1 Maccabees 14:24-34

24 After this Simon sent Numenius to Rome with a large gold shield weighing one thousand minas, to confirm the alliance with the Romans.
25 When the people heard these things they said, "How shall we thank Simon and his sons?
26 For he and his brothers and the house of his father have stood firm; they have fought and repulsed Israel's enemies and established its freedom."
27 So they made a record on bronze tablets and put it on pillars on Mount Zion. This is a copy of what they wrote: "On the eighteenth day of Elul, in the one hundred seventy-second year, which is the third year of the great high priest Simon,
28 in Asaramel, in the great assembly of the priests and the people and the rulers of the nation and the elders of the country, the following was proclaimed to us:
29 "Since wars often occurred in the country, Simon son of Mattathias, a priest of the sons of Joarib, and his brothers, exposed themselves to danger and resisted the enemies of their nation, in order that their sanctuary and the law might be preserved; and they brought great glory to their nation.
30 Jonathan rallied the nation, became their high priest, and was gathered to his people.
31 When their enemies decided to invade their country and lay hands on their sanctuary,
32 then Simon rose up and fought for his nation. He spent great sums of his own money; he armed the soldiers of his nation and paid them wages.
33 He fortified the towns of Judea, and Beth-zur on the borders of Judea, where formerly the arms of the enemy had been stored, and he placed there a garrison of Jews.
34 He also fortified Joppa, which is by the sea, and Gazara, which is on the borders of Azotus, where the enemy formerly lived. He settled Jews there, and provided in those towns whatever was necessary for their restoration.

Footnotes 6

  • [a]. Gk [them]
  • [b]. 140 b.c.
  • [c]. This word resembles the Hebrew words for [the court of the people of God] or [the prince of the people of God]
  • [d]. Meaning of Gk uncertain
  • [e]. Gk [their]
  • [f]. Gk [them]
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.