thither, having a great band of soldiers with
him, such as was sufficient to put a stop to the multitude of those
who pulled down what was dedicated to God; so he fell upon them
unexpectedly, and as they were upon this bold attempt, in a foolish
presumption rather than a cautious circumspection, as is usual with the
multitude, and while they were in disorder, and incautious of what was
for their advantage; so he caught no fewer than forty of the young men,
who had the courage to stay behind when the rest ran away, together with
the authors of this bold attempt, Judas and Matthiss, who thought it an
ignominious thing to retire upon his approach, and led them to the king.
And when they were come to the king, and he asked them if they had been
so bold as to pull down what he had dedicated to God, "Yes, [said
they,] what was contrived we contrived, and what hath been performed we
performed it, and that with such a virtuous courage as becomes men; for
we have given our assistance to those things which were dedicated to the
majesty of God, and we have provided for what we have learned by hearing
the law; and it ought not to be wondered at, if we esteem those laws
which Moses had suggested to him, and were taught him by God, and
which he wrote and left behind him, more worthy of observation than
thy commands. Accordingly we will undergo death, and all sorts of
punishments which thou canst inflict upon us, with pleasure, since we
are conscious to ourselves that we shall die, not for any unrighteous
actions, but for our love to religion." And thus they all said, and
their courage was still equal to their profession, and equal to that
with which they readily set about this undertaking. And when the king
had ordered them to be bound, he sent them to Jericho, and called
together the principal men among the Jews; and when they were come,
he made them assemble in the theater, and because he could not himself
stand, he lay upon a couch, and enumerated the many labors that he had
long endured on their account, and his building of the temple, and what
a vast charge that was to him; while the Asamoneans, during the hundred
and twenty-five years of their government, had not been able to perform
any so great a work for the honor of God as that was; that he had also
adorned it with very valuable donations, on which account he hoped that
he had left himself a memorial, and procured himself a reputation after
his death. He then cried out, that