The chat will start when you send the first message.
1Simon heard that Trypho was assembling a very large army to invade Judea and destroy it.[#13:1 Greek the land of Judah; also in 13:12.]
2Seeing that the people were trembling with fear, Simon went up to Jerusalem and assembled the people.
3He encouraged them, saying, “You know what great things my brothers and my father’s family and I have done for the laws and the Temple. You know the wars we have waged and the hardships we have experienced.
4For this cause—for the sake of Israel—all my brothers have lost their lives, and I alone am left.
5Far be it from me to spare my own life in time of trouble, for I am no better than my brothers.
6Nevertheless, I will avenge my nation and the Temple and your wives and children, for all the Gentiles have gathered together in hatred to destroy us.”
7The people were inspired once again when they heard these words.
8They cried out to Simon, “You are our leader in place of your brothers Judas and Jonathan.
9Lead us in battle, and we will obey your every word.”
10So Simon assembled the army and hurried to complete the walls of Jerusalem, fortifying it on all sides.
11He sent a large force to Joppa under the command of Jonathan son of Absalom, and they drove out the residents and remained there.
12Trypho and his large army left Ptolemais to invade Judea, and they took Jonathan along under guard.
13Simon set up camp in Adida, facing the plain.
14When Trypho learned that Simon had taken the place of his brother Jonathan and was preparing to fight against him, he sent envoys to Simon with this message:
15“We have detained your brother Jonathan for the money that he owed the king’s treasury when he was managing the king’s affairs in Judea.
16Send 7,500 pounds of silver and two of his sons as hostages, so that when he is set free, he will not revolt against us. Then we will release him.”[#13:16 Greek 100 talents [3,400 kilograms]; also in 13:19.]
17Although Simon did not believe that Trypho could be trusted, he ordered the money and the children to be sent. He did not want the people of Israel to hate him and say,
18“Jonathan died because Simon did not send the money and the children.”
19So he sent the children and the 7,500 pounds of silver. But Trypho broke his word and did not release Jonathan.
20After this, Trypho entered the country to destroy it. His troops took a detour along the road that leads to Adora, but Simon and his army countered them wherever they went.
21The soldiers in the citadel sent envoys to Trypho, asking him to hurry to them through the wilderness to bring them food.
22So Trypho got all his horsemen ready to leave; but that night a very heavy snow fell, and he could not go. Instead he went into Gilead.
23As he neared Baskama, he killed Jonathan and buried him there.
24Then Trypho changed course and returned to his own country.
25Simon sent for the remains of his brother Jonathan and buried him in Modein, the town of his ancestors.
26All Israel wept loudly for him, and they mourned for him many days.
27Over the tomb of his father and his brothers, Simon built a tall monument with polished stone at the front and back.
28He also erected seven pyramids facing each other for his father, his mother, and his four brothers.
29He surrounded these with an elaborate arrangement of large pillars, upon which he hung armor as an eternal memorial. Beside the armor he carved ships large enough to be visible to those at sea.
30This tomb remains in Modein even to this day.
31Trypho conspired against young King Antiochus and killed him.
32He became king in his place, assuming the crown of Asia, and brought great evils upon the kingdom.
33But Simon strengthened the strongholds of Judea, fortifying them with high towers, massive walls, and gates locked with bars. He also stored food in the strongholds.
34Simon selected ambassadors and sent them to King Demetrius Nicator, hoping to gain relief from taxes for his nation, since Trypho had plundered the land.
35King Demetrius answered this request with the following letter:
41In the one hundred seventieth year of Greek rule, the yoke of the Gentiles was removed from Israel.[#13:41 The 170th year of Greek rule was 142 b.c.]
42At that time the people of Israel began to date their documents and public records in this way: “In the first year of Simon the great high priest, the commander and leader of the Jews.”
43In those days Simon set up camp outside Gazara and surrounded it with troops. He constructed a siege machine and directed it against the town. He attacked one tower and captured it.
44The soldiers inside the siege machine entered the town, creating a great uproar.
45The men in the town, together with their wives and children, went up to the wall, tore their clothes, and cried out with a loud voice, asking Simon to grant them terms of peace.
46They said, “Do not treat us as our evil deeds deserve but according to your mercy.”
47So Simon reached an agreement with them. He did not destroy them, but he expelled them from the town and purified the houses where there had been idols. Then he entered the town, singing hymns of praise.
48Having cleansed the town of all impurity, Simon appointed people to live there who would observe the law of Moses. He also fortified the town and built a house for himself there.
49Then Simon prevented those who were in the citadel at Jerusalem from going in and out and from buying and selling in the countryside. So they became very hungry, and many of them died from famine.
50They begged Simon for terms of peace, which he granted. Then he expelled them from the citadel and cleansed it from impurity.
51On June 3 in the one hundred seventy-first year of Greek rule, the Jews entered the citadel with thanksgiving, waving palm branches and playing harps and cymbals and stringed instruments. They sang hymns and songs, because Israel’s great enemy had finally been destroyed.[#13:51 Greek On the twenty-third day of the second month, of the Hebrew lunar calendar. This event occurred on June 3, 141 b.c.]
52Simon decreed that this occasion should be celebrated every year with gladness. He strengthened the fortifications of the Temple hill near the citadel, and he and his men lived there.
53Since Simon’s son John had now reached manhood, Simon made him commander of all the armies. John kept his residence in Gazara.