Now turn we to Alexander son of Philip, the Macedonian, that was the first to reign over all Greece. This Alexander marched out from his own land of Cethim, and overcame Darius, king of the Medes and Persians.

Et factum est, postquam percussit Alexander Philippi Macedo, qui primus regnavit in Græcia, egressus de terra Cethim, Darium regem Persarum et Medorum:

Now it came to pass, after that Alexander the son of Philip the Macedonian, who first reigned in Greece, coming out of the land of Cethim, had overthrown Darius king of the Persians and Medes:

Battles he waged a many; nor any fortress might hold out against him, nor any king escape with his life;

constituit prælia multa, et obtinuit omnium munitiones, et interfecit reges terræ,

He fought many battles, and took the strong holds of all, and slew the kings of the earth:

and so he journeyed on to the world’s end, spoiling the nations everywhere; at his coming, silence fell on the earth.

et pertransiit usque ad fines terræ: et accepit spolia multitudinis gentium, et siluit terra in conspectu ejus.

And he went through even to the ends of the earth, and took the spoils of many nations: and the earth was quiet before him.

So great the power of him, so valiant his armies, what wonder if his heart grew proud?

Et congregavit virtutem, et exercitum fortem nimis: et exaltatum est, et elevatum cor ejus:

And he gathered a power, and a very strong army: and his heart was exalted and lifted up:

All those lands conquered, all those kings his tributaries!

et obtinuit regiones gentium, et tyrannos: et facti sunt illi in tributum.

And he subdued countries of nations, and princes; and they became tributaries to him.

Then, all at once, he took to his bed, and the knowledge came to him he must die.

Et post hæc decidit in lectum, et cognovit quia moreretur.

And after these things, he fell down upon his bed, and knew that he should die.

Whereupon he summoned the noblest of his courtiers, men that had shared his own upbringing, and to these, while he had life in him yet, divided up his kingdom.

Et vocavit pueros suos nobiles, qui secum erant nutriti a juventute: et divisit illis regnum suum, cum adhuc viveret.

And he called his servants the nobles that were brought up with him from his youth: and he divided his kingdom among them, while he was yet alive.

So reigned Alexander for twelve years, and so died.

Et regnavit Alexander annis duodecim, et mortuus est.

And Alexander reigned twelve years and he died.

And what of these courtiers turned princes, each with a province of his own?

Et obtinuerunt pueri ejus regnum, unusquisque in loco suo:

And his servants made themselves kings every one in his place:

Be sure they put on royal crowns, they and their sons after them, and so the world went from bad to worse.

et imposuerunt omnes sibi diademata post mortem ejus, et filii eorum post eos annis multis, et multiplicata sunt mala in terra.

And they all put crowns upon themselves after his death, and their sons after them many years, and evils were multiplied in the earth.

Burgeoned then from the stock of Antiochus a poisoned growth, another Antiochus, he that was called the Illustrious. He had been formerly a hostage at Rome, but now, in the hundred and thirty-seventh year of the Grecian empire, he came into his kingdom.

Et exiit ex eis radix peccatrix, Antiochus illustris, filius Antiochi regis, qui fuerat Romæ obses: et regnavit in anno centesimo trigesimo septimo regni Græcorum.

And there came out of them a wicked root, Antiochus the Illustrious, the son of king Antiochus, who had been a hostage at Rome: and he reigned in the hundred and thirty-seventh year of the kingdom of the Greeks.

In his day there were godless talkers abroad in Israel, that did not want for a hearing; Come, said they, let us make terms with the heathen that dwell about us! Ever since we forswore their company, nought but trouble has come our way.

In diebus illis, exierunt ex Israël filii iniqui, et suaserunt multis, dicentes: Eamus, et disponamus testamentum cum gentibus, quæ circa nos sunt: quia ex quo recessimus ab eis, invenerunt nos multa mala.

In those days there went out of Israel wicked men, and they persuaded many, saying: Let us go, and make a covenant with the heathens that are round about us: for since we departed from them, many evils have befallen us.

