1 Maccabees 4

Then took ^aGorgias ^bfive thousand footmen, and a thousand of the best horsemen, and removed out of ^cthe camp by night; ²to the end he might rush in upon ^cthe camp of the Jews, and smite them suddenly. And the men of ^dthe fortress were his guides. ³Now when Judas heard thereof, he himself removed, and the valiant men with him, that he might smite ^ethe king’s army which was at Emmaus, ⁴while as yet the forces were dispersed from ^cthe camp. ⁵In the mean season came ^aGorgias by night into ^cthe camp of Judas: and when he found no man there, he sought them in the mountains: for said he, These fellows flee from us.

⁶But as soon as it was day, Judas shewed himself in the plain with three thousand men, who nevertheless had neither armour nor swords to their minds. ⁷And they saw ^cthe camp of the heathen, that it was strong and well ^fharnessed, and compassed round about with horsemen; and these were expert of war. ⁸Then ^ffsaid Judas to the men that were with him, Fear ye not ^btheir multitude, neither be ye afraid of their assault. ⁹Remember how ^gour fathers were delivered in the Red sea, when Pharaoh pursued them with an army. ¹⁰Now therefore let us ^hcry unto heaven, if peradventure the Lord will have mercy upon us, and remember the covenant of our fathers, and destroy this ^chost before our face this day: ¹¹ⁱthat so all the heathen may know that there is one who delivereth and saveth Israel. ¹²Then the strangers lift up their eyes, and saw them coming over against them. ^13jWherefore they went out of ^cthe camp to battle; but they that were with Judas ^ksounded their trumpets. ¹⁴So they joined battle, and the heathen being discomfited fled into the plain. ¹⁵Howbeit all the hindmost of them were slain with the sword: for they pursued them unto ^lGazera, and unto the plains of ^mIdumea, and ⁿAzotus, and ^oJamnia, so that there were slain of them upon a three thousand men.

¹⁶This done, Judas returned again with his host from pursuing them, ¹⁷and said to the people, Be not greedy of the spoils, inasmuch as there is a battle before us, ¹⁸and ^aGorgias and his host are here by us ^pin the mountain: but stand ye now against our enemies, and overcome them, and after this you may boldly take the spoils. ¹⁹As Judas was yet speaking these words, there appeared a part of them looking out of the mountain: ²⁰who when they perceived that the Jews had put their host to flight, and were burning ^cthe tents; for the smoke that was seen declared what was done: ²¹when therefore they perceived these things, they were sore afraid, and seeing also ^cthe host of Judas in the plain ready to fight, ²²they fled every one into the land of ^qstrangers. ^23rThen Judas returned to spoil ^cthe tents, where they got much gold, and silver, and ^sblue silk, and purple of the sea, and great riches. ²⁴After this they went home, and ^rsung a song of thanksgiving, and praised the Lord in heaven: ^tbecause it is good, because his mercy endureth for ever. ²⁵Thus Israel had a great deliverance that day.

²⁶Now all the strangers that had escaped came and told ^uLysias what had happened: ²⁷who, when he heard thereof, ^vwas confounded and discouraged ^wbecause neither such things as he would were done unto Israel, nor such things as the king commanded him were come to pass. ²⁸The next year therefore following Lysias gathered together ^bthreescore thousand choice men of foot, and five thousand horsemen, that he might subdue them. ²⁹So they came into ^mIdumea, and pitched their tents at ^xBethsura, and Judas met them with ^yten thousand men. ³⁰And when he saw that mighty ^carmy, he prayed and said, Blessed art thou, O Saviour of Israel, ^zwho didst quail the violence of the mighty man by the hand of thy servant David, and gavest the host of strangers ^ainto the hands of Jonathan the son of Saul, and his armourbearer; ^31bshut up this army in the hand of thy people Israel, and let them be confounded in their power and horsemen: ³²make them to be of no courage, and cause the boldness of their strength to fall away, and let them quake at their destruction: ³³cast them down with the sword of them that love thee, and let all those that know thy name praise thee with thanksgiving.

