When these covenants were made, Lysias went to the king, and the Jews gave themselves to husbandry.

His factis pactionibus, Lysias pergebat ad regem, Judæi autem agriculturæ operam dabant.

So all was agreed upon; Lysias was for the court again, and the Jewish folk went back to their farms.

But they that were behind, namely, Timotheus and Apollonius the son of Genneus, also Hieronymus, and Demophon, and besides them Nicanor the governor of Cyprus, would not suffer them to live in peace, and to be quiet.

Sed hi qui resederant, Timotheus, et Apollonius Gennæi filius, sed et Hieronymus, et Demophon super hos, et Nicanor Cypriarches, non sinebant eos in silentio agere et quiete.

But neither rest nor respite might they have while Timotheus and Apollonius, son of Gennaeus, were left at their posts; Hieronymus, too, and Demophon, and Nicanor that ruled in Cyprus.

The men of Joppe also were guilty of this kind of wickedness: they desired the Jews who dwelt among them to go with their wives and children into the boats, which they had prepared, as though they had no enmity to them.

Joppitæ vero tale quoddam flagitium perpetrarunt: rogaverunt Judæos cum quibus habitabant, ascendere scaphas quas paraverant, cum uxoribus et filiis, quasi nullis inimicitiis inter eos subjacentibus.

This was a very foul deed done by the men of Joppe; they fitted out certain vessels of theirs, and would have the neighbouring Jews go aboard, with their wives and children, for all the world as if there were no grudge between them.

Which when they had consented to, according to the common decree of the city, suspecting nothing, because of the peace: when they were gone forth into the deep, they drowned no fewer than two hundred of them.

Secundum commune itaque decretum civitatis, et ipsis acquiescentibus, pacisque causa nihil suspectum habentibus: cum in altum processissent, submerserunt non minus ducentos.

It was the common wish of their fellow-citizens; how should the Jews gainsay it? They were lovers of peace, and cause for suspicion had none. Yet once they were on the high seas, they were cast overboard and drowned, a full two hundred of them.

But as soon as Judas heard of this cruelty done to his countrymen, he commanded the men that were with him: and after having called upon God the just judge,

Quam crudelitatem Judas in suæ gentis homines factam ut cognovit, præcepit viris qui erant cum ipso: et invocato justo judice Deo,

Such tidings of cruel murder done upon men of his own race, Judas could not hear unmoved; mustering his followers, and calling upon God, that judges aright, to speed him,

He came against those murderers of his brethren, and set the haven on fire in the night, burnt the boats, and slew with the sword them that escaped from the fire.

venit adversus interfectores fratrum, et portum quidem noctu succendit, scaphas exussit, eos autem qui ab igne refugerant, gladio peremit.

he marched out against the slayers of his brethren; at dead of night he burned down their wharves, and set all the ships ablaze, nor any man that escaped the fire but was put to the sword.

And when he had done these things in this manner, he departed as if he would return again, and root out all the Joppites.

Et cum hæc ita egisset, discessit quasi iterum reversurus, et universos Joppitas eradicaturus.

This done, he left them, but threatening he would return, and leave none alive in Joppe.

But when he understood that the men of Jamnia also designed to do in like manner to the Jews that dwelt among them,

Sed cum cognovisset et eos qui erant Jamniæ, velle pari modo facere habitantibus secum Judæis,

He had word, too, that the men of Jamnia meant to do the same by the Jews in their part;

He came upon the Jamnites also by night, and set the haven on fire with the ships, so that the light of the fire was seen at Jerusalem two hundred and forty furlongs off.

Jamnitis quoque nocte supervenit, et portum cum navibus succendit: ita ut lumen ignis appareret Jerosolymis a stadiis ducentis quadraginta.

so he fell on Jamnia, too, by night, and burnt both wharves and ships there; the light of that blaze was seen at Jerusalem, thirty miles off. …

And when they were now gone from thence nine furlongs, and were marching towards Timotheus, five thousand footmen and five hundred horsemen of the Arabians set upon them.

