51 And it came to pass, when the Gentiles round about heard that the altarb had been builtc and the sanctuary dedicatedd, eas aforetimee, that they were exceeding wroth. 2 And they determinedf to destroy (those of) the raceg of Jacob hthat were in the midst of themh, and they began ito slay and to destroy among the peoplei. 3 And Judas fought against the children of Esau in Idumaeak at Akrabattine, because they annoyed Israell by their attacks; and he smote them with a great slaughter, mand humbledn themm, and took spoils from them. 4 And he remembered the malice of the children of Baean, who were unto the peopleo a snare and a stumbling-block, lying in wait for them pin the waysp. 5 And they were shut up by him in the towers; and he encamped againstq them, rand utterly destroyed themr, and burneds twith firet uthe towers of the placev u, with all that werew therein. 6 Then hex passed over to the children of Ammon, and found (there) a mighty band, and much peopley, and Timotheus (who was) their leader. 7 And he fought many battles with them, zand they were discomfited before him, aand he smote thema z; 8 and he gat possession of Jazer and the villagesb thereof, and returnedc again into Judaead.

5:9–68. Victories of Simon in Galilee, and of Judas in Gilead.

9 And the Gentiles that were in Gilead gathered themselves together against the Israelites that were on their borders, to destroy them; and they fled unto the stronghold of Dathemae. 10 And they sent letters unto Judas and his brethren, saying: ‘The Gentiles that are round about us are gathered together fagainst usf gto destroy us; 11 and they are preparing to come and get possession of the strongholdg whereunto weh have fled for refuge; and Timotheus is leading their host. 12 Now, therefore, 13 icome and deliver us from their hand, for a number of us are fallen, and all our brethreni that were in the (parts) of Tubias have been put to death, and they have carried into captivity their wives and their children and theirk belongings, and have destroyed there about a thousand men.’ 14 While thel letters were yet being read, behold, there came other messengers from Galilee with their garments rent, bringing a report to the following effect, sayingm: 15 ‘There be gathered together against them (men) from Ptolemais, and Tyre nand Sidonn, and all Galilee of the Gentiles, to consume us.’ 16 Now when Judas ando the peoplep heard these words, there assembled together a great gathering to consult what they should do qfor their brethren who were in tribulation and being attacked by the enemyr q. 17 And Judas said unto Simon his brother: ‘Choose out men for thyself, and go and deliver thys brethren in Galilee, while I and Jonathan my brother will go into Gilead.’ 18 And he left Joseph the son of Zacharias, and Azarias, as leaders of the people, with the rest of the army, in. Judaea, to guard it. 19 And the commanded them, sayingt: ‘Take ye the charge of this people, and engage not in battle with the Gentiles until we return.’ 20 And three thousand men were allotted unto Simon to go into Galilee, and eight thousand menu unto Judas (to go)v into Gilead.

21 And Simon went into Galilee, and engaged in manyw battles with the Gentiles, and the Gentiles were discomfited before him. 22 And he pursued them unto the gatex of Ptolemais; and there fell of the Gentilesy about three thousand men, and he took their spoils. 23 And hez took athose (that were)a inb Galilee and Arbatta with (their) wives and children, and broughtc themd into Judaea ewith great gladnesse.

24 And Judas Maccabaeusf and ghis brotherg Jonathan passed over Jordan, and went three days’journey in the wilderness; 25 and they fell in with the Nabataeans, and these met them in a peaceable manner, and recounted to them all things that had befallen their brethren in Gilead; 26 and how that many of them were shut up in Bosora, and Bosor, and Alema, Casphor, Maked, and Carnaim,—allh these cities (being) strong and great; 27 iand how that they were shut up in the restk of the cities of Gileadi, and that on the morrow (the enemies) had plannedl to encamp magainst the strongholdn m, and to take (it)o, and to destroy all thosep (who were in it) in one day. 28 And Judas and his army turned suddenly qby the way ofq the wilderness unto Bosorar; and he tooks the city, and slew all the malest uwith the edge of the swordu, and took all their spoils, and burnedv it (i.e. the city)w with fire. 29 And hex removed thencey by night, and went onz until (he reached) the stronghold. 30 And when it was morning they lifted up their eyesa, and behold (there was) a great multitude bwhich could not be numberedb, bearing ladders and engines (of war), to take the strongholdc; and they were fighting against them (that were in the stronghold). 31 And when Judas saw that the battle had begun, and that the cry of the cityd went up toe heaven, 32 with trumpets and fa great soundf, heg said unto the men of his host: ‘Fight this day for yourh brethren.’ 33 And hei went forth behind them in three companies, and theyk sounded with trumpets, and cried out in prayer. 34 And the army of Timotheus perceived that it was Maccabaeus, and they fled from before him; and hel smote them with a greatm slaughter; and there fell of them non that dayn about eight thousand men. 35 And heo turned asidep to Mizpeh and fought against it, qand took itq, and slewr all the males thereof, and tooks the spoils thereoft, and burned it with fire. 36 From thence heu removed, and took Casphor, Maked, Bosor, and the other cities vof Gileadv.

