玛加伯上 3

1Then his son Judas, called Machabeus, rose up in his stead.

2And all his brethren helped him, and all they that had joined themselves to his father, and they fought with cheerfulness the battle of Israel.

3And he got his people great honour, and put on a breastplate as a giant, and girt his warlike armour about him in battles, and protected the camp with his sword.

4In his acts he was like a lion, and like a lion’s whelp roaring for his prey.

5And he pursued the wicked and sought them out, and them that troubled his people he burnt with fire:

6And his enemies were driven away for fear of him, and all the workers of iniquity were troubled: and salvation prospered in his hand.

7And he grieved many kings, and made Jacob glad with his works, and his memory is blessed for ever.

8And he went through the cities of Juda, and destroyed the wicked out of them, and turned away wrath from Israel.

9And he was renowned even to the utmost part of the earth, and he gathered them that were perishing.

10And Apollonius gathered together the Gentiles, and a numerous and great army from Samaria, to make war against Israel.

11And Judas understood it, and went forth to meet him: and he overthrew him, and killed him: and many fell down slain, the rest fled away.

12And he took their spoils, and Judas took the sword of Apollonius, and fought with it all his lifetime.

13And Seron captain of the army of Syria heard that Judas had assembled a company of the faithful, and a congregation with him,

14And he said: I will get me a name, and will be glorified in the kingdom, and will overthrow Judas, and those that are with him, that have despised the edict of the king.

15And he made himself ready: and the host of the wicked went up with him, strong succours, to be revenged of the children of Israel.

16And they approached even as far as Bethoron: and Judas went forth to meet him, with a small company.

17But when they saw the army coming to meet them, they said to Judas: How shall we, being few, be able to fight against so great a multitude and so strong, and we are ready to faint with fasting today?

18And Judas said: It is an easy matter for many to be shut up in the hands of a few: and there is no difference in the sight of the God of heaven to deliver with a great multitude, or with a small company:

19For the success of war is not in the multitude of the army, but strength cometh from heaven.

20They come against us with an insolent multitude, and with pride, to destroy us, and our wives, and our children, and to take our spoils.

21But we will fight for our lives and our laws:

22And the Lord himself will overthrow them before our face: but as for you, fear them not.

23And as soon as he had made an end of speaking, he rushed suddenly upon them: and Seron and his host were overthrown before him:

24And he pursued him by the descent of Bethoron even to the plain, and there fell of them eight hundred men, and the rest fled into the land of the Philistines.

25And the fear of Judas and of his brethren, and the dread of them fell upon all the nations round about them.

26And his fame came to the king, and all nations told of the battles of Judas.

27Now when king Antiochus heard these words, he was angry in his mind: and he sent and gathered the forces of all his kingdom, an exceeding strong army.

28And he opened his treasury, and gave out pay to the army for a year: and he commanded them, that they should be ready for all things.

29And he perceived that the money of his treasures failed, and that the tributes of the country were small because of the dissension, and the evil that he had brought upon the land, that he might take away the laws of old times:

30And he feared that he should not have as formerly enough, for charges and gifts, which he had given before with a liberal hand: for he had abounded more than the kings that had been before him.

31And he was greatly perplexed in mind, and purposed to go into Persia, and to take tributes of the countries, and to gather much money.

32And he left Lysias, a nobleman of the blood royal, to oversee the affairs of the kingdom, from the river Euphrates even to the river of Egypt:

33And to bring up his son Antiochus, till he came again.

34And he delivered to him half the army, and the elephants: and he gave him charge concerning all that he would have done, and concerning the inhabitants of Judea, and Jerusalem:

35And that he should send an army against them, to destroy and root out the strength of Israel, and the remnant of Jerusalem, and to take away the memory of them from that place:

36And that he should settle strangers to dwell in all their coasts, and divide their land by lot.

37So the king took the half of the army that remained, and went forth from Antioch the chief city of his kingdom, in the hundred and forty-seventh year: and he passed over the river Euphrates, and went through the higher countries.

38Then Lysias chose Ptolemee the son of Dorymenus, and Nicanor, and Gorgias, mighty men of the king’s friends.

39And he sent with them forty thousand men, and seven thousand horsemen: to go into the land of Juda, and to destroy it according to the king’s orders.

