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Into my presence。  Wherefore dost thou turn

Thy face from me?  A herald speaks his errand

With forehead unabashed。  Thou art a spy sent by Nicanor。



NICANOR。

No disguise avails!

Behold my face; I am Nicanor's self。



JUDAS。

Thou art indeed Nicanor。  I salute thee。

What brings thee hither to this hostile camp

Thus unattended?



NICANOR。

Confidence in thee。

Thou hast the nobler virtues of thy race;

Without the failings that attend those virtues。

Thou canst be strong; and yet not tyrannous;

Canst righteous be and not intolerant。

Let there be peace between us。



JUDAS。

What is peace?

Is it to bow in silence to our victors?

Is it to see our cities sacked and pillaged;

Our people slain; or sold as slaves; or fleeing

At night…time by the blaze of burning towns;

Jerusalem laid waste; the Holy Temple

Polluted with strange gods?  Are these things peace?



NICANOR。

These are the dire necessities that wait

On war; whose loud and bloody enginery

I seek to stay。  Let there be peace between

Antiochus and thee。



JUDAS。

Antiochus?

What is Antiochus; that he should prate

Of peace to me; who am a fugitive?

To…day he shall be lifted up; to…morrow

Shall not be found; because he is returned

Unto his dust; his thought has come to nothing。

There is no peace between us; nor can be;

Until this banner floats upon the walls

Of our Jerusalem。



NICANOR。

Between that city

And thee there lies a waving wall of tents;

Held by a host of forty thousand foot;

And horsemen seven thousand。  What hast thou

To bring against all these?



JUDAS。

The power of God;

Whose breath shall scatter your white tents abroad;

As flakes of snow。



NICANOR。

Your Mighty One in heaven

Will not do battle on the Seventh Day;

It is his day of rest。



JUDAS。

Silence; blasphemer。

Go to thy tents。



NICANOR。

Shall it be war or peace?



JUDAS。

War; war; and only war。  Go to thy tents

That shall be scattered; as by you were scattered

The torn and trampled pages of the Law;

Blown through the windy streets。



NICANOR。

Farewell; brave foe!



JUDAS。

Ho; there; my captains!  Have safe…conduct given

Unto Nicanor's herald through the camp;

And come yourselves to me。Farewell; Nicanor!







SCENE IV。  JUDAS MACCABAEUS; CAPTAINS AND SOLDIERS。



JUDAS。

The hour is come。  Gather the host together

For battle。  Lo; with trumpets and with songs

The army of Nicanor comes against us。

Go forth to meet them; praying in your hearts;

And fighting with your hands。



CAPTAINS。

Look forth and see!

The morning sun is shining on their shields

Of gold and brass; the mountains glisten with them;

And shine like lamps。  And we who are so few

And poorly armed; and ready to faint with fasting;

How shall we fight against this multitude?



JUDAS。

The victory of a battle standeth not

In multitudes; but in the strength that cometh

From heaven above。  The Lord forbid that I

Should do this thing; and flee away from them。

Nay; if our hour be come; then let us die;

Let us not stain our honor。



CAPTAINS。

'T is the Sabbath。

Wilt thou fight on the Sabbath; Maccabaeus?



JUDAS。

Ay; when I fight the battles of the Lord;

I fight them on his day; as on all others。

Have ye forgotten certain fugitives

That fled once to these hills; and hid themselves

In caves?  How their pursuers camped against them

Upon the Seventh Day; and challenged them?

And how they answered not; nor cast a stone;

Nor stopped the places where they lay concealed;

But meekly perished with their wives and children;

Even to the number of a thousand souls?

We who are fighting for our laws and lives

Will not so perish。



CAPTAINS。

Lead us to the battle!



JUDAS。

And let our watchword be; 〃The Help of God!〃

Last night I dreamed a dream; and in my vision

Beheld Onias; our High…Priest of old;

Who holding up his hands prayed for the Jews。

This done; in the like manner there appeared

An old man; and exceeding glorious;

With hoary hair; and of a wonderful

And excellent majesty。  And Onias said:

〃This is a lover of the Jews; who prayeth

Much for the people and the Holy City;

God's prophet Jeremias。〃  And the prophet

Held forth his right hand and gave unto me

A sword of gold; and giving it he said:

〃Take thou this holy sword; a gift from God;

And with it thou shalt wound thine adversaries。〃



CAPTAINS。

The Lord is with us!



