A   Then toke Gorgyas fyue thousand men of fote, and a thousande of the best horsmen: ∧ remoued by nyght, to come nye where the Iewes host laye, ∧ so to slaye them sodenly. ^note Now þe; men that kepte the castell, were the conueyers of them. Then arose Iudas to smyte the chefe ∧ principall of þe; kynges Host at Emmaus, for the army was not yet come together. In the meane seas&obar; came Gorgias by nyght in

to Iudas tentes: ∧ when he founde no man there, he sought them in the mountaynes, ∧ thought they had bene fled awaye, because of hym. But when it was daye, Iudas shewed hym selfe in the felde wyth thre thousande men only, whych had nether harnesse ner sweardes to their myndes.

But on the other syde, they sawe that the Heathen were myghtie and well harnessed, and their horsm&ebar; aboute them, and all these well experte in fettes of warre. Then sayde Iudas to the m&ebar; that were with him: Feare not ye the multitude of them, be not afrayed of their violente runnynge: remembre, how oure fathers were delyuered ^note in the reed see, when Pharao folowed vpon them wyth a greate Host.

Euen so lett vs also crye now towarde heauen: and the Lord shall haue mercy vpon vs, and remembre the couenaunt of oure fathers, yee ∧ destroye this Host before oure face this daye: And all þe; Heathen shall know, that it is God hym selfe, whych delyuereth and saueth Israell.

B   Then the heathen lyft vp their eyes: and when they sawe that they were commynge agaynst them, they went out of their tentes into the battayll: and they that were wyth Iudas, blewe vp the trompettes. ^noteSo they buckled together, and the heathen were discomfyted and fled ouer the playne felde: but the hynmost of them were slayne. For they folowed vp&obar; them vnto Assaremoth, and into the feldes of Idumea towarde Azot and Iamnia: so that there were slayne of them vpon a thre thousande men. So Iudas turned agayne wyth his Hoste, and sayde vnto the people: Be not gredy of the spoyles, we haue yet a battayll to fyght: for Gorgias ∧ hys host are here by vs in the mountaynes, but stande ye fast agaynst oure enemyes, ∧ ouercome them: then maye ye safely take þe; spoyles.

C   As Iudas was speakyng these wordes, beholde there appeared one parte of th&ebar; vp&obar; the mount. But whan Gorgias sawe that they of hys partye were fled, and the tentes brent vp (for by the smoke they myght vnderst&abar;de what was done) they perceauynge this, were very sore afrayed: and when they sawe also that Iudas and hys hoost were in the felde ready to strike battayll, they fled euerychone into the lande of the heathen.

So Iudas turned agayne to spoyle the tentes, where they gatt moch golde and syluer, precious stones, purple ∧ great ryches. Thus they went home, and songe a Psalme of thankesgeuinge, and praysed God in heauen: ^note for he is gracyous, ∧ hys mercy endureth for euer: And so Israel had a greate victory in that daye.

Now all the Heathen that escaped, came and tolde Lysias euery thinge as it happened. Wherfore Lysias was sore afrayed, ∧ greued in his minde, because Israel had not gotten soch mysfortune as he wolde they shulde, nether as þe; kyng commaunded. The nexte yeare folowing, gathered Lysias thre score thousande chosen men of fote, and fyue thousande horsmen, to fyght agaynst them.

D   So they came into Iewry, and pytched their t&ebar;tes at Bethor&obar;, where Iudas came agaynst them with ten thousande m&ebar;. And wh&ebar; he sawe so great ∧ myghtie an hoost, he made his prayer and sayde: Blessed be thou (O Sauyoure of Israell) ^note whych dyddest destroye þe; violent power of the gyaunte, in the hande of thy seruaunt Dauyd, ^note and gauest the hoost of the Heathen into the hande of Ionathas (the sonne of Saul) and of hys weapen bearer.

Put thys hoost now into the h&abar;de of thy people of Israell, and let them be confounded in their multitude and horsmen. Make them afrayed, ∧ dyscomforte the boldnes of their str&ebar;gth, that they maye be moued thorow their destrucci&obar;. Cast them downe thorow the swearde of thy louers, then shal all they that know thy name, prayse the wyth thankesgeuynge.

