Liber II Maccabaeorum, 8

1. Iudas vero Maccabaeus et, qui cum illo erant, introeuntes la tenter in castella convocabant cognatos; et eos, qui permanserunt in Iudaismo, assumentes, collegerunt circiter sex milia virorum.

1. But Judas, who was also called Maccabeus, and his companions secretly entered the villages and summoned their kinsmen and enlisted those who had continued in the Jewish faith, and so they gathered about six thousand men.

2. Et invocabant Dominum, ut respiceret in populum, qui ab omnibus calcabatur; et misereretur templo, quod contaminabatur ab impiis;

2. They besought the Lord to look upon the people who were oppressed by all, and to have pity on the temple which had been profaned by ungodly men,

3. et misereretur etiam pereunti civitati et incipienti solo complanari et vocem sanguinis ad se clamantis exaudiret;

3. and to have mercy on the city which was being destroyed and about to be leveled to the ground, and to hearken to the blood that cried out to him,

4. memoraretur quoque iniquas mortes parvulorum innocentum et blasphemias nomini suo illatas et indignaretur super his.

4. and to remember also the lawless destruction of the innocent babies and the blasphemies committed against his name, and to show his hatred of evil.

5. At Maccabaeus, congregata multitudine, intolerabilis iam gentibus efficiebatur, ira Domini in misericordiam conversa.

5. As soon as Maccabeus got his army organized, the Gentiles could not withstand him, for the wrath of the Lord had turned to mercy.

6. Et civitates et castella superveniens improvisus succendebat et opportuna loca occupans non paucos hostium in fugam convertens,

6. Coming without warning, he would set fire to towns and villages. He captured strategic positions and put to flight not a few of the enemy.

7. maxime noctes in huiusmodi excursus cooperantes captabat. Et fama virtutis eius ubique diffundebatur.

7. He found the nights most advantageous for such attacks. And talk of his valor spread everywhere.

8. Videns autem Philippus paulatim virum ad profectum venire ac frequentius in prosperitatibus procedere, ad Ptolemaeum ducem Coelesyriae et Phoenicis scripsit, ut auxilium ferret regis negotiis.

8. When Philip saw that the man was gaining ground little by little, and that he was pushing ahead with more frequent successes, he wrote to Ptolemy, the governor of Coelesyria and Phoenicia, for aid to the king's government.

9. At ille velociter sumpsit Nicanorem Patrocli de primoribus amicis et misit, datis ei de permixtis gentibus armatis non minus viginti milibus, ut universum Iudaeorum genus deleret; adiunxit autem ei et Gorgiam virum militarem et in bellicis rebus expertum.

9. And Ptolemy promptly appointed Nicanor the son of Patroclus, one of the king's chief friends, and sent him, in command of no fewer than twenty thousand Gentiles of all nations, to wipe out the whole race of Judea. He associated with him Gorgias, a general and a man of experience in military service.

10. Constituit autem Nicanor, ut regi tributum, quod Romanis erat dandum, duo milia talentorum de captivitate Iudaeorum suppleret;

10. Nicanor determined to make up for the king the tribute due to the Romans, two thousand talents, by selling the captured Jews into slavery.

11. statimque ad maritimas civitates misit convocans ad coemptionem Iudaicorum mancipiorum, promittens se nonaginta mancipia talento distracturum, non exspectans vindictam, quae eum ab Omnipotente esset consecutura.

11. And he immediately sent to the cities on the seacoast, inviting them to buy Jewish slaves and promising to hand over ninety slaves for a talent, not expecting the judgment from the Almighty that was about to overtake him.

12. Iudas autem, ubi comperit de Nicanoris adventu, indicavit his, qui secum erant, exercitus praesentiam.

12. Word came to Judas concerning Nicanor's invasion; and when he told his companions of the arrival of the army,

13. Ex quibus quidam formidantes et non credentes Dei iustitiae in fugam vertebantur et in alios locos seipsos transferebant;

13. those who were cowardly and distrustful of God's justice ran off and got away.

