2 Maccabees · Brenton's Greek Septuagint
2 Maccabees 7 Brenton's Greek Septuagint
Notes on this text (1)
- Ezra and Nehemiah form one book (2 Esdras) in this edition; the reader shows them as Ezra 1–10 and Nehemiah 1–13.
1 Συνέβη δὲ καὶ ἑπτὰ ἀδελφοὺς μετὰ τῆς μητρὸν συλληφθέντας ἀναγκάζεσθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως ἀπὸ τῶν ἀθεμίτων ὑείων κρεῶν ἐφάπτεσθαι, μάστιξι καὶ νευραῖς αἰκιζομένους.
1 It came to pass that seven brothers and their mother were at the king’s command taken and shamefully handled with scourges and cords, to compel them to taste of the abominable swine’s flesh.
2 Εἷς δὲ αὐτῶν γενόμενος προήγορος, οὕτως ἔφη, τί μέλλεις ἐρωτᾷν, καὶ μανθάνειν παρʼ ἡμῶν; ἕτοιμοι γὰρ ἀποθνήσκειν ἐσμὲν ἢ παραβαίνειν τοὺς πατρίους νόμους.
2 One of them made himself the spokesman and said, “What would you ask and learn from us? For we are ready to die rather than transgress the laws of our ancestors.”
3 Ἔκθυμος δὲ γενόμενος ὁ βασιλεὺς, προσέταξε τήγανα, καὶ λέβητας ἐκπυροῦν.
3 The king fell into a rage, and commanded that pans and caldrons be heated.
4 Τῶν δὲ ἐκπυρωθέντων, παραχρῆμα τὸν γενόμενον αὐτῶν προήγορον προσέταξε γλωσσοτομεῖν, καὶ περισκυθίσαντας ἀκρωτηριάζειν, τῶν λοιπῶν ἀδελφῶν, καὶ τῆς μετρὸς, συνορώντων.
4 When these were immediately heated, he gave orders to cut out the tongue of him who had been their spokesman, and to scalp him, and to cut off his extremities, with the rest of his brothers and his mother looking on.
5 Ἄχρηστον δὲ αὐτὸν τοῖς ὅλοις γενόμενον, ἐκέλευσε τῇ πυρᾷ προσάγειν ἔμπνουν, καὶ τηγανίζειν· τῆς δὲ ἀτμίδος ἐφʼ ἱκανὸν διαδιδούσης τοῦ τηγάνου, ἀλλήλους παρεκάλουν σὺν τῇ μητρὶ γενναίως τελευτᾷν, λέγοντες οὕτως.
5 And when he was utterly maimed, the king gave orders to bring him to the fire, being yet alive, and to fry him in the pan. And as the smoke from the pan spread far, they and their mother also exhorted one another to die nobly, saying this:
6 Ὁ Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ἐφορᾷ, καὶ ταῖς ἀληθείαις ἐφʼ ἡμῖν παρακαλεῖται, καθάπερ διὰ τῆς κατὰ πρόσωπον ἀντιμαρτυρούσης ᾠδῆς διεσάφησε Μωυσῆς, λέγων, καὶ ἐπὶ τοῖς δούλοις αὐτοῦ παρακληθήσεται.
6 “The Lord God sees, and in truth is entreated for us, as Moses declared in his song, which witnesses against the people to their faces, saying, ‘And he will have compassion on his servants.’”
7 Μεταλλάξαντος δὲ τοῦ πρώτου τὸν τρόπον τοῦτον, τὸν δεύτερον ἦγον ἐπὶ τὸν ἐμπαιγμόν· καὶ τὸ τῆς κεφαλῆς δέρμα σὺν ταῖς θριξὶ περισύραντες, ἐπηρώτων, εἰ φάγεσαι πρὸ τοῦ τιμωρηθῆναι τὸ σῶμα κατὰ μέλος;
7 And when the first had died like this, they brought the second to the mocking; and they pulled off the skin of his head with the hair and asked him, “Will you eat, before your body is punished in every limb?”
8 Ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς τῇ πατρίῳ φωνῇ εἶπεν, οὐχί· διόπερ καὶ
8 But he answered in the language of his ancestors and said to them, “No.” Therefore he also underwent the next torture in succession, as the first had done.
9 οὗτος τὴν ἑξῆς ἔλαβε βάσανον, ὡς ὁ πρῶτος. Ἐν ἐσχάτῇ δὲ πνοῇ γενόμενος, εἶπε, σὺ μὲν ἀλάστωρ ἐκ τοῦ παρόντος ἡμᾶς ζῇν ἀπολύεις, ὁ δὲ τοῦ κόσμου βασιλεὺς ἀποθανόντας ἡμᾶς ὑπὲρ τῶν αὐτοῦ νόμων εἰς αἰώνιον ἀναβίωσιν ζωῆς ἡμᾶς ἀναστήσει.
