Secondo libro dei Maccabei 8

NOVA VULGATA	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 Iudas vero Maccabaeus et, qui cum illo erant, introeuntes la tenter incastella convocabant cognatos; et eos, qui permanserunt in Iudaismo, assumentes,collegerunt circiter sex milia virorum.	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.
2 Et invocabant Dominum, ut respiceretin populum, qui ab omnibus calcabatur; et misereretur templo, quodcontaminabatur ab impiis;	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;
3 et misereretur etiam pereunti civitati et incipientisolo complanari et vocem sanguinis ad se clamantis exaudiret;	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;
4 memorareturquoque iniquas mortes parvulorum innocentum et blasphemias nomini suo illatas etindignaretur super his.	4 to remember the criminal slaughter of innocent children and the blasphemies uttered against his name; and to manifest his hatred of evil.
5 At Maccabaeus, congregata multitudine, intolerabilisiam gentibus efficiebatur, ira Domini in misericordiam conversa.	5 Once Maccabeus got his men organized, the Gentiles could not withstand him, for the Lord's wrath had now changed to mercy.
6 Et civitateset castella superveniens improvisus succendebat et opportuna loca occupans nonpaucos hostium in fugam convertens,	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.
7 maxime noctes in huiusmodi excursuscooperantes captabat. Et fama virtutis eius ubique diffundebatur.	7 He preferred the nights as being especially helpful for such attacks. Soon the fame of his valor spread everywhere.
8 Videns autem Philippus paulatim virum ad profectum venire ac frequentius inprosperitatibus procedere, ad Ptolemaeum ducem Coelesyriae et Phoenicisscripsit, ut auxilium ferret regis negotiis.	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.
9 At ille velociter sumpsitNicanorem Patrocli de primoribus amicis et misit, datis ei de permixtis gentibusarmatis non minus viginti milibus, ut universum Iudaeorum genus deleret;adiunxit autem ei et Gorgiam virum militarem et in bellicis rebus expertum.	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.
10 Constituit autem Nicanor, ut regi tributum, quod Romanis erat dandum, duo miliatalentorum de captivitate Iudaeorum suppleret;	10 Nicanor planned to raise the two thousand talents of tribute owed by the king to the Romans by selling captured Jews into slavery.
11 statimque ad maritimascivitates misit convocans ad coemptionem Iudaicorum mancipiorum, promittens senonaginta mancipia talento distracturum, non exspectans vindictam, quae eum abOmnipotente esset consecutura.	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.
12 Iudas autem, ubi comperit de Nicanorisadventu, indicavit his, qui secum erant, exercitus praesentiam.	12 When Judas learned of Nicanor's advance and informed his companions about the approach of the army,
13 Ex quibusquidam formidantes et non credentes Dei iustitiae in fugam vertebantur et inalios locos seipsos transferebant;	13 the cowardly and those who lacked faith in God's justice deserted and got away.
14 alii vero omnia, quae eis supererant,vendebant simulque Dominum deprecabantur, ut eriperet eos, qui ab impioNicanore, prius quam comminus venirent, venumdati essent:	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.
15 et si non proptereos, sed tamen propter testamenta ad patres eorum et propter invocationem sanctiet magnifici nominis eius super ipsos.	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.
16 Convocatis autem Maccabaeus sexmilibus, qui cum ipso erant, rogabat ne ab hostibus perterrerentur nequemetuerent inique venientium adversum se gentium multitudinem, sed fortitercontenderent,	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,
17 ante oculos habentes contumeliam, quae in locum sanctum ab hisiniuste esset consummata, itemque et ludibrio habitae civitatis iniuriam, adhucetiam veterum instituta convulsa.	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.
18 “ Nam illi quidem armis confidunt, ait,simul et audacia; nos autem in omnipotente Deo, qui potest et venientes adversumnos et universum mundum uno nutu delere, confidimus ”.	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."