40So they went forth with all their power, and came, and pitched near Emmaus in the plain country.

41And the merchants of the countries heard the fame of them: and they took silver and gold in abundance, and servants: and they came into the camp, to buy the children of Israel for slaves: and there were joined to them the forces of Syria, and of the land of the strangers.

42And Judas and his brethren saw that evils were multiplied, and that the armies approached to their borders: and they knew the orders the king had given to destroy the people and utterly abolish them.

43And they said every man to his neighbour: Let us raise up the low condition of our people, and let us fight for our people, and our sanctuary.

44And the assembly was gathered that they might be ready for battle: and that they might pray, and ask mercy and compassion.

45Now Jerusalem was not inhabited, but was like a desert: there was none of her children that went in or out: and the sanctuary was trodden down: and the children of strangers were in the castle, there was the habitation of the Gentiles: and joy was taken away from Jacob, and the pipe and harp ceased there.

46And they assembled together, and came to Maspha over against Jerusalem: for in Maspha was a place of prayer heretofore in Israel.

47And they fasted that day, and put on haircloth, and put ashes upon their heads: and they rent their garments:

48And they laid open the books of the law, in which the Gentiles searched for the likeness of their idols:

49And they brought the priestly ornaments, and the firstfruits and tithes, and stirred up the Nazarites that had fulfilled their days:

50And they cried with a loud voice toward heaven, saying: What shall we do with these, and whither shall we carry them?

51For thy holies are trodden down, and are profaned, and thy priests are in mourning, and are brought low.

52And behold the nations are come together against us to destroy us: thou knowest what they intend against us.

53How shall we be able to stand before their face, unless thou, O God, help us?

54Then they sounded with trumpets, and cried out with a loud voice.

55And after this Judas appointed captains over the people, over thousands, and over hundreds, and over fifties, and over tens.

56And he said to them that were building houses, or had betrothed wives, or were planting vineyards, or were fearful, that they should return every man to his house, according to the law.

57So they removed the camp, and pitched on the south side of Emmaus.

58And Judas said: Gird yourselves, and be valiant men, and be ready against the morning, that you may fight with these nations that are assembled against us to destroy us and our sanctuary.

59For it is better for us to die in battle, than to see the evils of our nation, and of the holies:

60Nevertheless as it shall be the will of God in heaven so be it done.

1Et surrexit Judas, qui vocabatur Machabæus, filius ejus, pro eo:

2et adjuvabant eum omnes fratres ejus, et universi qui se conjunxerant patri ejus, et præliabantur prælium Israël cum lætitia.

3[Et dilatavit gloriam populo suo, et induit se loricam sicut gigas, et succinxit se arma bellica sua in præliis, et protegebat castra gladio suo.

4Similis factus est leoni in operibus suis, et sicut catulus leonis rugiens in venatione.

5Et persecutus est iniquos perscrutans eos: et qui conturbabant populum suum, eos succendit flammis:

6et repulsi sunt inimici ejus præ timore ejus, et omnes operarii iniquitatis conturbati sunt: et directa est salus in manu ejus.

7Et exacerbabat reges multos, et lætificabat Jacob in operibus suis, et in sæculum memoria ejus in benedictione.

8Et perambulavit civitates Juda, et perdidit impios ex eis, et avertit iram ab Israël.

9Et nominatus est usque ad novissimum terræ, et congregavit pereuntes.]

10Et congregavit Apollonius gentes, et a Samaria virtutem multam et magnam ad bellandum contra Israël.

11Et cognovit Judas, et exiit obviam illi: et percussit, et occidit illum: et ceciderunt vulnerati multi, et reliqui fugerunt.

12Et accepit spolia eorum: et gladium Apollonii abstulit Judas, et erat pugnans in eo omnibus diebus.

13Et audivit Seron princeps exercitus Syriæ, quod congregavit Judas congregationem fidelium, et ecclesiam secum,

14et ait: Faciam mihi nomen, et glorificabor in regno, et debellabo Judam, et eos qui cum ipso sunt, qui spernebant verbum regis.

15Et præparavit se: et ascenderunt cum eo castra impiorum fortes auxiliarii ut facerent vindictam in filios Israël.

16Et appropinquaverunt usque ad Bethoron: et exivit Judas obviam illi cum paucis.

