Secondus Machabaeorum 8

VULGATA	NEW JERUSALEM
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.	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 respiceret in populum qui ab omnibus calcabatur, et misereretur templo quod contaminabatur 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 misereretur etiam exterminio civitatis, quæ esset illico complananda, et vocem sanguinis ad se clamantis audiret :	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 memoraretur quoque iniquissimas mortes parvulorum innocentum, et blasphemias nomini suo illatas, et indignaretur super his.	4 to remember too the criminal slaughter of innocent babies and to avenge the blasphemies perpetratedagainst his name.
5 At Machabæus, congregata multitudine, intolerabilis gentibus efficiebatur : ira enim Domini in misericordiam conversa est.	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 superveniens castellis et civitatibus improvisus, succendebat eas : et opportuna loca occupans, non paucas hostium strages dabat :	6 Making surprise attacks on towns and villages, he fired them; he captured favourable positions andinflicted very heavy losses on the enemy,
7 maxime autem noctibus ad hujuscemodi excursus ferebatur, et fama virtutis ejus 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 res ei cedere propere, ad Ptolemæum ducem Cœlesyriæ et Phœnicis scripsit 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 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.	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 millia talentorum de captivitate Judæorum 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 maritimas civitates misit, convocans ad coëmptionem Judaicorum mancipiorum, promittens se nonaginta mancipia talento distracturum, non respiciens ad vindictam quæ eum ab Omnipotente 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 Judas autem ubi comperit, indicavit his qui secum erant Judæis Nicanoris adventum.	12 When news reached Judas of Nicanor's advance, he warned his men of the enemy's approach,
13 Ex quibus quidam formidantes, et non credentes Dei justitiæ, in fugam vertebantur :	13 whereupon the cowardly ones and those who lacked confidence in the justice of God took to theirheels and ran away.
14 alii vero si quid eis supererat vendebant, simulque Dominum deprecabantur ut eriperet eos ab impio Nicanore, qui eos priusquam cominus veniret, vendiderat :	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 etsi non propter eos, propter testamentum tamen quod erat ad patres eorum, et propter invocationem sancti et magnifici nominis ejus 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 Machabæus septem millibus qui cum ipso erant, rogabat ne hostibus reconciliarentur, neque metuerent inique venientium adversum se hostium multitudinem : sed fortiter contenderent,	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 quæ loco sancto ab his injuste esset illata, itemque et ludibrio habitæ civitatis injuriam, adhuc etiam 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 Domino, qui potest et venientes adversum nos, 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 Admonuit autem eos et de auxiliis Dei, quæ facta sunt erga parentes : et quod sub Sennacherib centum octoginta quinque millia 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 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.	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 His verbis constantes effecti sunt, et pro legibus et patria mori parati.	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 Constituit itaque fratres suos duces utrique ordini, Simonem, et Josephum, et Jonathan, subjectis unicuique millenis et quingentenis.	22 putting his brothers, Simon, Joseph and Jonathan in command of one division each, and assigningthem fifteen hundred men apiece.
23 Ad hoc etiam ab Esdra lecto illis sancto libro, et dato signo adjutorii Dei, in prima acie ipse dux 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 sibi adjutore Omnipotente, interfecerunt super novem millia hominum : majorem autem partem exercitus Nicanoris vulneribus debilem factam fugere 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 Pecuniis vero eorum, qui ad emptionem ipsorum venerant, sublatis, ipsos usquequaque persecuti sunt :	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 sed reversi sunt hora conclusi, nam erat ante sabbatum : quam ob causam non perseveraverunt insequentes.	26 it was the eve of the Sabbath, and for that reason they did not prolong their pursuit.
27 Arma autem ipsorum, et spolia congregantes, sabbatum agebant, benedicentes Dominum, qui liberavit eos in isto die, misericordiæ initium stillans 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 debilibus, et orphanis, et viduis diviserunt spolia : et residua ipsi cum suis habuere.	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 communiter ab omnibus facta obsecratione, misericordem Dominum postulabant ut in finem servis suis reconciliaretur.	29 They then joined in public supplication, imploring the merciful Lord to be ful y reconciled with hisservants.
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.	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 diligenter collegissent, omnia composuerunt in locis opportunis : residua vero spolia Jerosolymam 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 Philarchen, qui cum Timotheo erat, interfecerunt, virum scelestum, qui in multis Judæos afflixerat.	32 They kil ed the tribal chieftain on Timotheus' staff, an extremely wicked man who had done great harmto the Jews.
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.	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 ad Judæorum venditionem adduxerat,	34 The triple-dyed scoundrel Nicanor, who had brought the thousand merchants to buy the Jews,
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.	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 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.	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.