2Mac.6
[1] Not long after this, the king sent an Athenian senator to compel
the Jews to forsake the laws of their fathers and cease to live
by the laws of God,
[2] and also to pollute the temple in Jerusalem and call it the
temple of Olympian Zeus, and to call the one in Gerizim the temple
of Zeus
the Friend of Strangers, as did the people who dwelt in that place.
[3] Harsh and utterly grievous was the onslaught of evil.
[4] For the temple was filled with debauchery and reveling by the
Gentiles, who dallied with harlots and had intercourse with women
within the sacred precincts, and besides brought in things for
sacrifice that were unfit.
[5] The altar was covered with abominable offerings which were
forbidden by the laws.
[6] A man could neither keep the sabbath, nor observe the feasts
of his fathers, nor so much as confess himself to be a Jew.
[7] On the monthly celebration of the king's birthday, the Jews
were taken, under bitter constraint, to partake of the sacrifices;
and
when the feast of Dionysus came, they were compelled to walk in
the procession in honor of Dionysus, wearing wreaths of ivy.
[8] At the suggestion of Ptolemy a decree was issued to the neighboring
Greek cities, that they should adopt the same policy toward the
Jews and make them partake of the sacrifices,
[9] and should slay those who did not choose to change over to
Greek customs. One could see, therefore, the misery that had come
upon
them.
[10] For example, two women were brought in for having circumcised
their children. These women they publicly paraded about the city,
with their babies hung at their breasts, then hurled them down
headlong from the wall.
[11] Others who had assembled in the caves near by, to observe
the seventh day secretly, were betrayed to Philip and were all
burned
together, because their piety kept them from defending themselves,
in view of their regard for that most holy day.
[12] Now I urge those who read this book not to be depressed by
such calamities, but to recognize that these punishments were designed
not to destroy but to discipline our people.
[13] In fact, not to let the impious alone for long, but to punish
them immediately, is a sign of great kindness.
[14] For in the case of the other nations the Lord waits patiently
to punish them until they have reached the full measure of their
sins; but he does not deal in this way with us,
[15] in order that he may not take vengeance on us afterward when
our sins have reached their height.
[16] Therefore he never withdraws his mercy from us. Though he
disciplines us with calamities, he does not forsake his own people.
[17] Let what we have said serve as a reminder; we must go on briefly
with the story.
[18] Eleazar, one of the scribes in high position, a man now advanced
in age and of noble presence, was being forced to open his mouth
to eat swine's flesh.
[19] But he, welcoming death with honor rather than life with pollution,
went up to the the rack of his own accord, spitting out the flesh,
[20] as men ought to go who have the courage to refuse things that
it is not right to taste, even for the natural love of life.
[21] Those who were in charge of that unlawful sacrifice took the
man aside, because of their long acquaintance with him, and privately
urged him to bring meat of his own providing, proper for him to
use, and pretend that he was eating the flesh of the sacrificial
meal
which had been commanded by the king,
[22] so that by doing this he might be saved from death, and be
treated kindly on account of his old friendship with them.
[23] But making a high resolve, worthy of his years and the dignity
of his old age and the gray hairs which he had reached with distinction
and his excellent life even from childhood, and moreover according
to the holy God-given law, he declared himself quickly, telling
them to send him to Hades.
[24] "Such pretense is not worthy of our time of life," he
said, "lest many of the young should suppose that Eleazar
in his ninetieth year has gone over to an alien religion,
[25] and through my pretense, for the sake of living a brief moment
longer, they should be led astray because of me, while I defile
and disgrace my old age.
[26] For even if for the present I should avoid the punishment
of men, yet whether I live or die I shall not escape the hands
of the
Almighty.
[27] Therefore, by manfully giving up my life now, I will show
myself worthy of my old age
[28] and leave to the young a noble example of how to die a good
death willingly and nobly for the revered and holy laws." When
he had said this, he went at once to the rack.
[29] And those who a little before had acted toward him with good
will now changed to ill will, because the words he had uttered
were in their opinion sheer madness.
[30] When he was about to die under the blows, he groaned aloud
and said: "It is clear to the Lord in his holy knowledge that,
though I might have been saved from death, I am enduring terrible
sufferings
in my body under this beating, but in my soul I am glad to suffer
these things because I fear him."