JUDAS。

Hark! I hear the trumpets

Sound from Beth…horon; from the battle…field

Of Joshua; where he smote the Amorites;

Smote the Five Kings of Eglon and of Jarmuth;

Of Hebron; Lachish; and Jerusalem;

As we to…day will smite Nicanor's hosts

And leave a memory of great deeds behind us。



CAPTAINS and SOLDIERS。

The Help of God!



JUDAS。

Be Elohim Yehovah!

Lord; thou didst send thine Angel in the time

Of Esekias; King of Israel;

And in the armies of Sennacherib

Didst slay a hundred fourscore and five thousand。

Wherefore; O Lord of heaven; now also send

Before us a good angel for a fear;

And through the might of thy right arm let those

Be stricken with terror that have come this day

Against thy holy people to blaspheme!







ACT IV。



The outer Courts of the Temple at Jerusalem。



SCENE I。  JUDAS MACCABAEUS; CAPTAINS; JEWS。



JUDAS。

Behold; our enemies are discomfited。

Jerusalem is fallen; and our banners

Float from her battlements; and o'er her gates

Nicanor's severed head; a sign of terror;

Blackens in wind and sun。



CAPTAINS。

O Maccabaeus;

The citadel of Antiochus; wherein

The Mother with her Seven Sons was murdered;

Is still defiant。



JUDAS。

Wait。



CAPTAINS。

Its hateful aspect

Insults us with the bitter memories

Of other days。



JUDAS。

Wait; it shall disappear

And vanish as a cloud。  First let us cleanse

The Sanctuary。  See; it is become

Waste like a wilderness。  Its golden gates

Wrenched from their hinges and consumed by fire;

Shrubs growing in its courts as in a forest;

Upon its altars hideous and strange idols;

And strewn about its pavement at my feet

Its Sacred Books; half burned and painted o'er

With images of heathen gods。



JEWS。

Woe! woe!

Our beauty and our glory are laid waste!

The Gentiles have profaned our holy p'aces!



(Lamentation and alarm of trumpets。)



JUDAS。

This sound of trumpets; and this lamentation;

The heart…cry of a people toward the heavens;

Stir me to wrath and vengeance。  Go; my captains;

I hold you back no longer。  Batter down

The citadel of Antiochus; while here

We sweep away his altars and his gods。





SCENE II。  JUDAS MACCABAEUS; JASON; JEWS;





JEWS。

Lurking among the ruins of the Temple;

Deep in its inner courts; we found this man;

Clad as High…Priest。



JUDAS。

I ask not who thou art。

I know thy face; writ over with deceit

As are these tattered volumes of the Law

With heathen images。  A priest of God

Wast thou in other days; but thou art now

A priest of Satan。  Traitor; thou art Jason。



JASON。

I am thy prisoner; Judas Maccabaeus;

And it would ill become me to conceal

My name or office。



JUDAS。

Over yonder gate

There hangs the head of one who was a Greek。

What should prevent me now; thou man of sin;

From hanging at its side the head of one

Who born a Jew hath made himself a Greek?



JASON。

Justice prevents thee。



JUDAS。

Justice?  Thou art stained

With every crime against which the Decalogue

Thunders with all its thunder。



JASON。

If not Justice;

Then Mercy; her handmaiden。



JUDAS。

When hast thou

At any time; to any man or woman;

Or even to any little child; shown mercy?



JASON。

I have but done what King Antiochus

Commanded me。



JUDAS。

True; thou hast been the weapon

With which he struck; but hast been such a weapon;

So flexible; so fitted to his hand;

It tempted him to strike。  So thou hast urged him

To double wickedness; thine own and his。

Where is this King?  Is he in Antioch

Among his women still; and from his windows

Throwing down gold by handfuls; for the rabble

To scramble for?



JASON。

Nay; he is gone from there;

Gone with an army into the far East。



JUDAS。

And wherefore gone?



JASON。

I know not。 For the space

Of forty days almost were horsemen seen

Running in air; in cloth of gold; and armed

With lances; like a band of soldiery;

It was a sign of triumph。



JUDAS。

Or of death。

Wherefore art thou not with him?



JASON。

I was left

For service in the Temple。



JUDAS。

To pollute it;

And to corrupt the Jews; for there are men

Whose presence is corruption; to be with them

Degrades us and deforms the things we do。



JASON。

I never made a boast; as some men do;

Of my superior virtue; nor denied

The weakness of my nature; that h

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