World English Bible

1 If, then, even a woman, and that an aged one, and the mother of seven children, endured to see her children’s torments even to death, confessedly religious reasoning is master even of the passions.

2 I have proved, then, that not only men have obtained the mastery of their passions, but also that a woman despised the greatest torments.

3 And not so fierce were the lions round Daniel, nor the furnace of Misael burning with most vehement fires as that natural love of children burned within her, when she saw her seven sons tortured.

4 But with the reasoning of religion the mother quenched passions so great and powerful.

5 For we must consider also this: that, had the woman been faint hearted, as being their other, she would have lamented over them; and perhaps might have spoken thus:

6 Ah! wretched I, and many times miserable; who having born seven sons, have become the mother of none.

7 O seven useless childbirths, and seven profitless periods of labor, and fruitless givings of suck, and miserable nursings at the breast.

8 Vainly, for your sakes, O sons, have I endured many pangs, and the more difficult anxieties of rearing.

9 Alas, of my children, some of you unmarried, and some who have married to no profit, I shall not see your children, nor be felicitated as a grandmother.

10 Ah, that I who had many and fair children, should be a lone widow full of sorrows!

11 Nor, should I die, shall I have a son to bury me. But with such a lament as this the holy and God-fearing mother bewailed none of them.

12 Nor did she divert any of them from death, nor grieve for them as for the dead.

13 But as one possessed with an adamantine mind, and as one bringing forth again her full number of sons to immortality, she rather with supplication exhorted them to death in behalf of religion.

14 O woman, soldier of God for religion, you, aged and a female, have conquered through endurance even a tyrant; and though but weak, have been found more powerful in deeds and words.

15 For when you were seized along with your children, you stood looking upon Eleazar in torments, and said to your sons in the Hebrew tongue,

16 O sons, noble is the contest; to which you being called as a witness for the nation, strive zealously for the laws of your country.

17 For it were disgraceful that this old man should endure pains for the sake of righteousness, and that you who are younger should be afraid of the tortures.

18 Remember that through God you⌃ obtained existence, and have enjoyed it.

19 And on this second account you⌃ ought to bear every affliction because of God.

20 For whom also our father Abraham was forward to sacrifice Isaac our progenitor, and shuddered not at the sight of his own paternal hand descending down with the sword upon him.

21 And the righteous Daniel was cast to the lions; and Ananias, and Azarias, and Misael, were slung out into a furnace of fire; yet they endured through God.

22 You, then, having the same faith towards God, be not troubled.

23 For it is unreasonable that they who know religion should not stand up against troubles.

24 With these arguments, the mother of seven, exhorting each of her sons, over-persuaded them from transgressing the commandment of God.

25 And they saw this, too, that they who die for God, live to God; as Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the patriarchs.

1 And some of the spearbearers said, that when she herself was about to be seized for the purpose of being put to death, she threw herself upon the pile, rather than they should touch her person.

2 O you mother, who together with seven children did destroy the violence of the tyrant, and render void his wicked intentions, and exhibit the nobleness of faith!

3 For you, as an house bravely built upon the pillar of your children, did bear without swaying, the shock of tortures.

4 Be of good cheer, therefore, O holy-minded mother! holding the firmsubstance of thehope of your steadfastness with God.

5 Not so gracious does the moon appear with the stars in heaven, as you are established honorable before God, and fixed in the firmament with your sons who you did illuminate with religion to the stars.

6 For your bearing of children was after the fashion of a child of Abraham.

7 And, were it lawful for us to paint as on a tablet the religion of your story, the spectators would not shudder at beholding the mother of seven children enduring for the sake of religion various tortures even to death.

8 And it had been a worth thing to have inscribed upon the tomb itself these words as a memorial to those of the nation,

9 Here an aged priest, and an aged woman, and seven sons, are buried through the violence of a tyrant, who wished to destroy the polity of the Hebrews.

10 These also avenged their nation, looking to God, and enduring torments to death.

11 For it was truly a divine contest which was carried through by them.

12 For at that time virtue presided over the contest, approving the victory through endurance, namely, immortality, eternal life.

13 Eleazar was the first to contend: and the mother of the seven children entered the contest; and the brethren contended.

14 The tyrant was the opposite; and the world and living men were the spectators.

15 And reverence for God conquered, and crowned her own athletes.

16 Who did not admire those champions of true legislation? who were not astonied?

17 The tyrant himself, and all their council, admired their endurance;

18 through which, also, they now stand beside the divine throne, and live a blessed life.

19 For Moses says, And all the saints are under your hands.

20 These, therefore, having been sanctified through God, have been honored not only with this honor, but that also by their means the enemy did not overcome our nation;

21 and that the tyrant was punished, and their country purified.

22 For they became the ransom to the sin of the nation; and the Divine Providence saved Israel, aforetime afflicted, by the blood of those pious ones, and the propitiatory death.

23 For the tyrant Antiochus, looking to their manly virtue, and to their endurance in torture, proclaimed that endurance as an example to his soldiers.

24 And they proved to be to him noble and brave for land battles and for sieges; and he conquered and stormed the towns of all his enemies.

1 O Israelitish children, descendants of the seed of Abraham, obey this law, and in every way be religious.

2 Knowing that religious reasoning is lord of the passions, and those not only inward but outward.

3 When those persons giving up their bodies to pains for the sake of religion, were not only admired by men, but were deemed worthy of a divine portion.

