I Maccabees 7

¹In the hundrid yeer and oon and fifti Demetrie, sone of Sileuce, wente out fro the cite of Rome, and stiede with fewe men in to a citee niy the see, and regnede there.

²And it was don, as he entride in to the hous of the rewme of his fadris, the oost cauyte Antiok, and Lisias, for to brynge hem to hym.

³And the thing was knowun to hym, and he seide, Nyle ye schewe to me the face of hem.

⁴And the oost slow hem. And Demetrie sat on the seete of his rewme;

⁵and wickid men and vnfeithful of Israel camen to hym, and Alchymus, duyk of hem, that wolde be maad prest;

⁶and accusiden the puple anentis the kyng, and seiden, Judas and hise britheren loste thi frendis, and dyuerseli loste vs fro oure lond.

⁷Now therfor sende thou a man, to whom thou bileuest, that he go, and se al the distriyng that he hath don to vs, and to cuntreis of the kyng; and he punyschide alle frendis of hym, and helperis of hem.

⁸And the kyng chees of his frendis Bachides, that was lord ouer the greet flood in the rewme, and trewe to the kyng, and sente hym,

⁹for to see the distriyng that Judas dide; and he ordeynede vnfeithful Alchymus in to presthod, and bad hym do veniaunce on the sones of Israel.

¹⁰And thei risiden, and camen with greet oost in to the lond of Juda; and thei senten messangeris, and spaken to Judas and his britheren, with pesible wordis in gile.

¹¹And thei yauen not tent to her wordis; for thei siyen, that thei camen with greet oost.

¹²And the congregacioun of scribis camen togidere to Alchymus and Bachides, for to axe tho thingis that ben iust;

¹³and the firste Assideis, that weren among the sones of Israel, and thei axiden of hem pees.

¹⁴For thei seiden, A man, preist of the seed of Aaron, cometh, he schal not disseyue vs.

¹⁵And he spak with hem pesible wordis, and swoor to hem, and seide, We schulen not brynge in to you yuels, nether to youre frendis.

¹⁶And thei bileuyden to hym. And he cauyte of hem sixti men, and slow hem in o dai, bi the word that is writun,

¹⁷Thei shedden out the fleischis of thi seyntis, and blood of hem in cumpas of Jerusalem, and there was not that biriede.

¹⁸And drede and tremblyng felle in to al the puple, for thei seiden, Ther is not treuthe and dom in hem; for thei han brokun the ordynaunce, and the ooth that thei sworen.

¹⁹And Bachides mouyde tentis fro Jerusalem, and appliede in to Bethseca; and sente, and cauyte many of hem that fledden fro hym; and he killide summe of the puple, and castide in to a greet pitte.

²⁰And he bitook the regioun to Alchymus, and left with hym help, in to helpyng of hym. And Bachides wente to the kyng, and Alchymus dide ynow,

²¹for the princehod of his presthod.

²²And alle camen togidere to hym, whiche disturbliden her puple, and weldiden the lond of Juda; and diden greet veniaunce in Israel.

²³And Judas siy alle yuels, that Alchymus dide, and thei that weren with hym, to the sones of Israel, myche more than hethene men.

²⁴And he wente oute in to alle coostis of Judee in cumpas, and dide veniaunce on men forsakeris, and thei ceesiden for to go out ferthere in to the cuntrei.

²⁵Forsothe Alchimus siy, that Judas hadde victorie, and thei that weren with hym; and he knew that he mai not abide hem, and he wente ayen to the kyng, and accusiden hem in many synnes.

²⁶And the kyng sente Nicanor, oon of his noblere princes, that was hauntynge enemytees ayens Israel, and comaundide hym for to distrie the puple.

²⁷And Nycanor cam in to Jerusalem, with greet oost, and he sente to Judas and his britheren with gile, bi pesible wordis,

²⁸seiynge, Fiyte be not bitwixe me and you; Y schal come with fewe men, for to se youre faces with pees.

²⁹And he cam to Judas, and thei gretten hem togidere pesibli; and enemyes weren redi for to rauysche Judas.

³⁰And the word was knowun to Judas, that with gile he cam to hym; and he was aferd of hym, and he wolde no more se his face.

³¹And Nicanor knew, that his councel was knowun, and he wente out ayens Judas in to fiyt, bisidis Cafarsalama.