What would you? Such talk gained credit,

Et bonus visus est sermo in oculis eorum.

And the word seemed good in their eyes.

and some were at pains to ask for the royal warrant; whereupon leave was given them, Gentile usages they should follow if they would.

Et destinaverunt aliqui de populo, et abierunt ad regem: et dedit illis potestatem ut facerent justitiam gentium.

And some of the people determined to do this, and went to the king: and he gave them license to do after the ordinances of the heathens.

With that, they must have a game-place at Jerusalem, after the Gentile fashion,

Et ædificaverunt gymnasium in Jerosolymis secundum leges nationum:

And they built a place of exercise in Jerusalem, according to the laws of the nations:

ay, and go uncircumcised; forgotten, their loyalty to the holy covenant, they must throw in their lot with the heathen, and become the slaves of impiety.

et fecerunt sibi præputia, et recesserunt a testamento sancto, et juncti sunt nationibus, et venundati sunt ut facerent malum.

And they made themselves prepuces, and departed from the holy covenant, and joined themselves to the heathens, and were sold to do evil.

And now that he was firmly established on his throne, Antiochus would be lord of Egypt, and wear two crowns at once.

Et paratum est regnum in conspectu Antiochi, et cœpit regnare in terra Ægypti ut regnaret super duo regna.

And the kingdom was established before Antiochus, and he had a mind to reign over the land of Egypt, that he might reign over two kingdoms.

So, with overwhelming force, with chariots and elephants and horsemen and a great array of ships, he marched on Egypt,

Et intravit in Ægyptum in multitudine gravi, in curribus, et elephantis, et equitibus, et copiosa navium multitudine:

And he entered into Egypt with a great multitude, with chariots and elephants, and horsemen, and a great number of ships:

and levied war against king Ptolemy, that could not hold his ground, but fled away, leaving many fallen.

et constituit bellum adversus Ptolemæum regem Ægypti, et veritus est Ptolemæus a facie ejus, et fugit, et ceciderunt vulnerati multi.

And he made war against Ptolemee king of Egypt, but Ptolemee was afraid at his presence, and fled, and many were wounded unto death.

So Antiochus made himself master of all the strongholds in Egypt, and ransacked it for spoil;

Et comprehendit civitates munitas in terra Ægypti, et accepit spolia terræ Ægypti.

And he took the strong cities in the land of Egypt: and he took the spoils of the land of Egypt.

then, in the hundred and forty-third year, he turned his victorious march against Israel.

Et convertit Antiochus, postquam percussit Ægyptum in centesimo et quadragesimo tertio anno: et ascendit ad Israël,

And after Antiochus had ravaged Egypt in the hundred and forty-third year, he returned and went up against Israel.

With all that great army of his he came to Jerusalem

et ascendit Jerosolymam in multitudine gravi.

And he went up to Jerusalem with a great multitude.

and entered the sanctuary in royal state; the golden altar, the lamp-stand with its appurtenances, the table where bread was set out, beaker and goblet and golden bowl, curtain and capital and golden facings of the temple, all alike were stripped.

Et intravit in sanctificationem cum superbia, et accepit altare aureum, et candelabrum luminis, et universa vasa ejus, et mensam propositionis, et libatoria, et phialas, et mortariola aurea, et velum, et coronas, et ornamentum aureum, quod in facie templi erat: et comminuit omnia.

And he proudly entered into the sanctuary, and took away the golden altar, and the candlestick of light, and all the vessels thereof, and the table of proposition, and the pouring vessels, and the vials, and the little mortars of gold, and the veil, and the crowns, and the golden ornament that was before the temple: and he broke them all in pieces.

Silver nor gold was spared, nor any ornament of price, nor hoarded treasures could he but find them; and thus laden he went back to his own country,

Et accepit argentum, et aurum, et vasa concupiscibilia: et accepit thesauros occultos, quos invenit: et sublatis omnibus, abiit in terram suam.

