1 Maccabees 13:49-53

Common English Bible

Simon regains the elevated fortress at Jerusalem.

⁴⁹ Those who were in the elevated fortress at Jerusalem were prevented from moving around to buy and sell in the country. So they were very hungry, and many perished from famine. ⁵⁰ They appealed to Simon to make peace with them, and he did. But he expelled them from there and cleansed the elevated fortress from its pollutions. ⁵¹ On the twenty-third day of the second month,^[a] in the year 171, the Jews entered it with praise and palm branches, with harps and cymbals and stringed instruments, and with hymns and songs. A great enemy had been crushed and removed from Israel. ⁵² Simon declared that they should celebrate this day annually with rejoicing. He strengthened the defenses of the temple hill alongside the elevated fortress, and he and his soldiers lived there. ⁵³ Simon saw that his son John had become a man, and so he made him commander of all the forces. And John lived at Gazara.