Chapter 5
1: When the Gentiles all around heard that the altar had been rebuilt and the sanctuary dedicated as it was before, they became very angry, 2: and they determined to destroy the descendants of Jacob who lived among them. So they began to kill and destroy among the people.
3: But Judas made war on the descendants of Esau in Idumea, at Akrabattene, because they kept lying in wait for Israel. He dealt them a heavy blow and humbled them and despoiled them.
4: He also remembered the wickedness of the sons of Baean, who were a trap and a snare to the people and ambushed them on the highways.
5: They were shut up by him in their towers; and he encamped against them, vowed their complete destruction, and burned with fire their towers and all who were in them.
6 Then he crossed over to attack the Ammonites, where he found a strong band and many people, with Timothy as their leader.
7 He engaged in many battles with them, and they were crushed before him; he struck them down.
8 He also took Jazer and its villages; then he returned to Judea.
9 Now the Gentiles in Gilead gathered together against the Israelites who lived in their territory, and planned to destroy them. But they fled to the stronghold of Dathema,
10 and sent to Judas and his brothers a letter that said, "The Gentiles around us have gathered together to destroy us.
11 They are preparing to come and capture the stronghold to which we have fled, and Timothy is leading their forces.
12 Now then, come and rescue us from their hands, for many of us have fallen,
13 and all our kindred who were in the land of Tob have been killed; the enemy have captured their wives and children and goods, and have destroyed about a thousand persons there."
14 While the letter was still being read, other messengers, with their garments torn, came from Galilee and made a similar report;
15 they said that the people of Ptolemais and Tyre and Sidon, and all Galilee of the Gentiles, had gathered together against them "to annihilate us."
16 When Judas and the people heard these messages, a great assembly was called to determine what they should do for their kindred who were in distress and were being attacked by enemies.
17 Then Judas said to his brother Simon, "Choose your men and go and rescue your kindred in Galilee; Jonathan my brother and I will go to Gilead."
18 But he left Joseph, son of Zechariah, and Azariah, a leader of the people, with the rest of the forces, in Judea to guard it;
19 and he gave them this command, "Take charge of this people, but do not engage in battle with the Gentiles until we return."
20 Then three thousand men were assigned to Simon to go to Galilee, and eight thousand to Judas for Gilead.
21 So Simon went to Galilee and fought many battles against the Gentiles, and the Gentiles were crushed before him.
22 He pursued them to the gate of Ptolemais; as many as three thousand of the Gentiles fell, and he despoiled them.
23 Then he took the Jews of Galilee and Arbatta, with their wives and children, and all they possessed, and led them to Judea with great rejoicing.
24 Judas Maccabeus and his brother Jonathan crossed the Jordan and made three days' journey into the wilderness.
25 They encountered the Nabateans, who met them peaceably and told them all that had happened to their kindred in Gilead:
26 "Many of them have been shut up in Bozrah and Bosor, in Alema and Chaspho, Maked and Carnaim"—all these towns were strong and large—
27 "and some have been shut up in the other towns of Gilead; the enemy are getting ready to attack the strongholds tomorrow and capture and destroy all these people in a single day."
28 Then Judas and his army quickly turned back by the wilderness road to Bozrah; and he took the town, and killed every male by the edge of the sword; then he seized all its spoils and burned it with fire.
29 He left the place at night, and they went all the way to the stronghold of Dathema.
30 At dawn they looked out and saw a large company, which could not be counted, carrying ladders and engines of war to capture the stronghold, and attacking the Jews within.
31 So Judas saw that the battle had begun and that the cry of the town went up to Heaven, with trumpets and loud shouts,
32 and he said to the men of his forces, "Fight today for your kindred!"
33 Then he came up behind them in three companies, who sounded their trumpets and cried aloud in prayer.
34 And when the army of Timothy realized that it was Maccabeus, they fled before him, and he dealt them a heavy blow. As many as eight thousand of them fell that day.
35 Next he turned aside to Maapha, and fought against it and took it; and he killed every male in it, plundered it, and burned it with fire.
36 From there he marched on and took Chaspho, Maked, and Bosor, and the other towns of Gilead.
37 After these things Timothy gathered another army and encamped opposite Raphon, on the other side of the stream.
38 Judas sent men to spy out the camp, and they reported to him, "All the Gentiles around us have gathered to him; it is a very large force.
39 They also have hired Arabs to help them, and they are encamped across the stream, ready to come and fight against you." And Judas went to meet them.
40 Now as Judas and his army drew near to the stream of water, Timothy said to the officers of his forces, "If he crosses over to us first, we will not be able to resist him, for he will surely defeat us.
41 But if he shows fear and camps on the other side of the river, we will cross over to him and defeat him."
42 When Judas approached the stream of water, he stationed the officers of the army at the stream and gave them this command, "Permit no one to encamp, but make them all enter the battle."
