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.

¶ By the mocyon of the Lord, Demetrins sēdeth Nicanor to kil the Iewes. Nicanor maketh a cōpare•• with the Iewes which he yet breaketh through the mocyon of the king. Ni∣canor cōmaūdeth R••aia to be takē. The boldnes of Razia.

CAPI. XIIII.

AFter thre yeares was Iudas infour∣med, [unspec A] how that Demetrius the sōne of Seleucus was come vp w^t a greate power & shyppes, thorowe the hauen of Tripolis, to take certayne commodyous places & coū¦trees, against Antiochus and his captayne Lysias. Now Alcimus (which had bene hye Prest, & wylfully defyled him self, in y^e tyme of the myxtyng) seing, that by no meanes he could be helped, nor haue any more intraūce to y^• aultare: he came to king Demetrius in the hūdreth & one & fyftye yeare, presentyng vnto hym a crowne of golde, a palme & an olyue tree: which (as men thought) belōged to the temple, & that daye he helde his tong. But when he had gotten oportunyte for his madnesse, Demetrius called hym to coūcel, and asked hym, what thinges or coūcels the Iewes leaned vnto? He answered: The Iewes y^• be called Assidei (whose captayne is Iudas Machabeus (maintaine warres, make insurreceyons, and wyl not let the re∣alme be inpeace.

For I beynge depryued of my fathers ho∣noure [unspec B] (I meane the hye presthode (am come hyther: partly because I was faithful vnto the kynge, and partly because I sought the profyt of the cytesyns. And why? all oure people, thorow the wickednesse of them, are not a litle troubled. Wherfore I beseche the (O kynge) consydre all these thynges dyly∣gently, and then make some prouysion for y^e lande and the people, according to the kind∣nesse that thou hast offred vnto thē. For as lōge as Iudas hath the vpperhāde, it is not possible that men can lyue in peace.

When he had spoken these wordes, other frendes also hauynge euyll wyll at Iudas, set the kynge Demetrius on fyre agaynste hī. * 1.1 Which immediatly sent Nicanor (ruler of the Elephātes) a captayne, into Iewrye: cōmaundinge him, to take Iudas him selfe alyue, but to staye thē that were with him, & to make Alcimus hye prest of y^e great tēple.

Then the Heathen whiche fled oute of [unspec C] Iewry frō Iudas, came to Nicanor by floc∣kes, thinckynge the harme and decay of the Iewes to be theyr welfare. Nowe when the Iewes herde of Nicanors commynge, and the gatheryng together of the Heathē: they spr••ckled thē selues with earth, ‡ 1.2 & be sought hym, whiche made them hys people, & euer defended hys owne porcion with euydēt to∣kens, that he wolde preserue them styll. So at the commaundemēt of the captayne, they remoued from thence, and came to a towne called Dessason. And Symō Iudas brother fel ī hāde w^t Nicanor, but thorow y^e sodayne commyng of the enemyes, he was afrayed.

Neuertheles Nicanor hearynge the man∣lynes of them that were wyth Iudas, & the bolde stomackes that they had to fyght for theyr naturall countre, durst not proue the matter wyth bloudsheddynge. Wherfore he sent Possidonius, Theodocius & Mathias before, to geue and to take peace. So when they had taken long aduisement there vpō, and the captaine shewed it vnto the multy∣tude, they were agreed in one minde, to haue peace. And they appointed a day to sit vpon these maters quyecly amonge them selues, the stoles also were brought and set forth. Neuerthelesse Iudas commaūded certaine men of armes to wayte in co••enient places,