17Ut autem viderunt exercitum venientem sibi obviam, dixerunt Judæ: Quomodo poterimus pauci pugnare contra multitudinem tantam, et tam fortem, et nos fatigati sumus jejunio hodie?

18Et ait Judas: Facile est concludi multos in manus paucorum: et non est differentia in conspectu Dei cæli liberare in multis, et in paucis:

19quoniam non in multitudine exercitus victoria belli, sed de cælo fortitudo est.

20Ipsi veniunt ad nos in multitudine contumaci, et superbia, ut disperdant nos, et uxores nostras, et filios nostros, et ut spolient nos:

21nos vero pugnabimus pro animabus nostris, et legibus nostris:

22et ipse Dominus conteret eos ante faciem nostram: vos autem ne timueritis eos.

23Ut cessavit autem loqui, insiluit in eos subito: et contritus est Seron et exercitus ejus in conspectu ipsius:

24et persecutus est eum in descensu Bethoron usque in campum, et ceciderunt ex eis octingenti viri, reliqui autem fugerunt in terram Philisthiim.

25Et cecidit timor Judæ ac fratrum ejus, et formido super omnes gentes in circuitu eorum:

26et pervenit ad regem nomen ejus, et de præliis Judæ narrabant omnes gentes.

27Ut audivit autem rex Antiochus sermones istos, iratus est animo: et misit, et congregavit exercitum universi regni sui, castra fortia valde:

28et aperuit ærarium suum, et dedit stipendia exercitui in annum: et mandavit illis ut essent parati ad omnia.

29Et vidit quod defecit pecunia de thesauris suis, et tributa regionis modica propter dissensionem et plagam quam fecit in terra, ut tolleret legitima, quæ erant a primis diebus:

30et timuit ne non haberet ut semel et bis, in sumptus et donaria, quæ dederat ante larga manu: et abundaverat super reges qui ante eum fuerant.

31Et consternatus erat animo valde, et cogitavit ire in Persidem, et accipere tributa regionum, et congregare argentum multum.

32Et reliquit Lysiam hominem nobilem de genere regali, super negotia regia, a flumine Euphrate usque ad flumen Ægypti,

33et ut nutriret Antiochum filium suum, donec rediret.

34Et tradidit ei medium exercitum, et elephantos: et mandavit ei de omnibus quæ volebat, et de inhabitantibus Judæam, et Jerusalem:

35et ut mitteret ad eos exercitum ad conterendam et extirpandam virtutem Israël, et reliquias Jerusalem, et auferendam memoriam eorum de loco:

36et ut constitueret habitatores filios alienigenas in omnibus finibus eorum, et sorte distribueret terram eorum.

37Et rex assumpsit partem exercitus residui, et exivit ab Antiochia civitate regni sui anno centesimo et quadragesimo septimo: et transfretavit Euphraten flumen, et perambulabat superiores regiones.

38Et elegit Lysias Ptolemæum filium Dorymini, et Nicanorem, et Gorgiam, viros potentes ex amicis regis:

39et misit cum eis quadraginta millia virorum, et septem millia equitum, ut venirent in terram Juda, et disperderent eam secundum verbum regis.

40Et processerunt cum universa virtute sua, et venerunt, et applicuerunt Emmaum in terra campestri.

41Et audierunt mercatores regionum nomen eorum: et acceperunt argentum, et aurum multum valde, et pueros, et venerunt in castra ut acciperent filios Israël in servos, et additi sunt ad eos exercitus Syriæ, et terræ alienigenarum.

42Et vidit Judas et fratres ejus, quia multiplicata sunt mala, et exercitus applicabant ad fines eorum: et cognoverunt verba regis, quæ mandavit populo facere in interitum et consummationem:

43et dixerunt unusquisque ad proximum suum: Erigamus dejectionem populi nostri, et pugnemus pro populo nostro, et sanctis nostris.

44Et congregatus est conventus ut essent parati in prælium, et ut orarent et peterent misericordiam et miserationes.

45Et Jerusalem non habitabatur, sed erat sicut desertum: non erat qui ingrederetur et egrederetur de natis ejus. Et sanctum conculcabatur: et filii alienigenarum erant in arce; ibi erat habitatio gentium: et ablata est voluptas a Jacob, et defecit ibi tibia et cithara.