³⁴So they joined battle; and there were slain of the host of Lysias about five thousand men, even before them were they slain. ³⁵Now when Lysias saw his army put to flight, and the manliness of Judas’ soldiers, and how they were ready either to live or die valiantly, he went into ^cAntiochia, and gathered together a company of strangers, and having made his army greater than it was, he purposed to come again into Judea.

³⁶Then said Judas and his brethren, Behold, our enemies are discomfited: let us go up to cleanse and dedicate the sanctuary. ^37dUpon this all the host assembled themselves together, and went up into mount Sion. ^38dAnd when they saw ^ethe sanctuary desolate, and ^fthe altar profaned, and ^gthe gates burnt up, and shrubs growing in ^gthe courts as in a forest, or in one of the mountains, yea, and the priests’ ^hchambers pulled down; ³⁹ⁱthey rent their clothes, and ^kmade great lamentation, and ⁱcast ashes upon their heads, ⁴⁰and fell down flat to the ground upon their faces, and blew an alarm ^lwith the trumpets, and ^mcried towards heaven. ⁴¹Then Judas appointed certain men to fight against ⁿthose that were in the fortress, until he had cleansed the sanctuary.

⁴²So he chose priests of blameless conversation, such as had pleasure in the law: ⁴³who cleansed the sanctuary, and bare out the defiled stones into an unclean place. ⁴⁴And when as they consulted what to do with the altar of burnt offerings, ^fwhich was profaned; ⁴⁵they thought it best to pull it down, lest it should be a reproach to them, because ^fthe heathen had defiled it: wherefore they pulled it down, ⁴⁶and laid up the stones in the mountain of the temple in a convenient place, ^ountil there should come a prophet to shew what should be done with them. ⁴⁷Then they took ^pwhole stones according to the law, and ^qbuilt a new altar according to the former; ⁴⁸and made up the sanctuary, and the things that were within the temple, and hallowed ^gthe courts. ⁴⁹They made also new holy vessels, and into the temple they brought ^rthe candlestick, and the altar ^sof burnt offerings, and ^tof incense, and ^uthe table. ⁵⁰And ^wupon the altar ^xthey burnt incense, and ^wthe lamps that were upon the candlestick they lighted, that they might give light in the temple. ⁵¹Furthermore ^ythey set the loaves upon the table, and spread out ^zthe vails, and finished all the works which they had begun to make.

⁵²Now ^aon the five and twentieth day of the ninth month, which is called the month ^bCasleu, in the hundred forty and eighth year, they rose up betimes in the morning, ⁵³and offered sacrifice ^caccording to the law upon the new altar of burnt offerings, ^dwhich they had made. ⁵⁴Look, at what time and ^awhat day the heathen had profaned it, even in that was it dedicated with songs, and citherns, and ^eharps, and ^fcymbals. ⁵⁵Then all the people fell upon their faces, worshipping and praising ^gthe God of heaven, who had given them good success. ⁵⁶and so they kept the dedication of the altar ^height days, and offered burnt offerings with gladness, and sacrificed the sacrifice of deliverance and ⁱpraise. ⁵⁷They deckt also the forefront of the temple with crowns of gold, and with shields; and ^jthe gates and ^jthe chambers they renewed, and hanged doors upon them. ⁵⁸Thus was there very great gladness among the people, for that the reproach of the heathen was put away. ⁵⁹Moreover Judas and his brethren with the whole congregation of Israel ordained, that the days of ^kthe dedication of the altar should be kept in their season from year to year by the space of eight days, ^lfrom the five and twentieth day of the month ^bCasleu, with mirth and gladness.

⁶⁰At that time also they builded up the mount Sion ^mwith high walls and strong towers round about, lest the Gentiles should come and tread it down, ⁿas they had done before. ⁶¹And they set there a garrison to keep it, and fortified ^oBethsura to preserve it; that the people might have a defence against ^pIdumea.

V.