lest there shulde sodenly aryse any euyl tho∣row the enemyes. And so they cōmoned rea¦sonably [unspec D] together. Nycanor, whyle he abode at Ierusalē, ordred him selfe not vnreasona¦bly, but sent away the people y^t were gathe∣red together. He loued Iudas euer with his hert, & fauoured him. He prayed him also to take a wyfe, & to brīge forth children. So he maryed, lyued ī rest, & they led a comen lyfe. But Alcimus p••eceauyng y^e loue that was betwyxte them, & how they were agreed to∣gether, came to Demetrius, & told him that Nycanor had taken straūge matters ī hāde & ordened Iudas (an enemy of y^e realme) to be the kīges successour. Then the king was sore displeased, & thorowe y^e wycked accusa∣cions whiche Alcimus made of Nicanor, he was so prouoked, that he wrote vnto Nyca∣nor, saying: that he was very angrie for the frēdship & agremēt, whiche he had made w^t Machabeus. Neuertheles he cōmaūded hī in al the hast, that he shuld take Machabeus presoner, and sēde him to Antioche. Which [unspec E] letters when Nicanor had sene he was at ••{is} wyttes ende, & sore greued, y^t he shuld breke the thynges wherin they had agreed: speci∣ally, seing Machabeus was y^e mā, y^t neuer dyd him harme. But because he myght not w^t stande the kyng, he sought oportunyte to fulfyl his cōmaundemēt. Not withstādinge when Machabeus sawe y^• Nicanor beganne to be churlysh vnto him, & y^t he intreated hī more rughly thē he was wont, he perceaued y^t such vnkyndnes came not of good, & ther¦fore he gathered a fewe of hys men, & wyth∣drew him selfe frō Nicanor. Which when he knewe y^t Machabeus bad manfully preuen∣ted him, he came into y^• great & most holy tē∣ple: & cōmaūded the prestes (which were do∣inge their vsual offringes) to delyuer him y^• mā. And whē they sware y^t they could not tel where y^e mā was whō he sought, he stretched out his hāde, * 1.3 & made an othe, saying: If ye wyl not delyuer me Iudas captyue. I shal remoue this tēple of god ī to y^e plaine felde, I shall breake downe the aulter, & cōsecrate this tēple vnto Bachus. After these wordes he departed. Thē the prestes lyft vp their hā¦des [unspec F] towarde heauē, & be sought hym y^t was euer y^e defēder of their people, saying, Thou O Lord of al, which hast nede of nothynge, woldest y^t the tēple of thy habitacion shulde be amōge vs. Therfore now O mooste holy Lorde, kepe thys house euer vndefyled, * 1.4 which lately was clensed. Nowe was there accused vnto Nicanor, one Razi•• an Alder∣man of Ierusalē, a louer of the whole ••p••••••, & a man of good reporte: which for y^• kynde hert y^t he bare vnto the people, was called a father of y^e Iewes. This mā oft tymes, whē the Iewes were mynded to kepe thē selues vndefiled, defēded & delyuered thē being cō¦tent stedfastly to spende his body & hys lyfe for his people. So Nicanor wyllyng to de∣clare [unspec G] y^• hate y^t he bare to the Iewes, set fyue hundreth men of warre to take hym: for he thought, yf he gat hym he shulde brynge the Iewes in great decay. Nowe when the peo∣ple beganne to rush in at h{is} house, to breake the dores, & to set fyre on it: he beynge nowe taken, wolde haue defended him selfe with hys swearde: chosynge rather to dye man∣fully, then to yelde him selfe to those wicked doers: & because of his noble stocke, he had rather haue bene put to extreme cruelte. Not withstanding what tyme as he myssed of hys stroke for hast, & the multytude ••el in¦violētly betwixte the dores: he ranne boldly to the wall, & cast him selfe downe manfully among the heape of them, which gaue so••e place to his fall, so that he fel vpon hys be∣ly. Neuerthelesse whyle there was yet breth wythin him, he was kyndled in his mynde, & whyle his bloude gusshed out exceadīgly (for he was very sore woūded) he ranne tho∣row the myddest of the people, and gat hym to the toppe of a rocke. So when his bloude was nowe gone, he toke out his owne bow∣els with both his hādes, & threw thē vpon y^e people: callyng vpō y^e Lord of lyfe & spryte, to rewarde him this agayne, and so he died.

Notes

• * 1.1

  ••. M••••▪ ••▪
• ‡ 1.2

  2. M•••• 〈◊〉〈◊〉
• * 1.3

  ••▪ Mat. 7. ••.
• * 1.4

  ••. Mat. 4. ••. ••. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. x. a