2 Maccabees 8

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	VULGATA
1 Judas Maccabeus and his companions entered the villages, secretly, summoned their kinsmen, and by also enlisting others who remained faithful to Judaism, assembled about six thousand men.	1 Judas vero Machabæus, et qui cum illo erant, introibant latenter in castella : et convocantes cognatos et amicos, et eos qui permanserunt in Judaismo assumentes, eduxerunt ad se sex millia virorum.
2 They implored the Lord to look kindly upon his people, who were being oppressed on all sides; to have pity on the temple, which was profaned by godless men;	2 Et invocabant Dominum, ut respiceret in populum qui ab omnibus calcabatur, et misereretur templo quod contaminabatur ab impiis :
3 to have mercy on the city, which was being destroyed and about to be leveled to the ground; to hearken to the blood that cried out to him;	3 misereretur etiam exterminio civitatis, quæ esset illico complananda, et vocem sanguinis ad se clamantis audiret :
4 to remember the criminal slaughter of innocent children and the blasphemies uttered against his name; and to manifest his hatred of evil.	4 memoraretur quoque iniquissimas mortes parvulorum innocentum, et blasphemias nomini suo illatas, et indignaretur super his.
5 Once Maccabeus got his men organized, the Gentiles could not withstand him, for the Lord's wrath had now changed to mercy.	5 At Machabæus, congregata multitudine, intolerabilis gentibus efficiebatur : ira enim Domini in misericordiam conversa est.
6 Coming unexpectedly upon towns and villages, he would set them on fire. He captured strategic positions, and put to flight a large number of the enemy.	6 Et superveniens castellis et civitatibus improvisus, succendebat eas : et opportuna loca occupans, non paucas hostium strages dabat :
7 He preferred the nights as being especially helpful for such attacks. Soon the fame of his valor spread everywhere.	7 maxime autem noctibus ad hujuscemodi excursus ferebatur, et fama virtutis ejus ubique diffundebatur.
8 When Philip saw that Judas was gaining ground little by little and that his successful advances were becoming more frequent, he wrote to Ptolemy, governor of Coelesyria and Phoenicia, to come to the aid of the king's government.	8 Videns autem Philippus paulatim virum ad profectum venire, ac frequentius res ei cedere propere, ad Ptolemæum ducem Cœlesyriæ et Phœnicis scripsit ut auxilium ferret regis negotiis.
9 Ptolemy promptly selected Nicanor, son of Patroclus, one of the Chief Friends, and sent him at the head of at least twenty thousand armed men of various nations to wipe out the entire Jewish race. With him he associated Gorgias, a professional military commander, well-versed in the art of war.	9 At ille velociter misit Nicanorem Patrocli de primoribus amicum, datis ei de permistis gentibus, armatis non minus viginti millibus, ut universum Judæorum genus deleret, adjuncto ei Gorgia viro militari, et in bellicis rebus experientissimo.
10 Nicanor planned to raise the two thousand talents of tribute owed by the king to the Romans by selling captured Jews into slavery.	10 Constituit autem Nicanor, ut regi tributum, quod Romanis erat dandum, duo millia talentorum de captivitate Judæorum suppleret :
11 So he immediately sent word to the coastal cities, inviting them to buy Jewish slaves and promising to deliver ninety slaves for a talent--little did he dream of the punishment that was to fall upon him from the Almighty.	11 statimque ad maritimas civitates misit, convocans ad coëmptionem Judaicorum mancipiorum, promittens se nonaginta mancipia talento distracturum, non respiciens ad vindictam quæ eum ab Omnipotente esset consecutura.
12 When Judas learned of Nicanor's advance and informed his companions about the approach of the army,	12 Judas autem ubi comperit, indicavit his qui secum erant Judæis Nicanoris adventum.
13 the cowardly and those who lacked faith in God's justice deserted and got away.	13 Ex quibus quidam formidantes, et non credentes Dei justitiæ, in fugam vertebantur :
14 But the others sold everything they had left, and at the same time besought the Lord to deliver those whom the ungodly Nicanor had sold before even meeting them.	14 alii vero si quid eis supererat vendebant, simulque Dominum deprecabantur ut eriperet eos ab impio Nicanore, qui eos priusquam cominus veniret, vendiderat :
15 They begged the Lord to do this, if not for their sake, at least for the sake of the covenants made with their forefathers, and because they themselves bore his holy, glorious name.	15 etsi non propter eos, propter testamentum tamen quod erat ad patres eorum, et propter invocationem sancti et magnifici nominis ejus super ipsos.
16 Maccabeus assembled his men, six thousand strong, and exhorted them not to be panic-stricken before the enemy, nor to fear the large number of the Gentiles attacking them unjustly, but to fight courageously,	16 Convocatis autem Machabæus septem millibus qui cum ipso erant, rogabat ne hostibus reconciliarentur, neque metuerent inique venientium adversum se hostium multitudinem : sed fortiter contenderent,
17 keeping before their eyes the lawless outrage perpetrated by the Gentiles against the holy Place and the affliction of the humiliated city, as well as the subversion of their ancestral way of life.	17 ante oculos habentes contumeliam quæ loco sancto ab his injuste esset illata, itemque et ludibrio habitæ civitatis injuriam, adhuc etiam veterum instituta convulsa.
18 "They trust in weapons and acts of daring," he said, "but we trust in almighty God, who can by a mere nod destroy not only those who attack us, but the whole world."	18 Nam illi quidem armis confidunt, ait, simul et audacia : nos autem in omnipotente Domino, qui potest et venientes adversum nos, et universum mundum, uno nutu delere, confidimus.
