Secondo libro dei Maccabei 10

NOVA VULGATA	NEW JERUSALEM
1 Maccabaeus autem et, qui cum eo erant, Domino eos praeeunte, templumquidem et civitatem receperunt;	1 Maccabaeus and his companions, under the Lord's guidance, restored the Temple and the city,
2 aras autem, quas alienigenae per plateamexstruxerant, itemque delubra demoliti sunt	2 and pul ed down the altars erected by the foreigners in the market place, as wel as the shrines.
3 et, purgato templo, aliud altarefecerunt et, succensis lapidibus igneque de his concepto, sacrificia obtuleruntpost biennium et incensum et lucernas et panum propositionem fecerunt.	3 They purified the sanctuary and built another altar; then, striking fire from flints and using this fire, theyoffered the first sacrifice for two years, burning incense, lighting the lamps and setting out the loaves.
4 Quibusautem gestis, rogaverunt Dominum prostrati in ventrem, ne amplius talibus malisinciderent, sed et, si quando peccassent, ut ab ipso cum clementia corriperenturet non blasphemis ac barbaris gentibus traderentur.	4 When they had done this, prostrating themselves on the ground, they implored the Lord never againto let them fal into such adversity, but if they should ever sin, to correct them with moderation and not to deliverthem over to blasphemous and barbarous nations.
5 Qua die autem templum abalienigenis pollutum fuerat, contigit eadem die purificationem fieri templivicesima quinta illius mensis, qui est Casleu.	5 This day of the purification of the Temple fell on the very day on which the Temple had been profanedby the foreigners, the twenty-fifth of the same month, Chislev.
6 Et cum laetitia diebus octoegerunt in modum Tabernaculorum, recordantes quod ante modicum temporis diemsollemnem Tabernaculorum in montibus et in speluncis more bestiarum egerant.	6 They kept eight festal days with rejoicing, in the manner of the feast of Shelters, remembering how,not long before at the time of the feast of Shelters, they had been living in the mountains and caverns like wildbeasts.
7 Propter quod thyrsos et ramos virides, adhuc et palmas habentes, hymnostollebant ei, qui prosperavit mundari locum suum.	7 Then, carrying thyrsuses, leafy boughs and palms, they offered hymns to him who had brought thecleansing of his own holy place to a happy outcome.
8 Et decreverunt communipraecepto et decreto universae genti Iudaeorum omnibus annis agere dies istos.	8 They also decreed by public edict, ratified by vote, that the whole Jewish nation should celebratethose same days every year.
9 Res itaque de fine Antiochi, qui appellatus est Epiphanes, ita se habuerunt.	9 Such were the circumstances attending the death of Antiochus styled Epiphanes.
10 Nunc autem res de Antiocho Eupatore, qui vero filius erat impii, narrabimus,illa breviantes, quae continent bellorum mala.	10 Our task now is to unfold the history of Antiochus Eupator, son of that godless man, and briefly torelate the evil effects of the wars.
11 Hic enim, suscepto regno,constituit super negotia regni Lysiam quendam Coelesyriae et Phoenicis ducemprimarium.	11 On coming to the throne, this prince put at the head of affairs a certain Lysias, the general officercommanding Coele-Syria and Phoenicia,
12 Nam Ptolemaeus, qui dicebatur Macron, quod esset iustum conservarepraeferens erga Iudaeos propter in eos factam iniquitatem, conabatur, quae adillos spectabant, pacifice peragere.	12 whereas Ptolemy, known as Macron, and the first person to govern the Jews justly, had done hisbest to govern them peaceful y to make up for the wrongs inflicted on them in the past.