14. alii vero omnia, quae eis supererant, vendebant simulque Dominum deprecabantur, ut eriperet eos, qui ab impio Nicanore, prius quam comminus venirent, venumdati essent:

14. Others sold all their remaining property, and at the same time besought the Lord to rescue those who had been sold by the ungodly Nicanor before he ever met them,

15. et si non propter eos, sed tamen propter testamenta ad patres eorum et propter invocationem sancti et magnifici nominis eius super ipsos.

15. if not for their own sake, yet for the sake of the covenants made with their fathers, and because he had called them by his holy and glorious name.

16. Convocatis autem Maccabaeus sex milibus, qui cum ipso erant, rogabat ne ab hostibus perterrerentur neque metuerent inique venientium adversum se gentium multitudinem, sed fortiter contenderent,

16. But Maccabeus gathered his men together, to the number six thousand, and exhorted them not to be frightened by the enemy and not to fear the great multitude of Gentiles who were wickedly coming against them, but to fight nobly,

17. ante oculos habentes contumeliam, quae in locum sanctum ab his iniuste esset consummata, itemque et ludibrio habitae civitatis iniuriam, adhuc etiam veterum instituta convulsa.

17. keeping before their eyes the lawless outrage which the Gentiles had committed against the holy place, and the torture of the derided city, and besides, the overthrow of their ancestral way of life.

18. “Nam illi quidem armis confidunt, ait, simul et audacia; nos autem in omnipotente Deo, qui potest et venientes adversum nos et universum mundum uno nutu delere, confidimus”.

18. "For they trust to arms and acts of daring," he said, "but we trust in the Almighty God, who is able with a single nod to strike down those who are coming against us and even the whole world."

19. Cum autem admonuisset eos et de auxiliis, quae facta sunt erga parentes, et de illo sub Sennacherib, ut centum octoginta quinque milia perierunt,

19. Moreover, he told them of the times when help came to their ancestors; both the time of Sennacherib, when one hundred and eighty-five thousand perished,

20. et de illo in Babilonia, in proelio quod eis adversus Galatas fuit, ut omnes ad rem venerunt, octo milia cum quattuor milibus Macedonum — Macedonibus haesitantibus, ipsi octo milia peremerunt centum viginti milia propter auxilium illis datum de caelo et beneficia plurima consecuti sunt C;

20. and the time of the battle with the Galatians that took place in Babylonia, when eight thousand in all went into the affair, with four thousand Macedonians; and when the Macedonians were hard pressed, the eight thousand, by the help that came to them from heaven, destroyed one hundred and twenty thousand and took much booty.

21. quibus verbis cum eos constantes effecisset et paratos pro legibus et patria mori, in quattuor quasdam partes exercitum divisit.

21. With these words he filled them with good courage and made them ready to die for their laws and their country; then he divided his army into four parts.

22. Constitutis itaque fratribus suis ducibus uniuscuiusque ordinis, Simone et Iosepho et Ionatha, subiectis unicuique millenis et quingentenis,

22. He appointed his brothers also, Simon and Joseph and Jonathan, each to command a division, putting fifteen hundred men under each.

23. insuper et Eleazaro, lecto sancto libro et dato signo adiutorii Dei, primae cohortis ipse ductor commisit cum Nicanore.

23. Besides, he appointed Eleazar to read aloud from the holy book, and gave the watchword, "God's help"; then, leading the first division himself, he joined battle with Nicanor.

24. Et facto sibi adiutore Omnipotente, interfecerunt super novem milia hostium, saucios autem et membris debilitatos maiorem partem exercitus Nicanoris reddiderunt, omnes vero fugere compulerunt.

24. With the Almighty as their ally, they slew more than nine thousand of the enemy, and wounded and disabled most of Nicanor's army, and forced them all to flee.

