1 Maccabees 13:51-53

Common English Bible

⁵¹ On the twenty-third day of the second month,^[a] in the year 171, the Jews entered it with praise and palm branches, with harps and cymbals and stringed instruments, and with hymns and songs. A great enemy had been crushed and removed from Israel. ⁵² Simon declared that they should celebrate this day annually with rejoicing. He strengthened the defenses of the temple hill alongside the elevated fortress, and he and his soldiers lived there. ⁵³ Simon saw that his son John had become a man, and so he made him commander of all the forces. And John lived at Gazara.