Anonymous (Septuagint) · a new plain-English translation from the original language
1| In the year one hundred and seventy-two, King Demetrius gathered his forces and went to Media to draw help to himself, so that he might make war on Trypho.
2| And Arsaces, ruler of Persia and Media, heard that Demetrius had entered his territory, and he sent one of his commanders to capture him alive.
3| And he went and struck the camp of Demetrius and seized him, and brought him to Arsaces, and he put him under guard.
4| And the land was quiet all the days of Simon, and he sought good things for his nation, and his authority and his glory pleased them all their days.
5| And along with all his glory he took Joppa for a harbor, and made it an entrance for the islands of the sea.
6| And he enlarged the borders of his nation, and gained control of the country.
7| And he gathered together many captives, and became master of Gazara and Bethsura and the citadel; and he removed the uncleanness from it, and there was no one to oppose him.
8| And they farmed their land in peace, and the land gave its produce, and the trees of the plains their fruit.
9| The elders sat in the streets, all of them conversing about pleasant matters, and the young men dressed in splendor and garments of war.
10| To the cities he supplied provisions, and set them up as fortified strongholds, until the name of his glory was renowned to the end of the earth.
11| He made peace across the land, and Israel exulted with great joy.
12| And every man sat beneath his own vine and his own fig tree, with no one to frighten them.
13| And there ceased to be anyone warring against them in the land, and their kings were crushed in those days.
14| And he strengthened all the lowly of his people; the law he sought out, and he removed every lawless and wicked man.
15| The holy things he glorified, and he multiplied the vessels of the sanctuary.
16| And it was heard in Rome that Jonathan had died, and as far as Sparta, and they grieved greatly.
17| But when they heard that Simon his brother had become high priest in his place and held sway over the country and the cities in it,
18| they wrote to him on bronze tablets to renew with him the friendship and alliance which they had established with Judas and Jonathan his brothers.
19| And these were read before the assembly in Jerusalem.
20| Here is a transcript of the letters which the Spartans sent: The rulers of the Spartans and the city, to Simon the high priest and to the elders and the priests and the rest of the people of the Jews, our brothers, greeting.
21| The envoys sent to our people reported to us about your glory and honor, and we rejoiced at their coming.
22| And what they said we have recorded in the decisions of our people, thus: Numenius the son of Antiochus, along with Antipater the son of Jason, envoys of the Jews, came to us to renew the friendship with us.
23| And it pleased our people to receive the men with honor, and to place a copy of their words among the books appointed for the people, so that the people of the Spartans might keep them in memory; and a copy of these things they wrote to Simon the high priest.
24| After this Simon sent Numenius to Rome, carrying a great golden shield of a thousand minas' weight, to confirm the alliance with them.
25| Now when the people heard these words, they asked, How shall we show our gratitude to Simon and his sons?
26| For he and his brothers and the house of his father stood firm, and fought off the enemies of Israel from them, and secured freedom for them. And they wrote it on bronze tablets, and set it up on a pillar on Mount Zion.
27| Here is a transcript of the writing: On the eighteenth of Elul, in the year one hundred and seventy-two, which is the third year under Simon the high priest,
28| at Saramel, in a great assembly of the priests and the people and the rulers of the nation and the elders of the country, it was made known to us:
29| Since wars occurred often in the country, Simon son of Mattathias, of the sons of Joarib, and his brothers, gave themselves to the danger and stood against the adversaries of their nation, so that their sanctuary and the law might stand firm, and they glorified their nation with great glory.
30| And Jonathan gathered their nation together, and became high priest for them, and was gathered to his people.
31| And their enemies determined to invade their country to crush their land, and to stretch out their hands against their sanctuary;
32| then Simon stood up and struggled on behalf of his people, spending a great deal of his own money, and armed the fighting warriors of his nation, and paid them wages;
33| and he fortified the cities of Judea, and Bethsura on the borders of Judea, where the weapons of the enemy had formerly been, and he set there a garrison of Jewish men;
34| and Joppa he fortified, on the sea, and Gazara on the borders of Azotus, where the enemy had formerly dwelt, and he settled Jews there, and whatever was needed for their restoration he provided among them.
35| And the people saw the faithfulness of Simon and the glory he intended to bring to his nation, and they made him their leader and high priest, since he had accomplished all these things, and because of the justice and the faithfulness he kept toward his nation, and because he sought in every way to exalt his people.
36| And in his days it prospered in his hands, so that the nations were removed from their land, and also those inside Jerusalem's City of David who had turned it into a citadel, from which they used to go out and defile the surroundings of the sanctuary and inflict great harm on its purity;
37| and he settled Jewish men in it, and fortified it for the security of the country and of the city, and raised the walls of Jerusalem.
38| And King Demetrius confirmed the high priesthood for him on these terms,
39| and made him one of the King's Friends, and honored him with great honor;
40| for it had been heard that the Jews were addressed by the Romans as friends and allies and brothers, and that they had met the envoys of Simon with honor;
41| and that the Jews and the priests had resolved that Simon should be their leader and high priest forever, until a trustworthy prophet should arise;
42| and that he should be their general, and should have charge of the sanctuary, appointing officers through his authority over their tasks, and over the country, and over the weapons, and over the strongholds;
43| and that he should have charge of the sanctuary, and should be obeyed by all, and that all contracts in the country should be written in his name, and that he was to be arrayed in purple and adorned with gold.
44| And it shall not be permitted to any of the people or the priests to set aside any of these things, or to oppose what he decrees, or to convene a meeting anywhere in the land without his consent, or to dress in purple or wear a golden clasp;
45| and whoever acts contrary to these things or sets aside any of them shall be liable.
46| And all the people resolved to establish for Simon that he should act according to these words.
47| And Simon accepted, and consented to be high priest and to be general and ethnarch of the Jews and the priests, and to preside over all.
48| And they decreed that this writing be set on bronze tablets, and that they be set up within the precincts of the sanctuary, in a trustworthy place;
49| and that copies of them be deposited in the treasury, so that Simon and his descendants might keep them.