§4.1Πάντη δὲ ὅπου προσέπιπτεν τοῦτο τὸ πρόσταγμα, δημοτελὴς συνίστατο τοῖς ἔθνεσιν οὖν εὐωχία μετὰ ἀλαλαγμῶν καὶ χαρᾶς, ὡς ἂν τῆς προκατεσκιρωμένης αὐτοῖς πάλαι κατὰ διάνοιαν, μετὰ παρv νῦν ἐκφαινομένης ἀπεχθείας.
And wherever this decree arrived, a public feast was celebrated among the Gentiles with shouting and joy, as if ¦p.717 their hostility, which had long been solidified in their minds, were now being manifested openly.
§4.2τοῖς δὲ Ἰουδαίοις ἄλεκτον πένθος ἦν καὶ πανόδυρτος μετὰ δακρύων βοή, στεναγμοῖς πεπυρωμένης πάντοθεν αὐτῶν τῆς καρδίας, ὀλοφυρομένων τὴν ἀπροσδόκητον ἐξαίφνης αὐτοῖς ἐπικριθεῖσαν ὀλεθρίαν.
But for the Jews there was unspeakable mourning and a lamentable cry with tears, their hearts being set on fire on every side with groans, as they lamented the unexpected destruction suddenly decreed against them.
§4.3τίς νομὸς ἢ πόλις, ἢ τίς τὸ σύνολον οἴκτιστος τόπος, ἢ τίνες ἀγυιαὶ κοπετοῦ καὶ γόων ἐπʼ αὐτοῖς οὐκ ἐνεπιπλῶντο;
What district or city, or what miserable place at all, or what streets were not filled with mourning and lamentation for them?
§4.4οὕτως γὰρ μετὰ πικρίας ἀνοίκτου ψυχῆς ὑπὸ τῶν κατὰ πόλιν στρατηγῶν ὁμοθυμαδὸν ἐξαπεστέλλοντο, ὥστε ἐπὶ ταῖς ἐξάλλοις τιμωρίαις καί τινας τῶν ἐχθρῶν λαμβάνοντας πρὸ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν τὸν κοινὸν ἔλεον, καὶ λογιζομένους τὴν ἄδηλον τοῦ βίου καταστροφήν, δακρύειν αὐτῶν τὴν δυσάθλιον ἐξαποστολήν.
For they were sent away together by the generals in each city with such merciless bitterness of soul, that at the extraordinary punishments even some of their enemies, taking before their eyes the common pity and considering the uncertain end of life, wept at their miserable deportation.
§4.5ἤγετο γὰρ γέρων πλήρης πολιᾶς πεπυκασμένος τὴν ἐκ τοῦ γήρως νωθρότητα ποδῶν ἐπικύφων, ἀνατροπῆς ὁρμῇ βιαίας, ἁπάσης αἰδοῦς ἄνευ πρὸς ὀξείαν καταχρώμενος πορείαν.
For an old man, covered with gray hair and bent down by the sluggishness of feet due to old age, was forced into a rapid pace, without any respect, by the violent impulse of deportation.
§4.6αἱ δὲ ἄρτι πρὸς βίου κοινωνίαν γαμικὸν ὑπεληλυθυῖαι παστὸν νεάνιδες ἀντὶ τέρψεως μεταλαβοῦσαι γόους, καὶ κόνει τὴν μυροβρεχῆ πεφυρμέναι κόμην, ἀκαλύπτως δὲ ἀγόμεναι, θρῆνον ἀνθʼ ὑμεναίων ὁμοθυμαδὸν ἐξῆρχον, ὡς ἐσπαραγμέναι σκύμνοις ἀλλοεθνέσιν· §4.7δέσμιαι δὲ δημοσίᾳ μέχρι τῆς εἰς τὸ πλοῖον ἐμβολῆς εἵλκοντο μετὰ βίας.
