1   In the yeare an hundreth fiftie first went forth Demetrius the sonne ^note of Seleucus from the citie of Rome, and he ascended with few men into a citie by the sea side, and reigned there. ^note

2   And it came to passe, as he entered into the house of the kingdom of his fathers, the armie tooke Antiochus, and Lysias, to bring them vnto him.

3   And the king was knowne to him: and he sayd: Shew me not their face.

4   And the armie slew them. And Demetrius sate vpon the seate of his kingdom:

5   and there came to him the wicked and impious men of Israel: & Alcimus the captaine of them, who ^note would be made the priest.

6   And ^note they accused the people to the king, saying: Iudas and his bretheren haue destroyed al thy freindes, and vs he hath destroyed out of our land.

7   Now therfore send a man, whom thou doest credite, that he may goe, and see al the destruction, that he hath done to vs, and to the kings countries: and let him punish al his freinds, and their ayders.

8   And the king chose of his freinds Bacchides, that ruled beyond the great riuer in the kingdom, and was faythful to the king: and he sent him,

9   to see the destruction that Iudas hath made: and Alcimus the impious man be appointed to the priesthood, and gaue him in commandment to make reuenge vpon the children of Israel.

10   And they arose, and came with a great armie into the land of Iuda: and they sent messengers, and spake to Iudas, & his brethren with peaceable wordes in guile.

11   And they attended not to their wordes: for

they saw that they came with a great armie.

12   And there assembled to Alcimus & Bacchides a congregation of the scribes to require the thinges that are iust:

13   and ^note first, the Assideans that were in the children of Israel, and they sought peace of them.

14   for ^note they sayd: A man that is a priest of the seede of Aaron is come, he wil not deceiue vs.

15   And he spake with them peaceable wordes: and he sware to them, saying: We wil doe you no harme, nor your freindes.

16   And they beleued him. And he tooke of them threescore men, and slew them in one day according to the word, that is written:

17   The flesh of thy saincts, and the bloud of them they haue shed round about Ierusalem, and there was none to burie them.

18   And there fel feare, and trembling vpon al the people, because they sayd: There is no truth, & iudgement in them: for they haue transgressed the appointment, and the othe which they sware.

19   And Bacchides remoued the campe from Ierusalem, and approched to Bethzecha: and he sent, & tooke manie of them that were fled from him, and certaine of the people he killed, and threw them into a great pitte.

20   And he committed the countrie to Alcimus, and left with him ayde to helpe him. And Bacchides went away to the king:

21   and Alcimus did what he could for the principalitie of his priesthood:

22   and there gathered together vnto him al that disturbed their people, and they obteyned the land of Iuda, & made a great plague in Israel.

23   And Iudas saw al the euils that Alcimus did, and they that were with him, to the children of Israel, much more then the Gentils.

24   And he went out into al the coasts of Iurie round about, and did vengeance vpon the men that reuolted, and they ceased to goe forth any more into the countrie.

25   But Alcimus saw that Iudas preuailed, and they that were with him: and he knew that he could not stand with them, and he went backe to the king, and accused them of manie crimes. ^note

26   And the king sent ^note Nicanor, one of his nobler princes: that practised emnities against Israel: and he commanded him to destroy the people. ^note

27   And Nicanor came into Ierusalem with a great armie, and he sent to Iudas and to his bretheren in peaceable wordes with guile,

28   saying: Let there be no fighting betwen me and you: I wil come with few men, to see your faces with peace.

29   And he came to Iudas, and they saluted one an other peaceably: and the enemies were readie to catch Iudas.

30   And the thing was knowne to Iudas that he was

come with guile: and he was sore afrayd of him, & would not see his face any more.

31   And Nicanor knew that his counsel was disclosed: and he went forth to Iudas into battel beside Capharsalama.

32   And there fel of Nicanors armie almost fiue thousand men, and they fled into the citie of Dauid.

33   And after these wordes Nicanor went vp into mount Sion: & there went forth of the priests of the people to salute him in peace, and to shew him the holocausts, that were offered for the king.

34   And scorning he contemned them, and polluted them: and he spake proudly,

35   and sware with anger, saying: Vnles Iudas be deliuered, and his armie into my handes, incontinent when I shal returne in peace, I wil burne this house. And he went out with great anger:

36   and the priests entered in, and stood before the face of the altar and the temple: and weeping they sayd:

37   Thou ô Lord hast chosen this house for thy name to be inuocated therin, that it might be a house of prayer, and obsecration for thy people.

38   Take vengeance vpon this man, and his armie, and let them fal by the sword: remember their blasphemies, and grant not vnto them to be permanent. ^note

39   And ^note Nicanor went out from Ierusalem, and moued the campe neere to Bethhoron: and the armie of Syria mette him. ^note

40   And Iudas approched in Adarsa with three thousand men: and Iudas prayed, and sayd:

41   They that were sent by king Sennacherib, ô Lord, because they blasphemed thee, an angel came forth, and stroke of them an hundred eightie fiue thousand:

42   so destroy this armie in our sight to day, and let the rest know that he hath spoken il vpon the holy places: and iudge thou him according to his malice.

43   And the armies ioyned battel the thirtenth day of the moneth Adar: and the campe of Nicanor was discomfited, and himself was slaine first in the battel.

44   And as his armie saw that Nicanor was slaine, they threw away their weapons, & fled:

45   and they pursewed them one dayes iorney from Adazer, euen til ye come into Gazara, and with trumpets they sounded after them with significations.

46   And they went forth out of al the townes of Iurie round about, and they pushed them with the hornes, and they turned againe to them, and they were al slaine with the sword, and there was not left of them so much as one.

47   And they tooke the spoiles of them for a praye: and Nicanors head they cut of, and his right hand, which he had proudly stretched forth, and they brought it, and hung it vp against Ierusalem.

48   And the people reioyced excedingly, and they spent that day in great gladnes.

49   And he ordayned that this day should be kept euerie yeare the thirtenth of the moneth Adar.

50   And the land of Iuda was quiet for ^note a few dayes. ^note

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