9 When he was at the last gasp, he said, “You, miscreant, release us out of this present life, but the King of the world will raise us who have died for his laws up to an everlasting renewal of life.”
10 Μετὰ δὲ τοῦτον ὁ τρίτος ἐνεπαίζετο, καὶ τὴν γλῶσσαν αἰτηθεὶς ταχέως προέβαλε, καὶ τὰς χεῖρας εὐθαρσῶς προέτεινε,
10 After him, the third was made a victim of their mocking. When he was required, he quickly put out his tongue, and stretched out his hands courageously,
11 καὶ γενναίως εἶπεν, ἐξ οὐρανοῦ ταῦτα κέκτημαι, καὶ διὰ τοὺς αὐτοῦ νόμους ὑπερορῶ ταῦτα, καὶ παρʼ αὐτοῦ ταῦτα πάλιν ἐλπίζω κομίσασθαι.
11 and nobly said, “I got these from heaven. For his laws’ sake I treat these with contempt. From him, I hope to receive these back again.”
12 Ὥστε αὐτὸν τὸν βασιλέα καὶ τοὺς σὺν αὐτῷ ἐκπλήσσεσθαι τὴν τοῦ νεανίσκου ψυχὴν, ὡς ἐν οὐδενὶ τὰς ἀλγηδόνας ἐτίθετο.
12 As a result, the king himself and those who were with him were astonished at the young man’s soul, for he regarded the pains as nothing.
13 Καὶ τούτου δὲ μεταλλάξαντος, τὸν τέταρτον ὡσαύτως ἐβασάνιζον αἰκιζόμενοι.
13 When he too was dead, they shamefully handled and tortured the fourth in the same way.
14 Καὶ γεννόμενος πρὸς τὸ τελευτᾷν, οὕτως ἔφη, αἱρετὸν μεταλλάσσοντας ὑπʼ ἀνθρώπων τὰς ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ προσδοκᾷν ἐλπίδας, πάλιν ἀναστήσεσθαι ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ· σοὶ μὲν γὰρ ἀνάστασις εἰς ζωὴν οὐκ ἔσται.
14 Being near to death he said this: “It is good to die at the hands of men and look for the hope which is given by God, that we will be raised up again by him. For as for you, you will have no resurrection to life.”
15 Ἐχομένως δὲ τὸν πέμπτον προσάγοντες ᾐκίζοντο.
15 Next after him, they brought the fifth and shamefully handled him.
16 Ὁ δὲ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἰδὼν, εἶπεν, ἐξουσίαν ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἔχων φθαρτὸς ὤν, ὅ θελεις ποιεῖς· μὴ δόκει δὲ τὸ γένος ἡμῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ καταλελεῖφθαι.
16 But he looked toward the king and said, “Because you have authority among men, though you are corruptible, you do what you please. But don’t think that our race has been forsaken by God.
17 Σὺ δὲ καρτέρει, καὶ θεώρει τὸ μεγαλεῖον αὐτοῦ κράτος, ὡς σὲ καὶ τὸ σπέρμα σου βασανίσει.
17 But hold on to your ways, and see how his sovereign majesty will torture you and your descendants!”
18 Μετὰ δὲ τοῦτον ἦγον τὸν ἕκτον, καὶ μέλλων ἀποθνήσκειν, ἔφη, μὴ πλανῶ μάτην, ἡμεῖς γὰρ διʼ ἑαυτοὺς ταῦτα πάσχομεν ἁμαρτάνοντες εἰς τὸν ἑαυτῶν Θεὸν, διὸ ἄξια θαυμασμοῦ γέγονε.
18 After him they brought the sixth. When he was about to die, he said, “Don’t be vainly deceived, for we suffer these things for our own doings, as sinning against our own God. Astounding things have come to pass;
19 Σὺ δὲ μὴ νομίσῃς ἀθῶος ἔσεσθαι, θεομαχεῖν ἐπιχειρήσας.
19 but don’t think that you will be unpunished, having tried to fight against God!”
20 Ὑπεραγόντως δὲ ἡ μήτηρ θαυμαστὴ καὶ μνήμης ἀγαθῆς ἀξία, ἥτις ἀπολλυμένους υἱοὺς ἑπτὰ συνορῶσα μιᾶς ὑπὸ καιρὸν ἡμέρας, εὐψύχως ἔφερε διὰ τὰς ἐπὶ Κύριον ἐλπίδας.
20 But above all, the mother was marvelous and worthy of honorable memory; for when she watched seven sons perishing within the space of one day, she bore the sight with a good courage because of her hope in the Lord.