Inde cum jam abiissent novem stadiis, et iter facerent ad Timotheum, commiserunt cum eo Arabes quinque millia viri, et equites quingenti.

Nine furlongs they had marched, on their way to meet Timotheus, when an Arab force engaged them, of five thousand foot and five hundred horse.

And after a hard fight, in which by the help of God they got the victory, the rest of the Arabians being overcome, besought Judas for peace, promising to give him pastures, and to assist him in other things.

Cumque pugna valida fieret, et auxilio Dei prospere cessisset, residui Arabes victi petebant a Juda dextram sibi dari, promittentes se pascua daturos, et in ceteris profuturos.

Stern was the encounter, but with God’s help they won the day; and the defeated remnant of the Arabs asked Judas for quarter, promising a grant of pasture-lands, with other advantages.

And Judas thinking that they might be profitable indeed in many things, promised them peace, and after having joined hands, they departed to their tents.

Judas autem arbitratus vere in multis eos utiles, promisit pacem: dextrisque acceptis, discessere ad tabernacula sua.

And, beyond doubt, they could be many ways serviceable to him; so he made terms with them. They swore friendship, and the Arabs went back to their tents.

He also laid siege to a certain strong city, encompassed with bridges and walls, and inhabited by multitudes of different nations, the name of which is Casphin.

Aggressus est autem et civitatem quamdam firmam pontibus murisque circumseptam, quæ a turbis habitabatur gentium promiscuarum: cui nomen Casphin.

A city there was called Casphin, moated and walled about for its defence, and held by a rabble of many races; this, too, Judas attacked.

But they that were within it, trusting in the strength of the walls, and the provision of victuals, behaved in a more negligent manner, and provoked Judas with railing and blaspheming, and uttering such words as were not to be spoken.

Hi vero qui intus erant, confidentes in stabilitate murorum et apparatu alimoniarum, remissius agebant, maledictis lacessentes Judam et blasphemantes, ac loquentes quæ fas non est.

Such trust the defenders had in the strength of their ramparts, and their plentiful supplies of food, they carried themselves recklessly, hurling taunts at Judas, with blasphemies and other talk little fit to be uttered.

But Machabeus calling upon the great Lord of the world, who without any rams or engines of war threw down the walls of Jericho in the time of Josue, fiercely assaulted the walls.

Machabæus autem, invocato magno mundi Principe, qui sine arietibus et machinis temporibus Jesu præcipitavit Jericho, irruit ferociter muris:

But Machabaeus to that King made appeal, who needed neither engine nor battering-ram, in Josue’s day, to bring Jericho down in ruins; a fierce attack he delivered upon the walls,

And having taken the city by the will of the Lord, he made an unspeakable slaughter, so that a pool adjoining of two furlongs broad seemed to run with the blood of the slain.

et capta civitate per Domini voluntatem, innumerabiles cædes fecit, ita ut adjacens stagnum stadiorum duorum latitudinis sanguine interfectorum fluere videretur.

and, so God willed, became master of the city. The slaughter in it was past reckoning; there was a pool hard by, of two furlongs’ breadth, that seemed as if it ran in full tide with the blood of slain men.

From thence they departed seven hundred and fifty furlongs, and came to Characa to the Jews that are called Tubianites.

Inde discesserunt stadia septingenta quinquaginta, et venerunt in Characa ad eos, qui dicuntur Tubianæi, Judæos:

It needed a march of ninety-five miles to bring them to Charax, where the Jews were whom they call Tubianaeans.

But as for Timotheus, they found him not in those places, for before he had dispatched any thing he went back, having left a very strong garrison in a certain hold:

et Timotheum quidem in illis locis non comprehenderunt, nulloque negotio perfecto regressus est, relicto in quodam loco firmissimo præsidio.

