3
Judas brought greater glory to his people.
-- --
In his armor, he was like a giant.
He took up his weapons and went to war;
with his own sword he defended his camp.
4
He was like a ferocious lion roaring as it attacks.
5
Judas hunted down those who broke the Law
and set fire to all who oppressed his people.
6
In fear of him, lawless men huddled together in terror,
not knowing which way to turn.
He advanced the cause of freedom by what he did.
7
He made life miserable for many kings,
but brought joy to the people of Israel.
We will praise him forever for what he did.
8
He went through the towns of Judea
and destroyed all the godless men.
He relieved Israel of its terrible suffering. note
9
His fame spread to the ends of the earth,
as he gathered together those who were threatened with death.
10 Then Apollonius assembled a
Gentile army, including a large force
from Samaria, to attack the people
of Israel.
11 When Judas learned of
this, he marched out to battle, defeated
the army, and killed Apollonius.
Many Gentiles lost their lives,
and the rest fled.
12 When the spoils
of war were collected, Judas took
the sword of Apollonius and used it
in battle until the day he died.
13 Seron, the general of the Syrian
forces, learned that Judas had gathered
together an army, consisting of
a band of loyal men who were ready
to fight under his command.
14 Seron
said to himself, “I will make a reputation
for myself throughout the empire
by defeating Judas and his men,
who have no respect for the king's
command.”
15 Then he began a new
campaign against Judas and was
joined by a strong force of godless
men who were eager to help him
take vengeance on Israel.
16 When he
approached the pass at Beth Horon,
Judas went out to meet him with a
small group of men.
17 When Judas'
men saw the army coming against
them, they asked, “How can our little
group of men fight an army as big
as that? Besides, we have not eaten
all day, and we are tired!”
18 “It is not difficult,” Judas answered,
“for a small group to overpower
a large one. It makes no difference
to the Lord whether we are
rescued by many people or by just a
few.
19 Victory in battle does not depend
on who has the largest army; it
is the Lord's power that determines
the outcome.
20 Our enemies are
coming against us with great violence,
intending to plunder our possessions
and kill our wives and children.
21 But we are fighting for our
-- --
lives and for our religion.
22 When
we attack, the Lord will crush our
enemies, so don't be afraid of them.”
23 As soon as Judas had finished
speaking, he and his men made a
sudden attack against Seron and his
army and crushed them.
24 They pursued
them down the pass at Beth
Horon to the plain and killed about
800 men. Those who escaped fled to
Philistia.
25 After that, Gentiles
everywhere began to be afraid of Judas
and his brothers.
26 His fame
reached the ears of King Antiochus,
and people in every nation talked
about Judas and his victories.
The King Appoints Lysias as Governor
27 When Antiochus heard what
happened, he was furious. He ordered
all the armies of his empire to
assemble in one huge force.
28 From
his treasury he paid a full year's
wages to his soldiers and ordered
them to be prepared for any emergency.
29 But then he found that the
funds in his treasury were exhausted.
Income from taxes had decreased
because of the disorder and
the troubles he had brought on the
world by doing away with the laws
which had been in force from the
earliest times.
30 Antiochus had always
given presents more lavishly
than earlier kings, but now he was
worried that he might not be able to
continue this, or even to meet expenses
—this had happened once or
twice before.
31 He was very disturbed;
but finally he decided to go
to Persia, collect the taxes from the
provinces there, and bring together
a large sum of ready cash.
32 He appointed Lysias, an important
man who had been granted the
title “Relative of the King,” as governor
to take care of the king's affairs
in the whole territory between
the Euphrates River and the Egyptian
border.
33 The king also made
Lysias the guardian of his son Antiochus
the Fifth until his own return.
34 He put Lysias in charge of all the
elephants and of half his army, and
then gave him detailed instructions
about what he wanted done, and in
particular, what he wanted done
with the inhabitants of Judea and Jerusalem.
35 Lysias was ordered to
send an army against the Jews, especially
the Jews in Jerusalem, to
break their power and destroy them,
so that no trace of them would remain.
36 He was ordered to take their
land and give it to foreigners, who
would settle the whole area.
37 Taking
the other half of his army, the
king set out from Antioch, his capital
city, in the year 147. noteHe crossed
the Euphrates River and marched
through Mesopotamia.
The Victories of Judas
(2 Maccabees 8.8–29,34–36)
38 Lysias chose Nicanor, Gorgias,
and Ptolemy son of Dorymenes as
army commanders; all three were
able men who bore the title “Friend
of the King.”
39 He put them in
charge of 40,000 infantry and 7,000
cavalry and ordered them to invade
the land of Judea and destroy it as
the king had commanded.
40 These
commanders set out with their entire
force, and when they came to
the plains near Emmaus, they made
camp.
41 A force from Idumea note and
Philistia joined them. The merchants
of the region heard about the
strength of the army, and they came
to the camp with chains and a large
amount of money, hoping to buy
some Jewish slaves.
42 Judas and his brothers saw that
their situation was getting more and
more difficult, with foreign armies
camped within their own borders.
They also learned that the king had
commanded the complete destruction
of the people.
43 So they determined
to rebuild their ruined nation
and fight for their country and the
Temple.
44 Then the whole community
came together to prepare for
war and to pray for God's mercy.
45
Jerusalem was as empty as a wilderness;
no citizens left or entered the city.
-- --
The holy Temple was profaned by foreigners,
and Gentiles camped in the city's fort;
so joy departed from the people of Israel,
and the sound of music was heard no more.
46 Then Judas and his men assembled
and marched to Mizpah, opposite
Jerusalem, because the people
of Israel had previously had a place
of worship there.
47 In deep mourning,
they fasted all that day, put on
sackcloth, threw ashes on their
heads, and tore their clothes.
48 The
Gentiles would have consulted their
idols in such a situation, but the Israelites
unrolled the book of the Law
to search for God's guidance.
49 They
brought the priests' robes, the offerings
of the first grain, and the tithes,
and then they brought in some Nazirites
who had completed their vows.
50 The whole community prayed,
“Lord, what shall we do with these
things? Where shall we take them,
51 now that your holy Temple has
been trampled and profaned by Gentiles,
and your priests mourn in disgrace?
52 The Gentiles have come to
attack and destroy us. You know
what they plan to do!
53 If you don't
help us, how can we stand up
against them?”
54 Then they blew
trumpets and shouted loudly.
55 After that, Judas divided his
men into groups of ten, fifty, a hundred,
and a thousand, placing officers
in charge of each group.
56 Then,
in obedience to the Law, he sent
home everyone who had recently
been married, built a house, or
planted a vineyard, as well as anyone
who was afraid. note
57 Finally, the
army marched out and took up positions
south of Emmaus,
58 where Judas
said to them: “Prepare yourselves
for battle and be courageous!
Be ready early tomorrow morning to
fight these Gentiles who have joined
forces to attack us and destroy us
and our Temple.
59 It is better for us
to die fighting than to stand idly by
and watch the destruction of our nation
and our Temple.
60 But the Lord
will do what he pleases.”
Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].