21 Ἕκαστον δὲ αὐτῶν παρεκάλει τῇ πατρίῳ φωνῇ, γενναίῳ πεπληρωμένη φρονήματι, καὶ τὸν θῆλυν λογισμὸν ἄρσενι θυμῷ διεγείρασα, λέγουσα πρὸς αὐτοὺς,
21 She exhorted each one of them in the language of their fathers, filled with a noble spirit and stirring up her woman’s thoughts with manly courage, saying to them,
22 οὐδʼ οἶδʼ ὅπως εἰς τὴν ἐμὴν ἐφάνητε κοιλίαν, οὐδὲ ἐγὼ τὸ πνεῦμα καὶ τὴν ζωὴν ὑμῖν ἐχαρισάμην, καὶ τὴν ἑκάστου στοιχείωσιν οὐκ ἐγὼ διερύθμισα.
22 “I don’t know how you came into my womb. It wasn’t I who gave you your spirit and your life. It wasn’t I who brought into order the first elements of each one of you.
23 Τοιγαροῦν ὁ τοῦ κόσμου κτίστης ὁ πλάσας ἀνθρώπου γένεσιν, καὶ πάντων ἐξευρὼν γένεσιν, καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα καὶ τὴν ζωὴν ὑμῖν πάλιν ἀποδώσει μετʼ ἐλέους, ὡς νῦν ὑπερορᾶτε ἑαυτοὺς διὰ τοὺς αὐτοῦνόμους.
23 Therefore the Creator of the world, who shaped the first origin of man and devised the first origin of all things, in mercy gives back to you again both your spirit and your life, as you now treat yourselves with contempt for his laws’ sake.”
24 Ὁ δὲ Ἀντίοχος οἰόμενος καταφρονεῖσθαι, καὶ τὴν ὀνειδίζουσαν ὑφορώμενος φωνὴν, ἔτι τοῦ νεωτέρου περιόντος, οὐ μόνον διὰ λόγων ἐποιεῖτο τὴν παράκλησιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ διʼ ὅρκων ἐπίστου, ἅμα πλουτιεῖν καὶ μακαριστὸν ποιήσειν μεταθέμενον ἀπὸ τῶν πατρίων νόμων, καὶ φίλον ἕξειν, καὶ χρείας ἐμπιστεύσειν.
24 But Antiochus, thinking himself to be despised, and suspecting the reproachful voice, while the youngest was yet alive didn’t only make his appeal to him by words, but also at the same time promised with oaths that he would enrich him and raise him to high honor if he would turn from the ways of his ancestors, and that he would take him for his friend and entrust him with public affairs.
25 Τοῦ δὲ νεανίου μηδαμῶς προσέχοντος, προσκαλεσάμενος ὁ βασιλεὺς τὴν μητέρα, παρήνει τοῦ μειρακίου γενέσθαι σύμβουλον ἐπὶ σωτηρία.
25 But when the young man would in no way listen, the king called to him his mother, and urged her to advise the youth to save himself.
26 Πολλὰ δὲ αὐτοῦ παραινέσαντος, ἐπεδέξατο πείσειν τὸν υἱόν.
26 When he had urged her with many words, she undertook to persuade her son.
27 Προσκύψασα δὲ αὐτῷ, χλευάσασα τὸν ὠμὸν τύραννον, οὕτως ἔφησε τῇ πατρῴᾳ φωνῇ, υἱὲ, ἐλέησόν με τὴν ἐν γαστρὶ περιενέγκασάν σε μῆνας ἐννέα, καὶ θηλάσασάν σε ἔτη τρία, καὶ ἐκθρέψασάν σε καὶ ἀγαγοῦσαν εἰς τὴν ἡλικίαν ταύτην, καὶ τροφοφορήσασαν.
27 But bending toward him, laughing the cruel tyrant to scorn, she spoke this in the language of her fathers: “My son, have pity upon me who carried you nine months in my womb, and nursed you three years, and nourished and brought you up to this age, and sustained you.
28 Ἀξιῶ σε, τέκνον, ἀναβλέψαντα εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν, καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτοῖς πάντα ἰδόντα, γνῶναι ὅτι ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων ἐποίησεν αὐτὰ ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένος οὕτως γεγένηται,
28 I beg you, my child, to lift your eyes to the sky and the earth, and to see all things that are in it, and thus to recognize that God made them not of things that were, and that the race of men in this way comes into being.
29 μὴ φοβηθῇς τὸν δήμιον τοῦτον, ἀλλὰ τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἄξιος γενόμενος, ἐπίδεξαι τὸν θάνατον, ἵνα ἐν τῷ ἐλέει σὺν τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς σου κομίσωμαί σε.
29 Don’t be afraid of this butcher, but, proving yourself worthy of your brothers, accept your death, that in God’s mercy I may receive you again with your brothers.”