So they stroke the batell, and there were slayne of Lysias hoost, fyue thousande men Then Lysias seynge the dyscomfetynge of hys men, and the manlynesse of the Iewes, how they were ready, ether to lyue or to dye lyke men: He w&ebar;te vnto Antyoche, and chose out men of warre: that whan they were gathered together, they might come agayue into Iewry. Then sayd Iudas and his brethren: behold, our enemyes are discomfyted: Let vs now go vp, to clense and to repayre the Sanctuary.

E    ^noteUpon thys, all the hoost gathered them together, and wente vp into mount Syon. Now whan they sawe the S&abar;ctuary layed waste, þe; aulter defyled, the dores br&ebar;t vp, þe; shrubbes growinge in the courtes, like as in a wod or vpon mountaynes, yee ∧ þt; the prestes Celles were broken downe: They rente their clothes, made great lamentacion, cast asshes vpon their heades, fell downe flat to the grounde, made a greate noyse wyth the trompettes, and cryed towarde heauen.

Then Iudas apoynted certayne men to fyght agaynst those which were in þe; castell till they had clensed the Sanctuary. So he chose prestes þt; were vndefyled, soch as had pleasure in the lawe of God: and they clensed the Sanctuary, and bare out the defiled stones into an vncleane place. And for so moch as the aulter of burnt offerynges was vnhalowed, he toke aduysement, what he myght do &wt; all: so he thought it was best to destroye it (lest it shulde happ&ebar; to do th&ebar; eny

shame) for the heathen had defiled it, ∧ therfore they brake it downe. As for the stones, they layed them vp vpon the mountayne by the house in a conuenient place: tyll there came a prophet, to shewe, what shulde be done wyth them.

F    ^noteSo they toke whole stones accord&ibar;ge to þe; lawe, ∧ buylded a new aulter soch one as was before, ∧ made vp þe; S&abar;ctuary wythin ∧ without, ∧ halowed þe; house ∧ the courtes. They made new ornam&ebar;tes, ∧ brought the c&abar;dilstick, the aulter of incense, ∧ the table into the t&ebar;ple. The inc&ebar;se layed they vpon the aulter, ∧ lyghted the l&abar;pes whych were vp&obar; þe; candilsticke, þt; they myght burne in the t&ebar;ple. They set the shewbred vpon the table, ∧ h&abar;ged vp the vayle, and set vp the t&ebar;ple, as it was afore. ^noteAnd vpon þe; .xxv. daye of the ix. moneth, whych is called þe; moneth of Cafleu, in þe;. Cxlviii. yeare: they rose vp by tymes in the mornynge for to do sacrifice (accord&ibar;ge to the lawe) vp&obar; the new burnt offrynge aulter that they had made: after the tyme and season that the Heathen had defyled it. The same daye was it set vp agayne, with songes, pypes, harpes and cymbales.

G   And all the people fell vpon theyr faces, worshippynge ∧ th&abar;ckyng þe; God of heau&ebar;, which had geuen th&ebar; the victory. ^noteSo they kepte the dedicaci&obar; of the aulter .viii. dayes, offrynge burnt sacrifyces ∧ thankoffringes with gladnesse. They deckte the temple also &wt; crownes ∧ shildes of gold, ∧ halowed the portes ∧ celles ∧ h&abar;ged dores vp&obar; th&ebar;. Thus there was very great gladnes am&obar;ge þe; people, because the blasphemy of þe; Heath&ebar; was put a waye. So Iudas ∧ his brethren &wt; the whole c&obar;gregacy&obar; of Israel, ordeyned, ^note þt; þe; tyme of the dedicaci&obar; of the aulter shulde be kepte in his season fr&obar; yeare to yeare, by the space of .viii. dayes, fr&obar; the .xxv. daye of the moneth Casleu: wyth myrth and gladnesse.

And at þe; same tyme buylded they vp the mount Syon wyth hye walles and stronge towres ro&ubar;de aboute: lest the G&ebar;tiles shuld come and treade it downe, as they dyd afore Therfore Iudas sett men of warre in it, to kepe it: and made it stronge, for to defende ^note Bethsura: that the people myght haue a refuge agaynst the Edomytes.

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