1 Machabees 4

¹And Gorgias took five thousand men, & a thousand chosen horsemen: & they removed the camp by night,

²that they might approach to the camp of the Jews, and might strike them suddenly: & the children that were of the castle, were their guides.

³And Judas heard, & arose, he and the mighties to strike the power of the king's army, that were in Emmaum.

⁴For as yet the army was dispersed from the camp.

⁵And Gorgias came into the camp of Judas by night, and found no man, & he sought them in the mountains: because he said: These fly from us.

⁶And when the day was come, Judas appeared in the field with three thousand men only, which had not harness and swords as they would:

⁷and they saw the camp of the Gentiles strong, and the men in brigantines, and horsemen round about them, and these were skillful to battle.

⁸And Judas said to the men that were with him: Fear not the multitude of them, & of their assault be not afraid.

⁹Remember in what sort our fathers were saved in the red sea, when Pharao with a great army followed them.

¹⁰And now let us cry towards heaven: and our Lord will have mercy on us, and will be mindful of the testament of our fathers, and will destroy this army, before our face this day:

¹¹and all Nations shall know that there is one that redeemeth and delivereth Israel.

¹²And the aliens lifted up their eyes, and saw them coming against them.

¹³And they went out of the camp into battle, and these that were with Judas, sounded with the trumpet.

¹⁴And they met together: and the Gentiles were discomfited, and fled into the plain.

¹⁵But all the hindmost fell by the sword, and they pursued them as far as Gezeron, and even to the plains of Idumea, and of Azotus, and of Jamnia: and there fell of them even to three thousand men.

¹⁶And Judas returned, and his army following him.

¹⁷And he said to the people: Covet not the spoils: because there is battle against us,

¹⁸and Gorgias & his army are near us in the mount: but stand ye now against our enemies, and overthrow them, and you shall take the spoils afterwards secure.

¹⁹And as Judas was speaking these words, lo a certain part appeared looking forth from the mountain.

²⁰And Gorgias saw that his men were turned to flight, & that they burnt the camp: for the smoke that was seen declared what was done.

²¹Which things seen they feared exceedingly, beholding withal both Judas, and the army in the plain ready to battle.

²²And they did all fly into the plain of the aliens:

²³& Judas returned to the spoils of the camp, & they took much gold, and silver, and hyacinth, and purple of the sea, and great riches.

²⁴And turning they sung an hymn, & blessed God towards heaven, because he is good, because his mercy is for ever.

²⁵And great salvation was made in Israel in that day.

²⁶And whosoever escaped of the aliens, they came and told Lysias all things that had chanced.

²⁷Which when he heard being amazed he fainted in mind: that such things chanced not in Israel, as he would, & such as the king commanded.

²⁸And the year following Lysias gathered of chosen men three score thousand, & of horsemen five thousand, to overthrow them.

²⁹And they came into Jewry, and pitched the camp in Bethoron, and Judas met them with ten thousand men.

³⁰And they saw the army strong, and he prayed, and said: Blessed art thou o saviour of Israel, which brakest the assault of the mighty by the hand of thy servant David, & didst deliver the camp of the aliens into the hand of Jonathas Saul's son, and of his esquire.

³¹shut up this army in the hand of thy people Israel, and let them be confounded in their army and horsemen.

³²Give them fear, and consume the boldness of their strength, and let them be shaken with their contrition,

³³cast them down with the sword of them that love thee: & let all that know thy name, praise thee in hymns.

³⁴And they joined battle: and there fell of the army of Lysias five thousand men.

³⁵And Lysias seeing the flight of his men, and the boldness of the Jews, & that they are ready either to live or to die manfully, he went to Antioch, and chose soldiers, that being multiplied they might come again into Jewry.

³⁶But Judas, and his brethren said: Behold our enemies are discomfited: let us go up now to cleanse the holy places, & to renew them.

³⁷And all the army assembled together, and they went up into mount Sion.

³⁸And they saw the sanctification desert, and the altar profaned, and the gates burnt, and in the courts shrubs grown up as in a forest, or on the mountains, and the chambers thrown down.

³⁹And they rent their garments, and lamented with a great Lamentation, and laid ashes upon their head:

⁴⁰and they fell on their face upon the earth, & cried out with trumpets of significations, & cried towards heaven.

⁴¹Then Judas ordained men to fight against them that were in the castle, till they cleansed the holy places.

⁴²And he chose Priests without spot, having their will in the law of God:

⁴³and they cleansed the holy places, and took away the stones of contamination into an unclean place.

⁴⁴And he considered of the altar of holocausts, that was profaned, what he should do with it.

⁴⁵And good counsel came to their minds, to destroy it: lest perhaps it might be a reproach to them, because the Gentiles contaminated it, and they threw it down.

⁴⁶And they laid up the stones in the mount of the house in a place convenient, till their should come a Prophet, & give answer concerning them.

⁴⁷And they took whole stones according to the law, and builded a new altar according to that which was before:

⁴⁸and they built the holy places, and the things that were within the temple inward: and the temple, and the courts they sanctified.

⁴⁹And they made the holy vessels new, and brought in the candlestick, and the altar of incenses, and the table into the temple.

⁵⁰And they put incense upon the altar, and lighted the lamps, that were upon the candlestick, and they gave light in the temple.

⁵¹And they set loaves upon the table, and hung up the veils, and finished all the works, that they had made.

⁵²And before the morning they arose the five and twentieth day of the ninth month (this is the month of Casleu) of the hundreth & eight and fortieth year:

⁵³and they offered sacrifice according to the law upon the new altar of holocausts, which they made.

⁵⁴According to the time and according to the day, wherein the heathen contaminated it, in the same was it renewed in canticles, & harps, and lutes, and in cymbals.

⁵⁵And all the people fell on their face, and they adored toward heaven, and blessed him that prospered them.

⁵⁶And they made the dedication of the altar eight days, and they offered holocausts with joy, and sacrifice of salvation, and of praise.

⁵⁷And they adorned the face of the temple with gold crowns, and little shields: & they dedicated the gates, and the chambers, and hanged doors upon them.

⁵⁸And there was made exceeding great joy in the people, and the reproach of the Gentiles was turned away.

⁵⁹And Judas decreed, and his brethren, and all the Church of Israel, that the day of the dedication of the altar be kept in the times thereof from year to year for eight days, from the five & twentieth day of the month Casleu, with joy and gladness.

⁶⁰And they builded at that time mount Sion, and round about high walls, and strong towers, lest sometime the Gentiles should come, and conculcate it as they did before.

⁶¹And he placed an army there, to keep it, & he fenced it to keep Bethsura, that the people might have a munition against the face of Idumea.