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chapter 7
1
In the
hundred and fifty-first year Demetrius the son of Seleucus departed from the
city of Rome, and came up with a few men into a city of the sea coast, and
reigned there.
2 And it came to pass, as he entered into the house of
the kingdom of his fathers, that the army seized upon Antiochus, and Lysias, to
bring them unto him.
3 And when he knew it, he said: Let me not see their
face.
4 So the army slew them. And Demetrius sat upon the
throne of his kingdom:
5 And there came to him the wicked and ungodly men of
Israel: And Alcimus was at the head of them, who desired to be made high
priest.
6 And they accused the people to the king, saying:
Judas and his brethren have destroyed all thy friends, and he hath driven us
out of our land.
7 Now therefore send some man whom thou trustest, and
let him go, and see all the havock he hath made amongst us, and in the king's
lands: and let him punish all his friends and their helpers.
8 Then the king chose Bacchides, one of his friends
that ruled beyond the great river in the kingdom, and was faithful to the king:
and he sent him,
9 To see the havock that Judas had made: and the wicked
Alcimus he made high priest, and commanded him to take revenge upon the
children of Israel.
10 And they arose, and came with a great army into the
land of Juda: and they sent messengers, and spoke to Judas and his brethren
with peaceable words deceitfully.
11 But they gave no heed to their words: for they saw
that they were come with a great army.
12 Then there assembled to Alcimus and Bacchides a
company of the scribes to require things that are just:
13 And first the Assideans that were among the children
of Israel, and they sought peace of them.
14 For they said: One that is a priest of the seed of
Aaron is come, he will not deceive us.
15 And he spoke to them peaceably: and he swore to
them, saying: We will do you no harm nor your friends.
16 And they believed him. And he took threescore of
them, and slew them in one day, according to the word that is written:
17 The flesh of thy saints, and the blood of them they
have shed round about Jerusalem, and there was none to bury them.
18 Then fear and trembling fell upon all the people:
for they said: There is no truth, nor justice among them: for they have broken
the covenant, and the oath which they made.
19 And Bacchides removed the camp from Jerusalem, and pitched
in Bethzecha: and he sent, and took many of them that were fled away from him,
and some of the people he killed, and threw them into a great pit.
20 Then he committed the country to Alcimus, and left
with him troops to help him. So Bacchides went away to the king:
21 But Alcimus did what he could to maintain his chief
priesthood.
22 And they that disturbed the people resorted to him,
and they got the land of Juda into their power, and did much hurt in Israel.
23 And Judas saw all the evils that Alcimus, and they
that were with him, did to the children of Israel, much more than the Gentiles.
24 And he went out into all the coasts of Juda round
about, and took vengeance upon the men that had revolted, and they ceased to go
forth any more into the country.
25 And Alcimus saw that Judas, and they that were with
him prevailed: and he knew that he could not stand against them, and he went
back to the king, and accused them of many crimes.
26 And the king sent Nicanor one of his principal
lords, who was a great enemy to Israel: and he commanded him to destroy the
people.
27 And Nicanor came to Jerusalem with a great army, and
he sent to Judas and to his brethren deceitfully with friendly words,
28 Saying: Let there be no fighting between me and you:
I will come with a few men to see your faces with peace.
29 And he came to Judas, and they saluted one another
peaceably: and the enemies were prepared to take away Judas by force.
30 And the thing was known to Judas that he was come to
him with deceit: and he was much afraid of him, and would not see his face any
more.
31 And Nicanor knew that his counsel was discovered:
and he went out to fight against Judas near Capharsalama.
32 And there fell of Nicanor's army almost five
thousand men, and they fled into the city of David.
33 And after this Nicanor went up into mount Sion: and
some of the priests and the people came out to salute him peaceably, and to
shew him the holocausts that were offered for the king.
34 But he mocked them and despised them, and abused
them: and he spoke proudly,
35 And swore in anger, saying: Unless Judas and his
army be delivered into my hands, as soon as ever I return in peace, I will burn
this house. And he went out in a great rage.
36 And the priests went in, and stood before the face
of the altar and the temple: and weeping, they said:
37 Thou, O Lord, hast chosen this house for thy name to
be called upon therein, that it might be a house of prayer and supplication for
thy people.
38 Be avenged of this man, and his army, and let them
fall by the sword: remember their blasphemies, and suffer them not to continue
any longer.
39 Then Nicanor went out from Jerusalem, and encamped
near to Bethoron: and an army of Syria joined him.
40 But Judas pitched in Adarsa with three thousand men:
and Judas prayed, and said:
41 O Lord, when they that were sent by king Sennacherib
blasphemed thee, an angel went out, and slew of them a hundred and eighty-five
thousand:
42 Even so destroy this army in our sight to day, and
let the rest know that he hath spoken ill against thy sanctuary: and judge thou
him according to his wickedness.
43 And the armies joined battle on the thirteenth day
of the month Adar: and the army of Nicanor was defeated, and he himself was
first slain in the battle.
44 And when his army saw that Nicanor was slain, they
threw away their weapons, and fled:
45 And they pursued after them one day's journey from
Adazer, even till ye come to Gazara, and they sounded the trumpets after them
with signals.
46 And they went forth out of all the towns of Judea
round about, and they pushed them with the horns, and they turned again to
them, and they were all slain with the sword, and there was not left of them so
much as one.
47 And they took the spoils of them for a booty, and
they cut off Nicanor's head, and his right hand, which he had proudly stretched
out, and they brought it, and hung it up over against Jerusalem.
48 And the people rejoiced exceedingly, and they spent
that day with great joy.
49 And he ordained that this day should be kept every
year, being the thirteenth of the month of Adar.
50 And the land of Juda was quiet for a short time.
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