19 He went on to tell them of the times when help had been given their ancestors: both the time of Sennacherib, when a hundred and eighty-five thousand of his men were destroyed,	19 Admonuit autem eos et de auxiliis Dei, quæ facta sunt erga parentes : et quod sub Sennacherib centum octoginta quinque millia perierunt :
20 and the time of the battle in Babylonia against the Galatians, when only eight thousand Jews fought along with four thousand Macedonians; yet when the Macedonians were hard pressed, the eight thousand routed one hundred and twenty thousand and took a great quantity of booty, because of the help they received from Heaven.	20 et de prælio quod eis adversus Galatas fuit in Babylonia, ut omnes, ubi ad rem ventum est, Macedonibus sociis hæsitantibus, ipsi sex millia soli peremerunt centum viginti millia, propter auxilium illis datum de cælo, et beneficia pro his plurima consecuti sunt.
21 With such words he encouraged them and made them ready to die for their laws and their country. Then Judas divided his army into four,	21 His verbis constantes effecti sunt, et pro legibus et patria mori parati.
22 placing his brothers, Simon, Joseph, and Jonathan, each over a division, assigning to each fifteen hundred men.	22 Constituit itaque fratres suos duces utrique ordini, Simonem, et Josephum, et Jonathan, subjectis unicuique millenis et quingentenis.
23 (There was also Eleazar.) After reading to them from the holy book and giving them the watchword, "The Help of God," he himself took charge of the first division and joined in battle with Nicanor.	23 Ad hoc etiam ab Esdra lecto illis sancto libro, et dato signo adjutorii Dei, in prima acie ipse dux commisit cum Nicanore.
24 With the Almighty as their ally, they killed more than nine thousand of the enemy, wounded and disabled the greater part of Nicanor's army, and put all of them to flight.	24 Et facto sibi adjutore Omnipotente, interfecerunt super novem millia hominum : majorem autem partem exercitus Nicanoris vulneribus debilem factam fugere compulerunt.
25 They also seized the money of those who had come to buy them as slaves. When they had pursued the enemy for some time,	25 Pecuniis vero eorum, qui ad emptionem ipsorum venerant, sublatis, ipsos usquequaque persecuti sunt :
26 they were obliged to return by reason of the late hour, it was the day before the sabbath, and for that reason they could not continue the pursuit.	26 sed reversi sunt hora conclusi, nam erat ante sabbatum : quam ob causam non perseveraverunt insequentes.
27 They collected the enemy's arms and stripped them of their spoils, and then observed the sabbath with fervent praise and thanks to the Lord who kept them safe for that day on which he let descend on them the first dew of his mercy.	27 Arma autem ipsorum, et spolia congregantes, sabbatum agebant, benedicentes Dominum, qui liberavit eos in isto die, misericordiæ initium stillans in eos.
28 After the sabbath, they gave a share of the booty to the persecuted and to widows and orphans; the rest they divided among themselves and their children.	28 Post sabbatum vero debilibus, et orphanis, et viduis diviserunt spolia : et residua ipsi cum suis habuere.
29 When this was done, they made supplication in common, imploring the merciful Lord to be completely reconciled with his servants.	29 His itaque gestis, et communiter ab omnibus facta obsecratione, misericordem Dominum postulabant ut in finem servis suis reconciliaretur.
30 They also challenged the forces of Timothy and Bacchides, killed more than twenty thousand of them, and captured some very high fortresses. They divided the enormous plunder, allotting half to themselves and the rest to the persecuted, to orphans, widows, and the aged.	30 Et ex his qui cum Timotheo et Bacchide erant contra se contendentes, super viginti millia interfecerunt, et munitiones excelsas obtinuerunt : et plures prædas diviserunt, æquam portionem debilibus, pupillis, et viduis, sed et senioribus facientes.
31 They collected the enemies' weapons and carefully stored them in suitable places; the rest of the spoils they carried to Jerusalem.	31 Et cum arma eorum diligenter collegissent, omnia composuerunt in locis opportunis : residua vero spolia Jerosolymam detulerunt :
32 They also killed the commander of Timothy's forces, a most wicked man, who had done great harm to the Jews.	32 et Philarchen, qui cum Timotheo erat, interfecerunt, virum scelestum, qui in multis Judæos afflixerat.
33 While celebrating the victory in their ancestral city, they burned both those who had set fire to the sacred gates and Callisthenes, who had taken refuge in a little house; so he received the reward his wicked deeds deserved.	33 Et cum epinicia agerent Jerosolymis, eum qui sacras januas incenderat, id est, Callisthenem, cum in quoddam domicilium refugisset, incenderunt, digna ei mercede pro impietatibus suis reddita.
34 The accursed Nicanor, who had brought the thousand slave dealers to buy the Jews,	34 Facinorosissimus autem Nicanor, qui mille negotiantes ad Judæorum venditionem adduxerat,
35 after being humbled through the Lord's help by those whom he had thought of no account, laid aside his fine clothes and fled alone across country like a runaway slave, until he reached Antioch. He was eminently successful in destroying his own army.	35 humiliatus auxilio Domini ab his quos nullos existimaverat, deposita veste gloriæ, per mediterranea fugiens, solus venit Antiochiam, summam infelicitatem de interitu sui exercitus consecutus.
36 So he who had promised to provide tribute for the Romans by the capture of the people of Jerusalem testified that the Jews had a champion, and that they were invulnerable for the very reason that they followed the laws laid down by him. Death of Antiochus	36 Et qui promiserat Romanis se tributum restituere de captivitate Jerosolymorum, prædicabat nunc protectorem Deum habere Judæos, et ob ipsum invulnerabiles esse, eo quod sequerentur leges ab ipso constitutas.