37 Now after these things Timotheus gathered another army, and encamped over against Raphon, beyondw the brook. 38 And Judas sent (men) to espy the armyx; and they reported to him, sayingy: ‘All the Gentiles zthat are round about usa z are gathered together unto themb, an exceedingc great host; 39 and they have hired Arabians to help them, and are dencamping beyond the brookd, ready to come against theee to battle.’ 40 And Judas went to meet them. And Timotheus said unto the captains of his host, when Judas fand his armyf drew nigh unto the brook of water: ‘If he pass over unto us first 41, gwe shall not be able to withstand himh, forg ihe will mightily prevail against usi; but kif he be afraid, andk encamp beyond the river, we will cross over lunto himl, mand prevail against himm n.’ 42 Now when Judas came nigh unto the brook oof watero, he placed the officersp of the people qby the brookq, and rcommanded them, sayingr: s‘Suffer no man to encamps, but let allt come to the battle.’ 43 And he crossed over first against them, and allu hisv people afterw him; and allx the Gentiles were discomfited before hisy face, and cast away theirz arms, and fled unto athe temple ofa Carnaim. 44 And theyb took the cityc, and burned the templed with fire, together with all ethat weree therein. fAnd Carnaim was subduedf; neither could theyg stand any longer before the face of Judas.

45 And Judas gathered together all Israel, them that were in Gilead, hfrom the least unto the greatesth, and their iwives, and theiri children, and their belongings, an exceeding great army, that they might come into the land of Judah. 46 And they came as far as Ephron; and this was a large city atk (the entrance of) the pass, exceeding strong; it was not (possible) to turn aside lfrom itl either to the right or the left, but (one had) to go through the midst of it. 47 And they of the city shut them out, and stopped up the gates with stones. 48 And Judas sent munto themm with words of peace, saying: ‘Wen would pass througho thyp land to go into our own land; and none shall harm you, we will only pass by on our feet.’ 49 But they would not open unto himq. And Judas rcommanded proclamation to be mader in the army, that each man should encamp in the place where he was. 50 sAnd the men of the hostt encampeds; and theyu fought against the city all that day and all that night; 51 and vthe cityv was delivered into hisw hands; and hex destroyed all the malesy with the edge of the sword, and rasedz the city, and tooka the spoils thereofb, and passedc through the city over them that were slain. 52 And theyd went over Jordan into the great plain over against Bethshan. 53 eAnd Judas gathered together those that lagged behind, and encouraged the people all the way through untile he came into the land of Judah. 54 And they went up to mount Sion with gladness and joy, and offered whole burnt offerings, because not so much as one of them was slain funtil they returned in peacef.

55 And in the days when Judas and Jonathang were in the landh of Gilead, and Simon ihis brotheri in Galilee kbefore Ptolemaisk, 56 Josephl the son of Zacharias, and Azarias, leadersm of the armiesn (in Judaea), heard of their exploits and of the war,—owhat things they had doneo; and they said: 57 ‘Let usp also make a name for ourselves, and qlet us goq fightr against the Gentiles that are round about us.’ 58 sAnd they gave charge unto the (men) of the hostt that was with thems, and went toward Jamnia. 59 And Gorgias and his men came out of the city uto meet themu in battle. 60 And Joseph and Azarias were put to flight, vand were pursuedv unto the borders of Judaeaw; and there fell on that day xof the peoplex of Israel about two thousand men. 61 And there was a great overthrow yamong the peopley, 62 because they hearkened not unto Judas zand his brethren, thinking to do some exploita z. 63 But they were not of the seed of those men, by whose hand deliverance was given unto Israel. bBut cthe manc Judas and his brethren were glorified exceedingly in the sight of all Israel, and of alld the Gentiles, wheresoevere their name was heard ofb; 64 fandg (men) gathered unto them, acclaiming (them)h f.

65 And Judas and his brethren went forth, and fought against the children of Esau in the land toward the south; and he smote Hebron and the villagesi thereofk, and pulled down the strongholdsl thereofm, and burned the towers thereof round about. 66 nAnd heo removedn to go into the land of the Philistinesp, and he went through Marisaq. 67 In that day (certain) priests fell in battle, desiringr themselvess to do exploits, in that theyt went out to the war unadvisedly. 68 And Judas turned aside to Azotus, to the land of the Philistines, and pulledu down their altars, and burned the carved images of their godsv, and took the spoil of their cities, and returned into wthe land ofw Judah.

6:1–17. Death of Antiochus Epiphanes, and accession of his son, Antiochus Eupator.