19 Cum autemadmonuisset eos et de auxiliis, quae facta sunt erga parentes, et de illo subSennacherib, ut centum octoginta quinque milia perierunt,	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,
20 et de illo inBabilonia, in proelio quod eis adversus Galatas fuit, ut omnes ad rem venerunt,octo milia cum quattuor milibus Macedonum — Macedonibus haesitantibus, ipsiocto milia peremerunt centum viginti milia propter auxilium illis datum de caeloet beneficia plurima consecuti sunt C;	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.
21 quibus verbis cum eos constanteseffecisset et paratos pro legibus et patria mori, in quattuor quasdam partesexercitum divisit.	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,
22 Constitutis itaque fratribus suis ducibus uniuscuiusqueordinis, Simone et Iosepho et Ionatha, subiectis unicuique millenis etquingentenis,	22 placing his brothers, Simon, Joseph, and Jonathan, each over a division, assigning to each fifteen hundred men.
23 insuper et Eleazaro, lecto sancto libro et dato signo adiutoriiDei, primae cohortis ipse ductor commisit cum Nicanore.	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.
24 Et facto sibiadiutore Omnipotente, interfecerunt super novem milia hostium, saucios autem etmembris debilitatos maiorem partem exercitus Nicanoris reddiderunt, omnes verofugere compulerunt.	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.
25 Pecunias autem eorum, qui ad emptionem illorumadvenerant, abstulerunt et, cum persecuti eos fuissent satis longe, reversi sunthora conclusi;	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,
26 nam erat ante sabbatum, quam ob causam non perseveraveruntinsequentes eos.	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.
27 Cum autem ipsorum arma collegissent spoliisque hostesexuissent, circa sabbatum versabantur impensius benedicentes et confitentesDomino, qui liberavit eos in isto die misericordiae initium constituens in eos.	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.
28 Post sabbatum vero debilitatis et viduis et orphanis portione de spoliisdata, residua ipsi cum pueris partiti sunt.	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.
29 His itaque gestis et communifacta obsecratione, misericordem Dominum postulabant, ut in finem servis suisreconciliaretur.	29 When this was done, they made supplication in common, imploring the merciful Lord to be completely reconciled with his servants.
30 Et contendentes cum his, qui cum Timotheo et Bacchide erant, super vigintimilia eorum interfecerunt et munitiones excelsas facile obtinuerunt; et plurespraedas diviserunt, aequaliter seipsos participes cum debilitatis et orphanis etviduis, sed et senioribus facientes.	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.
31 Et cum arma eorum diligentercollegissent, omnia composuerunt in locis opportunis; residua vero spoliaHierosolymam detulerunt.	31 They collected the enemies' weapons and carefully stored them in suitable places; the rest of the spoils they carried to Jerusalem.
32 Et phylarchen eorum, qui cum Timotheo erant,interfecerunt, virum scelestissimum, qui in multis Iudaeos afflixerat;	32 They also killed the commander of Timothy's forces, a most wicked man, who had done great harm to the Jews.
33 et cumepinicia agerent in patria, eos, qui sacras ianuas incenderant, et Callisthenemsuccenderunt, qui in quoddam domicilium fugerat; et dignam pro impietatemercedem tulit.	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.
34 Facinorosissimus autem Nicanor, qui mille negotiantes adIudaeorum venditionem adduxerat,	34 The accursed Nicanor, who had brought the thousand slave dealers to buy the Jews,
35 humiliatus ab his, qui secundum ipsumexsistimabantur exigui esse, auxilio Domini, deposita veste gloriae, permediterranea fugitivi more solitarius effectus venit Antiochiam, super omniaprosperatus in interitu exercitus.	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.
36 Et, qui Romanis promiserat se tributum decaptivitate Hierosolymorum redigere, praedicabat propugnatorem habere Iudaeos,et hoc modo invulnerabiles esse, eo quod sequerentur leges ab ipso constitutas.	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