玛加伯下 12

1When these covenants were made, Lyslas went to the king, and the Jews gave themselves to husbandry.

2But they that were behind, namely, Timotheus and Apollonius the son of Genneus, also Hieronymus, and Demophon, and besides them Nicanor the governor of Cyprus, would not suffer them to live in peace, and to be quiet.

3The men of Joppe also were guilty of this kind of wickedness: they desired the Jews who dwelt among them to go with their wives and children into the boats, which they had prepared, as though they had no enmity to them.

4Which when they had consented to, according to the common decree of the city, suspecting nothing, because of the peace: when they were gone forth into the deep, they drowned no fewer than two hundred of them.

5But as soon as Judas heard of this cruelty done to his countrymen, he commanded the men that were with him: and after having called upon God the just judge,

6He came against those murderers of his brethren, and set the haven on fire in the night, burnt the boats, and slew with the sword them that escaped from the fire.

7And when he had done these things in this manner, he departed as if he would return again, and root out all the Joppites.

8But when he understood that the men of Jamnia also designed to do in like manner to the Jews that dwelt among them,

9He came upon the Jamnites also by night, and set the haven on fire with the ships, so that the light of the fire was seen at Jerusalem two hundred and forty furlongs off.

10And when they were now gone from thence nine furlongs, and were marching towards Timotheus, five thousand footmen and Ave hundred horsemen of the Arabians set upon them.

11And after a hard fight, in which by the help of God they got the victory, the rest of the Arabians being overcome, besought Judas for peace, promising to give him pastures, and to assist him in other things.

12And Judas thinking that they might be profitable indeed in many things, promised them peace, and after having joined hands, they departed to their tents.

13He also laid siege to a certain strong city, encompassed with bridges and walls, and inhabited by multitudes of different nations, the name of which is Casphin.

14But they that were within it, trusting in the strength of the walls, and the provision of victuals, behaved in a more negligent manner, and provoked Judas with railing and blaspheming, and uttering such words as were not to be spoken.

15But Machabeus calling upon the great Lord of the world, who without any rams or engines of war threw down the walls of Jericho in the time of Josue, fiercely assaulted the walls.

16And having taken the city by the will of the Lord, he made an unspeakable slaughter, so that a pool adjoining of two furlongs broad seemed to run with the blood of the slain.

17From thence they departed seven hundred and fifty furlongs, and came to Characa to the Jews that are called Tubianites.

18But as for Timotheus, they found him not in those places, for before he had dispatched any thing he went back, having left a very strong garrison in a certain hold:

19But Dositheus, and Sosipater, who were captains with Machabeus, slew them that were left by Timotheus in the hold, to the number of ten thousand men.

20And Machabeus having set in order about him six thousand men, and divided them by bands, went forth against Timetheus, who had with him a hundred and twenty thousand footmen, and two thousand five hundred horsemen.

21Now when Timotheus had knowledge of the coming of Judas, he sent the women and children, and the other baggage before him into a fortress, called Carnion: for it was impregnable and hard to come at, by reason of the straitness of the places.

22But when the first band of Judas came in sight, the enemies were struck with fear, by the presence of God, who seeth all things, and they were put to flight one from another, so that they were often thrown down by their own companions, and wounded with the strokes of their own swords.

23But Judas was vehemently earnest in punishing the profane, of whom he slew thirty thousand men.

24And Timotheus himself fell into the hands of the band of Dositheus and Sosipater, and with many prayers he besought them to let him go with his life, because he had the parents and brethren of many of the Jews, who, by his death, might happen to be deceived.

25And when he had given his faith that he would restore them according to the agreement, they let him go without hurt, for the saving of their brethren.

26Then Judas went away to Carnion, where he slew five and twenty thousand persons.

27And after he had put to flight and destroyed these, he removed his army to Ephron, a strong city, wherein there dwelt a multitude of divers nations: and stout young men standing upon the walls made a vigorous resistance: and in this place there were many engines of war, and a provision of darts.

