1 Maccabees 14
Each Sat Under His Vine, and None Made Them Afraid
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The Capture of Demetrius
14:1In the one hundred and seventy-second year, King Demetrius gathered his forces and went to Media to obtain help for himself so that he might fight Tryphon.
14:2Arsaces king of Persia and Media heard that Demetrius had entered his territory, and sent one of his commanders to seize him alive.
14:3He went, struck Demetrius’s army, seized him, and brought him to Arsaces, who put him under guard.
The Peace of Simon’s Days
14:4The land of Judah was quiet all the days of Simon. He sought good things for his nation, and his authority and glory pleased them all his days.
14:5Among all his glorious deeds he took Joppa as a harbor and made an entrance to the islands of the sea.
14:6He enlarged the borders of his nation and gained control of the country.
14:7He gathered many who had been captive and gained control of Gazara, Beth-zur, and the citadel. He removed its uncleannesses, and there was no one to oppose him.
14:8They cultivated their land in peace. The land gave its produce, and the trees of the plains their fruit.
14:9Elders sat in the squares, all conversing about good things; the young men clothed themselves in splendor and garments of war.
14:10He supplied food to the cities and equipped them with means of defense, until the fame of his glory reached the end of the earth.
14:11He made peace upon the land, and Israel rejoiced with great gladness.
14:12Each sat beneath his vine and his fig tree, and no one made them afraid.
14:13Those who fought them ceased from the land, and the kings were crushed in those days.
14:14He strengthened all the lowly of his people. He sought out the law and removed every lawless and wicked person.
14:15He glorified the holy places and multiplied the vessels of the holy places.
Rome and Sparta Renew Friendship
14:16It was heard in Rome, and as far as Sparta, that Jonathan had died, and they were greatly grieved.
14:17When they heard that Simon his brother had become high priest in his place and was in control of the country and its cities,
14:18they wrote to him on bronze tablets to renew with him the friendship and alliance they had established with Judas and Jonathan his brothers.
14:19The letters were read before the assembly in Jerusalem.
14:20This is the copy of the letters the Spartans sent: “The rulers of the Spartans and the city to Simon the great priest, the elders, the priests, and the rest of the Jewish people, their brothers, greetings.
14:21The envoys sent to our people reported to us concerning your glory and honor, and we rejoiced at their arrival.
14:22We entered what they said in the resolutions of the people as follows: ‘Numenius son of Antiochus and Antipater son of Jason, envoys of the Jews, came to us to renew friendship with us.
14:23The people resolved to receive the men with honor and to place a copy of their words in the designated public records, so that the Spartan people might have a memorial.’” They wrote a copy of these things to Simon the high priest.
The Great Shield Sent to Rome
14:24After this Simon sent Numenius to Rome carrying a great golden shield weighing a thousand minas to establish the alliance with them.
14:25When the people heard these things, they said, “What thanks shall we return to Simon and his sons?
14:26For he, his brothers, and his father’s house stood firm, fought off Israel’s enemies, and established freedom for Israel.” They inscribed it on bronze tablets and placed them on pillars on Mount Zion.
The Inscription in Honor of Simon
14:27This is the copy of the inscription: “On the eighteenth of Elul, in the one hundred and seventy-second year, which is the third year under Simon the great high priest, in Asaramel,
14:28in a great assembly of priests, people, rulers of the nation, and elders of the country, a declaration was made to us:
14:29‘Since wars have often occurred in the country, Simon son of Mattathias, a priest of the sons of Joarib, and his brothers exposed themselves to danger and resisted their nation’s adversaries, so that their holy places and the law might stand. They honored their nation with great glory.
14:30Jonathan gathered their nation, became their high priest, and was gathered to his people.
14:31Their enemies wished to invade their country and stretch out their hands against their holy places.
14:32Then Simon resisted and fought for his nation. He spent much of his own money, supplied the men of his nation’s force with weapons, and gave them pay.
14:33He fortified the cities of Judea and Beth-zur on Judea’s border, where the enemies’ weapons had formerly been, and stationed Jewish men there as a garrison.
14:34He fortified Joppa by the sea and Gazara on the borders of Azotus, where the enemies had formerly lived. He settled Jews there and provided everything necessary for their restoration.
14:35The people saw Simon’s faithfulness and the glory he had resolved to bring to his nation. They made him their leader and high priest because he had done all these things, because of the righteousness and faithfulness he maintained toward his nation, and because he sought in every way to exalt his people.
14:36In his days it prospered in his hands to remove the nations from their country, including those in the city of David at Jerusalem who had made themselves a citadel. From it they used to go out and defile the surroundings of the holy places, inflicting a great blow upon purity.
14:37He settled Jewish men in it, fortified it for the security of the country and city, and raised Jerusalem’s walls.
14:38King Demetrius accordingly confirmed him in the high priesthood,
14:39made him one of his Friends, and honored him with great glory.
14:40For he had heard that the Jews had been addressed by the Romans as friends, allies, and brothers, and that they had received Simon’s envoys with honor;
Simon Made Leader and High Priest
14:41and that the Jews and priests had agreed that Simon should be their leader and high priest forever, until a faithful prophet should arise;
14:42that he should be their general, and take care of the holy places, appointing through his authority those in charge of their works, the country, the weapons, and the strongholds;
14:43that he should take care of the holy places, be obeyed by everyone, have all documents in the country written in his name, and wear purple and gold ornaments;
14:44and that no one among the people or priests should have authority to annul any of these things, contradict what he should say, convene a gathering in the country without him, wear purple, or fasten on a golden clasp.
14:45Whoever acts contrary to these provisions or annuls any of them shall be liable.’
14:46All the people agreed to establish Simon to act according to these terms.
14:47Simon accepted and agreed to serve as high priest, to be general and ethnarch of the Jews and priests, and to preside over them all.
14:48They directed that this inscription be placed on bronze tablets and that these be set up within the enclosure of the holy places in a conspicuous place,
14:49and that copies be placed in the treasury so that Simon and his sons might possess them.”
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Saints Translation · Liturgical reading edition · V1 · working draft awaiting specialist review.