1 Maccabees 13

1 Simon heard that Trypho had gathered a great army to come into the land of Judah and destroy it, 2 and he saw that the people were trembling and full of fear. So he went up to Jerusalem and gathered the people together, 3 and he encouraged them and said to them, “You yourselves know all that I and my brothers and my father’s house have done for the laws and the holy place — the battles and the hardships we have seen. 4 Because of this all my brothers have died for Israel’s sake, and I am left alone. 5 Now far be it from me to spare my own life in any time of trouble, for I am no better than my brothers. 6 No — I will avenge my nation and the holy place and your wives and children, for all the nations have gathered to destroy us out of sheer hatred.”

7 The spirit of the people revived the moment they heard these words, 8 and they answered with a loud voice: “You are our leader in place of Judas and your brother Jonathan. 9 Fight our battles, and whatever you tell us, we will do.”

10 So he gathered all the fighting men, hurried to finish the walls of Jerusalem, and fortified the city on every side. 11 He sent Jonathan the son of Absalom to Joppa with a strong force, and Jonathan drove out the people who were in it and stayed there in the city.

12 Then Trypho set out from Ptolemais with a great army to enter the land of Judah, and Jonathan was with him, under guard. 13 Simon camped at Adida, facing the plain. 14 When Trypho learned that Simon had risen up in place of his brother Jonathan and meant to join battle with him, he sent envoys to him, saying, 15 “It is over money that your brother Jonathan owed the royal treasury, in connection with the offices he held, that we are holding him. 16 Now send a hundred talents of silver, and two of his sons as hostages so that when he is released he will not desert us — and we will let him go.” [a]

17 Simon knew they were speaking to him deceitfully, but he sent for the money and the boys all the same, for fear of stirring up great hatred among the people, 18 who might say, “Jonathan perished because Simon did not send Trypho the money and the boys.” [b] 19 So he sent the boys and the hundred talents — and Trypho broke his word and did not release Jonathan.

20 After this Trypho came to invade the land and destroy it. His forces went around by the road to Adora, but Simon and his army marched opposite him to every place he went. 21 The men in the citadel kept sending envoys to Trypho, urging him to hurry to them through the wilderness and to send them food. 22 So Trypho got all his cavalry ready to go — but that night a very heavy snow fell, and because of the snow he did not come. He broke camp and went into the land of Gilead.

23 When he came near Baskama, he killed Jonathan, and he was buried there. 24 Then Trypho turned back and went away to his own land.

25 Simon sent and took the bones of his brother Jonathan, and buried him in Modein, the city of his fathers. 26 All Israel mourned him with a great lamentation, and they grieved for him many days.

27 Over the tomb of his father and his brothers Simon built a monument of polished stone, front and back, and raised it high enough to be seen from far off. 28 He set up seven pyramids, one facing another, for his father and his mother and his four brothers. 29 For the pyramids he devised an elaborate setting: he surrounded them with great columns, and on the columns he made suits of armor as an everlasting memorial, and beside the armor, carved ships — meant to be seen by all who sail the sea. 30 This is the tomb he made at Modein, and it stands to this day.

31 Now Trypho dealt treacherously with the young King Antiochus and killed him. 32 He became king in his place, put on the crown of Asia, and did great harm to the land.

33 Simon built up the strongholds of Judea. He walled them around with high towers and great walls, with gates and bars, and he stored food in the strongholds. 34 Simon also chose men and sent them to King Demetrius, asking him to grant the land a release, for everything Trypho did was plunder. 35 King Demetrius answered his request and wrote him this letter:

36 “King Demetrius to Simon the chief priest and Friend of Kings, and to the elders and nation of the Jews: greetings. 37 The gold crown and the palm branch you sent have reached us, and we are ready to make a great peace with you, and to write to our officials to grant you exemptions. [c] 38 Everything we have decreed concerning you stands, and the strongholds you have built shall be yours. 39 We forgive the oversights and offenses committed up to this day, along with the crown money you owe; and if any other tax was being collected in Jerusalem, let it be collected no longer. 40 And if any of you are fit to be enrolled among the men of our court, let them be enrolled, and let there be peace between us.”

41 In the 170th year the yoke of the nations was lifted from Israel, [d] 42 and the people began to write on their documents and contracts, “In the first year of Simon, the great chief priest and commander and leader of the Jews.”

43 In those days Simon camped against Gazara and surrounded it with his forces. He built a siege engine, brought it up against the city, battered one of the towers, and captured it. [e] 44 The men in the siege engine leaped out into the city, and a great commotion broke out there. 45 The people of the city, with their wives and children, climbed onto the wall with their clothes torn, and they cried out with a loud voice, begging Simon to give them his right hand. 46 They said, “Do not treat us as our wicked deeds deserve, but according to your mercy.”

47 So Simon came to terms with them and stopped fighting against them. But he expelled them from the city, purified the houses where the idols had been, and then entered it with hymns and blessing. 48 He removed every uncleanness from it, settled in it men who would keep the law, fortified it further, and built a residence in it for himself.

49 The men in the citadel in Jerusalem were kept from going out into the country and coming back, from buying and selling. They grew desperately hungry, and a good number of them died of famine. 50 They cried out to Simon, begging for his right hand, and he gave it to them. But he expelled them from the place and purified the citadel from its defilements. 51 On the twenty-third day of the second month, in the 171st year, the Jews entered it with praise and palm branches, with lyres and cymbals and harps, with hymns and songs — because a great enemy had been crushed and removed from Israel. [f] 52 Simon decreed that this day should be kept every year with rejoicing. He fortified the temple mount beside the citadel, and there he lived, he and his men. 53 And when Simon saw that his son John was now a man, he made him commander of all the forces; and John lived at Gazara.