28But when they had invocated the Almighty, who with his power breaketh the strength of the enemies, they took the city; and slew five and twenty thousand of them that were within.

29From thence they departed to Scythopolis, which lieth six hundred furlongs from Jerusalem.

30But the Jews that were among the Scythopolitans testifying that they were used kindly by them, and that even in the times of their adversity they had treated them with humanity:

31They gave them thanks exhorting them to be still friendly to their nation, and so they came to Jerusalem, the feast of the weeks being at hand.

32And after Pentecost they marched against Gorgias the governor of Idumea.

33And he came out with three thousand footmen, and four hundred horsemen.

34And when they had joined battle, it happened that a few of the Jews were slain.

35But Dositheus, a horseman, one of Bacenor’s band, a valiant man, took hold of Gorgias: and when he would have taken him alive, a certain horseman of the Thracians came upon him, and cut off his shoulder: and so Gorgias escaped to Maresa.

36But when they that were with Esdrin had fought long, and were weary, Judas called upon the Lord to be their helper, and leader of the battle:

37Then beginning in his own language, and singing hymns with a loud voice, he put Gorgias’ soldiers to flight.

38So Judas having gathered together his army, came into the city Odollam: and when the seventh day came, they purified themselves according to the custom, and kept the sabbath in the place.

39And the day following Judas cam with his company, to take away the bodies of them that were slain, and to bury them with their kinsmen, in the sepulchres of their fathers.

40And they found under the coats of the slain some of the donaries of the idols of Jamnia, which the law forbiddeth to the Jews: so that all plainly saw, that for this cause they were slain.

41Then they all blessed the just judgment of the Lord, who had discovered the things that were hidden.

42And so betaking themselves to prayers, they besought him, that the sin which had been committed might be forgotten. But the most valiant Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves from sin, forasmuch as they saw before their eyes what had happened, because of the sins of those that were slain.

43And making a gathering, he sent twelve thousand drachms of silver to Jerusalem for sacrifice to be offered for the sins of the dead, thinking well and religiously concerning the resurrection,

44(For if he had not hoped that they that were slain should rise again, it would have seemed superfluous and vain to pray for the dead,)

45And because he considered that they who had fallen asleep with godliness, had great grace laid up for them.

46It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins.

1His factis pactionibus, Lysias pergebat ad regem, Judæi autem agriculturæ operam dabant.

2Sed hi qui resederant, Timotheus, et Apollonius Gennæi filius, sed et Hieronymus, et Demophon super hos, et Nicanor Cypriarches, non sinebant eos in silentio agere et quiete.

3Joppitæ vero tale quoddam flagitium perpetrarunt: rogaverunt Judæos cum quibus habitabant, ascendere scaphas quas paraverant, cum uxoribus et filiis, quasi nullis inimicitiis inter eos subjacentibus.

4Secundum commune itaque decretum civitatis, et ipsis acquiescentibus, pacisque causa nihil suspectum habentibus: cum in altum processissent, submerserunt non minus ducentos.

5Quam crudelitatem Judas in suæ gentis homines factam ut cognovit, præcepit viris qui erant cum ipso: et invocato justo judice Deo,

6venit adversus interfectores fratrum, et portum quidem noctu succendit, scaphas exussit, eos autem qui ab igne refugerant, gladio peremit.

7Et cum hæc ita egisset, discessit quasi iterum reversurus, et universos Joppitas eradicaturus.

8Sed cum cognovisset et eos qui erant Jamniæ, velle pari modo facere habitantibus secum Judæis,

9Jamnitis quoque nocte supervenit, et portum cum navibus succendit: ita ut lumen ignis appareret Jerosolymis a stadiis ducentis quadraginta.

10Inde cum jam abiissent novem stadiis, et iter facerent ad Timotheum, commiserunt cum eo Arabes quinque millia viri, et equites quingenti.

11Cumque pugna valida fieret, et auxilio Dei prospere cessisset, residui Arabes victi petebant a Juda dextram sibi dari, promittentes se pascua daturos, et in ceteris profuturos.

