2 Maccabees 15 — Greek text and reception

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Nicanor learned that Judas and his men were in the regions of Samaria and planned to attack them in complete security on the day of rest.

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The Jews who were compelled to accompany him said, “Do not destroy so savagely and barbarously, but assign honor to the day that the One who watches all things has especially honored with holiness.”

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The thrice-accursed man asked whether there was a Sovereign in heaven who had commanded the observance of the Sabbath day.

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They declared, “The living Lord Himself is the Sovereign in heaven, who commanded that the seventh day be observed.”

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But he said, “And I am a sovereign on earth, who commands that weapons be taken up and the king's business carried out.” Nevertheless he did not succeed in accomplishing his cruel intention.

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Nicanor, holding his neck high in all arrogance, had determined to erect a common trophy over Judas and his men.

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But Maccabeus remained continually confident, with every hope of receiving help from the Lord.

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He urged those with him not to fear the nations' advance, but to remember the help they had previously received from heaven and now expect the victory that would come to them from the Almighty.

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Encouraging them from the law and the prophets, and reminding them also of the struggles they had completed, he made them more eager.

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Arousing their spirits, he gave orders while also pointing out the nations' faithlessness and violation of their oaths.

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Arming each of them with the encouragement of good words more than with the security of shields and lances, he also related a trustworthy dream, a kind of waking vision, and gladdened them all.

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Its vision was as follows: Onias, the former high priest, a noble and good man, modest in his encounters, gentle in character, speaking fittingly, and practiced from childhood in everything belonging to virtue, stretched out his hands and prayed for the whole community of the Jews.

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Then another man appeared, distinguished by gray hair and glory, surrounded by a wondrous and most magnificent majesty.

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Onias spoke and said, “This is the lover of the brothers, who prays much for the people and the holy city: Jeremiah, God's prophet.”

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Jeremiah stretched out his right hand and handed Judas a golden sword. As he gave it, he addressed him in these words:

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“Take this holy sword, a gift from God, with which you will shatter the adversaries.”

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Encouraged by Judas's very fine words, which could incite them to virtue and strengthen the young men's souls, they decided not to campaign, but to charge nobly and, engaging with all courage, decide the matter, because the city, the holy things and the temple were in danger.

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For concern for wives and children, and also brothers and kinsmen, occupied a lesser place with them; greatest and foremost was their fear for the consecrated temple.

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Those confined within the city also had no minor anguish, troubled about the attack in the open country.

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Everyone was now awaiting the coming decision. The enemy had already approached, the army had been drawn up, the beasts positioned at a suitable point, and the cavalry stationed on the wing.

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Maccabeus saw the arrival of the multitudes, their varied equipment of weapons, and the beasts' savagery. Stretching his hands toward heaven, he called upon the wonder-working Lord, knowing that victory does not come through weapons, but that He obtains it for the worthy as He judges.

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He called upon Him in this way: “You, Master, sent Your angel in the time of Hezekiah, king of Judea, and he killed about one hundred eighty-five thousand in Sennacherib's camp.

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Now also, Sovereign of the heavens, send a good angel before us to bring dread and trembling.

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By the greatness of Your arm, may those who come with blasphemy against Your holy people be struck with terror.” With these words he ended.

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Nicanor's men advanced with trumpets and battle hymns.

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But Judas's men met the enemy with invocation and prayers.

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Fighting with their hands and praying to God with their hearts, they struck down no fewer than thirty-five thousand, greatly gladdened by God's manifestation.

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When they had finished the engagement and were returning with joy, they recognized that Nicanor had fallen in his full armor.

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Amid shouting and commotion, they blessed the Sovereign in their ancestral language.

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The man who had fought foremost for his fellow citizens with his whole body and soul, preserving the goodwill of his youth toward his countrymen, ordered Nicanor's head and his hand with the shoulder to be cut off and carried to Jerusalem.

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When he arrived there, he called his fellow countrymen together, stationed the priests before the altar, and sent for those in the citadel.

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He displayed the defiled Nicanor's head and the blasphemer's hand, which he had stretched out against the holy house of the Almighty while boasting.

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He cut out the impious Nicanor's tongue and said that it should be given piece by piece to the birds, and that the rewards of his folly should be hung opposite the temple.

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They all blessed the manifested Lord toward heaven, saying, “Blessed is He who has preserved His own place undefiled.”

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He hung Nicanor's head from the citadel as an evident and visible sign to everyone of the Lord's help.

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By a common vote they all decreed that this day must never be left unmarked, but that they should specially observe the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, called Adar in the Syrian language, one day before Mordecai's day.

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Since the matters concerning Nicanor unfolded in this way, and from that time the city was held by the Hebrews, I too will end my account here.

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If it is well composed and to the point, that is what I myself desired; if it is slight and mediocre, that is what I could achieve.

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For drinking wine by itself, and likewise water by itself, is harmful; but just as wine mixed with water is sweet and produces a delightful pleasure, so the arrangement of the account delights the ears of those who encounter the composition. Here shall be the end.