³²And ther fellen doun of Nicanoris oost almest fyue thousynde men, and thei fledden in to the citee of Dauid.

³³And after these wordis Nicanor stiede in to the hil of Sion, and ther wenten out of prestis of the puple, for to grete hym in pees, and for to schewe to hym brent sacrifices, that weren offrid for the kyng.

³⁴And he scornyde and dispiside hem, and defoulide, and spak proudli,

³⁵and swoor with wraththe, seiynge, If Judas schal not be takun, and his oost, in to myn hondis, anoon whanne Y schal turne ayen in pees, Y schal brenne this hous. And he wente out with greet wraththe.

³⁶And prestis entriden, and stoden bifore the face of the auter and temple,

³⁷and wepynge seiden, Thou, Lord, hast chosun this hous, for to clepe to helpe thi name in it, that it schulde be an hous of preier and biseching to thi puple; do thou veniaunce in this man,

³⁸and his oost, and falle thei bi swerd; haue mynde on her blasfemyes, and yyue not to hem that thei abide.

³⁹And Nicanor wente out fro Jerusalem, and appliede tentis to Betheron; and the oost of Sirie cam to him.

⁴⁰And Judas appliede in Adarsa, with thre thousynde men.

⁴¹And Judas preiede, and seide, Lord, an aungel wente out, and smoot an hundrid thousynde foure score and fyue thousyndis of hem, that weren sent fro the kyng Senacherib, for thei blasfemiden thee;

⁴²so al to-breke this oost in oure siyt to dai, and othere men wite, that he spak yuel on thin hooli thingis; and deme thou hym by the malice of hym.

⁴³And the oostis ioyneden batel in the thrittenthe dai of the monethe Adar; and tentis of Nicanor weren al to-brokun, and he felle doun the firste in batel.

⁴⁴Sothely as his oost siy, that Nicanor felle doun, thei castiden awei her armeris, and fledden.

⁴⁵And thei pursueden hem the weie of o dai, fro Adasor til me come in to Gasara; and thei sungen in trumpis after hem with signefiyngis.

⁴⁶And thei wenten out of alle castels of Judee in cumpas, and wyndewiden hem with hornes, and eftsoone weren conuertid to hem; and alle falliden bi swerd, and ther was not left of hem not oon.

⁴⁷And thei token the spuylis of hem to prey; and thei girdiden of the heed of Nicanor, and his riyt hond which he stretchide forth proudli, and thei brouyten, and hangiden ayens Jerusalem.

⁴⁸And the puple was glad greetli, and diden that dai in greet gladnesse;

⁴⁹and ordeyneden this dai for to be doon in alle yeeris, in the thritteneth day of the monethe Adar.

⁵⁰And the lond of Juda was stille a fewe dais.

I Maccabees 7

¹In the hundred and one and fiftieth year Demetrius the son of Seleucus departed from Rome, and came up with a few men unto a city of the sea coast, and reigned there.

²And as he entered into the palace of his ancestors, so it was, that his forces had taken Antiochus and Lysias, to bring them unto him.

³Wherefore, when he knew it, he said, Let me not see their faces.

⁴So his host slew them. Now when Demetrius was set upon the throne of his kingdom,

⁵There came unto him all the wicked and ungodly men of Israel, having Alcimus, who was desirous to be high priest, for their captain:

⁶And they accused the people to the king, saying, Judas and his brethren have slain all thy friends, and driven us out of our own land.

⁷Now therefore send some man whom thou trustest, and let him go and see what havock he hath made among us, and in the king’s land, and let him punish them with all them that aid them.

⁸Then the king chose Bacchides, a friend of the king, who ruled beyond the flood, and was a great man in the kingdom, and faithful to the king,

⁹And him he sent with that wicked Alcimus, whom he made high priest, and commanded that he should take vengeance of the children of Israel.

¹⁰So they departed, and came with a great power into the land of Judea, where they sent messengers to Judas and his brethren with peaceable words deceitfully.

¹¹But they gave no heed to their words; for they saw that they were come with a great power.

¹²Then did there assemble unto Alcimus and Bacchides a company of scribes, to require justice.

¹³Now the Assideans were the first among the children of Israel that sought peace of them:

¹⁴For said they, One that is a priest of the seed of Aaron is come with this army, and he will do us no wrong.

¹⁵So he spake unto them, peaceably, and sware unto them, saying, we will procure the harm neither of you nor your friends.

