To the brethren the Jews that are throughout Egypt, the brethren, the Jews that are in Jerusalem, and in the land of Judea, send health, and good peace.

Fratribus qui sunt per Ægyptum Judæis, salutem dicunt fratres qui sunt in Jerosolymis Judæi, et qui in regione Judææ, et pacem bonam.

To their brethren, the Jews of Egypt, those of Jerusalem and Judaea send brotherly greeting and good health.

May God be gracious to you, and remember his covenant that he made with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, his faithful servants:

Benefaciat vobis Deus, et meminerit testamenti sui, quod locutus est ad Abraham, et Isaac, et Jacob servorum suorum fidelium:

God speed you well, the covenant he made with his true worshippers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, never forgetting;

And give you all a heart to worship him, and to do his will with a great heart, and a willing mind.

et det vobis cor omnibus ut colatis eum, et faciatis ejus voluntatem, corde magno et animo volenti.

reverent hearts may he give to all of you, brave and generous to perform his will;

May he open your heart in his law, and in his commandments, and send you peace.

Adaperiat cor vestrum in lege sua, et in præceptis suis, et faciat pacem.

with law and precept of his enlarge your thoughts, and send you happiness;

May he hear your prayers, and be reconciled unto you, and never forsake you in the evil time.

Exaudiat orationes vestras, et reconcilietur vobis, nec vos deserat in tempore malo.

may he listen to your prayer, and be gracious, and in the hour of peril never forsake you!

And now here we are praying for you.

Et nunc hic sumus orantes pro vobis.

Take courage, then; we in this land are praying for you.

When Demetrius reigned, in the year one hundred and sixty-nine, we Jews wrote to you, in the trouble, and violence, that came upon us in those years, after Jason withdrew himself from the holy land, and from the kingdom.

Regnante Demetrio, anno centesimo sexagesimo nono, nos Judæi scripsimus vobis in tribulatione et impetu qui supervenit nobis in istis annis, ex quo recessit Jason a sancta terra, et a regno.

Time was, in the hundred and sixty-ninth year, when Demetrius was a-reigning, we ourselves were writing to you in the midst of suffering and alarms. Much had we to undergo, when Jason would betray his own country, his own people;

They burnt the gate, and shed innocent blood: then we prayed to the Lord, and were heard, and we offered sacrifices, and fine flour, and lighted the lamps, and set forth the loaves.

Portam succenderunt, et effuderunt sanguinem innocentem: et oravimus ad Dominum, et exauditi sumus, et obtulimus sacrificium et similaginem, et accendimus lucernas, et proposuimus panes.

here was the gateway burnt to the ground, here were innocent lives forfeited. Cried we upon the Lord, and all our prayers were answered; burnt-sacrifice and bloodless offering were made, lamps lighted, and loaves set forth in the temple as of old!

And now celebrate ye the days of Scenopegia in the month of Casleu.

Et nunc frequentate dies scenopegiæ mensis Casleu.

Look to it, then, you make bowers and keep holiday in this month of Casleu.

In the year one hundred and eighty-eight, the people that is at Jerusalem, and in Judea, and the senate, and Judas, to Aristobolus, the preceptor of king Ptolemee, who is of the stock of the anointed priests, and to the Jews that are in Egypt, health and welfare.

Anno centesimo octogesimo octavo, populus qui est Jerosolymis et in Judæa, senatusque et Judas, Aristobolo magistro Ptolemæi regis, qui est de genere christorum sacerdotum, et his qui in Ægypto sunt Judæis, salutem et sanitatem.

Written in the hundred and eighty-eighth year.The common folk of Jerusalem and Judaea, their council of elders, and I, Judas, to Aristobulus, of the anointed priestly race, that was master of king Ptolemy, and to the Jews of Egypt, greeting and health.

Having been delivered by God out of great dangers, we give him great thanks, forasmuch as we have been in war with such a king.

De magnis periculis a Deo liberati, magnifice gratias agimus ipsi, utpote qui adversus talem regem dimicavimus.

Great thanks we owe to God, that from the extreme of peril has delivered us; ay, though we had such a king for our adversary,

For he made numbers of men swarm out of Persia that have fought against us, and the holy city.

Ipse enim ebullire fecit de Perside eos qui pugnaverunt contra nos et sanctam civitatem.

as could bring in hordes of men from Persia, both us and our holy city to subdue.

For when the leader himself was in Persia, and with him a very great army, he fell in the temple of Nanea, being deceived by the counsel of the priests of Nanea.

Nam cum in Perside esset dux ipse, et cum ipso immensus exercitus, cecidit in templo Naneæ, consilio deceptus sacerdotum Naneæ.

