1 Maccabees 16

1Then John traveled from Gazara and told his father Simon the damage Cendebeus was inflicting.

καὶ ἀνέβη Ιωαννης ἐκ Γαζαρων καὶ ἀπήγγειλεν Σιμωνι τῷ πατρὶ αὐτοῦ ἃ συνετέλεσεν Κενδεβαῖος

2So Simon called his two oldest sons, Judas and John, and said to them, 'My brothers and I and my father's house have fought Israel's battles from our youth until this very day. Things have gone well for us, so as to rescue Israel many times over.

καὶ ἐκάλεσεν Σιμων τοὺς δύο υἱοὺς αὐτοῦ τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους Ιουδαν καὶ Ιωαννην καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς ἐγὼ καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοί μου καὶ ὁ οἶκος τοῦ πατρός μου ἐπολεμήσαμεν τοὺς πολέμους Ισραηλ ἀπὸ νεότητος ἕως τῆς σήμερον ἡμέρας καὶ εὐοδώθη ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν ἡμῶν ῥύσασθαι τὸν Ισραηλ πλεονάκις

3Now I have become old, and you by His mercy are men of maturity. Take over my position and my brother's role and go fight for our country, and may the help sent from heaven be yours.'

νυνὶ δὲ γεγήρακα καὶ ὑμεῖς δὲ ἐν τῷ ἐλέει ἱκανοί ἐστε ἐν τοῖς ἔτεσιν γίνεσθε ἀντ᾿ ἐμοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ μου καὶ ἐξελθόντες ὑπερμαχεῖτε ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἔθνους ἡμῶν ἡ δὲ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ βοήθεια ἔστω μεθ᾿ ὑμῶν

4Thus John chose twenty thousand fighting men and cavalry from the country. Together they marched toward Cendebeus and encamped overnight in Modein.

καὶ ἐπέλεξεν ἐκ τῆς χώρας εἴκοσι χιλιάδας ἀνδρῶν πολεμιστῶν καὶ ἱππεῖς καὶ ἐπορεύθησαν ἐπὶ τὸν Κενδεβαῖον καὶ ἐκοιμήθησαν ἐν Μωδεϊν

5They arose early, marching to the plain. Behold, a huge army was marching out to meet them, infantry and cavalry, and there was a stream between them.

καὶ ἀναστάντες τὸ πρωὶ ἐπορεύθησαν εἰς τὸ πεδίον καὶ ἰδοὺ δύναμις πολλὴ εἰς συνάντησιν αὐτοῖς πεζικὴ καὶ ἱππεῖς καὶ χειμάρρους ἦν ἀνὰ μέσον αὐτῶν

6John and his army faced off against them, and when he saw that his troops were afraid to ford the stream, he crossed first. His soldiers saw him and crossed behind him.

καὶ παρενέβαλε κατὰ πρόσωπον αὐτῶν αὐτὸς καὶ ὁ λαὸς αὐτοῦ καὶ εἶδεν τὸν λαὸν δειλούμενον διαπερᾶσαι τὸν χειμάρρουν καὶ διεπέρασεν πρῶτος καὶ εἶδον αὐτὸν οἱ ἄνδρες καὶ διεπέρασαν κατόπισθεν αὐτοῦ

7He then divided up the men, putting the cavalry in the middle of the infantry, for the enemy's cavalry was very large.

καὶ διεῖλεν τὸν λαὸν καὶ τοὺς ἱππεῖς ἐν μέσῳ τῶν πεζῶν ἦν δὲ ἵππος τῶν ὑπεναντίων πολλὴ σφόδρα

8When they sounded the trumpet, Cendebeus and his army were routed, and numbers of them fell wounded. The rest of them fled into the fortress.

καὶ ἐσάλπισαν ταῖς σάλπιγξιν καὶ ἐτροπώθη Κενδεβαῖος καὶ ἡ παρεμβολὴ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἔπεσον ἐξ αὐτῶν τραυματίαι πολλοί οἱ δὲ καταλειφθέντες ἔφυγον εἰς τὸ ὀχύρωμα

9Then Judas, the brother of John, was wounded, but John pursued them until Cendebeus reached Kedron, where he had done construction.

τότε ἐτραυματίσθη Ιουδας ὁ ἀδελφὸς Ιωαννου Ιωαννης δὲ κατεδίωξεν αὐτούς ἕως ἦλθεν εἰς Κεδρων ἣν ᾠκοδόμησεν

10When they ran into the towers in the fields of Azotus, John set them a fire, and roughly two thousand of their men perished. Then he returned to Judea in peace.

καὶ ἔφυγον εἰς τοὺς πύργους τοὺς ἐν τοῖς ἀγροῖς Ἀζώτου καὶ ἐνεπύρισεν αὐτὴν ἐν πυρί καὶ ἔπεσον ἐξ αὐτῶν εἰς ἄνδρας δισχιλίους καὶ ἀπέστρεψεν εἰς τὴν Ιουδαίαν μετὰ εἰρήνης

11Now Ptolemy, the son of Abubus, had been made governor to rule over the plain of Jericho. He had large hoards of silver and gold,

καὶ Πτολεμαῖος ὁ τοῦ Ἀβούβου ἦν καθεσταμένος στρατηγὸς εἰς τὸ πεδίον Ιεριχω καὶ ἔσχεν ἀργύριον καὶ χρυσίον πολύ

12for he was the son-in-law of the high priest.