¹⁶Whereupon they believed him: howbeit he took of them threescore men, and slew them in one day, according to the words which he wrote,

¹⁷The flesh of thy saints have they cast out, and their blood have they shed round about Jerusalem, and there was none to bury them.

¹⁸Wherefore the fear and dread of them fell upon all the people, who said, There is neither truth nor righteousness in them; for they have broken the covenant and oath that they made.

¹⁹After this, removed Bacchides from Jerusalem, and pitched his tents in Bezeth, where he sent and took many of the men that had forsaken him, and certain of the people also, and when he had slain them, he cast them into the great pit.

²⁰Then committed he the country to Alcimus, and left with him a power to aid him: so Bacchides went to the king.

²¹But Alcimus contended for the high priesthood.

²²And unto him resorted all such as troubled the people, who, after they had gotten the land of Juda into their power, did much hurt in Israel.

²³Now when Judas saw all the mischief that Alcimus and his company had done among the Israelites, even above the heathen,

²⁴He went out into all the coasts of Judea round about, and took vengeance of them that had revolted from him, so that they durst no more go forth into the country.

²⁵On the other side, when Alcimus saw that Judas and his company had gotten the upper hand, and knew that he was not able to abide their force, he went again to the king, and said all the worst of them that he could.

²⁶Then the king sent Nicanor, one of his honourable princes, a man that bare deadly hate unto Israel, with commandment to destroy the people.

²⁷So Nicanor came to Jerusalem with a great force; and sent unto Judas and his brethren deceitfully with friendly words, saying,

²⁸Let there be no battle between me and you; I will come with a few men, that I may see you in peace.

²⁹He came therefore to Judas, and they saluted one another peaceably. Howbeit the enemies were prepared to take away Judas by violence.

³⁰Which thing after it was known to Judas, to wit, that he came unto him with deceit, he was sore afraid of him, and would see his face no more.

³¹Nicanor also, when he saw that his counsel was discovered, went out to fight against Judas beside Capharsalama:

³²Where there were slain of Nicanor’s side about five thousand men, and the rest fled into the city of David.

³³After this went Nicanor up to mount Sion, and there came out of the sanctuary certain of the priests and certain of the elders of the people, to salute him peaceably, and to shew him the burnt sacrifice that was offered for the king.

³⁴But he mocked them, and laughed at them, and abused them shamefully, and spake proudly,

³⁵And sware in his wrath, saying, Unless Judas and his host be now delivered into my hands, if ever I come again in safety, I will burn up this house: and with that he went out in a great rage.

³⁶Then the priests entered in, and stood before the altar and the temple, weeping, and saying,

³⁷Thou, O Lord, didst choose this house to be called by thy name, and to be a house of prayer and petition for thy people:

³⁸Be avenged of this man and his host, and let them fall by the sword: remember their blasphemies, and suffer them not to continue any longer.

³⁹So Nicanor went out of Jerusalem, and pitched his tents in Bethhoron, where an host out of Syria met him.

⁴⁰But Judas pitched in Adasa with three thousand men, and there he prayed, saying,

⁴¹O Lord, when they that were sent from the king of the Assyrians blasphemed, thine angel went out, and smote an hundred fourscore and five thousand of them.

⁴²Even so destroy thou this host before us this day, that the rest may know that he hath spoken blasphemously against thy sanctuary, and judge thou him according to his wickedness.

⁴³So the thirteenth day of the month Adar the hosts joined battle: but Nicanor’s host was discomfited, and he himself was first slain in the battle.

⁴⁴Now when Nicanor’s host saw that he was slain, they cast away their weapons, and fled.

⁴⁵Then they pursued after them a day’s journey, from Adasa unto Gazera, sounding an alarm after them with their trumpets.

⁴⁶Whereupon they came forth out of all the towns of Judea round about, and closed them in; so that they, turning back upon them that pursued them, were all slain with the sword, and not one of them was left.

⁴⁷Afterwards they took the spoils, and the prey, and smote off Nicanors head, and his right hand, which he stretched out so proudly, and brought them away, and hanged them up toward Jerusalem.

⁴⁸For this cause the people rejoiced greatly, and they kept that day a day of great gladness.

⁴⁹Moreover they ordained to keep yearly this day, being the thirteenth of Adar.

⁵⁰Thus the land of Juda was in rest a little while.