30 Ἔτι δὲ ταύτης καταλεγούσης ὁ νεανίας εἶπε, τίνα μένετε; οὐχ ὑπακούω τοῦ προστάγματος τοῦ βασιλέως· τοῦ δὲ προστάγματος ἀκούω τοῦ νόμου τοῦ δοθέντος τοῖς πατράσιν ἡμῶν διὰ Μωυσέως.
30 But before she had finished speaking, the young man said, “What are you all waiting for? I don’t obey the commandment of the king, but I listen to the commandment of the law that was given to our fathers through Moses.
31 Σὺ δὲ πάσης κακίας εὑρετὴς γενόμενος εἰς τοὺς Ἑβραίους, οὐ μὴ διαφύγῃς τὰς χεῖρας τοῦ Θεοῦ.
31 But you, who have devised all kinds of evil against the Hebrews, will in no way escape God’s hands.
32 Ἡμεῖς γὰρ διὰ τὰς ἑαυτῶν ἁμαρτίας πάσχομεν.
32 For we are suffering because of our own sins.
33 Εἰ δὲ χάριν ἐπιπλήξεως καὶ παιδείας ὁ ζῶν Κύριος ἡμῶν βραχέως ἐπώργισται, καὶ πάλιν καταλλαγήσεται τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ δούλοις.
33 If for rebuke and chastening, our living Lord has been angered a little while, yet he will again be reconciled with his own servants.
34 Σὺ δὲ ὦ ἀνόσιε, καὶ πάντων ἀνθρώπων μιαρώτατε, μὴ μάτην μετεωρίζου φρυαττόμενος ἀδήλοις ἐλπίσιν, ἐπὶ τοὺς δούλους αὐτοῦ ἐπαιρόμενος χεῖρα.
34 But you, O unholy man and of all most vile, don’t be vainly lifted up in your wild pride with uncertain hopes, raising your hand against the heavenly children.
35 Οὔπω γὰρ τὴν τοῦ παντοκράτορος ἐπόπτου Θεοῦ κρίσιν ἐκπέφευγας.
35 For you have not yet escaped the judgment of the Almighty God who sees all things.
36 Οἱ μὲν γὰρ νῦν ἡμέτεροι ἀδελφοὶ βραχὺν ὑπενέγκαντες πόνον, ἀεννάου ζωῆς ὑπὸ διαθήκην Θεοῦ πεπτώκασι· σὺ δὲ τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ κρίσει δίκαια τὰ πρόστιμα τῆς ὑπετηφανίας ἀποίσῃ.
36 For these our brothers, having endured a short pain that brings everlasting life, have now died under God’s covenant. But you, through God’s judgment, will receive in just measure the penalties of your arrogance.
37 Ἐγὼ δὲ καθάπερ οἱ ἀδελφοί μου, καὶ σῶμα καὶ ψυχὴν προδίδωμι περὶ τῶν πατρίων νόμων, ἐπικαλούμενος τὸν Θεὸν ἵλεων ταχὺ τῷ ἔθνει γενέσθαι, καὶ σὲ μετὰ ἐτασμῶν καὶ μαστίγων ἐξομολογήσασθαι, διότι μόνος αὐτὸς Θεός ἐστιν,
37 But I, as my brothers, give up both body and soul for the laws of our fathers, calling upon God that he may speedily become gracious to the nation, and that you, amidst trials and plagues, may confess that he alone is God,
38 ἐν ἐμοὶ δὲ καὶ τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς μου στῆναι τὴν τοῦ παντοκράτορος ὀργὴν τὴν ἐπὶ τὸ σύμπαν ἡμῶν γένος δικαίως ἐπηγμένην.
38 and that in me and my brothers you may bring to an end the wrath of the Almighty which has been justly brought upon our whole race.”
39 Ἔκθυμος δὲ γενόμενος ὁ βασιλεὺς, τούτῳ παρὰ τοὺς ἄλλους χειρίστως ἀπήντησε, πικρῶς φέρων ἐπὶ τῷ μυκτηρισμῷ.
39 But the king, falling into a rage, handled him worse than all the rest, being exasperated at his mocking.
40 Καὶ οὗτος οὖν καθαρὸς τὸν βίον μετήλλαξε, παντελῶς ἐπὶ τῷ Κυρίῳ πεποιθώς.
40 So he also died pure, putting his whole trust in the Lord.
41 Ἐσχάτη δὲ τῶν υἱῶν ἡ μήτηρ ἐτελεύτησε.
41 Last of all, after her sons, the mother died.
42 Τὰ μὲν οὖν περὶ σπλαγχνισμοὺς, καὶ τὰς ὑπερβαλλούσας αἰκίας ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον δεδηλώσθω.
42 Let it then suffice to have said thus much concerning the sacrificial feasts and the extreme tortures.