And young women who had just entered the bridal chamber for the partnership of life, receiving lamentations instead of delight, and having their perfumed hair defiled with dust, were led away unveiled, raising a wail instead of bridal songs together, as if torn by the beasts of foreign nations; and bound in public, they were dragged with violence until their embarkation into the ship.
§4.8οἱ δὲ τούτων συνζυγεῖς βρόχους ἀντὶ στεφέων τοὺς αὐχένας περιπεπλεγμένοι μετὰ ἀκμαίας νεανικῆς ἡλικίας, ἀντὶ εὐωχίας καὶ νεωτερικῆς ῥᾳθυμίας τὰς ἐπιλοίπους τῶν γάμων ἡμέρας ἐν θρήνοις διῆγον, παρὰ πόδας ἤδη τὸν ᾅδην ὁρῶντες κείμενον.
And their husbands, with nooses wound around their necks instead of crowns, in the flower of their youth, spent the remaining days of their marriage in lamentations instead of feasting and youthful ease, seeing Hades already lying at their feet.
§4.9κατήχθησαν δὲ θηρίων τρόπον ἀγόμενοι σιδηροδέσμοις ἀνάγκαις· οἱ μὲν τοῖς ζυγοῖς τῶν πλοίων προσηλωμένοι τοὺς τραχήλους, οἱ δὲ τοὺς πόδας ἀρρήκτοις κατησφαλισμένοι πέδαις, §4.10ἔτι καὶ τῷ καθύπερθε πυκνῷ σανιδώματι διακειμένῳ, ὅπως πάντοθεν ἐσκοτισμένοι τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς, ἀγωγὴν ἐπιβούλων ἐν παντὶ τῷ κατάπλῳ λαμβάνωσιν.
They were brought down like beasts, driven by iron-bound constraints; some with their necks fastened to the benches of the ships, and others with their feet secured in unbreakable fetters, moreover, with the thick planking laid over them above, so that, with their eyes darkened on every side, they might receive the treatment of traitors throughout the entire voyage.
§4.11Τούτων δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν λεγομένην Σχεδίαν ἀχθέντων, καὶ τοῦ παράπλου περανθέντος, καθὼς ἦν δεδογματισμένον τῷ βασιλεῖ, προσέταξεν αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ πρὸ τῆς πόλεως ἱπποδρόμῳ παρεμβαλεῖν ἀπλάτῳ καθεστῶτι περιμέτρῳ, καὶ πρὸς παραδιγματισμὸν ἄγαν εὐκαιροτάτῳ καθεστῶτι πᾶσι τοῖς καταπορευομένοις εἰς τὴν πόλιν, καὶ τοῖς ἐκ τούτων εἰς τὴν χώραν στελλομένοις πρὸς ἐκδημίαν· πρὸς τὸ μηδὲ ταῖς δυνάμεσιν αὐτοῦ κοινωνεῖν μηδὲ τὸ σύνολον καταξιῶσαι περιβόλῳ.
When these had been brought to the place called Schedia, and the voyage was finished, ¦p.718 as it had been decreed by the king, he commanded them to be quartered in the hippodrome before the city, which had an immense circumference, and was very convenient for making an example of them to all who came down to the city, and to those who were sent from it into the country for travel; this was so that they might not even associate with his forces, nor be deemed worthy of the city walls at all.
§4.12ὡς δὲ τοῦτο ἐγενήθη, ἀκούσας τοὺς ἐκ τῆς πόλεως ὁμοεθνεῖς κρυβῇ ἐκπορευομένους πυκνότερον ἀποδύρεσθαι τὴν ἀκλεῆ τῶν ἀδελφῶν ταλαιπωρίαν, §4.13διοργισθεὶς προσέταξεν καὶ τούτοις ὁμοῦ τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον ἐπιμελῶς ὡς ἐκείνοις ποιῆσαι, μὴ λειπομένοις κατὰ μηδένα τρόπον τῆς ἐκείνων τιμωρίας· §4.14ἀπογραφῆναι δὲ πᾶν τὸ φῦλον ἐξ ὀνόματος, οὐκ εἰς τὴν ἔμπροσθεν βραχεῖ προδεδηλωμένην τῶν ἔργων κατὰ τρόπον λατρείαν, στρεβλωθέντας δὲ παρηγγελμέναις αἰκίαις τὸ τέλος ἀφανίσαι μιᾶς ὑπὸ καιρὸν ἡμέρας.