25. Pecunias autem eorum, qui ad emptionem illorum advenerant, abstulerunt et, cum persecuti eos fuissent satis longe, reversi sunt hora conclusi;

25. They captured the money of those who had come to buy them as slaves. After pursuing them for some distance, they were obliged to return because the hour was late.

26. nam erat ante sabbatum, quam ob causam non perseveraverunt insequentes eos.

26. For it was the day before the sabbath, and for that reason they did not continue their pursuit.

27. Cum autem ipsorum arma collegissent spoliisque hostes exuissent, circa sabbatum versabantur impensius benedicentes et confitentes Domino, qui liberavit eos in isto die misericordiae initium constituens in eos.

27. And when they had collected the arms of the enemy and stripped them of their spoils, they kept the sabbath, giving great praise and thanks to the Lord, who had preserved them for that day and allotted it to them as the beginning of mercy.

28. Post sabbatum vero debilitatis et viduis et orphanis portione de spoliis data, residua ipsi cum pueris partiti sunt.

28. After the sabbath they gave some of the spoils to those who had been tortured and to the widows and orphans, and distributed the rest among themselves and their children.

29. His itaque gestis et communi facta obsecratione, misericordem Dominum postulabant, ut in finem servis suis reconciliaretur.

29. When they had done this, they made common supplication and besought the merciful Lord to be wholly reconciled with his servants.

30. Et contendentes cum his, qui cum Timotheo et Bacchide erant, super viginti milia eorum interfecerunt et munitiones excelsas facile obtinuerunt; et plures praedas diviserunt, aequaliter seipsos participes cum debilitatis et orphanis et viduis, sed et senioribus facientes.

30. In encounters with the forces of Timothy and Bacchides they killed more than twenty thousand of them and got possession of some exceedingly high strongholds, and they divided very much plunder, giving to those who had been tortured and to the orphans and widows, and also to the aged, shares equal to their own.

31. Et cum arma eorum diligenter collegissent, omnia composuerunt in locis opportunis; residua vero spolia Hierosolymam detulerunt.

31. Collecting the arms of the enemy, they stored them all carefully in strategic places, and carried the rest of the spoils to Jerusalem.

32. Et phylarchen eorum, qui cum Timotheo erant, interfecerunt, virum scelestissimum, qui in multis Iudaeos afflixerat;

32. They killed the commander of Timothy's forces, a most unholy man, and one who had greatly troubled the Jews.

33. et cum epinicia agerent in patria, eos, qui sacras ianuas incenderant, et Callisthenem succenderunt, qui in quoddam domicilium fugerat; et dignam pro impietate mercedem tulit.

33. While they were celebrating the victory in the city of their fathers, they burned those who had set fire to the sacred gates, Callisthenes and some others, who had fled into one little house; so these received the proper recompense for their impiety.

34. Facinorosissimus autem Nicanor, qui mille negotiantes ad Iudaeorum venditionem adduxerat,

34. The thrice-accursed Nicanor, who had brought the thousand merchants to buy the Jews,

35. humiliatus ab his, qui secundum ipsum exsistimabantur exigui esse, auxilio Domini, deposita veste gloriae, per mediterranea fugitivi more solitarius effectus venit Antiochiam, super omnia prosperatus in interitu exercitus.

35. having been humbled with the help of the Lord by opponents whom he regarded as of the least account, took off his splendid uniform and made his way alone like a runaway slave across the country till he reached Antioch, having succeeded chiefly in the destruction of his own army!

36. Et, qui Romanis promiserat se tributum de captivitate Hierosolymorum redigere, praedicabat propugnatorem habere Iudaeos, et hoc modo invulnerabiles esse, eo quod sequerentur leges ab ipso constitutas.

36. Thus he who had undertaken to secure tribute for the Romans by the capture of the people of Jerusalem proclaimed that the Jews had a Defender, and that therefore the Jews were invulnerable, because they followed the laws ordained by him.