46Et congregati sunt, et venerunt in Maspha contra Jerusalem, quia locus orationis erat in Maspha ante in Israël.

47Et jejunaverunt illa die, et induerunt se ciliciis, et cinerem imposuerunt capiti suo, et disciderunt vestimenta sua:

48et expanderunt libros legis, de quibus scrutabantur gentes similitudinem simulacrorum suorum:

49et attulerunt ornamenta sacerdotalia, et primitias, et decimas: et suscitaverunt Nazaræos, qui impleverant dies,

50et clamaverunt voce magna in cælum, dicentes: Quid faciemus istis, et quo eos ducemus?

51et sancta tua conculcata sunt, et contaminata sunt, et sacerdotes tui facti sunt in luctum, et in humilitatem:

52et ecce nationes convenerunt adversum nos ut nos disperdant: tu scis quæ cogitant in nos.

53Quomodo poterimus subsistere ante faciem eorum, nisi tu, Deus, adjuves nos?

54Et tubis exclamaverunt voce magna.

55Et post hæc constituit Judas duces populi, tribunos, et centuriones, et pentacontarchos, et decuriones.

56Et dixit his, qui ædificabant domos, et sponsabant uxores, et plantabant vineas, et formidolosis, ut redirent unusquisque in domum suam secundum legem.

57Et moverunt castra, et collocaverunt ad austrum Emmaum.

58Et ait Judas: Accingimini, et estote filii potentes, et estote parati in mane, ut pugnetis adversus nationes has quæ convenerunt adversus nos disperdere nos, et sancta nostra:

59quoniam melius est nos mori in bello, quam videre mala gentis nostræ, et sanctorum.

60Sicut autem fuerit voluntas in cælo, sic fiat.

1And his son Judas, who was called Maccabeus, rose up in his place.

2And all his brothers assisted him, along with all those who had joined themselves to his father. And they fought the battle of Israel with rejoicing.

3And he expanded the glory of his people, and he clothed himself with a breastplate like a giant, and he surrounded himself his weapons of war in battles, and he protected the camp with his sword.

4In his actions, he became like a lion, and like a young lion roaring in the hunt.

5And he pursued the wicked and tracked them down. And those who disturbed his people, he burned with fire.

6And his enemies were repelled by the fear of him, and all the workers of iniquity were troubled. And salvation was well-directed in his hand.

7And he provoked many kings, and he gave joy to Jacob by his works, and his memory will be a blessing for all generations.

8And he traveled through the cities of Judah, and he destroyed the impious out of them, and he turned wrath away from Israel.

9And he was renowned, even to the utmost part of the earth, and he gathered together those who were perishing.

10And so Apollonius gathered together the Gentiles, with a numerous and great army from Samaria, to make war against Israel.

11And Judas knew about it, and he went forth to meet him. And he struck him and killed him. And many fell down wounded, and the rest fled away.

12And he took away their spoils. And Judas took possession of the sword of Apollonius, and he fought with it during all his days.

13And Seron, the leader of the army of Syria, heard that Judas had gathered together a company of the faithful and an assembly with him.

14And he said, “I will make a name for myself, and I will be glorified in the kingdom, and I will defeat Judas in warfare, and those who are with him, who have spurned the word of the king.”

15And he prepared himself. And the camp of the impious went up with him, with strong auxiliaries, so as to act with vengeance upon the sons of Israel.

16And they approached even as far as Bethhoron. And Judas went forth to meet him, with a few men.

17But when they saw the army coming to meet them, they said to Judas, “How will we few be able to fight against so great and so strong a multitude, even though we are weakened by fasting today?”

18And Judas said: “It is easy for many to be enclosed in the hands of a few, for there is no difference in the sight of the God of heaven to liberate by means of many, or by means of few.

19For victory in warfare is not in the multitude of the army, but in the strength from heaven.

20They come to us with a contemptuous multitude and with arrogance, in order to destroy us, with our wives and our sons, and to despoil us.

21In truth, we will fight on behalf of our souls and our laws.

22And the Lord himself will crush them before our face. But as for you, do not fear them.”

23And as soon as he had ceased speaking, he attacked them suddenly. And Seron and his army were crushed in his sight.

24And he pursued him from the descent of Bethhoron, even to the plains. And eight hundred of their men were cut down, but the rest fled into the land of the Philistines.