[31] So in this way he died, leaving in his death an example of
nobility and a memorial of courage, not only to the young but to
the great
body of his nation.
2Mac.7
[1] It happened also that seven brothers and their mother were
arrested and were being compelled by the king, under torture with
whips and
cords, to partake of unlawful swine's flesh.
[2] One of them, acting as their spokesman, said, "What do
you intend to ask and learn from us? For we are ready to die rather
than
transgress the laws of our fathers."
[3] The king fell into a rage, and gave orders that pans and caldrons
be heated.
[4] These were heated immediately, and he commanded that the tongue
of their spokesman be cut out and that they scalp him and cut off
his hands and feet, while the rest of the brothers and the mother
looked on.
[5] When he was utterly helpless, the king ordered them to take
him to the fire, still breathing, and to fry him in a pan. The
smoke
from the pan spread widely, but the brothers and their mother encouraged
one another to die nobly, saying,
[6] "The Lord God is watching over us and in truth has compassion
on us, as Moses declared in his song which bore witness against
the people to their faces, when he said, `And he will have compassion
on his servants.'"
[7] After the first brother had died in this way, they brought
forward the second for their sport. They tore off the skin of his
head with
the hair, and asked him, "Will you eat rather than have your
body punished limb by limb?"
[8] He replied in the language of his fathers, and said to them, "No." Therefore
he in turn underwent tortures as the first brother had done.
[9] And when he was at his last breath, he said, "You accursed
wretch, you dismiss us from this present life, but the King of
the universe will raise us up to an everlasting renewal of life,
because
we have died for his laws."
[10] After him, the third was the victim of their sport. When it
was demanded, he quickly put out his tongue and courageously stretched
forth his hands,
[11] and said nobly, "I got these from Heaven, and because
of his laws I disdain them, and from him I hope to get them back
again."
[12] As a result the king himself and those with him were astonished
at the young man's spirit, for he regarded his sufferings as nothing.
[13] When he too had died, they maltreated and tortured the fourth
in the same way.
[14] And when he was near death, he said, "One cannot but
choose to die at the hands of men and to cherish the hope that
God gives
of being raised again by him. But for you there will be no resurrection
to life!"
[15] Next they brought forward the fifth and maltreated him.
[16] But he looked at the king, and said, "Because you have
authority among men, mortal though you are, you do what you please.
But do not think that God has forsaken our people.
[17] Keep on, and see how his mighty power will torture you and
your descendants!"
[18] After him they brought forward the sixth. And when he was
about to die, he said, "Do not deceive yourself in vain. For
we are suffering these things on our own account, because of our
sins against
our own God. Therefore astounding things have happened.
[19] But do not think that you will go unpunished for having tried
to fight against God!"
[20] The mother was especially admirable and worthy of honorable
memory. Though she saw her seven sons perish within a single day,
she bore it with good courage because of her hope in the Lord.
[21] She encouraged each of them in the language of their fathers.
Filled with a noble spirit, she fired her woman's reasoning with
a man's courage, and said to them,
[22] "I do not know how you came into being in my womb. It
was not I who gave you life and breath, nor I who set in order
the elements
within each of you.
[23] Therefore the Creator of the world, who shaped the beginning
of man and devised the origin of all things, will in his mercy
give life and breath back to you again, since you now forget yourselves
for the sake of his laws."
[24] Antiochus felt that he was being treated with contempt, and
he was suspicious of her reproachful tone. The youngest brother
being still alive, Antiochus not only appealed to him in words,
but promised
with oaths that he would make him rich and enviable if he would
turn from the ways of his fathers, and that he would take him for
his
friend and entrust him with public affairs.
[25] Since the young man would not listen to him at all, the king
called the mother to him and urged her to advise the youth to save
himself.
[26] After much urging on his part, she undertook to persuade her
son.
[27] But, leaning close to him, she spoke in their native tongue
as follows, deriding the cruel tyrant: "My son, have pity
on me. I carried you nine months in my womb, and nursed you for
three
years, and have reared you and brought you up to this point in
your life, and have taken care of you.
[28] I beseech you, my child, to look at the heaven and the earth
and see everything that is in them, and recognize that God did
not make them out of things that existed. Thus also mankind comes
into
being.
[29] Do not fear this butcher, but prove worthy of your brothers.
