41 And Gorgias took five thousand (foot-) men, and a thousand chosen horse; and thea army moved by night so that it might fall upon the army of the Jewsb and smite them suddenly; 2 and (certain)c men from the citadel were hisd guides. 3 And Judas heard thereof, and he removed, he and the valiant men, that he might smite the king’s host, 4 which was at Emmaus, while as yet the forces were dispersed from the camp. 5 And Gorgias came into the camp of Judas by nighte, and found no man; and he sought them in the mountains, for he said: ‘These men flee from us.’ 6 And as soon as it was day, Judas appeared in the plain withf three thousand men; howbeit, they had not armour nor swords as they would have wished (to have had). 7 And they saw the camp of the Gentiles strong (and) fortified, and horsemen compassing it round about; and these were experienced in war. 8 And Judasg said to the men that were with him: ‘Fear ye not their multitude, neither hbe ye afraid ofh their onset. 9 Remember how our fathersi were saved in the Red Sea, when Pharaoh pursued them with a hostk. 10 And now, let us cryl unto heavenm, nif he will have mercy upon usn, oandp will remember qthe covenant of ther fathersq, and destroy this army before ours face to-dayo; 11 and (then) all the Gentiles will know that there is one who redeemeth tand savetht Israel.’ 12 And the strangersu lifted up their eyes and saw them coming against them, 13 and they went out of the camp to battle. 14 And they that were with Judas sounded the trumpets, vand joined battlev, wand the Gentiles were discomfited, and fled unto the plain. 15 And allx the hindmost fell by the sword; and they pursued them unto Gazera, and unto the plains of Idumaeay andz Azotus and Jamnia; and there fell of them about three thousand men.

16 And Judas and (his)a host returned bfrom pursuing after themb; 17 and hec said unto the people: 18 ‘Be not greedy of the spoils, for (another)d battle is before us, and Gorgias and (his)e host are nigh unto us fin the mountainf. gBut stand ye now against our enemiesg, and fight (against) them, and afterwards take the spoils with boldness.’ 19 While Judas was yet sayingh these things, there appeared a part of them peering out from the mountain; 20 and they saw that (their host) had been put to flight, and that (the Jews)i were burning thek camp,—for the smoke lthat was seenl made manifest what had been done. 21 And when they perceived these things they were sore afraid; and perceiving also the army of Judas min the plainm ready for battle, 22 theyn all fled into the land of the Philistineso. 23 And Judas returned to the spoil of the camp, and took much gold and silver, and bluep, and qsea-purpleq, and great riches. 24 And as they returned they sang a song of thanksgiving, and blessed r s(Godt, looking up) to heavens, (and saying):

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

25 And Israel had a greatu deliverance that day.

4:26–35. Victory of Judas over Lysias.

26 But as many of the Gentilesv as had been saved came and reported to Lysias all that had happened. 27 And when he had heard allw he was confounded xand discouragedx, both because it had not happened unto Israel as he had wished, and because the things which the king had commanded himy had not come about.

28 And in the next year hez gathered together sixty thousand chosen [foot-]men, and five thousand horse, to make war upon thema. 29 And they came into Judaeab, and encamped at Bethsura, and Judas met them with ten thousand men. 30 And he saw that the armyc was strong, and he prayed, and said:

‘Blessed art thoud, O Saviour eof Israele, who didst bring to nought the onslaught of the giantf by the hand of g thy servantg David, and didst deliver the army of the Philistines into the hands of Jonathan hthe son of Saul and of his armour-bearerh. 31 Shut upi this army in the hands of thy people Israel, that with their host and their horsemen they may be put to shame. 32 kGive them fearfulness of heart, and cause the boldness of their strength to melt away, and let them quake atl their destructionk. 33 Cast them down with the sword of them that love thee, mand let all that known thy name praise thee with songs of thanksgivingm.’

34 And they joined battle; and there fell of the army of Lysias about five thousand men, ando they fell down over against them. 35 But when Lysiasp saw that his array had been put to flight, and the boldnessq that had come upon them that were with Judas, rand how ready they were either to live or die noblyr, he removed to Antioch, sand gathered together mercenary troops, that he might come again into Judaea with an even greater (army)s.

4:36–61. The Purification and Re-dedication of the Temple; the fortification of the Temple-Mount and Bethsura.

36 But Judas and his brethren said: ‘Behold, our enemies are discomfited; let us go up to cleanset the Holy Place, and re-dedicateu it. 37 And all the army was gathered together, and theyv went unto mount Sion. 38 And they saw ourw sanctuary laid desolate, and the altar profanedx, and the gatesy burned up, zand shrubs growing in the courts as in a forest or upon one of the mountains, and the chambersa (of the priests) pulled downb z; 39 cand they rent their garmentsc, and made great lamentation, and put ashes don their headsd; 40 and they fell on their faces to the ground, eand they f gblew the solemn blastsf upon the trumpetsg, and cried unto heavene h. 41 Theni Judas appointed (a certain number of) men to fight against those (that were) in the citadel, until he should have cleansed the Holy Place. 42 And he chose blameless priests, such as had delight in the Law; and theyk cleansed the Holy Place, 43 andl bare out the stones of defilementm into an unclean place. 44 And they took counsel concerning the altar of burnt offerings, which had been profaned, what they should do with it. 45 And a good idea occurred to themn (namely) to pull it down, lest it should be a reproach unto them, because the Gentiles had defiled it; 46 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 decideo (as to what should be done) concerning them. 47 And theyp took whole stones according to the Law, and built a newq altar after the fashion of the former (one); 48 rand they built the Holy Place, and the inner parts of the house, and halloweds the courts. 49 And they made the holyt vessels newr, and they brought the candlestick, and the altar of burnt offerings and of incense, and the table, into the temple. 50 And they burned incense upon the altar, and they lighted the lamps that were upon the candlestick uin order to give lightv in the templeu. 51 And they set loaves upon the table, and hung up the veils, and finished all wthe worksw which they had undertaken. 52 And they rose up early in the morning xon the twenty-fifth (day) of the ninthy month, which is the month Chislev, in the zone hundred andz forty-eightha yearx b, 53 andc offered sacrifice, according to the Law, dupon the new altar of burnt offerings which they had maded. 54 Ate the corresponding time (of the month) and on the (corresponding) day on which the Gentiles had profaned it, on that dayf was it dedicated afresh, with songs gand harpsg and lutes, and with cymbals. 55 And all hthe peopleh fell upon their faces, and worshippedi, and gave praise, (looking up) unto heaven, to him who had prospered them. 56 And they celebrated the dedication of the altar for eight days, and offered burnt offerings kwith gladnessk, land sacrificed a sacrifice of deliverance mand praisem l. 57 And they decked the forefront of the temple with crowns of goldn and small shields, and dedicatedo afresh the gates and the chambers (of the priests), pand furnished them with doorsp. 58 qAnd there was exceeding great gladness among the people, and the reproach of the Gentiles was turned awayq. 59 And Judas and his brethren and the whole congregation of Israel ordained, that the days of the dedication of the altar should be kept rin their seasons year by year for eight days, from the twenty-fifth (day) of the month Chislev, with gladness and joyr s. 60 And tat that seasont they built high wallsu and strongv towers around mount Sion, lest haply the Gentiles should come and tread themw down, xas they had done aforetimex. 61 And he set therey a force to keep itz, and they fortified Bethsura ato keep ita, that the people might have a stronghold over against Idumaea.

5:1–8. Victories of Judas over the Edomites, Baeanites, and Ammonites.