25And the fear and dread of Judas, as well as his brothers, fell upon all the nations around them.

26And his name reached even to the king, and all the nations told stories of the battles of Judas.

27But when king Antiochus heard these accounts, he was angry to his very soul. And he sent and gathered together forces from his entire kingdom, a very strong army.

28And he opened his treasury, and he gave out stipends to the army for a year. And he commanded them to make ready for all things.

29And he saw that the money from his treasures had failed, and that the tributes of the country were small, because of the dissension and the scourging that he had caused on earth in order to take away the legitimate laws, which had been since the first days.

30And he feared, lest he not have enough the second time as the first, for expenses and gifts, which he had given before with a liberal hand. For his excesses were more than the kings who had been before him.

31And he was alarmed to his very soul, and he intended to go into Persia, and to take tributes from the regions, and to gather together much money.

32And he left behind Lysias, a nobleman of royal family, to preside over the kingdom from the river Euphrates, even to the river of Egypt,

33and to raise his son, Antiochus, until he would return.

34And he handed over to him half of the army, and the elephants. And he commanded him concerning all that he wanted, and concerning the inhabitants of Judea and Jerusalem:

35so that he would send an army against them to crush and to root out the virtue of Israel and the remnant of Jerusalem, and to take away the memory of them from that place,

36and so that he would establish dwelling places for the sons of foreigners in all their parts, and would distribute their land by lot.

37And so, the king took the remaining part of the army, and he went forth from Antioch, the city of his kingdom, in the one hundred and forty-seventh year. And he crossed over the river Euphrates, and he traveled through the upper regions.

38Then Lysias chose Ptolemy, the son of Dorymenes, and Nicanor and Gorgias, powerful men from among the king’s friends.

39And he sent them with forty thousand men, and seven thousand horsemen, to enter into the land of Judah, and to destroy it, according to the word of the king.

40And so, they proceeded with all their power, and they arrived and took a position near Emmaus, in the land of the plains.

41And the merchants of the regions heard of their name. And they took very much silver, and gold, and servants, and they came into the camp to take the sons of Israel into servitude. And armies from Syria and from the lands of foreigners were added to them.

42And Judas and his brothers saw that evils were being multiplied, and that armies had been positioned near their borders. And they knew the words of the king, which ordered the people to be put to death and to be utterly consumed.

43And they said, each one to his neighbor, “Let us relieve the dejection of our people, and let us fight on behalf of our people and our sacred places.”

44And an assembly was gathered together, so that they would be prepared for battle, and so that they could pray and ask for mercy and compassion.

45Now Jerusalem was not inhabited, but was like a desert. There was no one who entered or exited from among her children. And the sanctuary was trampled upon, and the sons of foreigners were in the stronghold. This place was the habitation of the Gentiles. And delight was taken away from Jacob, and the music of flute and harp ceased in that place.

46And they gathered together and came to Mizpah, opposite Jerusalem. For a place of prayer was in Mizpah, in the former Israel.

47And they fasted on that day, and they clothed themselves with haircloth, and they placed ashes on their heads, and they tore their garments.

48And they laid open the books of the law, in which the Gentiles searched for the likeness of their idols.

49And they brought the priestly ornaments, and the first fruits and tithes, and they roused the Nazirites, who had fulfilled their days.

50And they cried out with a loud voice toward heaven, saying: “What shall we do with these, and where shall we take them?

51For your holy things have been trampled and defiled, and your priests have been in mourning and in humiliation.

52And behold, the Nations gather together against us, to destroy us. You know what they intend against us.

53How shall we be able to stand before their face, unless you, O God, assist us?”

54Then they sounded the trumpets with a loud call.

55And after this, Judas appointed commanders over the people: over thousands, and over hundreds, and over fifties, and over tens.

56And he said to those who were building houses, or who had betrothed wives, who were planting vineyards, or who were terribly afraid, that they should return, each one to his own house, according to the law.

57So they moved the camp, and relocated to the south of Emmaus.

58And Judas said: “Gird yourselves, and be sons of power, and be ready in the morning, so that you may fight against these nations that have assembled against us, so as to destroy us and our sacred things.

59For it is better for us to die in battle, than to see evils come to our nation and to the sacred places.

60Nevertheless, as it shall be willed in heaven, so let it be.”