The Byble in Englyshe that is to saye, the content of all the holye scrypture, bothe of the olde and newe Testament, truly translated after the veryte of the Hebrue and Greke textes, by the diligent studye of dyuers excellent lerned [men e]xperte in the fore[saide] tongues.

¶ Antiochus wyllyng to take the cyti•• of Elynas for a pray is d••y•••••• •• way of the 〈◊〉〈◊〉. He telleth into syckenesse and dyeth. His sonne Anti••ch••s 〈◊〉〈◊〉 ••a•••• kynge. The be••••g•• of the tower of Sion. Eu••••tor cōm••••h into Iewrye with a great armye. The boldnes of E••••az••r.

CAPI. VI.

NO we when kyng Antiochus trauayled thorow the hye countrees, he herde y^• E∣lymas [unspec A] in Persia was a noble & plentuous citie in syluer & golde, & that there was in it a very riche tēple: where as were clothes, cote armours & shyldes of golde, whiche Alexan∣der the sōne of Philippe kyng of Macedonia (that raygned fyrst in Greke londe) had lefte behynde hym. Wherfore he wente aboute to take the citie & to spoyle it, but he was not a∣ble: for the citesīs were warned of it, & fought w^t him. And so he fled & departed with greate heuynesse, and came agayne into Babylon. Moreouer there came one whyche brought hym tidynges in Persyde, that his hoostes whiche were in the lande of Iuda / were dry¦uen away, and how that Lysias wente forth fyrst wyth a great power, and was dryuen a∣way of the Iewes: howe y^• they had wōne the victory, & gotten great goodes out of the ho∣stes y^• peryshed: howe they had broken downe the abhomynacion, whiche he set vp vpon the altare at Ierusalem, and fenced the Sāc¦tuary withe hye walles, lyke as it was afore: yee and Bethsura his cyte also.

So it chaunced, that when the kyng had [unspec B] herde these wordes, he was afrayed and gre∣ued very sore. Wherfore he layed him downe vpon his bed, and fell sycke for very sorowe: & al because it had not happened as he had de¦uysed. And there contynued he longe / for his grefe was euermore and more / so that he saw he must nedes dye. Therfore he sent for hys frendes, & sayde vnto them: the slepe is gone fro myne eyes, for the very sorowe and vexa∣cion of herte that I haue. For when I cōsidre in my mynde the greate aduersite that I am come vnto, & the floudes of heuynesse whiche I am come in, where as afore tyme I was so mery, and so greatly set by (by reason of my power) Agayne consyderyng the euyl that I haue done at Ierusalem, from whence I toke all the ryches of golde & syluer that were in it / and sent to fetche away the inhabytoures of Iewry without any reason why: I knowe that these troubles are come vpon me for the same cause. And beholde / I must dye wyth great sorowe in a straūge lande. Then called he for one Philippe a frende of his, whom he made ruler of all his realme / & gaue hym the crowne / his roabe & his ryng: y^• he shuld take his sōne Antiochus vnto him / & brynge hym vp / tyll he myght raygne him selfe. So the kyng Antiochus dyed there, in the. cxlix. yere [unspec C] When Lysias knewe that the kynge was deed, he ordayned Antiochus his sone ( whō he had brought vp) to raygne in hys fathers steade, & called hym Eupator. Nowe they that were in the castell (at Ierusalem) kepte in the Iewes rounde aboute the Sanctuary & sought euer styll to do them harme, for the strengthenynge of the Heythen.

Wherfore Iudas thought to destroye thē and called all the people together / that they myght laye sege vnto thē. So they came to∣gether in the. Cl. yeare, & beseged them / lay∣inge forth theyr ordinaunce and instrumētes of warre. Then certaine of them that were be seged / wente forth (vnto whom some vngod∣ly men of Israel ioyned them selues also) and went vnto the kynge, sayinge: Howe longe wyll it be / or thou punysh and auenge oure brethren? We haue euer bene mynded to do

thy father seruyce / to walke in his statutes / and to obeye his commaundementes: Ther∣fore oure people fell from vs / & whersoeuer they founde any of vs / they slewe them: (and spoyled our inherytaunce) and they haue not onely medled wyth vs / but with all our coūtrees: and beholde / thys daye are they bese∣gyng the castel at Ierusalem, & haue made vp the strong holde in Bethsura: And if thou doest not preuente them ryght sone / they wyl do more then these / & thou shalte not be able to ouercome them.

When y^• kynge herde thys / he was very [unspec D] angrye, and called all hys frendes, the Cap∣taynes of hys fote men, and of all hys horse∣men together. He hyred men of warre also out of other realmes and out of the Iles of y^• see, whiche came vnto hym. And the nōbre of hys hoste was an hundreth thousande fote men, & twēty thousande horsmen, and. xxxij. Elephātes well exercised to battayle. These came thorowe Idumea vnto Bethsura, and beseged it a longe season, and made dyuerse instrumētes of warre agaynste it. But y^e Ie∣wes came out and brent thē, and fought lyke men. Then departed Iudas frō the castel at Ierusalē, & remoued the host toward Beth∣zacaran ouer agaynst the kynges army.