And he took the silver and gold, and the precious vessels: and he took the hidden treasures which he found: and when he had taken all away he departed into his own country.

first shedding a deal of blood, and speaking very blasphemously.

Et fecit cædem hominum, et locutus est in superbia magna.

And he made a great slaughter of men, and spoke very proudly.

Loud mourning there was in Israel, mourning in all the country-side;

Et factus est planctus magnus in Israël, et in omni loco eorum:

And there was great mourning in Israel, and in every place where they were:

wept ruler and elder, pined man and maid, and colour fled from woman’s cheeks;

et ingemuerunt principes et seniores; virgines et juvenes infirmati sunt: et speciositas mulierum immutata est.

And the princes, and the ancients mourned, and the virgins and the young men were made feeble, and the beauty of the women was changed.

bridegroom took up the dirge, bride sat in her bower disconsolate;

Omnis maritus sumpsit lamentum, et quæ sedebant in thoro maritali, lugebant:

Every bridegroom took up lamentation: and the bride that sat in the marriage bed, mourned:

here was a land that trembled for its inhabitants, a whole race covered with confusion.

et commota est terra super habitantes in ea, et universa domus Jacob induit confusionem.

And the land was moved for the inhabitants thereof, and all the house of Jacob was covered with confusion.

Two years passed, and then the king sent his chief collector of revenue to visit the cities of Juda. To Jerusalem he came, with a great rabble at his heels,

Et post duos annos dierum, misit rex principem tributorum in civitates Juda, et venit Jerusalem cum turba magna.

And after two full years the king sent the chief collector of his tributes to the cities of Juda, and he came to Jerusalem with a great multitude.

and won credence with idle professions of friendship.

Et locutus est ad eos verba pacifica in dolo: et crediderunt ei.

And he spoke to them peaceable words in deceit: and they believed him.

Then he fell suddenly on the town and grievously mishandled it, slaying Israelites a many,

Et irruit super civitatem repente, et percussit eam plaga magna, et perdidit populum multum ex Israël.

And he fell upon the city suddenly, and struck it with a great slaughter, and destroyed much people in Israel.

plundering the city and setting fire to it. Houses and encircling walls of it were thrown down in ruins,

Et accepit spolia civitatis: et succendit eam igni, et destruxit domos ejus, et muros ejus in circuitu:

And he took the spoils of the city, and burnt it with fire, and threw down the houses thereof, and the walls thereof round about:

women and children carried off into slavery, cattle driven away.

et captivas duxerunt mulieres, et natos et pecora possederunt.

And they took the women captive, and the children, and the cattle they possessed.

And as for David’s Keep, they enclosed it with high, strong walls, and strong towers besides, to serve them for a fortress;

Et ædificaverunt civitatem David muro magno et firmo, et turribus firmis, et facta est illis in arcem:

And they built the city of David with a great and strong wall, and with strong towers, and made it a fortress for them:

garrisoned it with a godless crew of sinners like themselves, and made it fast, storing it with arms and provisions, besides the plunder they had amassed in Jerusalem,

et posuerunt illic gentem peccatricem viros iniquos, et convaluerunt in ea: et posuerunt arma, et escas, et congregaverunt spolia Jerusalem:

And they placed there a sinful nation, wicked men, and they fortified themselves therein: and they stored up armour, and victuals, and gathered together the spoils of Jerusalem;

which they bestowed there for safety. Alas, what peril of treachery was here,

et reposuerunt illic: et facti sunt in laqueum magnum.

And laid them up there: and they became a great snare.

what an ambush laid about the holy place, what devil’s work against Israel!

Et factum est hoc ad insidias sanctificationi, et in diabolum malum in Israël:

And this was a place to lie in wait against the sanctuary, and an evil devil in Israel.

What a tide of guiltless blood must flow about the sanctuary, till it was a sanctuary no more!

et effuderunt sanguinem innocentem per circuitum sanctificationis, et contaminaverunt sanctificationem.