4 And the nation through them obtained peace, and having renewed the observance of the law in their country, drove the enemy out of the land.

5 And the tyrant Antiochus was both punished upon earth, and is punished now he is dead; for when he was quite unable to compel the Israelites to adopt foreign customs, and to desert the manner of life of their fathers,

6 then, departing from Jerusalem, he made war against the Persians.

7 And the righteous mother of the seven children spoke also as follows to her offspring: I was a pure virgin, and went not beyond my father’s house; but I took care of the built-up rib.

8 No destroyer of the desert,orravisher of the plain, injured me; nor did the destructive, deceitful snake, make spoil of my chaste virginity; and I remained with my husband during the period of my prime.

9 And these my children, having arrived at maturity, their father died: blessed was he! for having sought out a life of fertility in children, he was not grieved with a period of loss of children.

10 And he used to teach you, when yet with you, the law and the prophets.

11 He used to read to you the slaying of Abel by Cain, and the offering up of Isaac, and the imprisonment of Joseph.

12 And he used to tell you of the zealous Phinehas; and informed you of Ananias and Azarias, and Misael in the fire.

13 And he used to glorify Daniel, who was in the den of lions, and pronounce him blessed.

14 And he used to put you in mind of the scripture of Esaias, which says, Even if you pass through the fire, it shall not burn you.

15 He chanted to you David, the hymn-writer, who says, Many are the afflictions of the just.

16 He declared the proverbs of Solomon, who says, He is a tree of life to all those who do His will.

17 He used to verify Ezekiel, who said, Shall these dry bones live?

18 For he did not forget the song which Moses taught, proclaiming, I will kill, and I will make to live.

19 This is our life, and the length of our days.

20 O that bitter, and yet not bitter, day when the bitter tyrant of the Greeks, quenching fire with fire in his cruel caldrons, brought with boiling rage the seven sons of the daughter of Abraham to the catapelt, and to all his torments!

21 He pierced the balls of their eyes, and cut out their tongues, and put them to death with varied tortures.

22 Wherefore divine retribution pursued and will pursue the pestilent wretch.

23 But the children of Abraham, with their victorious mother, are assembled together to the choir of their father; having received pure and immortal souls from God.

24 To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

1 Now Philopater, on learning from those who came back that Antiochus had made himself master of the places which belonged to himself, sent orders to all his footmen and horsemen, took with him his sister Arsinoe, and marched out as far as the parts of Raphia, where Antiochus and his forces encamped.

2 And one Theodotus, intending to carry out his design, took with him the bravest of the armed men who had been before committed to his trust by Ptolemy, and got through at night to the tent of Ptolemy, to kill him on his own responsibility, and so to end the war.

3 But Dositheus, called the son of Drimulus, by birth a Jew, afterward a renegade from the laws and observances of his country, conveyed Ptolemy away, and made an obscure person lie down in his stead in the tent. It befell this man to receive the fate which was meant for the other.

4 A fierce battle then took place; and the men of Antiochus prevailing, Arsinoe continually went up and down the ranks, and with dishevelled hair, with tears and entreaties, begged the soldiers to fight manfully for themselves, their children, and wives; and promised that if they proved conquerors, she would give them two minas of gold apiece.

5 It thus fell out that their enemies were defeated in hand-to-hand encounter, and that many of them were taken prisoners.

6 Having vanquished this attempt, the king then decided to proceed to the neighbouring cities, and encourage them.

7 By doing this, and by making donations to their temples, he inspired his subjects with confidence.

8 The Jews sent some of their council and of their elders to him. The greetings, guest-gifts, and congratulations of the past, bestowed by them, filled him with the greater eagerness to visit their city.

9 Having arrived at Jerusalem, sacrificed, and offered thank-offerings to the Greatest God, and done whatever else was suitable to the sanctity of the place, and entered the inner court,

10 he was so struck with the magnificence of the place, and so wondered at the orderly arrangements of the temple, that he considered entering the sanctuary itself.

11 And when they told him that this was not permissible, none of the nation, no, nor even the priests in general, but only the supreme high priest of all, and he only once in a year, being allowed to go in, he would by no means give way.

12 Then they read the law to him; but he persisted in obtruding himself, exclaiming, that he ought to be allowed: and saying Be it that they were deprived of this honor, I ought not to be.

13 And he put the question, Why, when he entered all the temples, none of the priests who were present forbad him?

14 He was thoroughly answered by some one, That he did wrong to boast of this.

15 Well; since I have done this, said he, be the cause what it may, shall I not enter with or without your consent?

16 And when the priests fell down in their sacred vestments imploring the Greatest God to come and help in time of need, and to avert the violence of the fierce aggressor, and when they filled the temple with lamentations and tears,

17 then those who had been left behind in the city were scared, and rushed forth, uncertain of the event.

18 Virgins, who had been shut up within their chambers, came out with their mothers, scattering dust and ashes on their heads, and filling the streets with outcries.

19 Women, but recently separated off, left their bridal chambers, left the reserve that befitted them, and ran about the city in a disorderly manner.

20 New-born babes were deserted by the mothers or nurses who waited upon them; some here, some there, in houses, or in fields; these now, with an ardour which could not be checked, swarmed into the Most High temple.

21 Various were the prayers offered up by those who assembled in this place, on account of the unholy attempt of the king.

22 Along with these there were some of the citizens who took courage, and would not submit to his obstinacy, and his intention of carrying out his purpose.

