for he will remember all the wrongs that we did to him and to his brothers and his nation.”

Now King Alexander heard of all the promises that Demetrius had sent to Jonathan, and he heard of the battles that Jonathan and his brothers had fought, of the brave deeds that they had done, and of the troubles that they had endured.

“The high priest Jonathan, the council of the nation, the priests, and the rest of the Jewish people to their brothers the Spartans, greetings.

Already in time past a letter was sent to the high priest Onias from Arius, who was king among you, stating that you are our brothers, as the appended copy shows.

We therefore remember you constantly on every occasion, both at our festivals and on other appropriate days, at the sacrifices that we offer and in our prayers, as it is right and proper to remember brothers.

It has been found in writing concerning the Spartans and the Jews that they are brothers and are of the family of Abraham.

he encouraged them, saying to them, “You yourselves know what great things my brothers and I and the house of my father have done for the laws and the sanctuary; you know also the wars and the difficulties that my brothers and I have seen.

By reason of this all my brothers have perished for the sake of Israel, and I alone am left.

And now, far be it from me to spare my life in any time of distress, for I am not better than my brothers.

And Simon built a monument over the tomb of his father and his brothers; he made it high so that it might be seen, with polished stone at the front and back.

He also erected seven pyramids, opposite one another, for his father and mother and four brothers.

they wrote to him on bronze tablets to renew with him the friendship and alliance that they had established with his brothers Judas and Jonathan.

This is a copy of the letter that the Spartans sent: “The rulers and the city of the Spartans to the high priest Simon and to the elders and the priests and the rest of the Jewish people, our brothers, greetings.

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.”

“Since wars often occurred in the country, Simon son of Mattathias, of the clan 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.

For he had heard that the Jews were addressed by the Romans as friends and allies and brothers and that the Romans had received the envoys of Simon with honor.

And Simon called in his two eldest sons Judas and John and said to them: “My brothers and I and my father’s house have fought the wars of Israel from our youth until this day, and things have prospered in our hands so that we have delivered Israel many times.

But someone ran ahead and reported to John at Gazara that his father and brothers had perished and that “he has sent men to kill you also.”

The Compiler’s Preface

The story of Judas Maccabeus and his brothers, and the purification of the greatest temple, and the dedication of the altar,

The Martyrdom of Seven Brothers

It happened also that seven brothers and their mother were arrested and were being compelled by the king, under torture with whips and straps, to partake of unlawful pig’s flesh.

These were heated immediately, and he commanded that the tongue of their spokesman be cut out and that they scalp him and cut off his hands and feet, while the rest of the brothers and the mother looked on.

When he was utterly helpless, the king ordered them to take him to the fire, still breathing, and to fry him in a pan. The smoke from the pan spread widely, but the brothers and their mother encouraged one another to die nobly, saying,

Do not fear this butcher but prove worthy of your brothers. Accept death, so that in God’s mercy I may get you back again along with your brothers.”

For our brothers, after enduring a brief suffering for everlasting life, have fallen under God’s covenant, but you, by the judgment of God, will receive just punishment for your arrogance.

I, like my brothers, give up body and life for the laws of our ancestors, appealing to God to show mercy soon to our nation and by trials and plagues to make you confess that he alone is God,