And they shed innocent blood round about the sanctuary, and defiled the holy place.

Little wonder if the inhabitants of Jerusalem took to flight, leaving their city to strangers; mother so unnatural her own children must forsake.

Et fugerunt habitatores Jerusalem propter eos, et facta est habitatio exterorum, et facta est extera semini suo, et nati ejus reliquerunt eam.

And the inhabitants of Jerusalem fled away by reason of them, and the city was made the habitation of strangers, and she became a stranger to her own seed, and her children forsook her.

Her sanctuary a desert solitude, her feasts all lament, her sabbaths derided, her greatness brought low!

Sanctificatio ejus desolata est sicut solitudo; dies festi ejus conversi sunt in luctum, sabbata ejus in opprobrium, honores ejus in nihilum.

Her sanctuary was desolate like a wilderness, her festival days were turned into mourning, her sabbaths into reproach, her honours were brought to nothing.

Her pride was the measure of that abasement, her glory of that shame.

Secundum gloriam ejus multiplicata est ignominia ejus, et sublimitas ejus conversa est in luctum.

Her dishonour was increased according to her glory, and her excellency was turned into mourning.

And now came a letter from king Antiochus to all the subjects of his realm, bidding them leave ancestral custom of this race or that, and become one nation instead.

Et scripsit rex Antiochus omni regno suo ut esset omnis populus unus: et relinqueret unusquisque legem suam.

And king Antiochus wrote to all his kingdom, that all the people should be one: and every one should leave his own law.

As for the heathen, they fell in readily enough with the royal will;

Et consenserunt omnes gentes secundum verbum regis Antiochi:

And all nations consented according to the word of king Antiochus.

and in Israel itself there were many that chose slavery, offering sacrifice to false gods and leaving the sabbath unobserved.

et multi ex Israël consenserunt servituti ejus, et sacrificaverunt idolis, et coinquinaverunt sabbatum.

And many of Israel consented to his service, and they sacrificed to idols, and profaned the sabbath.

Both in Jerusalem and in all the cities of Juda the king’s envoys published this edict; men must live by the law of the heathen round about,

Et misit rex libros per manus nuntiorum in Jerusalem, et in omnes civitates Juda, ut sequerentur leges gentium terræ,

And the king sent letters by the hands of messengers to Jerusalem, and to all the cities of Juda: that they should follow the law of the nations of the earth,

burnt-sacrifice, offering and atonement in God’s temple should be none,

et prohiberent holocausta et sacrificia, et placationes fieri in templo Dei,

And should forbid holocausts and sacrifices, and atonements to be made in the temple of God.

nor sabbath kept, nor feast-day.

et prohiberent celebrari sabbatum, et dies solemnes:

And should prohibit the sabbath, and the festival days, to be celebrated.

And, for the more profanation of the sanctuary, and of Israel’s holy people,

et jussit coinquinari sancta, et sanctum populum Israël.

And he commanded the holy places to be profaned, and the holy people of Israel.

altar and shrine and idol must be set up, swine’s flesh offered, and all manner of unhallowed meat;

Et jussit ædificari aras, et templa, et idola, et immolari carnes suillas, et pecora communia,

And he commanded altars to be built, and temples, and idols, and swine’s flesh to be immolated, and unclean beasts.

children be left uncircumcised, and their innocent lives contaminated with rites unclean, abominable; till the law should be forgotten, and the divine precepts fashioned anew.

et relinquere filios suos incircumcisos, et coinquinari animas eorum in omnibus immundis, et abominationibus, ita ut obliviscerentur legem, et immutarent omnes justificationes Dei:

And that they should leave their children uncircumcised, and let their souls be defiled with all uncleannesses, and abominations, to the end that they should forget the law, and should change all the justifications of God.

Durst any neglect the royal bidding, he must die.

et quicumque non fecissent secundum verbum regis Antiochi, morerentur.

And that whosoever would not do according to the word of king Antiochus should be put to death.