Yet could they not come up with Timotheus; he had retired, with nothing achieved, leaving a strong garrison in one of the forts there;

But Dositheus, and Sosipater, who were captains with Machabeus, slew them that were left by Timotheus in the hold, to the number of ten thousand men.

Dositheus autem et Sosipater, qui erant duces cum Machabæo, peremerunt a Timotheo relictos in præsidio, decem millia viros.

which garrison of his, ten thousand strong, was destroyed by two of Machabaeus’ captains, Dositheus and Sosipater.

And Machabeus having set in order about him six thousand men, and divided them by bands, went forth against Timotheus, who had with him a hundred and twenty thousand footmen, and two thousand five hundred horsemen.

At Machabæus, ordinatis circum se sex millibus, et constitutis per cohortes, adversus Timotheum processit, habentem secum centum viginti millia peditum, equitumque duo millia quingentos.

Machabaeus himself, with six thousand men at his heels, divided into companies, pressed on against Timotheus, that had a hundred and twenty thousand foot, and two thousand five hundred horse, under his command.

Now when Timotheus had knowledge of the coming of Judas, he sent the women and children, and the other baggage before him into a fortress, called Carnion: for it was impregnable and hard to come at, by reason of the straitness of the places.

Cognito autem Judæ adventu, Timotheus præmisit mulieres et filios, et reliquum apparatum, in præsidium quod Carnion dicitur: erat enim inexpugnabile, et accessu difficile propter locorum angustias.

At the news of Judas’ coming, Timotheus was fain to send on women, children, and stores, to Carnion, an impregnable fortress and one difficult of approach, so narrow the pass was.

But when the first band of Judas came in sight, the enemies were struck with fear, by the presence of God, who seeth all things, and they were put to flight one from another, so that they were often thrown down by their own companions, and wounded with the strokes of their own swords.

Cumque cohors Judæ prima apparuisset, timor hostibus incussus est ex præsentia Dei, qui universa conspicit: et in fugam versi sunt alius ab alio, ita ut magis a suis dejicerentur, et gladiorum suorum ictibus debilitarentur.

And now the first of Judas’ companies came in sight, and with it the presence of the all-seeing God. What fear fell upon the enemy, how they scattered in flight, stumbling over their own fellows, wounded by the point of their own swords!

But Judas was vehemently earnest in punishing the profane, of whom he slew thirty thousand men.

Judas autem vehementer instabat puniens profanos, et prostravit ex eis triginta millia virorum.

And all the while Judas pressed them hard, the scourge of ill-doers; thirty thousand of them that day he slaughtered.

And Timotheus himself fell into the hands of the band of Dositheus and Sosipater, and with many prayers he besought them to let him go with his life, because he had the parents and brethren of many of the Jews, who, by his death, might happen to be deceived.

Ipse vero Timotheus incidit in partes Dosithei et Sosipatris: et multis precibus postulabat ut vivus dimitteretur, eo quod multorum ex Judæis parentes haberet ac fratres, quos morte ejus decipi eveniret.

As for Timotheus, he fell into the hands of another force, under Dositheus and Sosipater; of these he begged earnestly for his life, telling them of Jewish hostages in his keeping, their own fathers and brothers, that would get no quarter if he came by his death.

And when he had given his faith that he would restore them according to the agreement, they let him go without hurt, for the saving of their brethren.

Et cum fidem dedisset restituturum se eos secundum constitutum, illæsum eum dimiserunt propter fratrum salutem.

Many were the pledges he gave, covenanting for the restoration of these hostages, and at last, for love of their brethren, they let him go free.

Then Judas went away to Carnion, where he slew five and twenty thousand persons.

Judas autem egressus est ad Carnion, interfectis viginti quinque millibus.