23 Calling out to arms, and to die bravely in defence of the law of their fathers, they created a great uproar in the place, and were with difficulty brought back by the aged and the elders to the station of prayer which they had occupied before.

24 During this time the multitude kept on praying.

25 The elders who surrounded the king strove in many ways to divert his haughty mind from the design which he had formed.

26 He, in his hardened mood, insensible to all persuasion, was going onwards with the view of carrying out this design.

27 Yet even his own officers, when they saw this, joined the Jews in an appeal to Him who has all power, to aid in the present crisis, and not wink at such overweening lawlessness.

28 Such was the frequency and the vehemence of the cry of the assembled crowd, that an indescribable noise ensued.

29 Not the men only, but the very walls and floor seemed to sound forth; all things preferring dissolution rather than to see the place defiled.

1 Now was it that the high priest Simon bowed his knees over against the holy place, and spread out his hands in reverent form, and uttered the following supplication:

2 O Lord, Lord, King of the heavens, and Ruler of the whole creation, Holy among the holy, sole Governor, Almighty, give ear to us who are oppressed by a wicked and profane one, who exults in his confidence and strength.

3 It is you, the Creator of all, the Lord of the universe, who are a righteous Governor, and judge all who act with pride and insolence.

4 It was you who did destroy the former workers of unrighteousness, among whom were the giants, who trusted in their strength and hardihood, by covering them with a measureless flood.

5 It was you who did make the Sodomites, those workers of exceeding iniquity, men notorious for their vices, an example to after generations, when you did cover them with fire and brimstone.

6 You did make known your power when you caused the bold Pharaoh, the enslaver of your people, to pass through the ordeal of many and diverse inflictions.

7 And you rolled the depths of the sea over him, when he made pursuit with chariots, and with a multitude of followers, and gave a safe passage to those who put their trust in you, the Lord of the whole creation.

8 These saw and felt the works of your hands, and praised you the Almighty.

9 You, O King, when you created the illimitable and measureless earth, did choose out this city: you did make this place sacred to your name, albeit you need nothing: you did glorify it with your illustrious presence, after constructing it to the glory of your great and honorable name.

10 And you did promise, out of love to the people of Israel, that should we fall away from you, and become afflicted, and then come to this house and pray, you would hear our prayer.

11 Verily you are faithful and true.

12 And when you did often aid our fathers when hard pressed, and in low estate, and delivered them out of gret dangers,

13 see now, holy King, how through our many and great sins we are borne down, and made subject to our enemies, and are become weak and powerless.

14 We being in this low condition, this bold and profane man seeks to dishonor this your holy place, consecrated out of the earth to the name of your Majesty.

15 Your dwelling place, the heaven of heavens, is indeed unapproachable to men.

16 But since it seemed good to you to exhibit your glory among your people Israel, you did sanctify this place.

17 Punish us not by means of the uncleanness of their men, nor chastise us by means of their profanity; lest the lawless ones should boast in their rage, and exult in exuberant pride of speech, and say,

18 We have trampled upon the holy house, as idolatrous houses are trampled upon.

19 Blot out our iniquities, and do away with our errors, and show forth your compassion in this hour.

20 Let your mercies quickly go before us. Grant us peace, that the cast down and broken hearted may praise you with their mouth.

21 At that time God, who sees all things, who is beyond all Holy among the holy, heard that prayer, so suitable; and scourged the man greatly uplifted with scorn and insolence.

22 Shaking him to and fro as a reed is shaken with the wind, he cast him upon the pavement, powerless, with limbs paralyzed; by a righteous judgment deprived of the faculty of speech.

23 His friends and bodyguards, beholding the swift recompense which had suddenly overtaken him, struck with exceeding terror, and fearing that he would die, speedily removed him.

24 When in course of time he had come to himself, this severe check caused no repentance within him, but he departed with bitter threatenings.

25 He proceeded to Egypt, grew worse in wickedness through his before mentioned companions in wine, who were lost to all goodness;

26 and not satisfied with countless acts of impiety, his audacity so increased that he raised evil reports there, and many of his friends, watching his purpose attentively, joined in furthering his will.

27 His purpose was to indict a public stigma upon our race; wherefore he erected a pillar at the tower-porch, and caused the following inscription to be engraved upon it:

28 That entrance to their own temple was to be refused to all those who would not sacrifice; that all the Jews were to be registered among the common people; that those who resisted were to be forcibly seized and put to death;

29 that those who were thus registered, were to be marked on their persons by the ivy-leaf symbol of Dionysus, and to be set apart with these limited rights.

30 To do away with the appearance of hating them all, he had it written underneath, that if any of them should elect to enter the community of those initiated in the rites, these should have equal rights with the Alexandrians.

31 Some of those who were over the city, therefore, abhorring any approach to the city of piety, unhesitatingly gave in to the king, and expected to derive some great honor from a future connection with him.

32 A nobler spirit, however, prompted the majority to cling to their religious observances, and by paying money that they might live unmolested, these sought to escape the registration:

33 cheerfully looking forward to future aid, they abhorred their own apostates, considering them to be national foes, and debarring them from the common usages of social intercourse.

1 On discovering this, so incensed was the wicked king, that he no longer confined his rage to the Jews in Alexandria. Laying his hand more heavily upon those who lived in the country, he gave orders that they should be quickly collected into one place, and most cruelly deprived of their lives.