ἦν γὰρ γαμβρὸς τοῦ ἀρχιερέως

13He was optimistic and full of determination to seize control of the country. So he developed an evil strategy to seize Simon and his sons by trickery.

καὶ ὑψώθη ἡ καρδία αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐβουλήθη κατακρατῆσαι τῆς χώρας καὶ ἐβουλεύετο δόλῳ κατὰ Σιμωνος καὶ τῶν υἱῶν αὐτοῦ ἆραι αὐτούς

14Now Simon was paying a visit to the cities throughout the country, concentrating on their needs. So he went down to Jericho along with his sons Mattathias and Judas in the one hundred and seventy-seventh year, in the eleventh month, the month of Shebat.

Σιμων δὲ ἦν ἐφοδεύων τὰς πόλεις τὰς ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ καὶ φροντίζων τῆς ἐπιμελείας αὐτῶν καὶ κατέβη εἰς Ιεριχω αὐτὸς καὶ Ματταθιας καὶ Ιουδας οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτοῦ ἔτους ἑβδόμου καὶ ἑβδομηκοστοῦ καὶ ἑκατοστοῦ ἐν μηνὶ ἑνδεκάτῳ οὗτος ὁ μὴν Σαβατ

15The son of Abubus received them with deceit in the little fortress called Dok, which he had erected, and he gave them a grand feast and hid the men there.

καὶ ὑπεδέξατο αὐτοὺς ὁ τοῦ Ἀβούβου εἰς τὸ ὀχυρωμάτιον τὸ καλούμενον Δωκ μετὰ δόλου ὃ ᾠκοδόμησεν καὶ ἐποίησεν αὐτοῖς πότον μέγαν καὶ ἐνέκρυψεν ἐκεῖ ἄνδρας

16So when Simon and his sons became drunk, Ptolemy and his soldiers emerged and grabbed their weapons. When they encountered Simon in the banquet hall, they murdered him along with his two sons and certain of his servants.

καὶ ὅτε ἐμεθύσθη Σιμων καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτοῦ ἐξανέστη Πτολεμαῖος καὶ οἱ παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἔλαβον τὰ ὅπλα αὐτῶν καὶ ἐπεισῆλθον τῷ Σιμωνι εἰς τὸ συμπόσιον καὶ ἀπέκτειναν αὐτὸν καὶ τοὺς δύο υἱοὺς αὐτοῦ καί τινας τῶν παιδαρίων αὐτοῦ

17Indeed, Ptolemy committed great treachery, returning evil for good.

καὶ ἐποίησεν ἀθεσίαν μεγάλην καὶ ἀπέδωκεν κακὰ ἀντὶ ἀγαθῶν

18Ptolemy then drafted a report to the king about these things and asked that he might send him soldiers to help, and to secure their country and cities.

καὶ ἔγραψεν ταῦτα Πτολεμαῖος καὶ ἀπέστειλεν τῷ βασιλεῖ ὅπως ἀποστείλῃ αὐτῷ δυνάμεις εἰς βοήθειαν καὶ παραδῷ τὴν χώραν αὐτῶν καὶ τὰς πόλεις

19He also dispatched soldiers to Gazara to seize John, and sent letters to military tribunes to come to him, so he might give them silver, gold, and gifts.

καὶ ἀπέστειλεν ἑτέρους εἰς Γαζαρα ἆραι τὸν Ιωαννην καὶ τοῖς χιλιάρχοις ἀπέστειλεν ἐπιστολὰς παραγενέσθαι πρὸς αὐτόν ὅπως δῷ αὐτοῖς ἀργύριον καὶ χρυσίον καὶ δόματα

20Then he sent others to capture Jerusalem and the temple hill.

καὶ ἑτέρους ἀπέστειλεν καταλαβέσθαι τὴν Ιερουσαλημ καὶ τὸ ὄρος τοῦ ἱεροῦ

21But somebody ran ahead and told John in Gazara that his father and his brothers had been killed and that 'he has sent men to kill you as well.'

καὶ προδραμών τις ἀπήγγειλεν Ιωαννη εἰς Γαζαρα ὅτι ἀπώλετο ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ ὅτι ἀπέσταλκεν καὶ σὲ ἀποκτεῖναι

22When John heard this, he was deeply shocked. He captured the soldiers who came to crush him and killed them; for he discovered they were there to kill him.

καὶ ἀκούσας ἐξέστη σφόδρα καὶ συνέλαβεν τοὺς ἄνδρας τοὺς ἐλθόντας ἀπολέσαι αὐτὸν καὶ ἀπέκτεινεν αὐτούς ἐπέγνω γὰρ ὅτι ἐζήτουν αὐτὸν ἀπολέσαι

23The rest of John's words and his war history and brave acts, which he did so courageously, plus the heightening of the walls which he built, and his other accomplishments,

καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ τῶν λόγων Ιωαννου καὶ τῶν πολέμων αὐτοῦ καὶ τῶν ἀνδραγαθιῶν αὐτοῦ ὧν ἠνδραγάθησεν καὶ τῆς οἰκοδομῆς τῶν τειχῶν ὧν ᾠκοδόμησεν καὶ τῶν πράξεων αὐτοῦ

24behold, they are written in the book of his high priesthood, from when he was first made high priest following his father.

ἰδοὺ ταῦτα γέγραπται ἐπὶ βιβλίῳ ἡμερῶν ἀρχιερωσύνης αὐτοῦ ἀφ᾿ οὗ ἐγενήθη ἀρχιερεὺς μετὰ τὸν πατέρα αὐτοῦ