Gazara, which you claim, they were doing great harm to the people and our country, for these we will give one hundred talents.”

And he^d did not answer a word to him ³⁶but returned with wrath to the king and reported to him these words and the glory of Simon and all the things that he saw. And the king became very angry.

37 But Trypho, boarding a ship, fled to Orthosia. ³⁸And the king established Kendebaios as overall commander of the coast and gave him infantry and cavalry forces. ³⁹And he commanded him to camp before Judea, and he gave orders to him to build Kedron and to fortify the gates so that he might also make war on the people, but the king pursued Trypho. ⁴⁰And Kendebaios arrived in Jamnia and began to stir up the people and to march into Judea and to take the people captive and to kill them. ⁴¹And he built Kedron and stationed horsemen there and infantry so that they could go out and march along the roads of Judea as the king had instructed him.

16 And Ioannes went up from Gazara and reported to Simon his father what Kendebaios had done. ²And Simon called his two older sons, Ioudas and Ioannes, and said to them, “I and my brothers and the house of my father have fought the enemies of Israel from our youth until this very day, and we were successful in rescuing Israel by our hands many times. ³But now I have gotten old, but you mercifully are sufficient in years. Become my replacement and my brother’s then go out, and fight for our nation, and may the help from heaven be with you.”

4 And he^e selected from the country twenty thousand fighting men and horsemen, and they went to Kendebaios and slept in Modein. ⁵And arising in the morning, they went to the plain and saw a large force about to meet them, foot-soldiers and horsemen, and there was a wadi between them. ⁶And he camped before them, he and his people. And he saw the people frightened to cross the wadi, and he crossed first, and the men saw him, and they crossed after him. ⁷And he divided the people with the horsemen in the middle of the infantry. But the cavalry of the adversaries was very large. ⁸And they trumpeted with the trumpets, and Kendebaios and his army were routed, and many of them fell wounded, and the rest fled to the fortress. ⁹That was when Ioudas, the brother of Ioannes, was wounded, but Ioannes pursued them until he^f came to Kedron, which he had built. ¹⁰And they fled to the towers in the fields of Azotus, and he^e burned it with fire, and up to two thousand of them fell. And he returned to Judea with peace.

11 And Ptolemy son of Aboubos was the appointed commander in the plain of Iericho, and he had much silver and gold, ¹²for he was a son-in-law of the high priest. ¹³And his heart was exalted, and he wanted to take control of the country, and he plotted with deceit against Simon and his sons to eliminate them. ¹⁴Now when Simon was touring the cities in the country and attending to his supervision of them, he also went down to Iericho, he and Mattathias and Ioudas, his sons, in the one hundred and seventy-seventh year in the eleventh month; this is the month Sabat. ¹⁵And the son of Aboubos received them with deceit in his small fortress called Dok, which he had built, and he put on a great banquet for them, and he hid men there. ¹⁶And when Simon and his sons became drunk, Ptolemy and those with him rose up and took their weapons and rushed in on Simon in the symposium and killed him and his two sons and some of his servants. ¹⁷And he committed a great betrayal and returned evil for good.

18 And Ptolemy wrote about these things and sent a report to the king so that he would send forces to him for assistance and would turn over the cities and the country to him. ¹⁹And he sent other men to Gazara to eliminate Ioannes, and to the officers of thousands he sent letters for them to come to him so that he might give to them silver and gold and gifts, ²⁰and he sent other men to take Ierousalem and the temple mount. ²¹But someone, running ahead, reported to Ioannes in Gazara that his father and his brothers had been destroyed and that “he has also sent men to kill you.” ²²And hearing this, he was greatly astounded, and he apprehended the men who came to destroy him, and he killed them, for he knew that they were seeking to destroy him.

23 And the rest of the stories about Ioannes and his wars and his heroic deeds which he did and the building of the walls which he built and his actions, ²⁴look, these have been written in the book of days of his high priesthood from the time when he became high priest after his father.