2 While this was going on, an invidious rumour was uttered abroad by men who had banded together to injure the Jewish race. The purport of their charge was, that the Jews kept them away from the ordinances of the law.

3 Now, while the Jews always maintained a feeling of un-swerving loyalty towards the kings,

4 yet, as they worshipped God, and observed his law, they made certain distinctions, and avoided certain things. Hence some persons held them in odium;

5 although, as they adorned their conversation with works of righteousness, they had established themselves in the good opinion of the world.

6 What all the rest of mankind said, was, however, made of no account by the foreigners;

7 who said much of the exclusiveness of the Jews with regard to their worship and meats; they alleged that they were men unsociable, hostile to the king’s interests, refusing to associate with him or his troops. By this way of speaking, they brought much odium upon them.

8 Nor was this unexpected uproar and sudden conflux of people unobserved by the Greeks who lived in the city, concerning men who had never harmed them: yet to aid them was not in their power, since all was oppression around; but they encouraged them in their troubles, and expected a favourable turn of affairs:

9 He who knows all things, will not,said they,disregard so great a people.

10 Some of the neighbors, friends, and fellow dealers of the Jews, even called them secretly to an interview, pledged them their assistance, and promised to do their very utmost for them.

11 Now the king, elated with his prosperous fortune, and not regarding the superior power of God, but thinking to persevere in his present purpose, wrote the following letter to the prejudice of the Jews.

12 King Ptolemy Philopater, to the commanders and soldiers in Egypt, and in all places, health and happiness!

13 I am right well; and so, too, are my affairs.

14 Since our Asiatic campaign, the particulars of which you⌃ know, and which by the aid of the gods, not lightly given, and by our own vigour, has been brought to a successful issue according to our expectation,

15 we resolved, not with strength of spear, but with gentleness and much humanity, as it were to nurse the inhabitants of Coele-Syria and Phoenicia, and to be their willing benefactors.

16 So, having bestowed considerable sums of money upon the temples of the several cities, we proceeded even as far as Jerusalem; and went up to honor the temple of these wretched beings who never cease from their folly.

17 To outward appearance they received us willingly; but belied that appearance by their deeds. When we were eager to enter their temple, and to honor it with the most beautiful and exquisite gifts,

18 they were so carried away by their old arrogance, as to forbid us the entrance; while we, out of our forbearance toward all men, refrained from exercising our power upon them.

19 And thus, exhibiting their enmity against us, they alone among the nations lift up their heads against kings and benefactors, as men unwilling to submit to any thing reasonable.

20 We then, having endeavoured to make allowance for the madness of these persons, and on our victorious return treating all people in Egypt courteously, acted in a manner which was befitting.

21 Accordingly, bearing no ill-will against their kinsmenat Jerusalem,but rather remembering our connection with them, and the numerous matters with sincere heart from a remote period entrusted to them, we wished to venture a total alteration of their state, by bestowing upon them the rights of citizens of Alexandria, and to admit them to the everlasting rites of our solemnities.

22 All this, however, they have taken in a very different spirit. With their innate malignity, they have spurned the fair offer; and constantly inclining to evil,

23 have rejected the inestimable rights. Not only so, but by using speech, and by refraining from speech, they abhor the few among them who are heartily disposed towards us; ever deeming that their ignoble course of procedure will force us to do away with our reform.

24 Having then, received certain proofs that theseJewsbear us every sort of ill-will, we must look forward to the possibility of some sudden tumult among ourselves, when these impious men may turn traitors and barbarous enemies.

25 As soon, therefore, as the contents of this letter become known to you, in that same hour we order thoseJewswho dwell among you, with wives and children, to be sent to us, vilified and abused, in chains of iron, to undergo a death, cruel and ignominious, suitable to men disaffected.

26 For by the punishment of them in one body we perceive that we have found the only means of establishing our affairs for the future on a firm and satisfactory basis.

27 Whosoever shall shield a Jew, whether it be old man, child, or suckling, shall with his whole house be tortured to death.

28 Whoever shall inform against theJews,besides receiving the property of the person charged, shall be presented with two thousand drachmas from the royal treasury, shall be made free, and shall be crowned.

29 Whatever place shall shelter a Jew, shall, when he is hunted forth, be put under the ban of fire, and be for ever rendered useless to every living being for all time to come.

30 Such was the purport of the king’s letter.

1 Then he called Hermon, who had charge of the elephants. Full of rage, altogether fixed in his furious design,

2 he commanded him, with a quantity of unmixed wine and handfuls of incenseinfusedto drug the elephants early on the following day. These five hundred elephants were, when infuriated by the copious draughts of frankincense, to be led up to the execution of death upon the Jews.

3 The king, after issuing these orders, went to his feasting, and gathered together all those of his friends and of the army who hated the Jews the most.

4 The master of the elephants, Hermon, fulfilled his commission punctually.

5 The underlings appointed for the purpose went out about eventide and bound the hands of the miserable victims, and took other precautions for their security at night, thinking that the whole race would perish together.

6 The heathen believed the Jews to be destitute of all protection; for chains fettered them about.

7 they invoked the Almighty Lord, and ceaselessly implored with tears their merciful God and Father, Ruler of all, Lord of every power,

8 to overthrow the evil purpose which was gone out against them, and to deliver them by extraordinary manifestation from that death which was in store for them.