When this was done, hearing that their compatriots from the city went out secretly and frequently lamented the shameful misery of their brethren, he was enraged and commanded to treat these also in exactly the same diligent manner as those, so that they should not fall short of their punishment in any way; and that the whole nation should be registered by name, not for the service of labor as briefly shown before, but that, having been tortured with proclaimed outrages, they should be destroyed in a single day.
§4.15ἐγίνετο μὲν οὖν ἡ τούτων ἀπογραφὴ μετὰ πικρᾶς σπουδῆς καὶ φιλοτίμου προσεδρίας ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν ἡλίου μέχρι δυσμῶν, ἀνήνυτον λαμβάνουσα τὸ τέλος ἐπὶ ἡμέρας τεσσεράκοντα.
So their registration was carried on with bitter haste and zealous attention from the rising of the sun to its setting, without reaching an end for forty days.
§4.16Μεγάλως δὲ καὶ διηνεκῶς ὁ βασιλεὺς χαρᾷ πεπληρωμένος, συμπόσια ἐπὶ πάντων τῶν εἰδώλων συνιστάμενος, πεπληρωμένῃ πόρρω τῆς ἀληθείας φρενὶ καὶ βεβήλῳ στόματι, κωφὰ καὶ μὴ δυνάμενα αὐτοῖς λαλεῖν ἢ ἀρήγειν ἐπαινῶν, εἰς δὲ τὰ μὴ καθήκοντα λαλῶν.
The king, filled with great and constant joy, held banquets before all his idols, praising with a mind far from the truth and with a profane mouth those deaf things that could neither speak to them nor help, and uttering things that were unbecoming.
§4.17μετὰ δὲ τὸ προειρημένον τοῦ χρόνου διάστημα προηνέγκαντο οἱ γραμματεῖς τῷ βασιλεῖ, μηκέτι ἰσχύειν τὴν τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἀπογραφὴν ποιεῖσθαι διὰ τὴν ἀμέτρητον αὐτῶν πληθύν· §4.18καίπερ ὄντων ἔτι κατὰ τὴν χώραν τῶν πλειόνων, τῶν μὲν κατὰ τὰς οἰκίας ἔτι συνεστηκότων, τῶν δὲ καὶ κατὰ τὸν τόπον, ὡς ἀδυνάτου καθεστῶτος πᾶσιν τοῖς ἐπʼ Αἴγυπτον στρατηγοῖς.
After the aforementioned interval of time, the scribes reported to the king that they were no longer able to carry out the registration of the Jews because of their unmeasurable multitude; although the majority were still in the countryside, some still remaining in their houses, and others in their places, so that it had become impossible for all the generals in Egypt.
§4.19ἀπειλήσαντος δὲ αὐτοῖς σκληρότερον, ὡς δεδωροκοπημένοις εἰς μηχανὴν τῆς ἐκφυγῆς, συνέβη σαφῶς αὐτὸν περὶ τούτου πιστωθῆναι, §4.20λεγόντων μετὰ ἀποδείξεως καὶ τὴν χαρτηρίαν ἤδη καὶ τοὺς γραφικοὺς καλάμους, ἐν οἷς ἐχρῶντο, ἐκλελοιπέναι.
When he threatened them more severely, as having been bribed to devise an escape, it happened that he was clearly convinced of this; since they stated with proof that even the papyrus and the writing reeds which they used had already failed.
§4.21τοῦτο δὲ ἦν ἐνέργεια τῆς τοῦ βοηθοῦντος τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις ἐξ οὐρανοῦ προνοίας ἀνικήτου.
And this was ¦p.719 the working of the invincible providence from heaven which was helping the Jews.