Accept death, so that in God's mercy I may get you back again with
your brothers."
[30] While she was still speaking, the young man said, "What
are you waiting for? I will not obey the king's command, but I
obey the command of the law that was given to our fathers through
Moses.
[31] But you, who have contrived all sorts of evil against the
Hebrews, will certainly not escape the hands of God.
[32] For we are suffering because of our own sins.
[33] And if our living Lord is angry for a little while, to rebuke
and discipline us, he will again be reconciled with his own servants.
[34] But you, unholy wretch, you most defiled of all men, do not
be elated in vain and puffed up by uncertain hopes, when you raise
your hand against the children of heaven.
[35] You have not yet escaped the judgment of the almighty, all-seeing
God.
[36] For our brothers after enduring a brief suffering have drunk
of everflowing life under God's covenant; but you, by the judgment
of God, will receive just punishment for your arrogance.
[37] I, like my brothers, give up body and life for the laws of
our fathers, appealing to God to show mercy soon to our nation
and by
afflictions and plagues to make you confess that he alone is God,
[38] and through me and my brothers to bring to an end the wrath
of the Almighty which has justly fallen on our whole nation."
[39] The king fell into a rage, and handled him worse than the
others, being exasperated at his scorn.
[40] So he died in his integrity, putting his whole trust in the
Lord.
[41] Last of all, the mother died, after her sons.
[42] Let this be enough, then, about the eating of sacrifices and
the extreme tortures.
2Mac.8
[1] But Judas, who was also called Maccabeus, and his companions
secretly entered the villages and summoned their kinsmen and enlisted
those who had continued in the Jewish faith, and so they gathered
about six thousand men.
[2] They besought the Lord to look upon the people who were oppressed
by all, and to have pity on the temple which had been profaned
by ungodly men,
[3] and to have mercy on the city which was being destroyed and
about to be leveled to the ground, and to hearken to the blood
that cried
out to him,
[4] and to remember also the lawless destruction of the innocent
babies and the blasphemies committed against his name, and to show
his hatred of evil.
[5] As soon as Maccabeus got his army organized, the Gentiles could
not withstand him, for the wrath of the Lord had turned to mercy.
[6] Coming without warning, he would set fire to towns and villages.
He captured strategic positions and put to flight not a few of
the enemy.
[7] He found the nights most advantageous for such attacks. And
talk of his valor spread everywhere.
[8] When Philip saw that the man was gaining ground little by little,
and that he was pushing ahead with more frequent successes, he
wrote to Ptolemy, the governor of Coelesyria and Phoenicia, for
aid to
the king's government.
[9] And Ptolemy promptly appointed Nicanor the son of Patroclus,
one of the king's chief friends, and sent him, in command of no
fewer than twenty thousand Gentiles of all nations, to wipe out
the whole
race of Judea. He associated with him Gorgias, a general and a
man of experience in military service.
[10] Nicanor determined to make up for the king the tribute due
to the Romans, two thousand talents, by selling the captured Jews
into
slavery.
[11] And he immediately sent to the cities on the seacoast, inviting
them to buy Jewish slaves and promising to hand over ninety slaves
for a talent, not expecting the judgment from the Almighty that
was about to overtake him.
[12] Word came to Judas concerning Nicanor's invasion; and when
he told his companions of the arrival of the army,
[13] those who were cowardly and distrustful of God's justice ran
off and got away.
[14] Others sold all their remaining property, and at the same
time besought the Lord to rescue those who had been sold by the
ungodly
Nicanor before he ever met them,
[15] if not for their own sake, yet for the sake of the covenants
made with their fathers, and because he had called them by his
holy and glorious name.
[16] But Maccabeus gathered his men together, to the number six
thousand, and exhorted them not to be frightened by the enemy and
not to fear
the great multitude of Gentiles who were wickedly coming against
them, but to fight nobly,
[17] keeping before their eyes the lawless outrage which the Gentiles
had committed against the holy place, and the torture of the derided
city, and besides, the overthrow of their ancestral way of life.
[18] "For they trust to arms and acts of daring," he said, "but
we trust in the Almighty God, who is able with a single nod to
strike down those who are coming against us and even the whole
world."
