1 Maccabees 14
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1IN the hundreth, seuentie and two yere gathered King Demetrius his hoste, & departed vnto Media, to get him helpe for to fight against Tryphon. 2But when Arsaces the King of Persia and Media heard, that Demetrius was entred within his borders, he sent one of his princes to take him aliue. 3So he went, and ouercame the armie of Demetrius, and toke him, and broght him to Arsaces, which kept him in warde. 4Thus all the land of Iuda was in rest, so long as Simon liued: for he soght the welth of his nacion: therefore were they glad to haue him for their ruler, and to do him worship alway. 5Simon also wanne the citie of Ioppe to his great honour to be an hauen towne, and made it an entrance vnto the yles of the sea. 6He enlarged also the borders of his people, and conquered the countreis. 7He gathered vp manie of their people that were prisoners, and he had the dominion of Gazaris, and Beth-sura, and the castel, which he clensed from filthines, & there was no man that resisted him, 8So that euerie man tilled his grounde in peace, and the land gaue her frutes, & the trees gaue their frute. 9The Elders sate in the open places, & consulted altogether for the commune welth, and the yong men were honorably clothed and armed. 10He prouided vitailes for the cities, and all kinde of munition, so that his glorious fame was renoumed vnto the end of the worlde. 11He made peace thorow out the land, and Israel had perfite mirth and ioye. 12For euerie man sate vnder his vine, & the fig trees, & there was no man to fray them. 13There was none in the land to fight against them: for then the Kings were ouercome. 14He helped all those that were in aduersitie among his people: he was diligent to se the Law kept, and he toke away the vngodlie, and wicked. 15He beautified the Sanctuarie, and encreased the vessels of the Temple. 16When the Romains heard, and the Spartians had knowledge, that Ionathan was dead, they were very sorie. 17But when they heard, that Simon his brother was made high Priest in his steade, & how he had wonne the land againe with the cities in it, 18They wrote vnto him in tables of brasse, to renewe the friendship, and bonde of loue, which they had made with Iudas & Ionathan his brethren. 19Which writings were red before the congregacion at Ierusalem, and this is the copie of the letters that the Spartians sent, 20THE SENATORS and citie of Sparta vnto Simon the great Priest, and to the Elders, and to the Priests, and to the residue of the people of the Iewes their brethren send greting. 21When your ambassadours that were sent vnto our people, certified vs of your glorie & honour, we" were glad of their comming, 22And haue registred their ambassage in the publike recordes in this maner, Numenius the sonne of Antiochus, and Antipater the sonne of Iason the Iewes ambassadours came vnto vs, to renewe amitie with vs. 23And it pleased the people, that the men shulde be honorably intreated, and that the copie of their ambassage shulde be registred in the publike recordes, that it might be for a memorial vnto the people of Sparta: and a copie of the same was sent to Simon the chief Priest. 24After this Simon sent Numenius to Rome, with a great shield of golde of a thousand pounde weight, to confirme the friendship with them. 25Which when the people vnderstode, thei said, What thankes shal we recompense againe vnto Simon and his children? 26For he and his brethren, and the house of his father haue stablished Israel, and ouercome their enemies, and haue confirmed the libertie thereof: therefore they wrote this in tables of brasse, and set it vpon pillers in mount Sion. 27The copie of the writing is this, In the eight and twentie day of the moneth*Elul in the hundreth, seuentie and two yere, in the thirde yere of Simon the high Priest. 28In "Saramel in the great congregacion of the Priests, and of the people, and of the gouernours of the nacion, and of the Elders of the countrei, we wolde signifie vnto you, that manie battels haue bene foghten in our countrey. 29Wherein Simon the sonne of Mattathias (come of the children of Iareb) and his brethren put them selues in danger, and resisted the enemies of their nacion, that their Sanctuarie, and Law might be mainteined, & did their nacion great honour. 30For Ionathan gathered his nacion together, and became their high Priest, and is laid with his people. 31After that wolde their enemies haue inuaded their countrey, and destroyed their land, and lay their hands on their Sanctuarie. 32Then Simon resisted them, & foght for his nacion, and spent muche of his owne substance, and armed the valiant men of his nacion, and gaue them wages. 33He fortified also the cities of Iudea, and Beth-sura that lyeth vpon the borders of Iudea(where the ordinance of their enemies lay sometime)and set there a garison of the Iewes. 34And he fortified Ioppe, which lyeth vpon the sea, and Gazara that bordreth vpon Azotus (where the enemies dwelt afore) and there he placed Iewes, and furnished them with things necessarie for the reparation thereof. 35Now when the people sawe the faithfulnes of Simon, and to what glorie he thoght to bring his nacion vnto, they made him their gouernour, and the chief Priest, because he had done all these things, and for the vprightnes, and fidelitie that he had kept to his nacion, and that soght by all meanes to exalte his people. 36For in his time they prospered wel by him, so that the heathen were taken out of their countrey, and they also which were in the citie of Dauid at Ierusalem, where they had made them a castel, out of the which they went, and defiled all things that were about the Sanctuarie, and did great hurt vnto religion. 37And he set Iewes in it, and fortified it, for the assurance of the land, and citie, and raised vp the walles of Ierusalem. 38And King Demetrius confirmed him in his high priesthode for these causes, 39And made him one of his friends, and gaue him great honour. 40For it was reported that the Romains called the Iewes their friends, and confederates, & that they honorably receiued Simons ambassadours, 41And that the Iewes, & Priests consented, that Simon shulde be their prince, & high Priest perpetually, til God raised vp the true Prophet, 42And that he shulde be their captaine, and haue the charge of the Sanctuarie, and so set men ouer the workes, and ouer the countrey, and ouer the weapons, and ouer the forteresses, and that shulde make prouision for the holie things, 43And that he shulde be obeyed of euery man, and that all the writings in the countrey shulde be made in his name, and that he shulde be clothed in purple, and weare golde, 44And that it shulde not be lawful for anie of the people or Priests to breake anie of these things, or to withstand his wordes, or to call anie congregacion in the countrey without him, or be clothed in purple, or weare a colar of gold: 45And if anie did contrarie to these things or brake anie of them, he shulde be punished. 46So it pleased all the people to agre that it shulde be done to Simon according vnto these wordes. 47Simon also accepted it, and was content to be the high Priest, and the captaine, & the prince of the Iewes, and of the Priests, and to be the chief of all. 48And they commanded to set vp this writing in tables of brasse, and to fasten it to the wall that compassed the Sanctuarie in an open place, 49And that a copie of the same shulde be laied vp in the treasurie, that Simon and his sonnes might haue it.