I Maccabees 14

¹In the hundrid and two and seuenti yeer kyng Demetrie gaderide his oost, and wente to Medei, for to drawe togidere helpis to hym, for to ouercome Trifon.

²And as Arsases, kyng of Persis and Medei, herde that Demetrie entride in to his niy coostis, he sente oon of hise princes, for to take hym quyk, and that he schulde brynge hym to hym silf.

³And he wente, and smoot tentis, `ether oost, of Demetrie, and took hym, and ledde hym to Arsaces, and he puttide hym in to kepyng.

⁴And the lond of Juda was pesible in alle daies of Symount, and he souyte goode thingis of his folc; and his power and his glorie pleside to hem in alle daies.

⁵And with al his glorie he took Joppe in to hauene, and made entre in to ilis of the see;

⁶and alargide the coostis of his puple, and weldide the cuntre.

⁷And he gaderide myche caitifte, and was lord in Gasara, and Bethsura, and the hiy tour; and dide awei vnclennessis of it, and ther was not that ayenstood hym.

⁸And ech man tilide his owne lond with pees, and the lond of Juda yaf hise fruitis, and trees of feeldis her fruitis.

⁹Eldere men saten alle in stretis, and tretiden of goodis of the lond; and yonge men clothiden hem in glorie, and in stoolis of batel.

¹⁰And to the citees he yaf foodis, and ordeynede tho, that tho weren vessels of strengthing, til that the name of his glorie was named til to the laste of erthe.

¹¹He made pees on the lond, and Israel was glad with greet gladnesse;

¹²and ech man sat vndur his vyne, and vndur his fige tree, nether ther was that feeride hem.

¹³The fiytynge man ayens hem failide on erthe; kyngis weren al to-brokun in tho daies.

¹⁴And he confermyde alle meke men of his puple, and he souyte out the lawe, and dide awei al yuel and wickidnesse;

¹⁵and he glorifiede hooli thingis, and multipliede vessels of hooli thingis.

¹⁶And it was herd at Rome, that Jonathas was deed, and til in to Sparciatis, and thei weren ful soreuful.

¹⁷Forsothe as thei herden, that Symount, his brother, was maad hiyeste preest in his stide, and he weldide the cuntre, and citees in it,

¹⁸thei writiden to hym in brasun tablis, for to renule frenschip, and felouschip, that thei maden with Judas and Jonathas, his britheren;

¹⁹and thei weren rad in the siyt of the chirche in Jerusalem. And this is ensaumple of pistlis, that Sparciatis senten.

²⁰The prince and citees of Sparciatis to Symount, greet prest, and to the eldere men, and prestis, and to othere puple of Jewis, britheren, heelthe.

²¹Legatis that weren sente to oure puple, telden to vs of youre glorie, and onour, and gladnesse, and we ioieden in the entree of hem.

²²And we han write what thingis weren seid of hem in councels of puple, thus. Numenyus, the sone of Antiok, and Antipater, the sone of Jason, legatis of Jewis, camen to vs, and renulide with vs the formere frendschip.

²³And it pleside to the puple, for to resseyue the men gloriousli, and to putte ensaumple of her wordis in departid bookis of the puple, that it be to mynde to the puple of Sparciatis; forsothe we han write ensaumple of these thingis to Symount, the greet preest.

²⁴Forsothe aftir these thingis Symount sente Numenyus to Rome, hauynge a greet goldun scheeld, in weiyte of a thousynde besauntis, for to ordeyne felouschip with hem. Sotheli whanne the puple of Rome herde these wordis,

²⁵thei seiden, What doyng of thankyngis schulen we yelde to Symount, and his sones?

²⁶For he restoride his britheren, and ouercam the enemyes of Israel fro hem. And thei ordeyneden to hym liberte, and writiden in brasun tablis, and Jewis puttiden in titlis, in the mount of Sion.

²⁷And this is ensaumple of writyng. In the eiytenthe dai of the monethe Ebul, in the hundrid and two and seuenti yeer, the thridde yeer vndur Symount, greet preest, in Asaramael,

²⁸in the greet comyng togidere of prestis, of the puple, and princis, and folc, and `eldere men of the cuntre, these thingis weren maad knowun; for many tymes batels weren don in youre cuntre.

²⁹Forsothe Symount, the sone of Matatias, of the sones of Jarib, and his britheren, yauen hem silf to perel, and ayenstoden aduersaries of her folc, that her hooli thingis and lawe schulde stonde; and bi greet glorye thei glorifieden her folc.

³⁰And Jonathas gaderide his folc, and was maad to hem a greet preest, and is put to his puple.

³¹And the enemyes of hem wolden defoule holi thingis, and distrie the cuntre of hem, and stretche forth hond in to hooli thingis `of hem.