So the kynge arose before the daye, and brought the power of hys Hoste into the way [unspec E] to Bethzacaran / where the Hoostes made thē redy to y^• battayl, blowyng the trōpettes. And to prouoke the Elephantes for to fight, they shewed them the sappe of reed grapes & molberies. And deuyded the Elephātes a∣mong the Host: so y^• by euery Elephant there stode a. M. men well harnessed, & helmettes of stele vpon theyr heades: Ye vnto euery one of y^• Elephātes also, were ordained. ••. C. hors¦men of the best, which wayted of the Elephāt goyng where so euer he wente, and departed not from him. Euery Elephant was couered with a strong tower of wod, wherupon were xxxij. valeaunt men with weapens to fyght, and within it was a man of Iude to rule the beest.

As for the remnaunt of the horsmen / he set them vpon both the sides in two partes with trompettes, to prouoke the hoste, and to stere vp suche as were slow in the armye. And whē the sunne shone vpon theyr shyldes of golde and stele, the mountaynes glistred agayne at them, and were as bryght as the cressettes of fyre. The kynges host also was deuided, one parte vpon the hye Mountaynes, the other lowe beneth: so they went on, takynge good hede / and kepynge theyr ordre. And all they that dwelt in the lande / were afrayed at the noyse of theyr hoost, when the multitude wēt forth, & when the weapens smote together / for the hoost was both great and myghty. Iudas also & his hoost entred into the bat∣tayle, & slewe. vj. C. men of the kinges army. Nowe when Eleasar y^• sonne of Saura dyd se one of y^• Elephantes deckt w^t the kynges badge / & was a more godly beest then the o∣ther: he thought y^• kynge shuld be vpon him & ieoparde him self to deliuer his people, and to get hym a perpetuall name.

Wherfore he ranne wyth a corage vnto [unspec F] the Elephāte in y^• myddest of the hoost, smy∣tyng them downe of bothe the sydes / & slewe many aboute him. So wente he to the Ele∣phantes fete / & gat hym vnder hym, & slewe him: then fell the Elephant downe vpon hī / & there he died. Iudas also & his men seing y^• power of the kyng & the myghtye vyolēce of his host / departed frō them. And the kynges armye wente vp agaynst thē towarde Ieru∣salem, & pytched their tētes in Iewry besyde mount Syon: Moreouer, the kyng toke tr••¦se with them that were in Bethsura.

But when they came out of the cyte be∣cause they had no vytailes within, & the lāde laye vntylled) the kynge toke bethsura, & set mē to kepe it, & turned his hooste to the place of the Sanctuary / & layed siege to it a great whyle. Where he made al maner ordinaunce handbowes, fyrye dartes, rackettes to caste stones, scorpions to shut arowes, and slinges The Iewes also made ordynaunce agaynst theirs, and fought a longe season.

But in the cytie there were no vytayles / for it was the seuenth yeare of the warres / & those Heythen y^• remayned in Iewrye / had eaten vp all their stoare. And in the Sanc∣tuary were fewe mē lefte,▪ for y^• hungre came so vpon thē, that they were scatred abroade euery man to hys owne place.

So when Lysyas hearde that Phylyppe ( whō Antiochus the kynge whyle he was yet lyuyng / had ordayned to brynge vp An∣tiochus his sonne / that he myght be kynge) was come agayne out of Persia and Medea with the kynges hoost, & thought to optayne the kyngdome. He gat him to the kynge in al [unspec G] the haste, & to the captaynes of the hoste, and sayde: we decrease dayly, & our vytayles are but small: Agayne / the place that we laye sege vnto, is very strōg / & it were oure parte to se for the realme. Let vs agree with these men, and take truce wyth them, and with all theyr people, and graunte them to lyue after theyr lawe, as they dyd afore. For they be

greued & do all these thynges agaynst vs, be¦cause we haue despysed theyr lawe. So the kynge and the prynces were content, & sente vnto them to make peace, & they receyued it. Now when the king & the princes had made an othe vnto thē, they came out of the castell, and the kynge wente vp to mounte Syon. But when he sawe that the place was well fenced / he brake the othe that he had made, & commaunded to destroye the wall rounde a∣boute. Then departed he in all the haste, & re¦turned vnto Antioche / where he founde Phi¦lyppe hauynge dominion of the cytie. So he fought agaynst him, & toke the cytie agayne into his handes.

Notes

• Ioseph. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. xiii. li. xii en¦tiq.
• i. Matha. iii. c. &. iiii
• i Math 〈…〉〈…〉
• ii. M•••••• 〈◊〉〈◊〉 ••. 〈…〉〈…〉
• Iose〈…〉〈…〉 〈◊〉〈◊〉. li. •• 1. Ma•••• 〈…〉〈…〉
• Math••. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 g
• ••. Math••. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. d
• i Math. iiii 〈◊〉〈◊〉. xi ••
• i. Machab•• iiii. ••. vi. d. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. Mat. x••. •• ••. xv. d
• 2. Mat. 6. ••