Secondo libro dei Maccabei 8

NOVA VULGATA	NEW JERUSALEM
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, otherwise known as Maccabaeus, and his companions made their way secretly among thevil ages, ral ying their fellow-countrymen; they recruited those who remained loyal to Judaism and assembledabout six thousand.
2 Et invocabant Dominum, ut respiceretin populum, qui ab omnibus calcabatur; et misereretur templo, quodcontaminabatur ab impiis;	2 They cal ed on the Lord to have regard for the people oppressed on al sides, to take pity on theTemple profaned by the godless,
3 et misereretur etiam pereunti civitati et incipientisolo complanari et vocem sanguinis ad se clamantis exaudiret;	3 to have mercy on the city now being destroyed and level ed to the ground, to hear the blood of thevictims that cried aloud to him,
4 memorareturquoque iniquas mortes parvulorum innocentum et blasphemias nomini suo illatas etindignaretur super his.	4 to remember too the criminal slaughter of innocent babies and to avenge the blasphemies perpetratedagainst his name.
5 At Maccabaeus, congregata multitudine, intolerabilisiam gentibus efficiebatur, ira Domini in misericordiam conversa.	5 As soon as Maccabaeus had an organised force, he at once proved invincible to the foreigners, theLord's anger having turned into compassion.
6 Et civitateset castella superveniens improvisus succendebat et opportuna loca occupans nonpaucos hostium in fugam convertens,	6 Making surprise attacks on towns and villages, he fired them; he captured favourable positions andinflicted very heavy losses on the enemy,
7 maxime noctes in huiusmodi excursuscooperantes captabat. Et fama virtutis eius ubique diffundebatur.	7 general y availing himself of the cover of night for such enterprises. The fame of his valour spread farand wide.
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 Judas was making steady progress and winning more and more frequent successes,he wrote to Ptolemy, the general officer commanding Coele-Syria and Phoenicia, asking for reinforcements inthe royal interest.
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 chose Nicanor son of Patroclus, one of the king's First Friends, and sent him without delay atthe head of an international force of at least twenty thousand men to exterminate the entire Jewish race. As hisassociate he appointed Gorgias, a professional general of wide military experience.
10 Constituit autem Nicanor, ut regi tributum, quod Romanis erat dandum, duo miliatalentorum de captivitate Iudaeorum suppleret;	10 Nicanor for his part proposed, by the sale of Jewish prisoners of war, to raise the two thousand talentsof tribute money owed by the king to the Romans.
11 statimque ad maritimascivitates misit convocans ad coemptionem Iudaicorum mancipiorum, promittens senonaginta mancipia talento distracturum, non exspectans vindictam, quae eum abOmnipotente esset consecutura.	11 He lost no time in sending the seaboard towns an invitation to come and buy Jewish manpower,promising delivery of ninety head for one talent; but he did not reckon on the judgement from the Almighty thatwas soon to overtake him.
12 Iudas autem, ubi comperit de Nicanorisadventu, indicavit his, qui secum erant, exercitus praesentiam.	12 When news reached Judas of Nicanor's advance, he warned his men of the enemy's approach,
13 Ex quibusquidam formidantes et non credentes Dei iustitiae in fugam vertebantur et inalios locos seipsos transferebant;	13 whereupon the cowardly ones and those who lacked confidence in the justice of God took to theirheels and ran 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 The rest sold al their remaining possessions, at the same time praying the Lord to deliver them fromthe godless Nicanor, who had sold them even in advance of any encounter-
15 et si non proptereos, sed tamen propter testamenta ad patres eorum et propter invocationem sanctiet magnifici nominis eius super ipsos.	15 if not for their own sakes, then at least out of consideration for the covenants made with theirancestors, and because they themselves bore his sacred and majestic 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 Maccabaeus marshal ed his men, who numbered about six thousand, and exhorted them not to bedismayed at the enemy or discouraged at the vast horde of gentiles wickedly advancing against them, but tofight bravely,
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 outrage committed by them against the holy place and the infamous andscornful treatment inflicted on the city, not to mention the destruction of their traditional 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 may put their trust in their weapons and their exploits,' he said, 'but our confidence is in almightyGod, who is able with a single nod to overthrow both those marching on us and the whole world with them.'
