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chapter 3
1
Then
his son Judas, called Machabeus, rose up in his stead.
2 And all his brethren helped him, and all they that
had joined themselves to his father, and they fought with cheerfulness the
battle of Israel.
3 And he got his people great honour, and put on a
breastplate as a giant, and girt his warlike armour about him in battles, and
protected the camp with his sword.
4 In his acts he was like a lion, and like a lion's
whelp roaring for his prey.
5 And he pursued the wicked and sought them out, and
them that troubled his people he burnt with fire:
6 And his enemies were driven away for fear of him, and
all the workers of iniquity were troubled: and salvation prospered in his hand.
7 And he grieved many kings, and made Jacob glad with
his works, and his memory is blessed for ever.
8 And he went through the cities of Juda, and destroyed
the wicked out of them, and turned away wrath from Israel.
9 And he was renowned even to the utmost part of the
earth, and he gathered them that were perishing.
10 And Apollonius gathered together the Gentiles, and a
numerous and great army from Samaria, to make war against Israel.
11 And Judas understood it, and went forth to meet him:
and he overthrew him, and killed him: and many fell down slain, the rest fled
away.
12 And he took their spoils, and Judas took the sword
of Apollonius, and fought with it all his lifetime.
13 And Seron captain of the army of Syria heard that
Judas had assembled a company of the faithful, and a congregation with him,
14 And he said: I will get me a name, and will be
glorified in the kingdom, and will overthrow Judas, and those that are with
him, that have despised the edict of the king.
15 And he made himself ready: and the host of the
wicked went up with him, strong succours, to be revenged of the children of
Israel.
16 And they approached even as far as Bethoron: and
Judas went forth to meet him, with a small company.
17 But when they saw the army coming to meet them, they
said to Judas: How shall we, being few, be able to fight against so great a
multitude and so strong, and we are ready to faint with fasting today?
18 And Judas said: It is an easy matter for many to be
shut up in the hands of a few: and there is no difference in the sight of the
God of heaven to deliver with a great multitude, or with a small company:
19 For the success of war is not in the multitude of
the army, but strength cometh from heaven.
20 They come against us with an insolent multitude, and
with pride, to destroy us, and our wives, and our children, and to take our
spoils.
21 But we will fight for our lives and our laws:
22 And the Lord himself will overthrow them before our
face: but as for you, fear them not.
23 And as soon as he had made an end of speaking, he
rushed suddenly upon them: and Seron and his host were overthrown before him:
24 And he pursued him by the descent of Bethoron even
to the plain, and there fell of them eight hundred men, and the rest fled into
the land of the Philistines.
25 And the fear of Judas and of his brethren, and the
dread of them fell upon all the nations round about them.
26 And his fame came to the king, and all nations told
of the battles of Judas.
27 Now when king Antiochus heard these words, he was
angry in his mind: and he sent and gathered the forces of all his kingdom, an
exceeding strong army.
28 And he opened his treasury, and gave out pay to the
army for a year: and he commanded them, that they should be ready for all
things.
29 And he perceived that the money of his treasures
failed, and that the tributes of the country were small because of the
dissension, and the evil that he had brought upon the land, that he might take
away the laws of old times:
30 And he feared that he should not have as formerly
enough, for charges and gifts, which he had given before with a liberal hand:
for he had abounded more than the kings that had been before him.
31 And he was greatly perplexed in mind, and purposed
to go into Persia, and to take tributes of the countries, and to gather much
money.
32 And he left Lysias, a nobleman of the blood royal,
to oversee the affairs of the kingdom, from the river Euphrates even to the
river of Egypt:
33 And to bring up his son Antiochus, till he came
again.
34 And he delivered to him half the army, and the
elephants: and he gave him charge concerning all that he would have done, and
concerning the inhabitants of Judea, and Jerusalem:
35 And that he should send an army against them, to
destroy and root out the strength of Israel, and the remnant of Jerusalem, and
to take away the memory of them from that place:
36 And that he should settle strangers to dwell in all
their coasts, and divide their land by lot.
37 So the king took the half of the army that remained,
and went forth from Antioch the chief city of his kingdom, in the hundred and
forty-seventh year: and he passed over the river Euphrates, and went through
the higher countries.
38 Then Lysias chose Ptolemee the son of Dorymenus, and
Nicanor, and Gorgias, mighty men of the king's friends.
39 And he sent with them forty thousand men, and seven
thousand horsemen: to go into the land of Juda, and to destroy it according to
the king's orders.
40 So they went forth with all their power, and came,
and pitched near Emmaus in the plain country.
41 And the merchants of the countries heard the fame of
them: and they took silver and gold in abundance, and servants: and they came
into the camp, to buy the children of Israel for slaves: and there were joined
to them the forces of Syria, and of the land of the strangers.
42 And Judas and his brethren saw that evils were
multiplied, and that the armies approached to their borders: and they knew the
orders the king had given to destroy the people and utterly abolish them.
43 And they said every man to his neighbour: Let us
raise up the low condition of our people, and let us fight for our people, and
our sanctuary.
44 And the assembly was gathered that they might be
ready for battle: and that they might pray, and ask mercy and compassion.
45 Now Jerusalem was not inhabited, but was like a
desert: there was none of her children that went in or out: and the sanctuary
was trodden down: and the children of strangers were in the castle, there was
the habitation of the Gentiles: and joy was taken away from Jacob, and the pipe
and harp ceased there.
46 And they assembled together, and came to Maspha over
against Jerusalem: for in Maspha was a place of prayer heretofore in Israel.
47 And they fasted that day, and put on haircloth, and
put ashes upon their heads: and they rent their garments:
48 And they laid open the books of the law, in which
the Gentiles searched for the likeness of their idols:
49 And they brought the priestly ornaments, and the
firstfruits and tithes, and stirred up the Nazarites that had fulfilled their
days:
50 And they cried with a loud voice toward heaven,
saying: What shall we do with these, and whither shall we carry them?
51 For thy holies are trodden down, and are profaned,
and thy priests are in mourning, and are brought low.
52 And behold the nations are come together against us
to destroy us: thou knowest what they intend against us.
53 How shall we be able to stand before their face,
unless thou, O God, help us?
54 Then they sounded with trumpets, and cried out with a
loud voice.
55 And after this Judas appointed captains over the
people, over thousands, and over hundreds, and over fifties, and over tens.
56 And he said to them that were building houses, or
had betrothed wives, or were planting vineyards, or were fearful, that they
should return every man to his house, according to the law.
57 So they removed the camp, and pitched on the south
side of Emmaus.
58 And Judas said: Gird yourselves, and be valiant men,
and be ready against the morning, that you may fight with these nations that
are assembled against us to destroy us and our sanctuary.
59 For it is better for us to die in battle, than to
see the evils of our nation, and of the holies:
60 Nevertheless as it shall be the will of God in
heaven so be it done.
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