45. And those who were in the city ascended upon the wall, with their wives and children, having torn their tunics. And they cried out with a loud voice, asking Simon to grant them a pledge.
46. And they said, "Do not repay us according to our malice, but according to your mercy."
47. And weeping, Simon did not destroy them. Yet he cast them out of the city, and he cleansed the buildings, in which there had been idols. And then he entered into it with hymns, blessing the Lord.
48. And, having cast out of it all uncleanness, he placed in it men who would observe the law. And he fortified it and made it his dwelling place.
49. But those who were in the stronghold of Jerusalem were prohibited from going out and entering the region, and from buying and selling. And they were very hungry, and many of them perished through famine.
50. And they cried out to Simon, that they might receive a pledge, and he granted it to them. And he cast them out of there, and he cleansed the stronghold from contaminations.
51. And they entered into it on the twenty-third day of the second month, in the one hundred and seventy-first year, with thanksgiving, and palm branches, and lyres, and cymbals, and psalteries, and hymns, and canticles, because a great enemy had been crushed out of Israel.
52. And he established that these days should be kept every year with rejoicing.
53. And he fortified the mountain of the temple, which was near the stronghold, and he lived there himself, along with those who were with him.
54. And Simon saw that John, his son, was a valiant man in battle. And so he appointed him as commander of all the forces. And he lived in Gazara.