13 Unde accusatus ab amicis apud Eupatoremet cum frequenter se proditorem esse audiret, eo quod Cyprum creditam sibi aPhilometore deseruisset et ad Antiochum Epiphanem transiisset, cumque ampliusnobilem potestatem digne ferre non posset, veneno hausto vitam finivit.	13 Denounced, in consequence, to Eupator by the Friends of the King, he heard himself cal ed traitor atevery turn: for having abandoned Cyprus, which had been entrusted to him by Philometer, for having gone overto Antiochus Epiphanes, and for having shed no lustre on his il ustrious office: he committed suicide by poisoninghimself.
14 Gorgias autem, cum esset dux locorum, externos milites alebat et frequenteradversus Iudaeos bellum instruebat.	14 Gorgias now became general of the area; he maintained a force of mercenaries and a continualstate of war with the Jews.
15 Atque una cum ipso etiam Idumaei, quitenebant opportunas munitiones, exercebant Iudaeos et fugatos ab Hierosolymissuscipientes bellum alere tentabant.	15 At the same time, the Idumaeans, who controlled important fortresses, were harassing the Jews,welcoming outlaws from Jerusalem and endeavouring to maintain a state of war.
16 Hi vero, qui erant cum Maccabaeo,supplicatione facta et rogato Deo, ut esset sibi adiutor, impetum fecerunt inmunitiones Idumaeorum;	16 Maccabaeus and his men, after making public supplication to God, entreating him to support them,began operations against the Idumaean fortresses.
17 quas fortiter aggressi, loca obtinuerunt et omnes, quipugnabant in muris, propulerunt et occurrentes interemerunt et non minus vigintimilibus trucidaverunt.	17 Vigorously pressing home their attack, they seized possession of these vantage points, beating offal who fought on the ramparts; they slaughtered al who fel into their hands, accounting for no fewer than twentythousand.
18 Quidam autem, cum confugissent non minus quam novemmilia in duas turres valde munitas et omnia ad repugnandum habentes,	18 Nine thousand at least took refuge in two exceptional y strong towers with everything they needed towithstand a siege,
19 Maccabaeus, ad eorum expugnationem relicto Simone et Iosepho itemque Zacchaeoeisque, qui cum ipso erant satis multis, ipse ad ea, quae amplius perurgebant,loca discessit.	19 whereupon, Maccabaeus left Simon and Joseph, with Zacchaeus and his forces, in sufficientnumbers to besiege them, and himself went off to other places requiring his attention.
20 Hi vero, qui cum Simone erant, cupiditate ducti a quibusdam,qui in turribus erant, suasi sunt pecunia et, septuaginta milibus drachmisacceptis, dimiserunt quosdam effugere.	20 But Simon's men were greedy for money and al owed themselves to be bribed by some of the menin the towers; accepting seventy thousand drachmas, they let a number of them escape.
21 Cum autem Maccabaeo nuntiatum essetquod factum est, principibus populi congregatis accusavit quod pecunia fratresvendidissent, adversariis eorum dimissis.	21 When Maccabaeus was told what had happened, he summoned the people's commanders andaccused the offenders of having sold their brothers for money by releasing their enemies to fight them.
22 Hos igitur proditores factosinterfecit et confestim duas turres occupavit.	22 Having executed them as traitors, he at once proceeded to capture both towers.
23 Armis autem in manibus omniaprospere agendo in duabus munitionibus plus quam viginti milia peremit.	23 Successful in all that he undertook by force of arms, in these two fortresses he slaughtered morethan twenty thousand men.
24 At Timotheus, qui prius a Iudaeis fuerat superatus, convocatis peregriniscopiis valde multis et congregatis equis, qui erant ex Asia, non paucis, adfuitquasi armis victam Iudaeam capturus.	24 Timotheus, who had been beaten by the Jews once before, now assembled an enormous force ofmercenaries, mustering cavalry from Asia in considerable numbers, and soon appeared in Judaea, expecting toconquer it by force of arms.
25 Qui autem cum Maccabaeo erant,appropinquante illo, ad supplicationem Dei terra capita aspergentes lumbosqueciliciis praecincti	25 At his approach, Maccabaeus and his men made their supplications to God, sprinkling earth on theirheads and putting sackcloth round their waists.
