1   When the Gentiles round about heard that the altar had been rebuilt and the temple rededicated, 2   they were furious, and determined to wipe out all those of the race of Jacob who lived among them. Thus began the work of massacre and extermination among the people.

3   Judas then made war on the descendants of Esau in Idumaea and attacked Acrabattene, because they had hemmed Israel in. There he inflicted on them a severe and humiliating defeat, and took spoils from them. 4   He remembered also the wrong done by the Baeanites, who with their traps and road-blocks were continually ambushing the Israelites. 5   He first confined them to their forts and took up positions against them; then he solemnly committed them to destruction and set the forts ablaze with all their occupants. 6   He crossed over to the Ammonites, and came upon a strong and numerous force under the command of a certain Timotheus. 7   He fought many battles with them, and they broke before him and were crushed. 8   After capturing Jazer and its dependent villages, he returned to Judaea.

9   Then the Gentiles in Gilead gathered against the Israelites within their territory, intending to destroy them; but they took refuge in the fortress of Dathema, and sent this letter to Judas and his brothers: 10   

   11   The Gentiles round us have gathered to wipe us out. They are preparing to come and seize the fortress where we have taken refuge; Timotheus is in command of their army. 12   So come at once and rescue us from their clutches, for many of our number have already fallen. 13   All our fellow-Jews in the region of Tubias have been massacred, their wives and their children taken captive, and their property carried off. About a thousand men there have lost their lives.

14   While the letter was being read, other messengers with their garments torn arrived from Galilee. 15   ‘Ptolemais, Tyre and Sidon,’ they said, ‘and all heathen Galilee have mustered their forces to make an end of us.’

16   When Judas and the people heard this, a full assembly was called to decide what they should do for their fellow-countrymen in distress and under enemy attack. 17   Judas said to Simon his brother, ‘Choose your men, and go and rescue your countrymen in Galilee, while I and my brother Jonathan march into Gilead.’ 18   The rest of his forces

The war under Judas and Jonathan he left for the defences of Judaea, with Josephus son of Zacharias, and Azarias, leading citizens, and gave them this order: 19   ‘Take charge of the people of Jerusalem, but on no account join battle with the Gentiles until we return.’ 20   Simon was allotted three thousand men for the march on Galilee, and Judas eight thousand for the march on Gilead.

21   Simon invaded Galilee and, after many battles, broke the resistance of the Gentiles. 22   He pursued them as far as the gate of Ptolemais, killed nearly three thousand of them, and stripped their corpses. 23   He took back with him the Jews from Galilee and Arbatta, their wives and children, and all their property, and brought them to Judaea with great jubilation.

24   Meanwhile Judas Maccabaeus and his brother Jonathan crossed the Jordan and made a three days' march through the desert. 25   They came upon some Nabataeans, who met them peacefully, and gave them an account of all that had happened to their fellow-Jews in Gilead: 26   many of them were held prisoner in Bozrah and Bezer, in Alema, Casphor, Maked, and Carnaim—all large fortified towns; some in the other towns of Gilead. 27   ‘Your enemies’, they told them, ‘are marshalling their forces to storm your fortresses tomorrow so as to capture them and destroy all the Jews in them in a single day.’

28   Then Judas and his army suddenly turned aside to Bozrah by way of the desert, captured the town, and put all the males to the sword. 29   He plundered all their property and set fire to the town. From there he made a night-march and came within reach of the fortress of Dathema. 30   When dawn broke they saw in front of them an innumerable host, bringing up scaling-ladders and siege-engines and engaging the defenders, to capture the fortress. 31   Judas saw that battle was already joined, and a cry went up to heaven from the town, with trumpeting and loud shouting. 32   Judas said to his men: ‘Now is the time to fight for our brothers.’

33   They marched out in three columns to take the enemy in the rear. 34   Then they sounded the trumpets and cried aloud in prayer, and the army of Timotheus recognized that it was Maccabaeus and took to flight before him. He inflicted a severe defeat on them, and nearly eight thousand of the enemy fell that day.