9 Their litany so earnest went up to heaven.

10 Then Hermon, who had filled his merciless elephants with copious draughts of mingled wine and frankincense, came early to the palace to certify the kind thereof.

11 He, however, who has sent his good creature sleep from all time by night or by day thus gratifying whom he wills, diffused a portion thereof now upon the king.

12 By this sweet and profound influence of the Lord he was held fast, and thus his unjust purpose was quite frustrated, and his unflinching resolve greatly falsified.

13 But the Jews, having escaped the hour which had been fixed, praised their holy God, and again prayed him who is easily reconciled to display the power of his powerful hand to the overweening Gentiles.

14 The middle of the tenth hour had well near arrived, when the master-bidder, seeing the guests who were bidden collected, came and shook the king.

15 He gained his attention with difficulty, and hinting that the mealtime was getting past, talked the matter over with him.

16 The king listened to this, and then turning aside to his potations, commanded the guests to sit down before him.

17 This done, he asked them to enjoy themselves, and to indulge in mirth at this somewhat late hour of the banquet.

18 Conversation grew on, and the king sent for Hermon, and enquired of him, with fierce denunciations, why the Jews had been allowed to outlive that day.

19 Hermon explained that he had done his bidding over night; and in this he was confirmed by his friends.

20 The king, then, with a barbarity exceeding that of Phalaris, said, That they might thank his sleep of that day. Lose no time, and get ready the elephants against tomorrow, as you did before, for the destruction of these accursed Jews.

21 When the king said this, the company present were glad, and approved; and then each man went to his own home.

22 Nor did they employ the night in sleep, so much as in contriving cruel mockeries for those deemed miserable.

23 The morning cock had just crowed, and Hermon, having harnessed the brutes, was stimulating them in the great colonnade.

24 The city crowds were collected together to see the hideous spectacle, and waited impatiently for the dawn.

25 The Jews, breathless with momentary suspense, stretched forth their hands, and prayed the Greatest God, in mournful strains, again to help them speedily.

26 The sun’s rays were not yet shed abroad, and the king was waiting for his friends, when Hermon came to him, calling him out, and saying, That his desires could now be realized.

27 The king, receiving him, was astonished at his unwonted exit; and, overwhelmed with a spirit of oblivion about everything, enquired the object of this earnest preparation.

28 But this was the working of that Almighty God who had made him forget all his purpose.

29 Hermon, and all his friends, pointed out the preparation of the animals. They are ready, O king, according to your own strict injunction.

30 The king was filled with fierce anger at these words; for, by the Providence of God regarding these things, his mind had become entirely confused. He looked hard at Hermon, and threatened him as follows:

31 Your parents, or your children, were they here, to these wild beasts a large repast they should have furnished; not these innocent Jews, who me and my forefathers loyally have served.

32 Had it not been for familiar friendship, and the claims of your office, your life should have gone for theirs.

33 Hermon, being threatened in this unexpected and alarming manner, was troubled in visage, and depressed in countenance.

34 The friends, too, stole out one by one, and dismissed the assembled multitudes to their respective occupations.

35 The Jews, having heard of these events, praised the glorious God and King of kings, because they had obtained this help, too, from him.

36 Now the king arranged another banquet after the same manner, and proclaimed an invitation to mirth.

37 And he summoned Hermon to his presence, and said, with threats, How often, O wretch, must I repeat my orders to you about these same persons?

38 Once more, arm the elephants against the morrow for the extermination of the Jews.

39 His kinsmen, who were reclining with him, wondered at his instability, and thus expressed themselves:

40 O king, how long do you make trial of us, as of men bereft of reason? This is the third time that you have ordered their destruction. When the thing is to be done, you change your mind, and recall your instructions.

41 For this cause the feeling of expectation causes tumult in the city: it swarms with factions; and is continually on the point of being plundered.

42 The king, just like another Phalaris, a prey to thoughtlessness, made no account of the changes which his own mind had undergone, issuing in the deliverance of the Jews. He swore a fruitless oath, and determined forthwith to send them to hades, crushed by the knees and feet of the elephants.

43 He would also invade Judea, and level its towns with fire and the sword; and destroy that temple which the heathen might not enter, and prevent sacrifices ever after being offered up there.

44 Joyfully his friends broke up, together with his kinsmen; and, trusting in his determination, arranged their forces in guard at the most convenient places of the city.

45 And the master of the elephants urged the beasts into an almost maniacal state, drenched them with incense and wine, and decked them with frightful instruments.

46 About early morning, when the city was now filled with an immense number of people at the hippodrome, he entered the palace, and called the king to the business in hand.

47 The king’s heart teemed with impious rage; and he rushed forth with the mass, along with the elephants. With feelings unsoftened, and eyes pitiless, he longed to gaze at the hard and wretched doom of the above-mentionedJews.

48 But theJews, when the elephants went out at the gate, followed by the armed force; and when they saw the dust raised by the throng, and heard the loud cries of the crowd,

49 thought that they had come to the last moment of their lives, to the end of what they had tremblingly expected. They gave way, therefore, to lamentations and moans: they kissed each other: those nearest of kin to each other hung about one another’s necks: fathers about their sons, mother their daughters: other women held their infants to their breasts, which drew what seemed their last milk.

50 Nevertheless, when they reflected upon the succour before granted them from heaven, they prostrated themselves with one accord; removed even the sucking children from the breasts, and

51 sent up an exceeding great cry entreating the Lord of all power to reveal himself, and have mercy upon those who now lay at the gates of hades.

