1 Maccabees 4

4And Gorgias took five thousand ⁽foot-⁽ men, and a thousand chosen horse; and the army moved by night so that it might fall upon the army of the Jews and smite them suddenly; and ⁽certain⁽ men from the citadel were his guides. And Judas heard thereof, and he removed, he and the valiant men, that he might smite the king’s host, which was at Emmaus, while as yet the forces were dispersed from the camp. And Gorgias came into the camp of Judas by night, and found no man; and he sought them in the mountains, for he said: ‘These men flee from us.’ And as soon as it was day, Judas appeared in the plain with three thousand men; howbeit, they had not armour nor swords as they would have wished ⁽to have had⁽. And they saw the camp of the Gentiles strong ⁽and⁽ fortified, and horsemen compassing it round about; and these were experienced in war. And Judas said to the men that were with him: ‘Fear ye not their multitude, neither be ye afraid of their onset. Remember how our fathers were saved in the Red Sea, when Pharaoh pursued them with a host. And now, let us cry unto heaven, if he will have mercy upon us, and will remember the covenant of the fathers, and destroy this army before our face to-day; and ⁽then⁽ all the Gentiles will know that there is one who redeemeth and saveth Israel.’ And the strangers lifted up their eyes and saw them coming against them, and they went out of the camp to battle. And they that were with Judas sounded the trumpets, and joined battle, and the Gentiles were discomfited, and fled unto the plain. And all the hindmost fell by the sword; and they pursued them unto Gazera, and unto the plains of Idumaea and Azotus and Jamnia; and there fell of them about three thousand men.

And Judas and ⁽his⁽ host returned from pursuing after them; and he said unto the people: ‘Be not greedy of the spoils, for ⁽another⁽ battle is before us, and Gorgias and ⁽his⁽ host are nigh unto us in the mountain. But stand ye now against our enemies, and fight ⁽against⁽ them, and afterwards take the spoils with boldness.’ While Judas was yet saying these things, there appeared a part of them peering out from the mountain; and they saw that ⁽their host⁽ had been put to flight, and that ⁽the Jews⁽ were burning the camp,—for the smoke that was seen made manifest what had been done. And when they perceived these things they were sore afraid; and perceiving also the army of Judas in the plain ready for battle, they all fled into the land of the Philistines. And Judas returned to the spoil of the camp, and took much gold and silver, and blue, and sea-purple, and great riches. And as they returned they sang a song of thanksgiving, and blessed ⁽God, looking up⁽ to heaven, ⁽and saying⁽:

‘Good ⁽is the Lord⁽, for his mercy endureth for ever.’

And Israel had a great deliverance that day.

But as many of the Gentiles as had been saved came and reported to Lysias all that had happened. And when he had heard all he was confounded and discouraged, both because it had not happened unto Israel as he had wished, and because the things which the king had commanded him had not come about.

And in the next year he gathered together sixty thousand chosen ^[foot-^[men, and five thousand horse, to make war upon them. And they came into Judaea, and encamped at Bethsura, and Judas met them with ten thousand men. And he saw that the army was strong, and he prayed, and said:

‘Blessed art thou, O Saviour of Israel, who didst bring to nought the onslaught of the giant by the hand of thy servant David, and didst deliver the army of the Philistines into the hands of Jonathan the son of Saul and of his armour-bearer. Shut up this army in the hands of thy people Israel, that with their host and their horsemen they may be put to shame. Give them fearfulness of heart, and cause the boldness of their strength to melt away, and let them quake at their destruction. Cast them down with the sword of them that love thee, and let all that know thy name praise thee with songs of thanksgiving.’

And they joined battle; and there fell of the army of Lysias about five thousand men, and they fell down over against them. But when Lysias saw that his array had been put to flight, and the boldness that had come upon them that were with Judas, and how ready they were either to live or die nobly, he removed to Antioch, and gathered together mercenary troops, that he might come again into Judaea with an even greater ⁽army⁽.

But Judas and his brethren said: ‘Behold, our enemies are discomfited; let us go up to cleanse the Holy Place, and re-dedicate it. And all the army was gathered together, and they went unto mount Sion. And they saw our sanctuary laid desolate, and the altar profaned, and the gates burned up, and shrubs growing in the courts as in a forest or upon one of the mountains, and the chambers ⁽of the priests⁽ pulled down; and they rent their garments, and made great lamentation, and put ashes on their heads; and they fell on their faces to the ground, and they blew the solemn blasts upon the trumpets, and cried unto heaven. Then Judas appointed ⁽a certain number of⁽ men to fight against those ⁽that were⁽ in the citadel, until he should have cleansed the Holy Place. And he chose blameless priests, such as had delight in the Law; and they cleansed the Holy Place, and bare out the stones of defilement into an unclean place. And they took counsel concerning the altar of burnt offerings, which had been profaned, what they should do with it. And a good idea occurred to them ⁽namely⁽ to pull it down, lest it should be a reproach unto them, because the Gentiles had defiled it; so they pulled down the altar, and laid down the stones in the mountain of the House, in a convenient place, until a prophet should come and decide ⁽as to what should be done⁽ concerning them. And they took whole stones according to the Law, and built a new altar after the fashion of the former ⁽one⁽; and they built the Holy Place, and the inner parts of the house, and hallowed the courts. And they made the holy vessels new, and they brought the candlestick, and the altar of burnt offerings and of incense, and the table, into the temple. And they burned incense upon the altar, and they lighted the lamps that were upon the candlestick in order to give light in the temple. And they set loaves upon the table, and hung up the veils, and finished all the works which they had undertaken. And they rose up early in the morning on the twenty-fifth ⁽day⁽ of the ninth month, which is the month Chislev, in the one hundred and forty-eighth year, and offered sacrifice, according to the Law, upon the new altar of burnt offerings which they had made. At the corresponding time ⁽of the month⁽ and on the ⁽corresponding⁽ day on which the Gentiles had profaned it, on that day was it dedicated afresh, with songs and harps and lutes, and with cymbals. And all the people fell upon their faces, and worshipped, and gave praise, ⁽looking up⁽ unto heaven, to him who had prospered them. And they celebrated the dedication of the altar for eight days, and offered burnt offerings with gladness, and sacrificed a sacrifice of deliverance and praise. And they decked the forefront of the temple with crowns of gold and small shields, and dedicated afresh the gates and the chambers ⁽of the priests⁽, and furnished them with doors. And there was exceeding great gladness among the people, and the reproach of the Gentiles was turned away. And Judas and his brethren and the whole congregation of Israel ordained, that the days of the dedication of the altar should be kept in their seasons year by year for eight days, from the twenty-fifth ⁽day⁽ of the month Chislev, with gladness and joy. And at that season they built high walls and strong towers around mount Sion, lest haply the Gentiles should come and tread them down, as they had done aforetime. And he set there a force to keep it, and they fortified Bethsura to keep it, that the people might have a stronghold over against Idumaea.