Through the whole of his dominions the king’s writ ran, and commissioners were appointed besides to enforce it;

Secundum omnia verba hæc scripsit omni regno suo: et præposuit principes populo, qui hæc fieri cogerent.

According to all these words he wrote to his whole kingdom, and he appointed rulers over the people that should force them to do these things.

no city of Juda but was ordered to do sacrifice.

Et jusserunt civitatibus Juda sacrificare.

And they commanded the cities of Juda to sacrifice.

Many there were, traitors to the divine law, that took their part, and much mischief they did,

Et congregati sunt multi de populo ad eos qui dereliquerant legem Domini, et fecerunt mala super terram:

Then many of the people were gathered to them that had forsaken the law of the Lord: and they committed evils in the land:

driving the men of Israel to seek refuge in hiding, where refuge was to be had.

et effugaverunt populum Israël in abditis, et in absconditis fugitivorum locis.

And they drove away the people of Israel into lurking holes, and into the secret places of fugitives.

It was on the fifteenth of Casleu, in the hundred and forty-fifth year, that king Antiochus set up an idol to desecrate God’s altar; shrines there were in every township of Juda,

Die quintadecima mensis Casleu, quinto et quadragesimo et centesimo anno, ædificavit rex Antiochus abominandum idolum desolationis super altare Dei, et per universas civitates Juda in circuitu ædificaverunt aras:

On the fifteenth day of the month Casleu, in the hundred and forty-fifth year, king Antiochus set up the abominable idol of desolation upon the altar of God, and they built altars throughout all the cities of Juda round about:

offering of incense and of victims before house doors and in the open street;

et ante januas domorum et in plateis incendebant thura, et sacrificabant:

And they burnt incense, and sacrificed at the doors of the houses, and in the streets.

never a copy of the divine law but was torn up and burned;

et libros legis Dei combusserunt igni, scindentes eos:

And they cut in pieces, and burnt with fire the books of the law of God:

if any were found that kept the sacred record, or obeyed the Lord’s will, his life was forfeit to the king’s edict.

et apud quemcumque inveniebantur libri testamenti Domini, et quicumque observabat legem Domini, secundum edictum regis trucidabant eum.

And every one with whom the books of the testament of the Lord were found, and whosoever observed the law of the Lord, they put to death, according to the edict of the king.

Month by month such deeds of violence were done, in all townships where men of Israel dwelt,

In virtute sua faciebant hæc populo Israël, qui inveniebatur in omni mense et mense in civitatibus.

Thus by their power did they deal with the people of Israel, that were found in the cities month after month.

and on the twenty-fifth of the month sacrifice was made at the shrine that overshadowed the altar.

Et quinta et vigesima die mensis sacrificabant super aram, quæ erat contra altare.

And on the five and twentieth day of the month they sacrificed upon the altar of the idol that was over against the altar of God.

Death it was for woman to have her child circumcised in defiance of the king;

Et mulieres, quæ circumcidebant filios suos, trucidabantur secundum jussum regis Antiochi,

Now the women that circumcised their children, were slain according to the commandment of king Antiochus.

there in her own house she must be hung up, with the child about her neck, and the circumciser, too, must pay for it with his life.

et suspendebant pueros a cervicibus per universas domos eorum: et eos, qui circumciderant illos, trucidabant.

And they hanged the children about their necks in all their houses: and those that had circumcised them, they put to death.

Many a son of Israel refused the unclean food, preferring death to defilement;

Et multi de populo Israël definierunt apud se, ut non manducarent immunda: et elegerunt magis mori, quam cibis coinquinari immundis:

And many of the people of Israel determined with themselves, that they would not eat unclean things: and they chose rather to die than to be defiled with unclean meats.

and die they must, because they would not break God’s holy law.

et noluerunt infringere legem Dei sanctam, et trucidati sunt:

And they would not break the holy law of God, and they were put to death:

Grievous, most grievous was the doom that hung then over his people.

et facta est ira magna super populum valde.

And there was very great wrath upon the people.