³²Thanne Symount ayenstood, and fauyt for his puple, and yaf many richessis, and armyd men of vertu of his folc, and yaf to hem sowdis;

³³and strengthide the citees of Juda, and Bethsura, that was in the endis of Judee, where bifor weren armeris of enemyes, and he puttide there help, men of Jewis.

³⁴And he strengthide Joppe, that was at the see, and Gasara, that was in coostis of Asotus, in which enemyes dwelten bifore; and he settide there Jewis, and what euere thingis weren able to amendyng of hem, he puttede in hem.

³⁵And the puple siy the doyng of Symount, and glorie that he thouyte `for to do to his folc, and thei maden hym her duyk, and prince of preestis, for that he hadde don alle these thingis, and riytwisnesse, and feith that he kepte to his folc; and he souyte out in al maner for to raise hys puple.

³⁶And in hise daies it hadde prosperite in his hondis, that hethene men weren takun awei fro the cuntre of hem, whiche weren in the citee of Dauid in Jerusalem, in the hiy tour; fro which thei camen out, and defouliden alle thingis that weren in cumpas of hooli thingis, and yauen greet wounde to chastite.

³⁷And he settide ther ynne men Jewis, to defendyng of the cuntre and citee, and reiside the wallis in Jerusalem.

³⁸And kyng Demetrie ordeynede to hym the hiyeste presthod;

³⁹bi this he made him his frend, and glorifiede hym in greet glorie.

⁴⁰For he herde, that Jewis weren clepid of Romayns frendis, and felowis, and britheren, and that thei resseyueden legatis of Symount gloriousli;

⁴¹and that Jewis, and prestis of hem, consentiden, him for to be her duyk, and hiyeste preest with outen ende, til ther rise a feithful profete;

⁴²and that he be duyk on hem, and cure were to him for hooli thingis; and that he schulde ordeyne gouernouris on the werkis of hem, and on the cuntre, and on armeris, and on strengthis;

⁴³and cure be to hym of hooli thingis; and that he be herd of men, and alle writyngis in the cuntre be writun togidere vndur name of hym; and that he be keuered with purpur and gold;

⁴⁴and that it be not leueful to ony of the puple, and to prestis, for to make ony thing of these voide, and ayenseie to these thingis that ben seid of hym, ether for to clepe togidere couent in the cuntre with outen hym; and for to be clothid in purpur, and for to vse a goldun lace, `ether noche.

⁴⁵Sotheli he that schal do with out this, ether schal make voide ony of these, schal be gilti.

⁴⁶And it pleside togidere to al the puple, for to ordeyne Symount, and do bi these wordis.

⁴⁷And Symount resseyuede, and it pleside hym, that he schulde vse hiyeste preesthod, and be duyk and prince of the folc of Jewis, and prestis, and be souereyn of alle men.

⁴⁸And thei ordeyneden for to put this writyng in brasun tablis, and put hem in the wal aboute the cumpassyng of hooli thingis, in solempne place;

⁴⁹forsothe for to putte ensaumple of these in the tresorie, that Symount haue and hise sones.

I Maccabees 14

¹Now in the hundred threescore and twelfth year king Demetrius gathered his forces together, and went into Media to get him help to fight against Tryphone.

²But when Arsaces, the king of Persia and Media, heard that Demetrius was entered within his borders, he sent one of his princes to take him alive:

³Who went and smote the host of Demetrius, and took him, and brought him to Arsaces, by whom he was put in ward.

⁴As for the land of Judea, that was quiet all the days of Simon; for he sought the good of his nation in such wise, as that evermore his authority and honour pleased them well.

⁵And as he was honourable in all his acts, so in this, that he took Joppa for an haven, and made an entrance to the isles of the sea,

⁶And enlarged the bounds of his nation, and recovered the country,

⁷And gathered together a great number of captives, and had the dominion of Gazera, and Bethsura, and the tower, out of the which he took all uncleanness, neither was there any that resisted him.

⁸Then did they till their ground in peace, and the earth gave her increase, and the trees of the field their fruit.

⁹The ancient men sat all in the streets, communing together of good things, and the young men put on glorious and warlike apparel.

¹⁰He provided victuals for the cities, and set in them all manner of munition, so that his honourable name was renowned unto the end of the world.

¹¹He made peace in the land, and Israel rejoiced with great joy:

¹²For every man sat under his vine and his fig tree, and there was none to fray them:

¹³Neither was there any left in the land to fight against them: yea, the kings themselves were overthrown in those days.

¹⁴Moreover he strengthened all those of his people that were brought low: the law he searched out; and every contemner of the law and wicked person he took away.

¹⁵He beautified the sanctuary, and multiplied vessels of the temple.