What became of him, think you, the general that marched away into Persia with a countless army at his heels? He met his end in the temple of Nanea, through guile of the priests that served it.

For Antiochus, with his friends, came to the place as though he would marry her, and that he might receive great sums of money under the title of a dowry.

Etenim cum ea habitaturus venit ad locum Antiochus et amici ejus, et ut acciperet pecunias multas dotis nomine.

Thither Antiochus had come with his friends, putting it about that he would wed the goddess, and laying claim to a great part of her treasures under the title of dowry.

And when the priests of Nanea had set it forth, and he with a small company had entered into the compass of the temple, they shut the temple,

Cumque proposuissent eas sacerdotes Naneæ, et ipse cum paucis ingressus esset intra ambitum fani, clauserunt templum,

The priests, then, had the money laid out in readiness; into the precincts he came, with a meagre retinue, and they, now that Antiochus was within, shut the temple gates.

When Antiochus was come in: and opening a secret entrance of the temple, they cast stones and slew the leader, and them that were with him, and hewed them in pieces, and cutting off their heads they threw them forth.

cum intrasset Antiochus: apertoque occulto aditu templi, mittentes lapides percusserunt ducem et eos qui cum eo erant: et diviserunt membratim, et capitibus amputatis foras projecerunt.

Thereupon, letting themselves in by their secret door, they killed the general and his company with throwing of stones, cut them limb from limb, and threw them down headless to the populace without.

Blessed be God in all things, who hath delivered up the wicked.

Per omnia benedictus Deus, qui tradidit impios.

Blessed, upon every account, be this God of ours, that denies protection to the sinner!

Therefore whereas we purpose to keep the purification of the temple on the five and twentieth day of the month of Casleu, we thought it necessary to signify it to you: that you also may keep the day of Scenopegia, and the day of the fire, that was given when Nehemias offered sacrifice, after the temple and the altar was built.

Facturi igitur quinta et vigesima die mensis Casleu purificationem templi, necessarium duximus significare vobis: ut et vos quoque agatis diem scenopegiæ, et diem ignis, qui datus est quando Nehemias ædificato templo et altari obtulit sacrificia.

We, then, on this twenty-fifth day of Casleu, mean to solemnize the purification of the temple, and hold ourselves bound to notify you of it, so that you too may keep holiday, with making of bowers. …… And of the fire imparted to us, when Nehemias offered sacrifice at the re-building of temple and altar.

For when our fathers were led into Persia, the priests that then were worshippers of God took privately the fire from the altar, and hid it in a valley where there was a deep pit without water, and there they kept it safe, so that the place was unknown to all men.

Nam cum in Persidem ducerentur patres nostri, sacerdotes qui tunc cultores Dei erant, acceptum ignem de altari occulte absconderunt in valle, ubi erat puteus altus et siccus, et in eo contutati sunt eum, ita ut omnibus ignotus esset locus.

Long ago, when our fathers were being carried off into the Persian country, such priests of the true God as held office in those days took away the fire from the altar, and hid it down in the valley, in a pit both deep and dry, so well guarding their secret that none might know where it was to be found.

But when many years had passed, and it pleased God that Nehemias should be sent by the king of Persia, he sent some of the posterity of those priests that had hid it, to seek for the fire: and as they told us, they found no fire, but thick water.

Cum autem præterissent anni multi, et placuit Deo ut mitteretur Nehemias a rege Persidis, nepotes sacerdotum illorum qui absconderant, misit ad requirendum ignem: et sicut narraverunt nobis, non invenerunt ignem, sed aquam crassam.

Years passed, and God’s will was that Nehemias should come back, holding the Persian king’s warrant. Nehemias it was that had search made for the fire, and by the grandsons of those very priests that hid it; but they made report, fire they could find none, only a puddle of water.

Then he bade them draw it up, and bring it to him: and the priest Nehemias commanded the sacrifices that were laid on, to be sprinkled with the same water, both the wood, and the things that were laid upon it.

Et jussit eos haurire, et afferre sibi: et sacrificia quæ imposita erant, jussit sacerdos Nehemias aspergi ipsa aqua: et ligna, et quæ erant superposita.

And what did Nehemias? He would have some of the water drawn and fetched to him; with this water, once the sacrifice was laid on the altar, both the wood and the offerings themselves must be sprinkled.

And when this was done, and the time came that the sun shone out, which before was in a cloud, there was a great fire kindled, so that all wondered.

Utque hoc factum est, et tempus affuit quo sol refulsit, qui prius erat in nubilo, accensus est ignis magnus, ita ut omnes mirarentur.

Sprinkled they were, and when the sun shone out, that till now was hidden by a cloud, all at once a great fire blazed up, astonishing the beholders.