35   Judas then turned aside to Alema, ^note attacked and captured it, and killed all the males. 36   He plundered the town and set it on fire. From

The war under Judas and Jonathan there he moved on and occupied Casphor, Maked, Bezer, and the other towns of Gilead.

37   After these events, Timotheus gathered another army, and took up position opposite Raphon, on the other side of the ravine. 38   Judas sent spies to their camp, and they reported that all the Gentiles in the neighbourhood had rallied in very great strength to Timotheus, 39   who had also hired Arab mercenaries to help them; they were encamped on the far side of the ravine, ready to engage him in battle. So Judas marched to meet them.

40   As Judas and his army were approaching the flooded ravine, Timotheus said to his officers: ‘If Judas crosses over to our side first, we shall not be able to stand up to him; he will certainly get the better of us. 41   If, however, his courage fails him and he takes up a position on the other side of the river, then we will cross over and get the better of him.’ 42   When Judas reached the ravine, he stationed the officers of the muster on its bank, with instructions that no one should be allowed to take up a fixed position, but that all should advance to battle. 43   Thus Judas forestalled the enemy by crossing to attack them, with all his people following. The Gentiles broke before him; they all threw away their arms and took refuge in the temple at Carnaim. 44   Judas captured the town and burnt the temple together with all its occupants: Carnaim was completely subdued and could no longer withstand him.

45   Then Judas gathered together all the Israelites in Gilead to escort them to Judaea. They amounted to an immense host, small and great, women and children, with their property. 46   They came as far as Ephron, a large and strongly fortified town on the road: it was impossible to pass by it on either side; the only route was through the town. 47   But the townsmen kept them out, barricading their gates with boulders. 48   Judas sent them a conciliatory message: ‘We have to pass through your territory to reach our own. No one shall do you any harm: we shall only march through.’ But they refused to open their gates to him.

49   Judas issued orders to the whole host for everyone to halt where he was. 50   Then the fighting men took up battle positions and attacked the town all that day and all the night, until it fell into their hands. 51   They put every male to the sword, razed the town to the ground and plundered it, and then marched through it over the bodies of the dead. 52   They crossed the Jordan to the great plain opposite Bethshan,

The war under Judas and Jonathan 53   while Judas brought up the stragglers and encouraged the people all along the road till he arrived in Judaea. 54   They went up to Mount Zion with gladness and jubilation, and offered burnt-offerings, because they had returned in safety without the loss of a single man.

55   Now while Judas and Jonathan were in Gilead, and Simon their brother in Galilee was besieging Ptolemais, 56   the two commanders, Josephus son of Zacharias, and Azarias, heard of their exploits in battle. 57   ‘We too’, they said, ‘must make a name for ourselves: let us go and fight the Gentiles in our neighbourhood.’ 58   So they gave orders to their forces and marched against Jamnia. 59   Gorgias came out of the town with his men to meet them in battle; 60   and Josephus and Azarias were routed and pursued to the frontier of Judaea. Some two thousand of the people fell that day. 61   So the Israelites suffered a heavy defeat, because their commanders, thinking to play the hero themselves, had not obeyed Judas and his brothers. 62   They were not, however, of that family to whom it was granted to bring deliverance to Israel.

63   Judas and his brothers won a great reputation in all Israel and among the Gentiles, 64   wherever their fame was heard, and crowds flocked to acclaim them.

65   After this, Judas marched out with his brothers and made war on the descendants of Esau to the south. He struck at Hebron and its villages, demolished its fortifications, and burnt down its forts on all sides. 66   He then set out to invade Philistine territory, marching through Marisa. 67   On that day several priests, who had ill-advisedly gone into action wishing to distinguish themselves, fell in battle. 68   Then Judas turned aside to Azotus in Philistia. He pulled down their altars, burnt the images of their gods, carried off the spoil from their towns, and returned to Judaea.

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