Judas went on to Carnion, where the enemy lost twenty-five thousand men,

And after he had put to flight and destroyed these, he removed his army to Ephron, a strong city, wherein there dwelt a multitude of divers nations: and stout young men standing upon the walls made a vigorous resistance: and in this place there were many engines of war, and a provision of darts.

Post horum fugam et necem, movit exercitum ad Ephron civitatem munitam, in qua multitudo diversarum gentium habitabat: et robusti juvenes pro muris consistentes fortiter repugnabant: in hac autem machinæ multæ et telorum erat apparatus.

routed and slain; thence to Ephron, a fortified city, where stout warriors of many different breeds manned the walls most valiantly, well provided with engines and weapons.

But when they had invocated the Almighty, who with his power breaketh the strength of the enemies, they took the city; and slew five and twenty thousand of them that were within.

Sed cum Omnipotentem invocassent, qui potestate sua vires hostium confringit, ceperunt civitatem: et ex eis qui intus erant, viginti quinque millia prostraverunt.

Yet strength is none can hold its own against the Omnipotent; to him the Jews made appeal, and so took the city, killing twenty-five thousand of the defenders.

From thence they departed to Scythopolis, which lieth six hundred furlongs from Jerusalem.

Inde ad civitatem Scytharum abierunt, quæ ab Jerosolymis sexcentis stadiis aberat.

And thence to Scythopolis, at seventy-five miles’ distance from Jerusalem;

But the Jews that were among the Scythopolitans testifying that they were used kindly by them, and that even in the times of their adversity they had treated them with humanity:

Contestantibus autem his, qui apud Scythopolitas erant, Judæis, quod benigne ab eis haberentur, etiam temporibus infelicitatis quod modeste secum egerint:

but here the Jews themselves bore witness, how kindly their neighbours used them, and how honourably they carried themselves even in troublous times.

They gave them thanks exhorting them to be still friendly to their nation, and so they came to Jerusalem, the feast of the weeks being at hand.

gratias agentes eis, et exhortati etiam de cetero erga genus suum benignos esse, venerunt Jerosolymam die solemni septimanarum instante.

Thanking all such, and desiring them they would continue their good offices towards the Jewish folk, the army returned to Jerusalem, to keep the festival of the Weeks.

And after Pentecost they marched against Gorgias the governor of Idumea.

Et post Pentecosten abierunt contra Gorgiam præpositum Idumææ.

Then, after Pentecost, they marched away to meet Gorgias, that was in command of Idumaea;

And he came out with three thousand footmen, and four hundred horsemen.

Exivit autem cum peditibus tribus millibus, et equitibus quadringentis.

it was but a muster of three thousand foot and four hundred horse.

And when they had joined battle, it happened that a few of the Jews were slain.

Quibus congressis, contigit paucos ruere Judæorum.

Battle was joined, and some few Jews fell.

But Dositheus, a horseman, one of Bacenor’s band, a valiant man, took hold of Gorgias: and when he would have taken him alive, a certain horseman of the Thracians came upon him, and cut off his shoulder: and so Gorgias escaped to Maresa.

Dositheus vero quidam de Bacenoris eques, vir fortis, Gorgiam tenebat: et, cum vellet illum capere vivum, eques quidam de Thracibus irruit in eum, humerumque ejus amputavit: atque ita Gorgias effugit in Maresa.

As for Gorgias, one Dositheus, a great warrior that was in Bacenor’s company of horse, kept close on his heels and would have taken him alive; but one of the Thracian horsemen fell upon him and cut off his arm at the shoulder, so Gorgias escaped safe to Maresa.

But when they that were with Esdrin had fought long, and were weary, Judas called upon the Lord to be their helper, and leader of the battle:

At illis qui cum Esdrim erant diutius pugnantibus et fatigatis, invocavit Judas Dominum adjutorem et ducem belli fieri:

A long fight Esdrin’s company had of it, and were full weary, when Judas called upon the Lord to succour them and lead them onwards,

Then beginning in his own language, and singing hymns with a loud voice, he put Gorgias’ soldiers to flight.

incipiens voce patria, et cum hymnis clamorem extollens, fugam Gorgiæ militibus incussit.

battle-hymn and battle-cry raising in his own language; and so he put Gorgias’ army to the rout.