[19] Moreover, he told them of the times when help came to their
ancestors; both the time of Sennacherib, when one hundred and eighty-five
thousand perished,
[20] and the time of the battle with the Galatians that took place
in Babylonia, when eight thousand in all went into the affair,
with four thousand Macedonians; and when the Macedonians were hard
pressed,
the eight thousand, by the help that came to them from heaven,
destroyed one hundred and twenty thousand and took much booty.
[21] With these words he filled them with good courage and made
them ready to die for their laws and their country; then he divided
his
army into four parts.
[22] He appointed his brothers also, Simon and Joseph and Jonathan,
each to command a division, putting fifteen hundred men under each.
[23] Besides, he appointed Eleazar to read aloud from the holy
book, and gave the watchword, "God's help"; then, leading
the first division himself, he joined battle with Nicanor.
[24] With the Almighty as their ally, they slew more than nine
thousand of the enemy, and wounded and disabled most of Nicanor's
army, and
forced them all to flee.
[25] They captured the money of those who had come to buy them
as slaves. After pursuing them for some distance, they were obliged
to return because the hour was late.
[26] For it was the day before the sabbath, and for that reason
they did not continue their pursuit.
[27] And when they had collected the arms of the enemy and stripped
them of their spoils, they kept the sabbath, giving great praise
and thanks to the Lord, who had preserved them for that day and
allotted it to them as the beginning of mercy.
[28] After the sabbath they gave some of the spoils to those who
had been tortured and to the widows and orphans, and distributed
the rest among themselves and their children.
[29] When they had done this, they made common supplication and
besought the merciful Lord to be wholly reconciled with his servants.
[30] In encounters with the forces of Timothy and Bacchides they
killed more than twenty thousand of them and got possession of
some exceedingly high strongholds, and they divided very much plunder,
giving to those who had been tortured and to the orphans and widows,
and also to the aged, shares equal to their own.
[31] Collecting the arms of the enemy, they stored them all carefully
in strategic places, and carried the rest of the spoils to Jerusalem.
[32] They killed the commander of Timothy's forces, a most unholy
man, and one who had greatly troubled the Jews.
[33] While they were celebrating the victory in the city of their
fathers, they burned those who had set fire to the sacred gates,
Callisthenes and some others, who had fled into one little house;
so these received the proper recompense for their impiety.
[34] The thrice-accursed Nicanor, who had brought the thousand
merchants to buy the Jews,
[35] having been humbled with the help of the Lord by opponents
whom he regarded as of the least account, took off his splendid
uniform
and made his way alone like a runaway slave across the country
till he reached Antioch, having succeeded chiefly in the destruction
of
his own army!
[36] Thus he who had undertaken to secure tribute for the Romans
by the capture of the people of Jerusalem proclaimed that the Jews
had a Defender, and that therefore the Jews were invulnerable,
because they followed the laws ordained by him.
2Mac.9
[1] About that time, as it happened, Antiochus had retreated in
disorder from the region of Persia.
[2] For he had entered the city called Persepolis, and attempted
to rob the temples and control the city. Therefore the people rushed
to the rescue with arms, and Antiochus and his men were defeated,
with the result that Antiochus was put to flight by the inhabitants
and beat a shameful retreat.
[3] While he was in Ecbatana, news came to him of what had happened
to Nicanor and the forces of Timothy.
[4] Transported with rage, he conceived the idea of turning upon
the Jews the injury done by those who had put him to flight; so
he ordered his charioteer to drive without stopping until he completed
the journey. But the judgment of heaven rode with him! For in his
arrogance he said, "When I get there I will make Jerusalem
a cemetery of Jews."
[5] But the all-seeing Lord, the God of Israel, struck him an incurable
and unseen blow. As soon as he ceased speaking he was seized with
a pain in his bowels for which there was no relief and with sharp
internal tortures --
[6] and that very justly, for he had tortured the bowels of others
with many and strange inflictions.
[7] Yet he did not in any way stop his insolence, but was even
more filled with arrogance, breathing fire in his rage against
the Jews,
and giving orders to hasten the journey. And so it came about that
he fell out of his chariot as it was rushing along, and the fall
was so hard as to torture every limb of his body.
[8] Thus he who had just been thinking that he could command the
waves of the sea, in his superhuman arrogance, and imagining that
he could weigh the high mountains in a balance, was brought down
to earth and carried in a litter, making the power of God manifest
to all.