12Judas autem arbitratus vere in multis eos utiles, promsit pacem: dextrisque acceptis, discessere ad tabernacula sua.

13Aggressus est autem et civitatem quamdam firmam pontibus murisque circumseptam, quæ a turbis habitabatur gentium promiscuarum: cui nomen Casphin.

14Hi vero qui intus erant, confidentes in stabilitate murorum et apparatu alimoniarum, remissius agebant, maledictis lacessentes Judam et blasphemantes, ac loquentes quæ fas non est.

15Machabæus autem, invocato magno mundi Principe, qui sine arietibus et machinis temporibus Jesu præcipitavit Jericho, irruit ferociter muris:

16et capta civitate per Domini voluntatem, innumerabiles cædes fecit, ita ut adjacens stagnum stadiorum duorum latitudinis sanguine interfectorum fluere videretur.

17Inde discesserunt stadia septingenta quinquaginta, et venerunt in Characa ad eos, qui dicuntur Tubianæi, Judæos:

18et Timotheum quidem in illis locis non comprehenderunt, nulloque negotio perfecto regressus est, relicto in quodam loco firmissimo præsidio.

19Dositheus autem et Sosipater, qui erant duces cum Machabæo, peremerunt a Timotheo relictos in præsidio, decem millia viros.

20At Machabæus, ordinatis circum se sex millibus, et constitutis per cohortes, adversus Timotheum processit, habentem secum centum viginti millia peditum, equitumque duo millia quingentos.

21Cognito autem Judæ adventu, Timotheus præmisit mulieres et filios, et reliquum apparatum, in præsidium quod Carnion dicitur: erat enim inexpugnabile, et accessu difficile propter locorum angustias.

22Cumque cohors Judæ prima apparuisset, timor hostibus incussus est ex præsentia Dei, qui universa conspicit: et in fugam versi sunt alius ab alio, ita ut magis a suis dejicerentur, et gladiorum suorum ictibus debilitarentur.

23Judas autem vehementer instabat puniens profanos, et prostravit ex eis triginta millia virorum.

24Ipse vero Timotheus incidit in partes Dosithei et Sosipatris: et multis precibus postulabat ut vivus dimitteretur, eo quod multorum ex Judæis parentes haberet ac fratres, quos morte ejus decipi eveniret.

25Et cum fidem dedisset restituturum se eos secundum constitutum, illæsum eum dimiserunt propter fratrum salutem.

26Judas autem egressus est ad Carnion, interfectis viginti quinque millibus.

27Post horum fugam et necem, movit exercitum ad Ephron civitatem munitam, in qua multitudo diversarum gentium habitabat: et robusti juvenes pro muris consistentes fortiter repugnabant: in hac autem machinæ multæ et telorum erat apparatus.

28Sed cum Omnipotentem invocassent, qui potestate sua vires hostium confringit, ceperunt civitatem: et ex eis qui intus erant, viginti quinque millia prostraverunt.

29Inde ad civitatem Scytharum abierunt, quæ ab Jerosolymis sexcentis stadiis aberat.

30Contestantibus autem his, qui apud Scythopolitas erant, Judæis, quod benigne ab eis haberentur, etiam temporibus infelicitatis quod modeste secum egerint:

31gratias agentes eis, et exhortati etiam de cetero erga genus suum benignos esse, venerunt Jerosolymam die solemni septimanarum instante.

32Et post Pentecosten abierunt contra Gorgiam præpositum Idumææ.

33Exivit autem cum peditibus tribus millibus, et equitibus quadringentis.

34Quibus congressis, contigit paucos ruere Judæorum.

35Dositheus vero quidam de Bacenoris eques, vir fortis, Gorgiam tenebat: et, cum vellet illum capere vivum, eques quidam de Thracibus irruit in eum, humerumque ejus amputavit: atque ita Gorgias effugit in Maresa.

36At illis qui cum Esdrim erant diutius pugnantibus et fatigatis, invocavit Judas Dominum adjutorem et ducem belli fieri:

37incipiens voce patria, et cum hymnis clamorem extollens, fugam Gorgiæ militibus incussit.