1 And Eleazar, an illustrious priest of the country, who had attained to length of days, and whose life had been adorned with virtue, caused the presbyters who were about him to cease to cry out to the holy God, and prayed thus:

2 O king, mighty in power, most high, Almighty God, who regulates the whole creation with your tender mercy,

3 look upon the seed of Abraham, upon the children of the sanctified Jacob, your sanctified inheritance, O Father, now being wrongfully destroyed as strangers in a strange land.

4 You destroyed Pharaoh, with his hosts of chariots, when that lord of this same Egypt was uplifted with lawless hardihood and loud-sounding tongue. Shedding the beams of your mercy upon the race of Israel, you did overwhelm him with his proud army.

5 When Sennacherim, the grievous king of the Assyrians, glorying in his countless hosts, had subdued the whole land with his spear, and was lifting himself against your holy city, with boastings grievous to be endured, you, O Lord, did demolish him and did show forth your might to many nations.

6 When the three friends in the land of Babylon of their own will exposed their lives to the fire rather than serve vain things, you did send a dewy coolness through the fiery furnace, and bring the fire upon all their adversaries.

7 It was you who, when Daniel was hurled, through slander and envy, as a prey to lions down below, did bring him back against unhurt to light.

8 When Jonah was pining away in the belly of the sea-bred monster, you did look upon him, O Father, and recover him to the sight of his own.

9 And now, you who hate insolence; you who do abound in mercy; you who are the protector of all things; appear quickly to those of the race of Israel, who are insulted by abhorred, lawless gentiles.

10 If our life has during our exile been stained with iniquity, deliver us from the hand of the enemy, and destroy us, O Lord, by the death which you prefer.

11 Let not the vain-minded congratulate vain idols at the destruction of your beloved, saying, Neither did their god deliver them.

12 You, who are All-powerful and Almighty, O Eternal One, behold! have mercy upon us who are being withdrawn from life, like traitors, by the unreasoning insolence of lawless men.

13 Let the heathen cower before your invincible might today, O glorious One, who have all power to save the race of Jacob.

14 The whole band of infants and their parents with tears beseech you.

15 Let it be shewn to all the nations that you are with us, O Lord, and have not turned your face away from us; but as you said that you would not forget them even in the land of their enemies, so do you fulfil this saying, O Lord.

16 Now, at the time that Eleazar had ended his prayer, the king came along to the hippodrome, with the wild beasts, and with his tumultuous power.

17 When the Jews saw this, they uttered a loud cry to heaven, so that the adjacent valleys resounded, and caused an irrepressible lamentation throughout the army.

18 Then the all-glorious, all-powerful, and true God, displayed his holy countenance, and opened the gates of heaven, from which two angels, dreadful of form, came down and were visible to all but the Jews.

19 And they stood opposite, and filled the enemies’ host with confusion and cowardice; and bound them with immoveable fetters.

20 And a cold shudder came over the person of the king, and oblivion paralysed the vehemence of his spirit.

21 They turned back the animals upon the armed forces which followed them; and the animals trod them down, and destroyed them.

22 The king’s wrath was converted into compassion; and he wept at his own machinations.

23 For when he heard the cry, and saw them all on the verge of destruction, with tears he angrily threatened his friends, saying,

24 You⌃ have governed badly; and have exceeded tyrants in cruelty; and me your benefactor you⌃ have laboured to deprive at once of my dominion and my life, by secretly devising measures injurious to the kingdom.

25 Who has gathered here, unreasonably removing each from his home, those who, in fidelity to us, had held the fortresses of the country?

26 Who has thus consigned to unmerited punishments those who in good will towards us from the beginning have in all things surpassed all nations, and who often have engaged in the most dangerous undertakings?

27 Loose, loose the unjust bonds; send them to their homes in peace, and deprecate what has been done.

28 Release the sons of the almighty living God of heaven, who from our ancestors’ times until now has granted a glorious and uninterrupted prosperity to our affairs.

29 These things he said; and they, released the same moment, having now escaped death, praised God their holy Saviour.

30 The king then departed to the city, and called his financier to him, and bade him provide a seven days’ quantity of wine and other materials for feasting for the Jews. He decided that they should keep a gladsome festival of deliverance in the very place in which they expected to meet with their destruction.

31 Then they who were before despised and near to hades, yes, rather advanced into it, partook of the cup of salvation, instead of a grievous and lamentable death. Full of exultation, they parted out the place intended for their fall and burial into banqueting booths.

32 Ceasing their miserable strain of woe, they took up the subject of their fatherland, hymning in praise God their wonder-working Saviour. All groans, all wailing, were laid aside: they formed dances in token of serene joy.

33 So, also, the king collected a number of guests for the occasion, and returned unceasing thanks with much magnificence for the unexpected deliverance afforded him.

34 Those who had marked them out as for death and for carrion, and had registered them with joy, howled aloud, and were clothed with shame, and had the fire of their rage ingloriously put out.

35 But the Jews, as we just said, instituted a dance, and then gave themselves up to feasting, glad thanksgivings, and psalms.

36 They made a public ordinance to commemorate these things for generations to come, as long as they should be sojourners. They thus established these days as days of mirth, not for the purpose of drinking or luxury, but because God had saved them.