19 Cum autemadmonuisset eos et de auxiliis, quae facta sunt erga parentes, et de illo subSennacherib, ut centum octoginta quinque milia perierunt,	19 He reminded them of the occasions on which their ancestors had received help: that time when, underSennacherib, a hundred and eighty-five thousand men had perished;
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 that time in Babylonia when in the battle with the Galatians the Jewish combatants numbered onlyeight thousand, with four thousand Macedonians, yet when the Macedonians were hard pressed, the eightthousand had destroyed a hundred and twenty thousand, thanks to the help they had received from Heaven, andhad taken great booty as a result.
21 quibus verbis cum eos constanteseffecisset et paratos pro legibus et patria mori, in quattuor quasdam partesexercitum divisit.	21 Having so roused their courage by these words that they were ready to die for the laws and theircountry, he then divided his army into four,
22 Constitutis itaque fratribus suis ducibus uniuscuiusqueordinis, Simone et Iosepho et Ionatha, subiectis unicuique millenis etquingentenis,	22 putting his brothers, Simon, Joseph and Jonathan in command of one division each, and assigningthem fifteen hundred men apiece.
23 insuper et Eleazaro, lecto sancto libro et dato signo adiutoriiDei, primae cohortis ipse ductor commisit cum Nicanore.	23 Next, he ordered Esdrias to read the Holy Book aloud and gave them their watchword 'Help fromGod'. Then, putting himself at the head of the first division, he attacked 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 for their ally they slaughtered over nine thousand of the enemy, wounded andcrippled the greater part of Nicanor's army and put them al to flight.
25 Pecunias autem eorum, qui ad emptionem illorumadvenerant, abstulerunt et, cum persecuti eos fuissent satis longe, reversi sunthora conclusi;	25 The money of their prospective purchasers fell into their hands. After pursuing them for a good while,they turned back, since time was pressing:
26 nam erat ante sabbatum, quam ob causam non perseveraveruntinsequentes eos.	26 it was the eve of the Sabbath, and for that reason they did not prolong their 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 col ected the enemy's weapons and stripped them of their spoils, and because of the Sabbatheven more heartily blessed and praised the Lord, who had saved them and who had chosen that day for the firstmanifestation of his compassion.
28 Post sabbatum vero debilitatis et viduis et orphanis portione de spoliisdata, residua ipsi cum pueris partiti sunt.	28 When the Sabbath was over, they distributed some of the booty among the victims of the persecutionand the 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 They then joined in public supplication, imploring the merciful Lord to be ful y reconciled with hisservants.
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 chal enged the forces of Timotheus and Bacchides and destroyed over twenty thousand ofthem, gaining possession of several high fortresses. They divided their enormous booty into two equal shares,one for themselves, the other for the victims of the persecution and the orphans and widows, not forgetting theaged.
31 Et cum arma eorum diligentercollegissent, omnia composuerunt in locis opportunis; residua vero spoliaHierosolymam detulerunt.	31 They carefully col ected the enemy's weapons and stored them in suitable places. The rest of thespoils they took to Jerusalem.
32 Et phylarchen eorum, qui cum Timotheo erant,interfecerunt, virum scelestissimum, qui in multis Iudaeos afflixerat;	32 They kil ed the tribal chieftain on Timotheus' staff, an extremely wicked man who had done great harmto 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 In the course of their victory celebrations in Jerusalem, they burned the men who had fired the HolyGates; with Cal isthenes they had taken refuge in one smal house; so these received a fitting reward for theirsacrilege.
34 Facinorosissimus autem Nicanor, qui mille negotiantes adIudaeorum venditionem adduxerat,	34 The triple-dyed scoundrel Nicanor, who had brought the thousand merchants 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 finding himself with the Lord's help humbled by men he had himself reckoned as of very little account,stripped off his robes of state, and made his way across country unaccompanied, like a runaway slave, reachingAntioch by a singular stroke of fortune, since his army had been destroyed.
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 Thus the man who had promised the Romans to make good their tribute money by sel ing theprisoners from Jerusalem, bore witness that the Jews had a defender and that they were in consequenceinvulnerable, since they fol owed the laws which that defender had ordained.