[9] And so the ungodly man's body swarmed with worms, and while
he was still living in anguish and pain, his flesh rotted away,
and
because of his stench the whole army felt revulsion at his decay.
[10] Because of his intolerable stench no one was able to carry
the man who a little while before had thought that he could touch
the
stars of heaven.
[11] Then it was that, broken in spirit, he began to lose much
of his arrogance and to come to his senses under the scourge of
God,
for he was tortured with pain every moment.
[12] And when he could not endure his own stench, he uttered these
words: "It is right to be subject to God, and no mortal should
think that he is equal to God."
[13] Then the abominable fellow made a vow to the Lord, who would
no longer have mercy on him, stating
[14] that the holy city, which he was hastening to level to the
ground and to make a cemetery, he was now declaring to be free;
[15] and the Jews, whom he had not considered worth burying but
had planned to throw out with their children to the beasts, for
the birds
to pick, he would make, all of them, equal to citizens of Athens;
[16] and the holy sanctuary, which he had formerly plundered, he
would adorn with the finest offerings; and the holy vessels he
would give back, all of them, many times over; and the expenses
incurred
for the sacrifices he would provide from his own revenues;
[17] and in addition to all this he also would become a Jew and
would visit every inhabited place to proclaim the power of God.
[18] But when his sufferings did not in any way abate, for the
judgment of God had justly come upon him, he gave up all hope for
himself
and wrote to the Jews the following letter, in the form of a supplication.
This was its content:
[19] "To his worthy Jewish citizens, Antiochus their king
and general sends hearty greetings and good wishes for their health
and
prosperity.
[20] If you and your children are well and your affairs are as
you wish, I am glad. As my hope is in heaven,
[21] I remember with affection your esteem and good will. On my
way back from the region of Persia I suffered an annoying illness,
and
I have deemed it necessary to take thought for the general security
of all.
[22] I do not despair of my condition, for I have good hope of
recovering from my illness,
[23] but I observed that my father, on the occasions when he made
expeditions into the upper country, appointed his successor,
[24] so that, if anything unexpected happened or any unwelcome
news came, the people throughout the realm would not be troubled,
for
they would know to whom the government was left.
[25] Moreover, I understand how the princes along the borders and
the neighbors to my kingdom keep watching for opportunities and
waiting to see what will happen. So I have appointed my son Antiochus
to
be king, whom I have often entrusted and commended to most of you
when I hastened off to the upper provinces; and I have written
to him what is written here.
[26] I therefore urge and beseech you to remember the public and
private services rendered to you and to maintain your present good
will, each of you, toward me and my son.
[27] For I am sure that he will follow my policy and will treat
you with moderation and kindness."
[28] So the murderer and blasphemer, having endured the more intense
suffering, such as he had inflicted on others, came to the end
of his life by a most pitiable fate, among the mountains in a strange
land.
[29] And Philip, one of his courtiers, took his body home; then,
fearing the son of Antiochus, he betook himself to Ptolemy Philometor
in Egypt.
2Mac.10
[1] Now Maccabeus and his followers, the Lord leading them on,
recovered the temple and the city;
[2] and they tore down the altars which had been built in the public
square by the foreigners, and also destroyed the sacred precincts.
[3] They purified the sanctuary, and made another altar of sacrifice;
then, striking fire out of flint, they offered sacrifices, after
a lapse of two years, and they burned incense and lighted lamps
and set out the bread of the Presence.
[4] And when they had done this, they fell prostrate and besought
the Lord that they might never again fall into such misfortunes,
but that, if they should ever sin, they might be disciplined by
him with forbearance and not be handed over to blasphemous and
barbarous
nations.
[5] It happened that on the same day on which the sanctuary had
been profaned by the foreigners, the purification of the sanctuary
took
place, that is, on the twenty-fifth day of the same month, which
was Chislev.
[6] And they celebrated it for eight days with rejoicing, in the
manner of the feast of booths, remembering how not long before,
during the feast of booths, they had been wandering in the mountains
and
caves like wild animals.
[7] Therefore bearing ivy-wreathed wands and beautiful branches
and also fronds of palm, they offered hymns of thanksgiving to
him who
had given success to the purifying of his own holy place.
[8] They decreed by public ordinance and vote that the whole nation
of the Jews should observe these days every year.