43 Then he crossed over against them first, and the whole army followed him. All the Gentiles were defeated before him, and they threw away their arms and fled into the sacred precincts at Carnaim.
44 But he took the town and burned the sacred precincts with fire, together with all who were in them. Thus Carnaim was conquered; they could stand before Judas no longer.
45 Then Judas gathered together all the Israelites in Gilead, the small and the great, with their wives and children and goods, a very large company, to go to the land of Judah.
46 So they came to Ephron. This was a large and very strong town on the road, and they could not go around it to the right or to the left; they had to go through it.
47 But the people of the town shut them out and blocked up the gates with stones.
48 Judas sent them this friendly message, "Let us pass through your land to get to our land. No one will do you harm; we will simply pass by on foot." But they refused to open to him.
49 Then Judas ordered proclamation to be made to the army that all should encamp where they were.
50 So the men of the forces encamped, and he fought against the town all that day and all the night, and the town was delivered into his hands.
51 He destroyed every male by the edge of the sword, and razed and plundered the town. Then he passed through the town over the bodies of the dead.
52 Then they crossed the Jordan into the large plain before Beth-shan.
53 Judas kept rallying the laggards and encouraging the people all the way until he came to the land of Judah.
54 So they went up to Mount Zion with joy and gladness, and offered burnt offerings, because they had returned in safety; not one of them had fallen.
55 Now while Judas and Jonathan were in Gilead and their brother Simon was in Galilee before Ptolemais,
56 Joseph son of Zechariah, and Azariah, the commanders of the forces, heard of their brave deeds and of the heroic war they had fought.
57 So they said, "Let us also make a name for ourselves; let us go and make war on the Gentiles around us."
58 So they issued orders to the men of the forces that were with them and marched against Jamnia.
59 Gorgias and his men came out of the town to meet them in battle.
60 Then Joseph and Azariah were routed, and were pursued to the borders of Judea; as many as two thousand of the people of Israel fell that day.
61 Thus the people suffered a great rout because, thinking to do a brave deed, they did not listen to Judas and his brothers.
62 But they did not belong to the family of those men through whom deliverance was given to Israel.
63 The man Judas and his brothers were greatly honored in all Israel and among all the Gentiles, wherever their name was heard.
64 People gathered to them and praised them.
65 Then Judas and his brothers went out and fought the descendants of Esau in the land to the south. He struck Hebron and its villages and tore down its strongholds and burned its towers on all sides.
66 Then he marched off to go into the land of the Philistines, and passed through Marisa.
67 On that day some priests, who wished to do a brave deed, fell in battle, for they went out to battle unwisely.
68 But Judas turned aside to Azotus in the land of the Philistines; he tore down their altars, and the carved images of their gods he burned with fire; he plundered the towns and returned to the land of Judah.
Chapter 6
1 King Antiochus was going through the upper provinces when he heard that Elymais in Persia was a city famed for its wealth in silver and gold. 2 Its temple was very rich, containing golden shields, breastplates, and weapons left there by Alexander son of Philip, the Macedonian king who first reigned over the Greeks.
3 So he came and tried to take the city and plunder it, but he could not because his plan had become known to the citizens
4 and they withstood him in battle. So he fled and in great disappointment left there to return to Babylon.
5 Then someone came to him in Persia and reported that the armies that had gone into the land of Judah had been routed;
6 that Lysias had gone first with a strong force, but had turned and fled before the Jews; that the Jews had grown strong from the arms, supplies, and abundant spoils that they had taken from the armies they had cut down;
7 that they had torn down the abomination that he had erected on the altar in Jerusalem; and that they had surrounded the sanctuary with high walls as before, and also Beth-zur, his town.
8 When the king heard this news, he was astounded and badly shaken. He took to his bed and became sick from disappointment, because things had not turned out for him as he had planned.
9 He lay there for many days, because deep disappointment continually gripped him, and he realized that he was dying.
10 So he called all his Friends and said to them, "Sleep has departed from my eyes and I am downhearted with worry.
11 I said to myself, "To what distress I have come! And into what a great flood I now am plunged! For I was kind and beloved in my power.'
12 But now I remember the wrong I did in Jerusalem. I seized all its vessels of silver and gold, and I sent to destroy the inhabitants of Judah without good reason.
13 I know that it is because of this that these misfortunes have come upon me; here I am, perishing of bitter disappointment in a strange land."
14 Then he called for Philip, one of his Friends, and made him ruler over all his kingdom.
15 He gave him the crown and his robe and the signet, so that he might guide his son Antiochus and bring him up to be king.
16 Thus King Antiochus died there in the one hundred forty-ninth year.
17 When Lysias learned that the king was dead, he set up Antiochus the king's son to reign. Lysias had brought him up from boyhood; he named him Eupator.
18 Meanwhile the garrison in the citadel kept hemming Israel in around the sanctuary. They were trying in every way to harm them and strengthen the Gentiles.
