1 Now Simon learned that Trypho had assembled a huge army to march on the land of Judah and crush it.
2 He saw the people were trembling with fear, so he went to Jerusalem and gathered everyone together.
3 He encouraged them, saying, “You know what my brothers and I and my father's house have done concerning the laws and the sanctuary. You know, too, the wars and the crises we have seen.
4 This is why all my brothers perished, all for the sake of Israel, and only I am left.
5 Now may my life never be safeguarded in time of trouble, for I am in no way better than my brothers.
6 Thus I will avenge my nation and this sanctuary and your wives and children, for all the nations have hatefully gathered to destroy us.”
7 Thus he rekindled the spirit of the people when they heard these words.
8 They responded with a loud voice, saying, “You lead us in place of Judas and your brother.
9 Fight our wars, and we will do everything you tell us.”
10 So he gathered all the men of fighting age and rushed to finish the walls of Jerusalem; he fortified the city on all sides.
11 Then he sent Jonathan son of Absalom with a sizable army to Joppa, and he drove out its people and remained there.
12 Meanwhile, Trypho left from Ptolemais with a large force to come into the land of Judah. Jonathan accompanied him under guard.
13 Now Simon set up camp in Adida, opposite the plain.
14 When Trypho heard that Simon had risen up in place of his brother Jonathan and was about to face him in battle, he sent men to him, saying,
15 “We are detaining your brother Jonathan because of the silver he owed the royal treasury and for which he is responsible.
16 Now send a hundred talents of silver and two of his sons as hostages, that when he is freed he will not rise up against us; then we will free him.”
17 Simon sensed they were speaking to him deceitfully, but he sent for the silver and the sons, lest he arouse great hostility among the people, for they might say,
18 “Because Simon did not give him the money and the sons, Jonathan perished.”
19 Then he sent the sons and the hundred talents. But Trypho acted with deceit and would not free Jonathan.
20 Later, Trypho arrived to invade Judah to destroy it, and they circled around the road leading to Adora. But Simon and his army advanced along opposite him every place he went.
21 Then men from the citadel sent ambassadors to Trypho, urging him to come to them through the desert and send food for them.
22 Trypho then prepared all his cavalry to come, but there was a heavy snowfall that night, and he could not march through the deep snow. Instead, he departed and went into Gilead.
23 But when he came near Bascama, he slew Jonathan and buried him there.
24 Then Trypho turned and went to his own country.
25 Simon sent men and gathered the remains of his brother Jonathan and buried him in Modein, the city of his fathers.
26 All Israel mourned him with great lament for many days.
27 Simon also built up the tomb of his father and brothers with polished stone in front and back, making it high enough to be seen.
28 He then built seven pyramids, one opposite the other, for his father and his mother and his four brothers.
29 Around these pyramids he made engines of war, building massive pillars around them, and upon these pillars he placed suits of armor for a perpetual memorial, and alongside the suits of armor he made carved ships, so they could be seen by everyone sailing the sea.
30 This tomb which he made in Modein exists until this day.
31 Now Trypho also dealt wickedly with young Antiochus the king and murdered him.
32 Then he became king in his place and wore the crown of Asia, bringing great adversity to the land.
33 Simon thus strengthened the fortresses in Judea, surrounding them with high towers and with thick walls and gates and bolts, storing provisions in the fortresses.
34 Also Simon selected men and sent them to King Demetrius to bring relief for the country, for all Trypho's actions were violent.
35 Then the king sent him a positive answer and wrote him this letter:
36 “King Demetrius to Simon the high priest, friend of kings, and to the elders and the Jewish nation, greetings.
37 We received the crown of gold and the palm branch you sent. We are ready to declare general peace with you and to order our officials to cancel your taxes.
38 Indeed, all the grants we made to you stay intact, and let the fortresses you built remain in your keeping.
39 We also forgive the mistakes committed up to the present day as well, and remove the crown tax you owe. If any other tax has been exacted in Jerusalem, let it be no longer exacted.
40 If some of your men are suited for enrollment in our bodyguard, let them be enrolled. And may there be peace among us.”
41 The yoke of the Gentiles was lifted from Israel in the one hundred and seventieth year.
42 Then the people began to record in their letters and contracts, “In the first year of Simon, the great high priest and commander and ruler of the Jews.”
43 In those days Simon camped at Gazara, surrounding it with soldiers. He also built an engine of war, brought it to the city, and struck and seized one tower.
44 Then the men in the siege engine jumped out and ran into the city, and there was a great commotion in Gazara.
45 The men in the city also climbed up onto the wall with their wives and children, tearing their clothes and crying with a loud voice, pleading with Simon to make peace with them.
46 They said, “Treat us not according to our evil deeds, but according to your mercy.”
47 So Simon made an agreement with them and ceased waging war against them. But he cast them out of the city and purified the houses that contained idols. Thus he entered Gazara with hymns and blessings.
48 He also cast out all uncleanness from it and settled men there who would keep the law. Then he fortified it and built a dwelling there for himself.
49 But the men in the citadel at Jerusalem were prevented from coming and going in the region to buy and to sell. So they were extremely hungry; even the strong among them were dying of hunger.
50 When they called out to Simon to be at peace with them, he did so and then cast them out from there, purifying the citadel from its defilements.
51 They entered it on the twenty-third day of the second month of the one hundred and seventy-first year with praise and palm branches, and with lyres, cymbals, and stringed instruments, and with hymns and songs, because a great enemy had been defeated and cast out of Israel.
52 Thus Simon ordered that each year they should commemorate this day with jubilation. When the temple mount was fortified along with the citadel, he himself and his men lived there.
53 Then Simon noted that his son John had reached adulthood. So he appointed him commander of all the army, and he lived in Gazara.