26 super crepidinem contra altare provoluti rogabant, utsibi propitius factus inimicis eorum esset inimicus et adversariis adversaretur,sicut lex declarat.	26 Prostrating themselves on the terrace before the altar, they begged him to support them and to showhimself the enemy of their enemies, the adversary of their adversaries, as the Law clearly states.
27 Digressi autem ab oratione, sumptis armis, longius decivitate processerunt et, proximi hostibus effecti, separatim steterunt.	27 After these prayers, they armed themselves and advanced a fair distance from the city, halting whenthey were close to the enemy.
28 Cumautem lux oriens coepisset diffundi, utrique commiserunt, isti quidemprosperitatis et victoriae tamquam sponsorem habentes cum virtute refugium inDominum, illi autem ut ducem certaminum sibi ipsis statuentes animum.	28 As the first light of dawn began to spread, the two sides joined battle, the one having as their pledgeof success and victory not only their own valour but their recourse to the Lord, the other making their own ardourtheir mainstay in the fight.
29 Sed,cum vehemens pugna esset, apparuerunt adversariis de caelo viri quinque inequis, frenis aureis decori, et ducatum Iudaeis praestantes;	29 When the battle was at its height, the enemy saw five magnificent men appear from heaven onhorses with golden bridles and put themselves at the head of the Jews;
30 ex quibus duoMaccabaeum medium accipientes suisque armis protegentes incolumem conservabant,in adversarios autem tela et fulmina iaciebant, ex quo caecitate confusievolaverunt repleti perturbatione.	30 surrounding Maccabaeus and screening him with their own armour, they kept him unscathed, whilethey rained arrows and thunderbolts on the enemy until, blinded and confused, they scattered in completedisorder.
31 Interfecti sunt autem viginti miliaquingenti et equites sescenti.	31 Twenty thousand five hundred infantry and six hundred cavalry were slaughtered.
32 Timotheus vero confugit in praesidium, quod Gazara dicitur, optimammunitionem, ducatum illic habente Chaerea.	32 Timotheus himself fled to a strongly guarded citadel cal ed Gezer, where Chaereas was incommand.
33 Qui autem cum Maccabaeo erantlaetantes obsederunt munitionem diebus quattuor.	33 For four days Maccabaeus and his men eagerly besieged the fortress,
34 At hi qui intus erant, locimunimento confisi, supra modum maledicebant et sermones nefandos iactabant;	34 while the defenders, confident in the security of the place, hurled fearful blasphemies and godlessinsults at them.
35 sed, cum dies quinta illucesceret, viginti iuvenes ex his, qui cum Maccabaeoerant, accensi animis propter blasphemias, murum viriliter aggressi ferocianimo, occursantem quemque caedebant;	35 At daybreak on the fifth day, twenty young men of Maccabaeus' forces, fired with indignation at theblasphemies, manful y assaulted the wall, with wild courage cutting down everyone they encountered.
36 sed et alii similiter ascendentes incircumflexione contra eos, qui intus erant, turres incendebant atque ignesinferentes ipsos maledicos vivos concremabant, alii autem portas concidebant et,recepto residuo exercitu, occupaverunt civitatem;	36 Others, in a similar scaling operation, took the defenders in the rear, and set fire to the towers,lighting pyres on which they burned the blasphemers alive. The first, meanwhile, breaking open the gates, let therest of the army in and, at their head, captured the town.
37 et Timotheum occultantem sein quodam lacu peremerunt et fratrem illius Chaeream et Apollophanem.	37 Timotheus had hidden in a storage-wel , but they kil ed him, with his brother Chaereas, andApol ophanes.
38 Quibusgestis, in hymnis et confessionibus benedicebant Dominum, qui magnifice Israelbenefaciebat et victoriam dabat illis.	38 When al this was over, with hymns and thanksgiving they blessed the Lord, who had shown suchgreat kindness to Israel and given them the victory.