37 They requested the king to send them back to their homes.

38 They were being enrolled from the twenty-fifth of Pachon to the fourth of Epiphi, a period of forty days: the measures taken for their destruction lasted from the fifth of Epiphi till the seventh, that is, three days.

39 The Ruler over all did during this time manifest forth his mercy gloriously, and did deliver them all together unharmed.

40 They feasted upon the king’s provision up to the fourteenth day, and then asked to be sent away.

41 The king commended them, and wrote the subjoined letter, of magnanimous import for them, to the commanders of every city.

1 WHEN the holy city was inhabited with all peace, and the laws were kept very well, because of the godliness of Onias the high priest, and his hatred of wickedness,

2 it came to pass that even the kings themselves did honor the place, and glorify the temple with the noblest presents;

3 insomuch that even Seleucus the king of Asia of his own revenues bare all the costs belonging to the services of the sacrifices.

4 But one Simon of the tribe of Benjamin, having been made guardian of the temple, fell out with the high priest about theruling of the market in the city.

5 And when he could not overcome Onias, he got him to Apolloniusthe sonofThrasaeus, who at that time was governor of Coelesyria and Phoenicia:

6 and he brought him word how that the treasury in Jerusalem was full of untold sums of money, so that the multitude of the funds was innumerable, and that they did not pertain to the account of the sacrifices, but that it was possible that these should fall under the king’s power.

7 And when Apollonius met the king, he informed him of the money whereof he had been told; and thekingappointed Heliodorus, who was his chancellor, and sent him with a commandment to accomplish the removal of the aforesaid money.

8 So forthwith Heliodorus took his journey, under a color of visiting the cities of Coelesyria and Phoenicia, but in fact to execute the king’s purpose.

9 And when he was come to Jerusalem, and had been courteously received by the high priestof the city, he laid beforetheman account of the information which had been givenhim,and declared wherefore he was come; and he inquired if in truth these things were so.

10 And the high priest explained to him that there werein the treasurydeposits of widows and orphans,

11 and moreover somemoneybelonging to Hyrcanus thesonof Tobias, a man in very high place,and that the case wasnot as that impious Simon falsely alleged; and that in all there were four hundred talents of silver and two hundred of gold;

12 and that it was altogether impossible that wrong should be done to them that had put trust in the holiness of the place, and in the majesty and inviolable sanctity of the temple, honored over all the world.

13 ButHeliodorus, because of the king’s commandments given him, said that in any case thismoneymust be confiscated for the king’s treasury.

14 So having appointed a day, he entered in to direct the inquiry concerning these matters; and there was no small distress throughout the whole city.

15 And the priests, prostrating themselves before the altar in their priestly garments, andlookingtoward heaven, called upon him that gave the law concerning deposits, that he should preserve thesetreasuressafe for those that had deposited them.

16 And whoever saw the mien of the high priest was wounded in mind; for his countenance and the change of his color betrayed the distress of his soul.

17 For a terror and a shuddering of the body had come over the man, whereby the pain that was in his heart was plainly shewn to them that looked upon him.

18 And they that were in the houses rushed flocking out to make a universal supplication, because the place was like to come into contempt.

19 And the women, girded with sackcloth under their breasts, thronged the streets, and the virgins that were kept in ward ran together, some to thegates, others to the walls, and some looked out through the windows.

20 And all, stretching forth their hands toward heaven, made their solemn supplication.

21 Then it would have pitied a man to see the multitude prostrating themselves all mingled together, and the expectation of the high priest in his sore distress.

22 While therefore they called upon the Almighty Lord to keep the things intrustedto themsafe and sure for those that had intrusted them,

23 Heliodorus went on to execute that which had been decreed.

24 But when he was already present there with his guards over against the treasury, the Soverign of spirits and of all authority caused a greatapparition, so that all that had presumed to comeinwith him, stricken with dismay at the power of God, fainted and were sore afraid.

25 For there was seen by them a horse with a terrible rider upon him, and adorned with beautiful trappings, and he rushed fiercely and struck at Heliodorus with his forefeet, and it seemed that he that sat upon the horse had complete armor of gold.

26 Two other also appeared to him, young men notable in their strength, and beautiful in their glory, and splendid in their apparel, who stood by him on either side, and scourged him unceasingly, inflicting on him many sore stripes.

27 And when he had fallen suddenly to the ground, and great darkness had come over him,his guardscaught him up and put him into a litter,

28 and carried him, him that had just now entered with a great train and all his guard into the aforesaid treasury, himself now brought to utter helplessness, manifestly made to recognize the sovereignty of God.

29 And so, while he, through the working of God, speechless and bereft of all hope and deliverance, lay prostrate,

30 they blessed the Lord, that made marvelous his own place; and the temple, which a little before was full of terror and alarm, was filled with joy and gladness after the Almighty Lord appeared.

31 But quickly certain of Heliodorus’s familiar friends implored Onias to call upon the Most High, and grant life to him who lay quite at the last gasp.

32 And the high priest, secretly fearing lest the king might come to think that some treachery toward Heliodorus had been perpetrated by the Jews, brought a sacrifice for the deliverance of the man.

33 But as the high priest was making the propitiation, the same young men appeared again to Heliodorus, arrayed in the same garments; and they stood and said, Give Onias the high priest great thanks, for for his sake the Lord has granted you life;

34 and do you, since you have been scourged from heaven, publish to all men the sovereign majesty of God. And when they had spoken these words, they vanished out of sight.

