141 In 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. 2 And (when) Arsaces, the king of Persia aand Mediaa, 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, 3 and took him, and brought him to Arsaces; band he put him in wardb.

14:4–15. Simon’s beneficent rule; an ode in his honour.

4 And the landc had rest all the days of Simon; and he sought the good of his nation; and his authority dand his gloryd was well-pleasing to them dall his daysd. 5 And din addition to all his (other) glory (was this that)d he took Joppa for a haven, and made it a place of entry for the shipse of the sea.

6 And he enlarged the borders of his nation,

fAnd ruled over the landf.

7 And he gathered together gmany that had been in captivityg,

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

And he took away uncleannesses therefromh f,

And there was none that could resist him.

8 And they tilled their land in peace;

And the land gave her increase,

And the trees of the plains their fruit.

9 Old men sat in the streetsi,

kAll spoke together of the (common) wealk,

And the young men put on glorious andl warlike apparel.

10 For the cities he provided victuals,

mAnd furnishedn them with defensive works,

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

11 He made peace in the land,

And Israel rejoiced with great joy.

12 And each sat under his vine o and his fig treeo,

And there was none to make them afraidm;

13 And no one was left in the land to fight them

pAnd theq kings were discomfited in those days.

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

He sought out the Law,

And put away the lawless and wicked.

15 rHe glorified the sanctuaryp,

And multipliedr thes vessels of the Temple.

14:16–24. Renewal of the alliance with Rome.

16 And (when) tit was heardt in Rome that Jonathan was dead, uandv (even) unto Spartau, they were exceeding sorry. 17 But as soon as they heard that his brother Simon was made high-priest uin his stead, 18 and ruled the country, and the cities therein u, they wrote unto him on tablets of brass, to renew with him the friendship and the confederacy which they had established with uJudas andu Jonathan uhis brethrenu; 19 and they were read before the congregation in Jerusalem. 20 And this is the copy of the letter which the Spartans sent: ‘The rulers and the cityvv of the Spartans, unto Simon thew high-priest, and unto the elders, uand the priests, and the rest of the people of the Jews, (who are) brethrenu, 21 greeting; uThe ambassadors that were sent unto our people made report to us of yourx glory and honour; andu we were glad for their coming. 22 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. 23 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.’ 24 Moreover theyy 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 weightz, in order to confirm the confederacy with them.

14:25–49. The hereditary High-priesthood conferred upon Simon; a memorial tablet to Simon and the Maccabaeans is set up in the Temple.

25 But when the people heard these things, they said: ‘What thanks shall we give to Simona and his sons? 26 For he, and his brethren, and his father’s house have bmade themselves strongb, and have chased away in fight the enemiesc of Israel from them, dand established liberty for itd., And they wrote on tablets of brass, and set them upon a pillare in mount Zion. 27 fAnd 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 gthe hhigh-priestg, 28 iand the prince of the people of Godi—in a great congregation of priests and people and princes of the nation, and of the elders of the country, k(the following) was promulgated by usk; 29 Forasmuch as oftentimes there have been wars in the countryf, Simon the son of Mattathias, fthe son of the children of Joaribf, 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. 30 lAnd Jonathan assembled theirm nation togetherl, and became high-priest to them; and he was gathered to his people. 31 Then their enemies determined to invade their country, nthat they might destroy their country utterlyn, and stretch forth their hands against their sanctuary. 32 Then rose up Simon and fought for his nation; and he spent much of his own substance, and armed theo valiant men of his nation, and gave them wages. 33 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. 34 pAnd 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 therep, and whatsoever things were needful for the sustenanceq of these he put in them. 35 And (when) the people saw the faithr of Simon, and the glory which he sought to bring unto his nation, they made him their leader pand 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 peoplep. 36 And in his days things prospered in his handss, tso 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, 37 and did great hurt unto its purity (these did he expel)t; 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. 38 And king Demetrius confirmed him in the high-priesthood uin consequence of these thingsu, and made him one of his Friends, 39 vand honoured him with great honourv. 40 For whe had heard wthat the Jews had been proclaimed by the Romans friends, and confederates, vand brethrenv, and that they had met the ambassadors of Simon honourably. 41 Andx the Jews and the priests were well pleased that Simon should be their leader and high-priest vfor ever, until a faithful prophet should arisev; 42 and that he should be a captain over themy, to set them over their works, and over the country, and over the arms, 43 and over the strongholds, vand 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 namev, 44 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 zin the countryz without him, or that any (other) should be clothed in purple, 45 or wear a buckle of gold; aabut that whosoever should do otherwise, or set at nought any of these things, should be liable to punishmentaa. 46 And all the people consented to ordainbb for Simon that it should be done according to these words. 47 And Simon accepted (hereof), and consented to fill the office of high-priest, and to be captain and governor of the Jews aaand of the priests, and to preside over all mattersaa.’

48 And they commanded to put this writing on tablets of brass, and to set them up within ccthe precinct ofcc the sanctuary in a conspicuousdd place; 49 and copies of this (they caused) to be placed in the treasury, to the end that Simon and his sons might have them.

15:1–9. Antiochus VIII (Sidetes) seeks the throne, and solicits the help of Simon.