1 Maccabees 5

1And it happened that when the surrounding nations heard that the altar had been rebuilt and the sanctuary rededicated as before, they became very angry.

2And they were plotting to remove the offspring of Jacob who were among them, and they began to kill and wipe out those among the people.

3And Judas fought against the sons of Esau in Judea, in the Akrabattene region, because they were hemming in Israel. And he struck them with a great blow, and humbled them, and took their spoils.

4And he remembered the evil of the sons of Baian, who were a snare and a stumbling block to the people, lying in ambush for them on the roads.

5And they were shut up by him in the towers, and he encamped against them, and he devoted them to destruction, and he burned its towers with fire, along with all who were in them.

6And he crossed over against the sons of Ammon, and found a strong force and a large people, with Timothy leading them.

7And he joined many battles against them, and they were crushed before him, and he struck them down.

8And he captured Jazer and its villages, and returned to Judea.

9And the nations in Gilead gathered together against the Israelites who were within their borders, to wipe them out; and they fled into the stronghold at Dathema.

10And they sent letters to Judas and his brothers, saying, “The nations around us have gathered together against us to destroy us,”

11And they are preparing to come and seize the stronghold into which we have fled; and Timothy is leading their camp.

12Now then, come and rescue us from their hand, because a great number of our people has fallen.

13And all our brothers who are in the region of Tob have been killed, and they have taken their wives and children captive, along with their possessions, and have destroyed about one thousand men there.

14While the letters were still being read, behold, other messengers arrived from Galilee with their garments torn, reporting these words:

15saying, “A gathering has been assembled against them from Ptolemais and Tyre and Sidon and all Galilee of the foreigners, to wipe us out.”

16When Judas and the people heard these words, a great assembly gathered to consider what they should do for their brothers who were in distress and being attacked by them.

17And Judas said to Simon his brother, “Choose men for yourself, and go and rescue your brothers in Galilee; but I and Jonathan my brother will go into Gileaditis.”

18And he left Joseph son of Zechariah and Azariah, leaders of the people, with the rest of the forces in Judea for defense.

19And he commanded them, saying, “Take care of this people, and do not join battle with the nations until we return.”

20And three thousand men were assigned to Simon to go into Galilee, but eight thousand men to Judas into Gilead.

21And Simon went into Galilee, and fought many battles against the nations; and the nations were crushed before him.

22And he pursued them as far as the cities of Ptolemais; and about three thousand men from the nations fell, and he took their spoils.

23And he took them from Galilee and from Arbactis, together with the women and the children and all that belonged to them, and they brought them into Judea with great rejoicing.

24And Judas Maccabeus and Jonathan his brother crossed the Jordan, and they traveled a three-day journey in the wilderness.

25And they met the Nabateans, and they greeted them peaceably, and they told them everything that had happened to their brothers in Gilead,

26and that many of them are shut up in Bosora and Bosor, in Alamis, Casphor, Maked, and Carnaim; all these cities are fortified and large.

27And in the other cities of Gilead they are shut in; tomorrow they will encamp against the strongholds, capture them, and destroy all of them in a single day.

28And Judas and his camp turned suddenly by the road into the wilderness toward Bosor; and he captured the city and killed every male with the edge of the sword, and took all their spoils, and burned it with fire.

29And he set out from there by night, and he kept going until he reached the stronghold.

30And when morning came, they lifted up their eyes, and behold, a great multitude, beyond number, carrying ladders and siege engines to capture the stronghold; and they were fighting them.

31And Judas saw that the battle had begun, and the outcry of the city went up to heaven with trumpet blasts and a great cry.

32And he said to the men of the force, “Fight today for our brothers.”

33And he went out against them in three divisions from outside them; and they sounded the trumpets and cried out in prayer.

34And Timothy’s camp recognized that it was Maccabeus, and they fled from before him; and he struck them with a great blow, and as many as eight thousand of them fell on that day.

35And he turned aside to Maapha and fought against it, and he captured it and killed every male in it, and he took its spoils and burned it with fire.

36From there he departed and took Hasphoth, Maked, Bosor, and the rest of the cities of Gilead.

37After these words, Timotheus gathered another camp and encamped opposite Raphon, beyond the stream.

38And Judas sent men to spy out the camp, and they reported to him, saying, “All the nations around you have gathered together against them—a very great force.”

39And Arabs had been hired to help them, and they were encamped beyond the wadi, ready to come against you in battle. And Judas went out to meet them.

40And Timotheus said to the commanders of his forces, when Judas and his camp were drawing near to the wadi, “If he crosses over to us first, we will not be able to withstand him, because he will surely prevail against us.”

41But if we cross over and camp beyond the river, we will cross over to him.

42And when Judas came near to the wadi, he stationed the scribes of the people at the wadi and commanded them, saying, “Do not let anyone camp, but let them all come into the battle.”

43And he crossed over to them first, and all his people were before him; and all the nations were crushed before him, and they threw down all their weapons and fled into the sanctuary at Carnain.

44And they seized the city, and they burned the temple precinct with fire, together with all who were in it; and Karnain was routed, and it could no longer stand before Judas.

45And Judas gathered all Israel who were in Gilead, from the least to the greatest, along with their wives and their children and their baggage, a very great company, to come into the land of Judah.

46And they came as far as Ephron. This was a large city at the entrance, very strong. There was no way to turn aside from it to the right or to the left, but only to go through the middle of it.

47And the men from the city shut them in and blocked the gates with stones.

48And Judas sent them peaceful words, saying, “We will pass through your land to go to our own land, and no one will harm you; we will only pass through on foot.” But they were not willing to open to him.

49And Judas gave orders to make proclamation in the camp that each should encamp in the place where he is.

50And the men of the city encamped, and they fought against the city all that day and all that night, and the city was delivered into his hands.

51And he destroyed every male with the edge of the sword, and uprooted it, and took the plunder of the city, and passed through the city over the slain.

52And they crossed the Jordan into the great plain opposite Baisan.

53And Judas was gathering up those who were falling behind and encouraging the people all along the way, until he came into the land of Judah.

54And they went up to Mount Zion with gladness and joy, and they offered whole burnt offerings, because not one of them had fallen until they returned in peace.

55And in the days when Judas and Jonathan were in Gilead, and Simon his brother was in Galilee opposite Ptolemais,

56Joseph son of Zechariah and Azariah, commanders of the forces, heard of the brave deeds and of the warlike exploits that they had done.

57And they said, “Let us also make a name for ourselves, and let us go to fight against the nations around us.”

58And they gave orders to those of the force with them, and they marched against Jamnia.

59And Gorgias came out from the city, and his men, to meet them in battle.

60And Joseph and Azariah were routed and were pursued as far as the borders of Judea; and on that day about two thousand men of the people of Israel fell.

61And there was a great rout among the people, because they had not listened to Judas and his brothers, thinking that they themselves would act bravely.

62But they were not from the offspring of those men through whose hand deliverance had been given to Israel.

63And the man Judas and his brothers were greatly glorified before all Israel and all the nations, wherever their name was heard.

64And they gathered to them, speaking well of them.

65And Judas and his brothers went out, and they fought the sons of Esau in the land to the south, and he struck Hebron and its daughter towns; he tore down its fortress, and he burned its towers all around.

66And he set out to go into the land of the foreigners, and he passed through Samaria.

67On that day priests fell in battle, because they wanted to act bravely, when they went out into battle without counsel.

68And Judas turned aside into Azotus, the land of foreigners, and he tore down their altars, and burned the carved images of their gods with fire, and plundered the spoil of the cities, and returned to Judea.