35 So Heliodorus, having offered a sacrifice to the Lord and vowedgreat vows to him that had saved his life, and having graciously received Onias, returned with his host to the king.

36 And he testified to all men the works of thegreat God which he had seen with his eyes.

37 And when the king asked Heliodorus, what manner of man was fit to be sent yet once again to Jerusalem, he said,

38 If you have any enemy or conspirator against the state, send him there, and you shall receive him back well scourged, if he even escape with his life; because of a truth there is about the place a power of God.

39 For he that has his dwelling in heaven himself has his eyes upon that place, and helps it; and them that come to hurt it he smiteth and destroys.

40 And such was the history of Heliodorus and the keeping of the treasury.

1 THE brethren, the Jews that are in Jerusalem and they that are in the country of Judaea, send greeting to the brethren, the Jews that are throughout Egypt,and wish themgood peace:

2 and may God do good to you, and remember his covenant with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, his faithful servants;

3 and give you all a heart to worship him and do hispleasure with a great heart and a willing soul;

4 and open your heart in his law and in his statutes, and make peace,

5 and hearken to your supplications, and be reconciled with you, and not forsake you in an evil time.

6 And now we here are praying for you.

7 In the reign of Demetrius, in the hundred threescore and ninth year, we the Jews havealreadywritten to you in the tribulation and in the extremity that has come upon us in these years, from the time that Jason and his company revolted from the holy land and the kingdom,

8 and set thegate on fire, and shed innocent blood: and we implored the Lord, and were heard; and we offered sacrifice and mealoffering,and we lighted the lamps, and we set forth theshow bread.

9 And nowseethat you⌃ keep the days of the feast of tabernacles of the month Chislev.

10 Writtenin the hundred fourscore and eighth year.

THEY that are in Jerusalem and they that are in Judaea and the senate and Judas, to Aristobulus, king Ptolemy’s teacher, who is also of the stock of the anointed priests, and to the Jews that are in Egypt, send greeting and health.

11 Having been saved by God out of great perils, as men arrayed against a king, we thank him greatly.

12 For himself cast forth into Persia them that arrayed themselvesagainst usin the holy city.

13 For when the prince was comethere,and the army with him that seemed irresistible, they were cut to pieces in the temple of Nanaea by the treachery of Nanaea’s priests.

14 For Antiochus, on the pretense that he would marry her, came into the place, he and hisFriends that were with him, that they might take a great part of the treasures in name of a dowry.

15 And when the priests of Nanaea’s temple had setthe treasures forth, and he was come there with a small company within the wall of the precincts, they shut to the temple when Antiochus was come in:

16 and opening the secret door of the panelled cieling, they threw stones andstruck down the prince, and they hewedhim and his companyin pieces, and struck off their heads, and cast them to those that were without.

17 Blessedbeour God in all things, who gavefor a preythem that had committed impiety.

18 Whereas we are now about to keep the purification of the temple in themonthChislev, on the five and twentieth day, we thought it necessary to certify you thereof, thatyou⌃ also may keep a feast of tabernacles, anda memorialof the firewhich was givenwhen Nehemiah offered sacrifices, after that he had builded both the temple and the altar.

19 For indeed when our fathers were about to be led into the land of Persia, the godly priests of that time took of the fire of the altar, and hid it privily in the hollow of a well that was without water, wherein they madeitsure, so that the place was unknown to all men.

20 Now after many years, when it pleased God, Nehemiah, having received a charge from the king of Persia, sent in quest of the fire the descendants of the priests that hid it. When they declared to us that they had found no fire, but thick water,

21 he commanded them to draw out thereof and bringto him:and whenthe sacrifices had been offeredon the altar,Nehemiah commanded the priests to sprinkle with the water both the wood and the things laid thereupon.

22 And when it was done, and some time had passed, and the sun shone out, which before was hid with clouds, there was kindled a great blaze, so that all men marveled.

23 And the priests made a prayer while the sacrifice was consuming, both the priests and allothers,Jonathan leading and the rest answering, as Nehemiah did.

24 And the prayer was after this manner:

O Lord, Lord God, the Creator of all things, who are terrible and strong and righteous and merciful, who alone are King and gracious,

25 who alone suppliestevery need,who alone are righteous and almighty and eternal, you that save Israel out of all evil, who made the fathersyourchosen, and did sanctify them:

26 accept the sacrifice for all your people Israel, and guard your own portion, and consecrate it.

27 Gather together our Dispersion, set at liberty them that are in bondage among the heathen, look upon them that are despised and abhorred, and let the heathen know that you are our God.

28 Torment them that oppress us and in arrogancy shamefully entreat us.

29 Plant your people in your holy place, even as Moses said.

30 And thereupon the priests sang the hymns.

31 And as soon as the sacrifice was consumed, then Nehemiah commandedto pourongreat stones the water that was left.

32 And when this was done, a flame was kindled;but when the light from the altarshone over against it,allwas consumed.

33 And when the matter became known, and it was told the king of the Persians, that, in the place where the priests that were led away had hid the fire, there appeared the water, wherewith also Nehemiah and they that were with him purified the sacrifice,

34 then the king, inclosingthe place,made it sacred, after he had proved the matter.

35 And when the king would show favor to any, he would takefrom themmany presents and give them some ofthis water.

36 And Nehemiah and they that were with him called this thing Nephthar, which is by interpretation, Cleansing; but most men call it Nephthai.