2 Maccabees 13, Catholic Public Domain Version
In the one hundred and forty-ninth year, Judas realized that Antiochus Eupator was coming with a multitude against Judea.
Anno centesimo quadragesimo nono, cognovit Judas Antiochum Eupatorem venire cum multitudine adversus Judæam,
- 2
And with him was Lysias, the procurator, who was in charge of the government, having with him one hundred and ten thousand foot soldiers, five thousand horsemen, and twenty-two elephants, and three hundred swift chariots with curved blades.†
et cum eo Lysiam procuratorem et præpositum negotiorum, secum habentem peditum centum decem millia, et equitum quinque millia, et elephantos viginti duos, currus cum falcibus trecentos.
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Menelaus also joined himself to them, and with many lies he pleaded with Antiochus, not for the welfare of his country, but hoping that he would be appointed as first ruler.
Commiscuit autem se illis et Menelaus: et cum multa fallacia deprecabatur Antiochum, non pro patriæ salute, sed sperans se constitui in principatum.
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But the King of kings awakened the mind of Antiochus against the sinner. And when Lysias was suggesting this to be the cause of all the evils, he ordered (as is the custom with them) that he should be apprehended and killed in the same place.
Sed Rex regum suscitavit animos Antiochi in peccatorem: et suggerente Lysia hunc esse causam omnium malorum, jussit (ut eis est consuetudo) apprehensum in eodem loco necari.
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Now there was, in the same place, a tower of fifty cubits, having a pile of ashes on every side. This had a lookout over a precipice.
Erat autem in eodem loco turris quinquaginta cubitorum, aggestum undique habens cineris: hæc prospectum habebat in præceps.
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From there, he ordered this sacrilegious one to be thrown down into the ashes, with all propelling him into the afterlife.
Inde in cinerem dejici jussit sacrilegum, omnibus eum propellentibus ad interitum.
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And by such a law, it turned out that the betrayer of the law, Menelaus, died, not having so much as a burial in the earth.
Et tali lege prævaricatorem legis contigit mori, nec terræ dari Menelaum.
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And indeed, this satisfied justice, for just as he had committed many offenses toward the altar of God, the fire and ashes of which are holy, so was he condemned to die in ashes.
Et quidem satis juste: nam quia multa erga aram Dei delicta commisit, cujus ignis et cinis erat sanctus: ipse in cineris morte damnatus est.
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But the king, with his mind being unbridled, came to reveal himself as more wicked to the Jews than his father was.
Sed rex mente effrenatus veniebat, nequiorem se patre suo Judæis ostensurus.
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When Judas understood this, he instructed the people to call upon the Lord day and night, so that, just as always, now also he would help them.
Quibus Judas cognitis, præcepit populo ut die ac nocte Dominum invocarent, quo, sicut semper, et nunc adjuvaret eos,
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Of course, they were afraid to be deprived of their law and their country, and of the holy temple, and also that he might allow the people, who had recently taken a breath for a little while, to be again subdued by blasphemous nations.
quippe qui lege, et patria, sanctoque templo privari vererentur: ac populum, qui nuper paululum respirasset, ne sineret blasphemis rursus nationibus subdi.
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And so, having together done all these things, and having sought mercy from the Lord with weeping and fasting, lying prostrate on the ground continually for three days, Judas exhorted them to prepare themselves.
Omnibus itaque simul id facientibus, et petentibus a Domino misericordiam cum fletu et jejuniis, per triduum continuum prostratis, hortatus est eos Judas ut se præpararent.
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In truth, with the elders he decided that, before the king could move his army into Judea and obtain the city, they would go out and commit the outcome of the event to the judgment of the Lord.
Ipse vero cum senioribus cogitavit priusquam rex admoveret exercitum ad Judæam et obtineret civitatem, exire, et Domini judicio committere exitum rei.
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And so, giving everything to God, the Creator of the world, and having exhorted his own to contend with fortitude and to stand up, even unto death, for the laws, the temple, the city, their country and the citizens: he positioned his army around Modin.
Dans itaque potestatem omnium Deo mundi creatori, et exhortatus suos ut fortiter dimicarent, et usque ad mortem pro legibus, templo, civitate, patria, et civibus starent, circa Modin exercitum constituit.
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And having given his own a sign of the victory of God, he attacked the quarters of the king by night, with the strongest chosen young men, and he slew four thousand men in the camp, and the greatest of the elephants, along with those who would have been positioned on them.
Et dato signo suis Dei victoriæ, juvenibus fortissimis electis nocte aggressus aulam regiam, in castris interfecit viros quatuor millia, et maximum elephantorum cum his qui superpositi fuerant:
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And so, having filled the camp of their enemies with the greatest fear and disturbance, they went away with good success.
summoque metu ac perturbatione hostium castra replentes, rebus prospere gestis, abierunt.
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Now this was done at the first light of day, with the Lord assisting and protecting them.
Hoc autem factum est die illucescente, adjuvante eum Domini protectione.
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But the king, having received a taste of the audacity of the Jews, attempted to take the difficult places by craftiness.
Sed rex, accepto gustu audaciæ Judæorum, arte difficultatem locorum tentabat:
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And so, he moved his camp to Bethzur, which was a fortified garrison of the Jews. But as he struck, he was put to flight and reduced in number.
et Bethsuræ, quæ erat Judæorum præsidium munitum, castra admovebat: sed fugabatur, impingebat, minorabatur.
- 20
Then Judas sent necessities to those who were inside.
His autem qui intus erant, Judas necessaria mittebat.
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But Rhodocus, a certain one from the Jewish army, reported the secrets to the enemies, so he was sought out, apprehended, and imprisoned.
Enuntiavit autem mysteria hostibus Rhodocus quidam de judaico exercitu, qui requisitus comprehensus est, et conclusus.
- 22
Again, the king held talks with those who were in Bethzur. He gave his right hand as a pledge, and accepted theirs, and he went away.
Iterum rex sermonem habuit ad eos qui erant in Bethsuris: dextram dedit, accepit, abiit:
- 23
He joined battle with Judas; he was overcome. But when he realized that Philip, who had been left out of these events, had rebelled at Antioch, he was in a consternation of mind, and, begging the Jews, and being submissive to them, he swore to all things that seemed just. And, being reconciled, he offered sacrifice, honored the temple, and left gifts.
commisit cum Juda, superatus est. Ut autem cognovit rebellasse Philippum Antiochiæ, qui relictus erat super negotia, mente consternatus, Judæos deprecans, subditusque eis, jurat de omnibus quibus justum visum est: et reconciliatus obtulit sacrificium, honoravit templum, et munera posuit.
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He embraced Maccabeus, and he made him commander and leader from Ptolemais all the way to the Gerrenians.
Machabæum amplexatus est, et fecit eum a Ptolemaide usque ad Gerrenos ducem et principem.
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But when he arrived at Ptolemais, the Ptolemaians considered the conditions of the alliance burdensome, being indignant lest perhaps they might break the pact.
Ut autem venit Ptolemaidam, graviter ferebant Ptolemenses amicitiæ conventionem, indignantes ne forte fœdus irrumperent.
- 26
Then Lysias went up to the tribunal, and explained the reasons, and calmed the people, and so he returned to Antioch. And this is the way things went concerning the journey and return of the king.
Tunc ascendit Lysias tribunal, et exposuit rationem, et populum sedavit, regressusque est Antiochiam: et hoc modo regis profectio et reditus processit.
Catholic Public Domain Version (Ronald L. Conte Jr., 2009), public domain · Latin: Clementine Vulgate (1592)