18 And they that were in the citadel kept enclosing Israel round about the sanctuary, and continually sought their hurt, qand (acted as) a support to the Gentilesq. 19 And Judasr purposed to destroy them, and called alls the people together to besiege them. 20 tAnd they were gathered together, and besieged themt in uthe one hundred and fiftieth yearu; and hev constructed siege-towersw against them, and engines (of war). 21 And there came forth some xof themx that were shut up, and unto them were joined certain ungodly men of Israely. 22 And they went unto the king and said: ‘How long wilt thou not execute judgement, and (when wilt thou) avenge our brethren? 23 We were willing to serve thy father, and to walk after his words, aand to follow his commandmentsa. 24 b cFor this causec the children of our people dbesieged it (i.e. the citadel)e b, and were alienated from us, andf gas many of us as they could light ong they killedh, iand they spoiledk our inheritancesi. 25 And not against us only did they stretch out their hand, but also against all theirl borderlands. 26 And, behold, they are encamped this day against the citadel in Jerusalem with the object of capturing it, and they have fortified the sanctuarym and Bethsura. 27 And if thou art notn beforehand with them quickly they will do greater things than these, and thou wilt noto be able to control them.’

28 And the king was angry when he heard (this); andp he gathered together all his Friends, (who were) the leaders of his host, and them that were over the horseq. 29 And there came unto himr from other kingdomss, and from tthe isles of the seat, bands of mercenaries. 30 And the number of his forces was a hundred thousand footmen, and twenty thousand horsemen, and thirty-two elephants trained for war. 31 And they went through Idumaea, and encamped against Bethsura, and fought against (it) many days, and made engines (of war); but uthey (that were besieged)u came out and burned them with fire, and fought manfully. 32 And Judas removed from the citadel, and encamped at Bethzacharias, over against the king’s camp. 33 And the king rose early in the morning, and removed the army in its eagerness valong the road to Beth-zachariasv; and his forces prepared themselvesw for the battle, and sounded with trumpets. 34 And they showed the elephants the blood of grapes and mulberries, that they might prepare them for the battle. 35 And they divided the beasts among the phalanxesx, and they set by each elephant a thousand men armed with coats of mail, and helmets of brass yon their headsy; and for each beast were appointed five hundred chosen horsemen. 36 These had previously been (with the beasts) zwherever a beast wasz; aand whithersoever it went, bthey went together with (it)b; they did not leave ita. 37 And towers of wood (were) upon them, strong (and) covered, (one) upon each beast, girt fast c dupon them withd (special) contrivancesc; 38 and upon each were †thirty-etwo† mene, fighting ffrom themf, gand (each beast had) its Indiang. hAnd the residue of the horsemen he placed on this side and that side, on either wing of the army, i(thus) striking terror (into the enemy, while) covering the phalanxesi h. 39 Now when the sun shone upon the shields of gold kand brassk, the mountains shone therewith, and blazed like torches lof fire. 40 And a partl of the king’sm army lwas spreadl upon the highn mountains, and some on the olow groundo, and they went on psafelyq and in orderp. 41 And all thatr heard the noise of their multitude, sand of the marching of the multitude, and the rattling of the armss, did quake; for the army was exceedingt ugreat andu strong. 42 And Judas and his army drew near for battle, and there fell of the king’s army six hundred men.

43 And Eleazar Avaran saw one of the beasts armed with royal breastplates, and he was higher than all the (other) beasts, so that it appeared as though the king were upon it; 44 and he gave himself to deliver his people and to acquire an everlasting name; 45 and he ran upon it courageously into the midst of the phalanxv, and slew on the right hand and on the left, and they parted asunder wfrom himw on this side and on that; 46 and he crept under the elephant, xandy thrust him from beneathx, and slew it; and it fell to the earth upon him, and he died there. 47 And when theyz saw the strength of the royala (army), and the fierce onslaughtb of the hosts, theyc turned away from them.

48 dBut theyd of the king’s army went up to Jerusalem to meet them, and the king encamped toward Judaea, and toward mount Sion. 49 And he made peacee with them of Bethsura; forf theyg came out of the city, because they had no food thereh to be shut up therein (any longer), ibecause it was a sabbath to the landi. 50 And the king took Bethsura, and appointedk a garrison there to keep it. 51 And he encamped against the sanctuary many days, and set there siege-towersl, and engines (of war), and instruments for casting fire mand stonesm, and pieces to cast darts and slings. 52 And they (who were besieged) also made engines against their engines, and fought for manyn days. 53 But there were no victuals in the store-chamberso pbecause it was the seventh yearp, and they that had fled for safety qto Judaeaq from the Gentiles had eaten up the residue of the store; 54 and there were (but) a few men left in the sanctuary, because the famine prevailed against them, and they were scattered, each man to his own place.

6:55–63. An abortive treaty of peace.