1 Maccabees 14

14In the one hundred and seventy-second year Demetrius the king gathered his forces together, and went into Media, to get him help, that he might fight against Tryphon. And ⁽when⁽ Arsaces, the king of Persia and Media, heard that Demetrius was come into his borders, he sent one of his leaders to take him alive; and he went and smote the army of Demetrius, and took him, and brought him to Arsaces; and he put him in ward.

And the land had rest all the days of Simon; and he sought the good of his nation; and his authority and his glory was well-pleasing to them all his days. And in addition to all his ⁽other⁽ glory ⁽was this that⁽ he took Joppa for a haven, and made it a place of entry for the ships of the sea.

And he enlarged the borders of his nation,

And ruled over the land.

And he gathered together many that had been in captivity,

And he ruled over Gazara, and Bethsura, and the citadel.

And he took away uncleannesses therefrom,

And there was none that could resist him.

And they tilled their land in peace;

And the land gave her increase,

And the trees of the plains their fruit.

Old men sat in the streets,

All spoke together of the ⁽common⁽ weal,

And the young men put on glorious and warlike apparel.

For the cities he provided victuals,

And furnished them with defensive works,

Until his glorious name was proclaimed to the end of the earth.

He made peace in the land,

And Israel rejoiced with great joy.

And each sat under his vine and his fig tree,

And there was none to make them afraid;

And no one was left in the land to fight them

And the kings were discomfited in those days.

And he strengthened all that were brought low of his people;

He sought out the Law,

And put away the lawless and wicked.

He glorified the sanctuary,

And multiplied the vessels of the Temple.

And ⁽when⁽ it was heard in Rome that Jonathan was dead, and ⁽even⁽ unto Sparta, they were exceeding sorry. But as soon as they heard that his brother Simon was made high-priest in his stead, and ruled the country, and the cities therein , they wrote unto him on tablets of brass, to renew with him the friendship and the confederacy which they had established with Judas and Jonathan his brethren; and they were read before the congregation in Jerusalem. And this is the copy of the letter which the Spartans sent: ‘The rulers and the city of the Spartans, unto Simon the high-priest, and unto the elders, and the priests, and the rest of the people of the Jews, ⁽who are⁽ brethren, greeting; The ambassadors that were sent unto our people made report to us of your glory and honour; and we were glad for their coming. And we did register the things that were spoken by them in the public records, after this manner: Numenius, son of Antiochus, and Antipator, son of Jason, the Jews’ ambassadors, came unto us to renew the friendship they had with us. And it pleased the people to receive the men honourably, and to place the copy of their words among the public records, to the end that the people of the Spartans might have a memorial thereof.’ Moreover they wrote a copy of these things unto Simon the high-priest. After this Simon sent Numenius to Rome having a great shield of gold of a thousand pound weight, in order to confirm the confederacy with them.

But when the people heard these things, they said: ‘What thanks shall we give to Simon and his sons? For he, and his brethren, and his father’s house have made themselves strong, and have chased away in fight the enemies of Israel from them, and established liberty for it., And they wrote on tablets of brass, and set them upon a pillar in mount Zion. And this is the copy of the writing: ‘On the eighteenth day of Elul, in the one hundred and seventy-second year—that is the third year of Simon the high-priest, and the prince of the people of God—in a great congregation of priests and people and princes of the nation, and of the elders of the country, ⁽the following⁽ was promulgated by us; Forasmuch as oftentimes there have been wars in the country, Simon the son of Mattathias, the son of the children of Joarib, and his brethren, put themselves in jeopardy, and withstood the enemies of their nation, that their sanctuary and the Law might be upheld; and they glorified their nation with great glory. And Jonathan assembled their nation together, and became high-priest to them; and he was gathered to his people. Then their enemies determined to invade their country, that they might destroy their country utterly, and stretch forth their hands against their sanctuary. Then rose up Simon and fought for his nation; and he spent much of his own substance, and armed the valiant men of his nation, and gave them wages. And he fortified the cities of Judaea, and Bethsura ⁽that lieth⁽ upon the borders of Judaea, where the arms of the enemies were aforetime, and set there a garrison of Jews. And he fortified Joppa which is by the sea, and Gazara which is upon the borders of Azotus, wherein the enemies dwelt aforetime; and he placed Jews there, and whatsoever things were needful for the sustenance of these he put in them. And ⁽when⁽ the people saw the faith of Simon, and the glory which he sought to bring unto his nation, they made him their leader and high-priest, because he had done all these things, and because of the justice and the faith which he kept to his nation, and because he sought by all means to exalt his people. And in his days things prospered in his hands, so that the Gentiles were taken away out of their ⁽the Jews’⁽ country; and they also that were in the city of David, they that were in Jerusalem, who had made themselves a citadel, out of which they issued, and polluted all things round about the sanctuary, and did great hurt unto its purity ⁽these did he expel⁽; and he made Jews to dwell therein, and fortified it for the safety of the country and of the city; and he made high the walls of Jerusalem. And king Demetrius confirmed him in the high-priesthood in consequence of these things, and made him one of his Friends, and honoured him with great honour. For he had heard that the Jews had been proclaimed by the Romans friends, and confederates, and brethren, and that they had met the ambassadors of Simon honourably. And the Jews and the priests were well pleased that Simon should be their leader and high-priest for ever, until a faithful prophet should arise; and that he should be a captain over them, to set them over their works, and over the country, and over the arms, and over the strongholds, and that he should take charge of the sanctuary, and that he should be obeyed by all, and that all instruments in the country should be written in his name, and that he should be clothed in purple, and wear gold; and that it should not be lawful for anyone among the people or among the priests to set at nought any of these things, or to gainsay the things spoken by him, or to gather an assembly in the country without him, or that any ⁽other⁽ should be clothed in purple, or wear a buckle of gold; but that whosoever should do otherwise, or set at nought any of these things, should be liable to punishment. And all the people consented to ordain for Simon that it should be done according to these words. And Simon accepted ⁽hereof⁽, and consented to fill the office of high-priest, and to be captain and governor of the Jews and of the priests, and to preside over all matters.’

And they commanded to put this writing on tablets of brass, and to set them up within the precinct of the sanctuary in a conspicuous place; and copies of this ⁽they caused⁽ to be placed in the treasury, to the end that Simon and his sons might have them.