1 Maccabees 3

1And Judas, who was called Maccabeus, his son, rose up in his place.

2And all his brothers helped him, and all who had joined themselves to his father, and they fought the war of Israel with gladness.

3And he enlarged the glory of his people; he put on a breastplate like a giant, and strapped on his weapons of war; he set battles in order, shielding the camp with the sword.

4And he was like a lion in his deeds, and like a lion’s cub roaring for prey.

5And he hunted down the lawless, searching them out, and he burned those who troubled his people.

6And the lawless were restrained because of fear of him, and all the workers of lawlessness were thrown into confusion, and deliverance prospered in his hand.

7And he embittered many kings, and he made Jacob glad by his deeds, and his remembrance is for blessing forever.

8And he went through the cities of Judah, and destroyed the ungodly from it, and turned away wrath from Israel.

9And he was renowned to the ends of the earth, and he gathered those who were perishing.

10And Apollonius gathered Gentiles, and from Samaria a large force to wage war against Israel.

11And Judas learned of it, and he went out to meet him and struck him down and killed him; and many fell wounded, and the rest fled.

12And they took their equipment, and Judas took the sword of Apollonius, and he fought with it all his days.

13And Seron, the commander of the army of Syria, heard that Judas had gathered a company and an assembly of the faithful with him, and of those going out to war.

14And he said, “I will make a name for myself, and I will be glorified in the kingdom, and I will fight Judah and those with him who are disregarding the king’s word.”

15And a strong camp of ungodly men was added and went up with him, to help him and to execute vengeance on the sons of Israel.

16And he came near as far as the ascent of Beth-horon, and Judas went out to meet him with only a few men.

17But when they saw the camp coming to meet him, they said to Judas, “How can we, being so few, fight against so great a multitude? And we are exhausted, having gone without food today.”

18And Judas said, “It is easy for many to be shut up into the hands of a few, and in the sight of heaven there is no difference between saving by many or by few.”

19For victory in war is not in a multitude of strength, but strength is from heaven.

20They are coming against us in a great mass of insolence and lawlessness, to wipe out us and our wives and our children, and to plunder us.

21But we are fighting for our lives and our laws.

22And he himself will crush them before us; but as for you, do not fear them.

23And when he stopped speaking, he suddenly charged at them, and Seron and his camp were crushed before him.

24And they pursued them down the descent of Beth-horon as far as the plain, and about eight hundred of them fell; but the rest fled into the land of the Philistines.

25And the fear of Judas and of his brothers began, and downfall was falling upon the nations around them.

26And his name reached even to the king, and every nation spoke of the battle lines of Judah.

27When Antiochus the king heard these words, he became furiously angry, and he sent out and gathered all the forces of his kingdom, a very strong camp.

28And he opened his treasury and gave wages to his forces for a year, and he commanded them to be ready for every need for a year.

29And he saw that the silver had run out from the treasuries, and that the taxes of the country were few because of the division and the blow that he had brought upon the land, by removing the customs that had existed from former days.

30and he became afraid that he might not have enough, as once and twice before, for the expenses and the gifts that he had formerly given with a generous hand,

31And he was greatly troubled in his soul, and he decided to go into Persia, to collect the taxes of the regions and to gather much silver.

32And he left Lysias, an honored man and of the royal family, over the affairs of the king, from the Euphrates River as far as the borders of Egypt,

33and to provide for Antiochus his son until he returns.

34And he handed over to him half of the forces and the elephants, and he gave him orders concerning everything he desired, and concerning all those dwelling in Judea and Jerusalem,

35to send a force against them, to crush and remove the strength of Israel and the remnant of Jerusalem, and to take away its memory from the place,

36and to settle foreigners throughout all their territories, and to distribute their land by lot.

37And the king took half of the forces that had been left behind and departed from Antioch, the city of his kingdom, in the one hundred forty-seventh year; and he crossed the Euphrates River and traveled through the upper regions.

38And Lysias chose Ptolemy son of Dorymenes, Nicanor, and Gorgias, mighty men among the king’s friends.

39And he sent with them forty thousand men and seven thousand cavalry, to come into the land of Judah and destroy it, according to the word of the king.

40And they set out with all their forces and came and encamped near Ammaus in the plain country.

41And the merchants of the land heard their name, and they took very much silver and gold, and servants, and came into the camp to take the sons of Israel as servants. And forces from Syria and from the land of foreigners were added to them.

42And Judas and his brothers saw that the troubles had multiplied, and that the forces were encamped within their borders; and they recognized the orders of the kingdom that it had commanded to be carried out against the people for destruction and annihilation.

43And each said to his neighbor, “Let us restore the ruin of our people and of the holy places.”

44And the assembly gathered to be ready for war, and to pray and ask for mercy and compassion.

45And Jerusalem was uninhabited like a wilderness; there was no one entering or going out from her offspring, and the sanctuary was being trampled down, and sons of foreigners were in the citadel, a lodging place for the nations; and delight was taken away from Jacob, and flute and harp ceased.

46And they assembled and came to Mizpah, opposite Jerusalem, because formerly Mizpah had been a place of prayer for Israel.

47And they fasted on that day, and put on sackcloth, and put ashes on their heads, and tore their garments.

48And they spread out the book of the law, concerning which the nations were searching for the likenesses of their idols.

49And they brought the priestly garments, and the firstfruits and the tithes; and they brought forward the Nazirites, who had completed their days.

50And they cried out with a loud voice to heaven, saying, “What shall we do with these, and where shall we take them?”

51And your holy things have been trampled down and profaned, and your priests are in mourning and humiliation.

52And behold, the nations have gathered against us to destroy us; you know what they are planning against us.

53How will we be able to stand before them, unless you help us?

54And they sounded the trumpets, and cried out with a loud voice.

55And after this Judas appointed leaders of the people: commanders of thousands, and of hundreds, and of fifties, and of tens.

56And he said that those building a house, and those betrothed to women, and those planting vineyards, and the fearful, should each return to his house, according to the law.

57And the camp set out, and they encamped south of Emmaus.

58And Judas said, “Gird yourselves, and become mighty men, and be ready in the morning to fight against these nations that have assembled against us to destroy us and our holy things.”

59For it is better for us to die in battle than to look on at the evils of our nation and of the holy things.

60As his will is in heaven, so he will do.