And all the priests made prayer, while the sacrifice was consuming, Jonathan beginning, and the rest answering.

Orationem autem faciebant omnes sacerdotes, dum consummaretur sacrificium, Jonatha inchoante, ceteris autem respondentibus.

To prayer fell the priests all around, while sacrifice was done, Jonathan to lead them, and the rest answering;

And the prayer of Nehemias was after this manner: O Lord God, Creator of all things, dreadful and strong, just and merciful, who alone art the good king,

Et Nehemiæ erat oratio hunc habens modum: Domine Deus omnium creator, terribilis et fortis, justus et misericors, qui solus est bonus rex,

to prayer fell Nehemias, and this was the manner of his praying: Lord God, that all things madest, the terrible, the strong, the just, the merciful, King gracious as none else;

Who alone art gracious, who alone art just, and almighty, and eternal, who deliverest Israel from all evil, who didst choose the fathers and didst sanctify them:

solus præstans, solus justus et omnipotens et æternus, qui liberas Israël de omni malo; qui fecisti patres electos, et sanctificasti eos:

none else so kindly, none else so just, as thou, the almighty, the eternal! Israel from all peril thou deliverest, thou didst make choice of our fathers, and set them apart for thyself.

Receive the sacrifice for all thy people Israel, and preserve thy own portion, and sanctify it.

accipe sacrificium pro universo populo tuo Israël, et custodi partem tuam, et sanctifica.

For the whole nation of Israel receive our sacrifice; all are thine; thy own domain keep inviolate.

Gather together our scattered people, deliver them that are slaves to the Gentiles, and look upon them that are despised and abhorred: that the Gentiles may know that thou art our God.

Congrega dispersionem nostram, libera eos qui serviunt gentibus, et contemptos et abominatos respice, ut sciant gentes quia tu es Deus noster.

Bring home the exiles; captives of the heathen conquer or set free; to the despised, the outcast grant redress; let the world know what a God is ours!

Punish them that oppress us, and that treat us injuriously with pride.

Afflige opprimentes nos, et contumeliam facientes in superbia.

Crush the oppressor, the tyrant that so mishandles us,

Establish thy people in thy holy place, as Moses hath spoken.

Constitue populum tuum in loco sancto tuo, sicut dixit Moyses.

and to thy own sanctuary, as Moses foretold, thy own people restore!

And the priests sung hymns till the sacrifice was consumed.

Sacerdotes autem psallebant hymnos usquequo consumptum esset sacrificium.

Then, till the sacrifice was consumed, the priests went on with their singing of hymns;

And when the sacrifice was consumed, Nehemias commanded the water that was left to be poured out upon the great stones.

Cum autem consumptum esset sacrificium, ex residua aqua Nehemias jussit lapides majores perfundi.

and when all was finished, Nehemias would have them drench great stones with the water that was left.

Which being done, there was kindled a flame from them: but it was consumed by the light that shined from the altar.

Quod ut factum est, ex eis flamma accensa est: sed ex lumine quod refulsit ab altari, consumpta est.

Thereupon, a flame broke out from them, but died away when the altar fires blazed up again over yonder.

And when this matter became public, it was told to the king of Persia, that in the place where the priests that were led away, had hid the fire, there appeared water, with which Nehemias and they that were with him had purified the sacrifices.

Ut vero manifestata est res, renuntiatum est regi Persarum quod in loco in quo ignem absconderent hi qui translati fuerant sacerdotes, aqua apparuit, de qua Nehemias, et qui cum eo erant, purificaverunt sacrificia.

The news travelled, till the Persian king himself was told how water appeared where exiled priests had hidden the fire, how, with this water, Nehemias and his company had bathed the sacrifice.

And the king considering, and diligently examining the matter, made a temple for it, that he might prove what had happened.

Considerans autem rex, et rem diligenter examinans, fecit ei templum, ut probaret quod factum erat:

Good heed he gave to the matter, and after due examination fenced the ground in with a shrine, in witness of what befell there.

And when he had proved it, he gave the priests many goods, and divers presents, and he took and distributed them to them with his own hand.

et cum probasset, sacerdotibus donavit multa bona, et alia atque alia munera: et accipiens manu sua, tribuebat eis.

Largesse the priests had, and many were the gifts passed from hand to hand, when the truth of the matter was proved.

And Nehemias called this place Nephthar, which is interpreted purification. But many call it Nephi.

Appellavit autem Nehemias hunc locum Nephthar, quod interpretatur Purificatio: vocatur autem apud plures Nephi.

As for the place, Nehemias himself called it Nephthar, which means Purification; but the vulgar call it Nephi.