38Judas autem collecto exercitu venit in civitatem Odollam: et cum septima dies superveniret, secundum consuetudinem purificati, in eodem loco sabbatum egerunt.

39Et sequenti die venit cum suis Judas, ut corpora prostratorum tolleret, et cum parentibus poneret in sepulchris paternis.

40Invenerunt autem sub tunicis interfectorum de donariis idolorum quæ apud Jamniam fuerunt, a quibus lex prohibet Judæos: omnibus ergo manifestum factum est, ob hanc causam eos corruisse.

41Omnes itaque benedixerunt justum judicium Domini, qui occulta fecerat manifesta:

42atque ita ad preces conversi, rogaverunt ut id quod factum erat delictum oblivioni traderetur. At vero fortissimus Judas hortabatur populum conservare se sine peccato, sub oculis videntes quæ facta sunt pro peccatis eorum qui prostrati sunt.

43Et facta collatione, duodecim millia drachmas argenti misit Jerosolymam offerri pro peccatis mortuorum sacrificium, bene et religiose de resurrectione cogitans

44(nisi enim eos qui ceciderant resurrecturos speraret, superfluum videretur et vanum orare pro mortuis),

45et quia considerabat quod hi qui cum pietate dormitionem acceperant, optimam haberent repositam gratiam.

46Sancta ergo et salubris est cogitatio pro defunctis exorare, ut a peccatis solvantur.

1After these pacts were made, Lysias proceeded on to the king, but the Jews undertook the work of agriculture.

2However, those who had withdrawn: Timothy, and Apollonius, the son of Gennaeus, along with Hieronymus, and Demophon, and, in addition to these, Nicanor, the governor of Cyprus, would not permit them to live in peace and quiet.

3Truly, those of Joppa were also perpetrators of very shameful acts. They asked the Jews, who lived among them, to go up into small boats, which they had prepared, with their wives and sons, as if no underlying hostility was between them.

4And so, according to the common decree of the city, they acquiesced to them, having no suspicions and because there was peace. When they had proceeded out into deep water, they drowned no less than two hundred of them.

5When Judas learned of the cruelty done to the men of his nation, he informed the men who were with him, and, having called upon God, the Just Judge,

6he went against the executors of his brothers, and he even set the port on fire in the night; he burned the boats, but those who took refuge from the fire, he destroyed with the sword.

7And when he had done these things in this way, he departed, as if he would return again to eradicate all those of Joppa.

8But when he also realized those who were of Jamnia wanted to act in a similar way to the Jews living among them,

9he went against those of Jamnia also by night, and he set the port on fire, along with the ships, so much so that the light of the fire was seen at Jerusalem, two hundred and forty stadia away.

10When they had now gone from there nine stadia, and were making their way toward Timothy, they met in battle with those of Arabia: five thousand men and five hundred horsemen.

11And when a strong fight occurred, and, by the help of God, it ceased favorably, the remainder of the Arabians who were overcome petitioned Judas to give them a pledge, promising to give him pastures and to assist him in other things in the future.

12Then Judas, thinking that they truly might be useful in many ways, promised peace. And after receiving the pledge of his right hand, they withdrew to their tents.

13Then he also assaulted a certain strong city, surrounded with bridges and walls, which was inhabited by a crowd from many different nations, the name of which is Casphin.

14In truth, those who were inside, trusting in the strength of the walls and in the preparations of rations, acted irresponsibly, and they challenged Judas with evil words and blaspheming, as well as by speaking what is not lawful.

15But Maccabeus rushed fiercely to the walls, calling upon the great Leader of the world, who, without battering rams or machines of war, had thrown down the walls of Jericho in the time of Joshua.

16And, having captured the city through the will of the Lord, he made a slaughter without number, so much so that an adjoining pool, two stadia in width, was seen to flow with the blood of the slain.

17From there, they withdrew seven hundred and fifty stadia, and they came to Charax, to those Jews who are called Tubianites.