19 Judas therefore resolved to destroy them, and assembled all the people to besiege them.
20 They gathered together and besieged the citadel in the one hundred fiftieth year; and he built siege towers and other engines of war.
21 But some of the garrison escaped from the siege and some of the ungodly Israelites joined them.
22 They went to the king and said, "How long will you fail to do justice and to avenge our kindred?
23 We were happy to serve your father, to live by what he said, and to follow his commands.
24 For this reason the sons of our people besieged the citadel and became hostile to us; moreover, they have put to death as many of us as they have caught, and they have seized our inheritances.
25 It is not against us alone that they have stretched out their hands; they have also attacked all the lands on their borders.
26 And see, today they have encamped against the citadel in Jerusalem to take it; they have fortified both the sanctuary and Beth-zur;
27 unless you quickly prevent them, they will do still greater things, and you will not be able to stop them."
28 The king was enraged when he heard this. He assembled all his Friends, the commanders of his forces and those in authority.
29 Mercenary forces also came to him from other kingdoms and from islands of the seas.
30 The number of his forces was one hundred thousand foot soldiers, twenty thousand horsemen, and thirty-two elephants accustomed to war.
31 They came through Idumea and encamped against Beth-zur, and for many days they fought and built engines of war; but the Jews sallied out and burned these with fire, and fought courageously.
32 Then Judas marched away from the citadel and encamped at Beth-zechariah, opposite the camp of the king.
33 Early in the morning the king set out and took his army by a forced march along the road to Beth-zechariah, and his troops made ready for battle and sounded their trumpets.
34 They offered the elephants the juice of grapes and mulberries, to arouse them for battle.
35 They distributed the animals among the phalanxes; with each elephant they stationed a thousand men armed with coats of mail, and with brass helmets on their heads; and five hundred picked horsemen were assigned to each beast.
36 These took their position beforehand wherever the animal was; wherever it went, they went with it, and they never left it.
37 On the elephants were wooden towers, strong and covered; they were fastened on each animal by special harness, and on each were four armed men who fought from there, and also its Indian driver.
38 The rest of the cavalry were stationed on either side, on the two flanks of the army, to harass the enemy while being themselves protected by the phalanxes.
39 When the sun shone on the shields of gold and brass, the hills were ablaze with them and gleamed like flaming torches.
40 Now a part of the king's army was spread out on the high hills, and some troops were on the plain, and they advanced steadily and in good order.
41 All who heard the noise made by their multitude, by the marching of the multitude and the clanking of their arms, trembled, for the army was very large and strong.
42 But Judas and his army advanced to the battle, and six hundred of the king's army fell.
43 Now Eleazar, called Avaran, saw that one of the animals was equipped with royal armor. It was taller than all the others, and he supposed that the king was on it.
44 So he gave his life to save his people and to win for himself an everlasting name.
45 He courageously ran into the midst of the phalanx to reach it; he killed men right and left, and they parted before him on both sides.
46 He got under the elephant, stabbed it from beneath, and killed it; but it fell to the ground upon him and he died.
47 When the Jews saw the royal might and the fierce attack of the forces, they turned away in flight.
48 The soldiers of the king's army went up to Jerusalem against them, and the king encamped in Judea and at Mount Zion.
49 He made peace with the people of Beth-zur, and they evacuated the town because they had no provisions there to withstand a siege, since it was a sabbatical year for the land.
50 So the king took Beth-zur and stationed a guard there to hold it.
51 Then he encamped before the sanctuary for many days. He set up siege towers, engines of war to throw fire and stones, machines to shoot arrows, and catapults.
52 The Jews also made engines of war to match theirs, and fought for many days.
53 But they had no food in storage, because it was the seventh year; those who had found safety in Judea from the Gentiles had consumed the last of the stores.
54 Only a few men were left in the sanctuary; the rest scattered to their own homes, for the famine proved too much for them.
55 Then Lysias heard that Philip, whom King Antiochus while still living had appointed to bring up his son Antiochus to be king,
56 had returned from Persia and Media with the forces that had gone with the king, and that he was trying to seize control of the government.
57 So he quickly gave orders to withdraw, and said to the king, to the commanders of the forces, and to the troops, "Daily we grow weaker, our food supply is scant, the place against which we are fighting is strong, and the affairs of the kingdom press urgently on us.
58 Now then let us come to terms with these people, and make peace with them and with all their nation.
59 Let us agree to let them live by their laws as they did before; for it was on account of their laws that we abolished that they became angry and did all these things."
60 The speech pleased the king and the commanders, and he sent to the Jews an offer of peace, and they accepted it.
61 So the king and the commanders gave them their oath. On these conditions the Jews evacuated the stronghold.
62 But when the king entered Mount Zion and saw what a strong fortress the place was, he broke the oath he had sworn and gave orders to tear down the wall all around.
63 Then he set off in haste and returned to Antioch. He found Philip in control of the city, but he fought against him, and took the city by force.
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