¹⁶Now when it was heard at Rome, and as far as Sparta, that Jonathan was dead, they were very sorry.

¹⁷But as soon as they heard that his brother Simon was made high priest in his stead, and ruled the country, and the cities therein:

¹⁸They wrote unto him in tables of brass, to renew the friendship and league which they had made with Judas and Jonathan his brethren:

¹⁹Which writings were read before the congregation at Jerusalem.

²⁰And this is the copy of the letters that the Lacedemonians sent; The rulers of the Lacedemonians, with the city, unto Simon the high priest, and the elders, and priests, and residue of the people of the Jews, our brethren, send greeting:

²¹The ambassadors that were sent unto our people certified us of your glory and honour: wherefore we were glad of their coming,

²²And did register the things that they spake in the council of the people in this manner; Numenius son of Antiochus, and Antipater son of Jason, the Jews’ ambassadors, came unto us to renew the friendship they had with us.

²³And it pleased the people to entertain the men honourably, and to put the copy of their ambassage in publick records, to the end the people of the Lacedemonians might have a memorial thereof: furthermore we have written a copy thereof unto Simon the high priest.

²⁴After this Simon sent Numenius to Rome with a great shield of gold of a thousand pound weight to confirm the league with them.

²⁵Whereof when the people heard, they said, What thanks shall we give to Simon and his sons?

²⁶For he and his brethren and the house of his father have established Israel, and chased away in fight their enemies from them, and confirmed their liberty.

²⁷So then they wrote it in tables of brass, which they set upon pillars in mount Sion: and this is the copy of the writing; The eighteenth day of the month Elul, in the hundred threescore and twelfth year, being the third year of Simon the high priest,

²⁸At Saramel in the great congregation of the priests, and people, and rulers of the nation, and elders of the country, were these things notified unto us.

²⁹Forasmuch as oftentimes there have been wars in the country, wherein for the maintenance of their sanctuary, and the law, Simon the son of Mattathias, of the posterity of Jarib, together with his brethren, put themselves in jeopardy, and resisting the enemies of their nation did their nation great honour:

³⁰(For after that Jonathan, having gathered his nation together, and been their high priest, was added to his people,

³¹Their enemies prepared to invade their country, that they might destroy it, and lay hands on the sanctuary:

³²At which time Simon rose up, and fought for his nation, and spent much of his own substance, and armed the valiant men of his nation and gave them wages,

³³And fortified the cities of Judea, together with Bethsura, that lieth upon the borders of Judea, where the armour of the enemies had been before; but he set a garrison of Jews there:

³⁴Moreover he fortified Joppa, which lieth upon the sea, and Gazera, that bordereth upon Azotus, where the enemies had dwelt before: but he placed Jews there, and furnished them with all things convenient for the reparation thereof.)

³⁵The people therefore sang the acts of Simon, and unto what glory he thought to bring his nation, made him their governor and chief priest, because he had done all these things, and for the justice and faith which he kept to his nation, and for that he sought by all means to exalt his people.

³⁶For in his time things prospered in his hands, so that the heathen were taken out of their country, and they also that were in the city of David in Jerusalem, who had made themselves a tower, out of which they issued, and polluted all about the sanctuary, and did much hurt in the holy place:

³⁷But he placed Jews therein. and fortified it for the safety of the country and the city, and raised up the walls of Jerusalem.

³⁸King Demetrius also confirmed him in the high priesthood according to those things,

³⁹And made him one of his friends, and honoured him with great honour.

⁴⁰For he had heard say, that the Romans had called the Jews their friends and confederates and brethren; and that they had entertained the ambassadors of Simon honourably;

⁴¹Also that the Jews and priests were well pleased that Simon should be their governor and high priest for ever, until there should arise a faithful prophet;

⁴²Moreover that he should be their captain, and should take charge of the sanctuary, to set them over their works, and over the country, and over the armour, and over the fortresses, that, I say, he should take charge of the sanctuary;

⁴³Beside this, that he should be obeyed of every man, and that all the writings in the country should be made in his name, and that he should be clothed in purple, and wear gold:

⁴⁴Also that it should be lawful for none of the people or priests to break any of these things, or to gainsay his words, or to gather an assembly in the country without him, or to be clothed in purple, or wear a buckle of gold;

⁴⁵And whosoever should do otherwise, or break any of these things, he should be punished.

⁴⁶Thus it liked all the people to deal with Simon, and to do as hath been said.

⁴⁷Then Simon accepted hereof, and was well pleased to be high priest, and captain and governor of the Jews and priests, and to defend them all.

⁴⁸So they commanded that this writing should be put in tables of brass, and that they should be set up within the compass of the sanctuary in a conspicuous place;

⁴⁹Also that the copies thereof should be laid up in the treasury, to the end that Simon and his sons might have them.