18And Timothy, indeed, they did not find in those places, for he withdrew before he completed any endeavor, having left behind a very strong garrison in a certain place.

19But Dositheus and Sosipater, who were commanders with Maccabeus, destroyed those who were left behind by Timothy in the stronghold: ten thousand men.

20And Maccabeus, having positioned six thousand men around him and having divided them into cohorts, went forth against Timothy, who had with him one hundred twenty thousand foot soldiers, and two thousand five hundred horsemen.

21But when Timothy learned of the arrival of Judas, he sent ahead the women, and the children, and the remainder of the preparations, into a fortress, which is called Carnion. For it was impregnable and difficult to access because of the narrowness of the places.

22And when the first cohort of Judas had appeared, the enemies were struck with fear by the presence of God, who beholds all things, and they were turned to flight, one over another, to such an extent that they were being knocked over by one another and were being wounded with the strokes of their own swords.

23But Judas pursued them vehemently, punishing the profane and striking down thirty thousand of their men.

24In truth, Timothy himself fell to the group under Dositheus and Sosipater. And with much begging, he pleaded with them to release him alive, because he held the parents and brothers of many of the Jews, who, at his death, might happen to be mistreated.

25And when he had given his faith that he would restore them according to the agreement, they released him unharmed, for the sake of their brothers’ well-being.

26Then Judas departed to Carnion, where he slew twenty-five thousand.

27After having put to flight or killed these, he moved his army to Ephron, a fortified city, in which there lived a multitude of diverse peoples. And hardy young men, standing upon the walls, put up a strong fight. Moreover, in this place, there were many machines of war, and equipment for casting darts.

28But when they had called upon the Almighty, who with his power breaks the strength of enemies, they seized the city. And they struck down twenty-five thousand of those who were inside.

29From there, they went to the city of Scythia, which was six hundred stadia away from Jerusalem.

30But the Jews, those who were among the Scythians, testified that they were treated kindly by them, and that, even in the times of unhappiness, they had treated them mildly.

31They gave thanks to them, exhorting them to be kind to their people, now and at other times. And they went to Jerusalem, as the solemn days of the seven weeks were underway.

32And, after Pentecost, they marched against Gorgias, the foremost leader over Idumea.

33And he went out with three thousand foot soldiers and four hundred horsemen.

34And when they came together, it happened that a few of the Jews were overthrown.

35In fact, a certain Dositheus, a horseman of Bacenor, a strong man, took hold of Gorgias. And when he would have captured him alive, a certain horseman of the Thracians rushed upon him and cut off his arm, and so, in this way, Gorgias escaped to Maresa.

36But when those who were with Esdris had fought all day and were fatigued, Judas called upon the Lord to be their helper and leader in the battle.

37Beginning in the language of the fathers, and loudly extolling hymns, he inspired the soldiers of Gorgias to take flight.

38Then Judas, having collected his army, went into the city Adullam. And, when the seventh day came, they purified themselves according to the custom, and they kept the Sabbath in the same place.

39And the following day, Judas came with his own, in order to take away the bodies of the fallen, and to place them in the sepulchers of their fathers with their ancestors.

40But they found, under the tunics of the slain, some of the treasures of the idols that were near Jamnia, which were prohibited to Jews by the law. Therefore, it became manifest that it was for this reason that they had been overthrown.

41And so, they all blessed the just judgment of the Lord, who had made hidden things manifest.

42So then, turning themselves to prayers, they petitioned him that the offense which had been done would be delivered into oblivion. And truly, the very strong Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves without sin, since they had seen with their own eyes what had happened because of the sins of those who were struck down.

43And, calling an assembly, he sent twelve thousand drachmas of silver to Jerusalem, to be offered for a sacrifice for the sins of the dead, thinking well and religiously about the resurrection,

44(for if he had not hoped that those who had fallen would be resurrected, it would have seemed superfluous and vain to pray for the dead,)

45and because he considered that those who had fallen asleep with piety had great grace stored up for them.

46Therefore, it is a holy and beneficial thought to pray on behalf of those who have passed away, so that they may be released from sins.