So Judas having gathered together his army, came into the city Odollam: and when the seventh day came, they purified themselves according to the custom, and kept the sabbath in the same place.

Judas autem collecto exercitu venit in civitatem Odollam: et cum septima dies superveniret, secundum consuetudinem purificati, in eodem loco sabbatum egerunt.

And now, recalling his men from the pursuit, he made his way to the city of Adollam; the week had gone round, and here, duly cleansed from defilement, they kept the sabbath.

And the day following Judas came with his company, to take away the bodies of them that were slain, and to bury them with their kinsmen, in the sepulchres of their fathers.

Et sequenti die venit cum suis Judas, ut corpora prostratorum tolleret, et cum parentibus poneret in sepulchris paternis.

Next day, with Judas at their head, they went back to recover the bodies of the slain, for burial among their own folk in their fathers’ graves;

And they found under the coats of the slain some of the donaries of the idols of Jamnia, which the law forbiddeth to the Jews: so that all plainly saw, that for this cause they were slain.

Invenerunt autem sub tunicis interfectorum de donariis idolorum quæ apud Jamniam fuerunt, a quibus lex prohibet Judæos: omnibus ergo manifestum factum est, ob hanc causam eos corruisse.

and what found they? Each of the fallen was wearing, under his shirt, some token carried away from the false gods of Jamnia. Here was defiance of the Jewish law, and none doubted it was the cause of their undoing;

Then they all blessed the just judgment of the Lord, who had discovered the things that were hidden.

Omnes itaque benedixerunt justum judicium Domini, qui occulta fecerat manifesta:

none but praised the Lord for his just retribution, that had brought hidden things to light;

And so betaking themselves to prayers, they besought him, that the sin which had been committed might be forgotten. But the most valiant Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves from sin, forasmuch as they saw before their eyes what had happened, because of the sins of those that were slain.

atque ita ad preces conversi, rogaverunt ut id quod factum erat delictum oblivioni traderetur. At vero fortissimus Judas hortabatur populum conservare se sine peccato, sub oculis videntes quæ facta sunt pro peccatis eorum qui prostrati sunt.

and so they fell to prayer, pleading that the sin might go unremembered. Judas himself, their gallant commander, gave public warning to his men, of fault they should evermore keep clear, with the fate of these transgressors under their eyes.

And making a gathering, he sent twelve thousand drachms of silver to Jerusalem for sacrifice to be offered for the sins of the dead, thinking well and religiously concerning the resurrection,

Et facta collatione, duodecim millia drachmas argenti misit Jerosolymam offerri pro peccatis mortuorum sacrificium, bene et religiose de resurrectione cogitans

Then he would have contribution made; a sum of twelve thousand silver pieces he levied, and sent it to Jerusalem, to have sacrifice made there for the guilt of their dead companions. Was not this well done and piously? Here was a man kept the resurrection ever in mind;

(For if he had not hoped that they that were slain should rise again, it would have seemed superfluous and vain to pray for the dead,)

(nisi enim eos qui ceciderant resurrecturos speraret, superfluum videretur et vanum orare pro mortuis),

he had done fondly and foolishly indeed, to pray for the dead, if these might rise no more, that once were fallen!

And because he considered that they who had fallen asleep with godliness, had great grace laid up for them.

et quia considerabat quod hi qui cum pietate dormitionem acceperant, optimam haberent repositam gratiam.

And these had made a godly end; could he doubt, a rich recompense awaited them?

It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins.

Sancta ergo et salubris est cogitatio pro defunctis exorare, ut a peccatis solvantur.

A holy and wholesome thought it is to pray for the dead, for their guilt’s undoing.