[9] Such then was the end of Antiochus, who was called Epiphanes.
[10] Now we will tell what took place under Antiochus Eupator,
who was the son of that ungodly man, and will give a brief summary
of
the principal calamities of the wars.
[11] This man, when he succeeded to the kingdom, appointed one
Lysias to have charge of the government and to be chief governor
of Coelesyria
and Phoenicia.
[12] Ptolemy, who was called Macron, took the lead in showing justice
to the Jews because of the wrong that had been done to them, and
attempted to maintain peaceful relations with them.
[13] As a result he was accused before Eupator by the king's friends.
He heard himself called a traitor at every turn, because he had
abandoned Cyprus, which Philometor had entrusted to him, and had
gone over
to Antiochus Epiphanes. Unable to command the respect due his office,
he took poison and ended his life.
[14] When Gorgias became governor of the region, he maintained
a force of mercenaries, and at every turn kept on warring against
the
Jews.
[15] Besides this, the Idumeans, who had control of important strongholds,
were harassing the Jews; they received those who were banished
from Jerusalem, and endeavored to keep up the war.
[16] But Maccabeus and his men, after making solemn supplication
and beseeching God to fight on their side, rushed to the strongholds
of the Idumeans.
[17] Attacking them vigorously, they gained possession of the places,
and beat off all who fought upon the wall, and slew those whom
they encountered, killing no fewer than twenty thousand.
[18] When no less than nine thousand took refuge in two very strong
towers well equipped to withstand a siege,
[19] Maccabeus left Simon and Joseph, and also Zacchaeus and his
men, a force sufficient to besiege them; and he himself set off
for places where he was more urgently needed.
[20] But the men with Simon, who were money-hungry, were bribed
by some of those who were in the towers, and on receiving seventy
thousand
drachmas let some of them slip away.
[21] When word of what had happened came to Maccabeus, he gathered
the leaders of the people, and accused these men of having sold
their brethren for money by setting their enemies free to fight
against
them.
[22] Then he slew these men who had turned traitor, and immediately
captured the two towers.
[23] Having success at arms in everything he undertook, he destroyed
more than twenty thousand in the two strongholds.
[24] Now Timothy, who had been defeated by the Jews before, gathered
a tremendous force of mercenaries and collected the cavalry from
Asia in no small number. He came on, intending to take Judea by
storm.
[25] As he drew near, Maccabeus and his men sprinkled dust upon
their heads and girded their loins with sackcloth, in supplication
to God.
[26] Falling upon the steps before the altar, they besought him
to be gracious to them and to be an enemy to their enemies and
an adversary
to their adversaries, as the law declares.
[27] And rising from their prayer they took up their arms and advanced
a considerable distance from the city; and when they came near
to the enemy they halted.
[28] Just as dawn was breaking, the two armies joined battle, the
one having as pledge of success and victory not only their valor
but their reliance upon the Lord, while the other made rage their
leader in the fight.
[29] When the battle became fierce, there appeared to the enemy
from heaven five resplendent men on horses with golden bridles,
and they
were leading the Jews.
[30] Surrounding Maccabeus and protecting him with their own armor
and weapons, they kept him from being wounded. And they showered
arrows and thunderbolts upon the enemy, so that, confused and blinded,
they were thrown into disorder and cut to pieces.
[31] Twenty thousand five hundred were slaughtered, besides six
hundred horsemen.
[32] Timothy himself fled to a stronghold called Gazara, especially
well garrisoned, where Chaereas was commander.
[33] Then Maccabeus and his men were glad, and they besieged the
fort for four days.
[34] The men within, relying on the strength of the place, blasphemed
terribly and hurled out wicked words.
[35] But at dawn of the fifth day, twenty young men in the army
of Maccabeus, fired with anger because of the blasphemies, bravely
stormed
the wall and with savage fury cut down every one they met.
[36] Others who came up in the same way wheeled around against
the defenders and set fire to the towers; they kindled fires and
burned
the blasphemers alive. Others broke open the gates and let in the
rest of the force, and they occupied the city.
[37] They killed Timothy, who was hidden in a cistern, and his
brother Chaereas, and Apollophanes.
[38] When they had accomplished these things, with hymns and thanksgivings
they blessed the Lord who shows great kindness to Israel and gives
them the victory.