1Now when the surrounding nations heard that the altar had been rebuilt and the sanctuary rededicated as before, they became extremely angry.
2And they resolved to destroy the descendants of Jacob who were in their midst, and they began to kill and exterminate them among the people.
3So Judas waged war against the sons of Esau in Idumea at Akrabattene, because they were besieging Israel. He inflicted a great defeat on them, subdued them, and took their plunder.
4And he remembered the wickedness of the sons of Baian, who had been a snare and a stumbling block to the people by ambushing them on the roads.
5They were shut up by him in their towers, and he besieged them, devoted them to destruction, and burned their towers with fire, along with all who were in them.
6Then he crossed over to the Ammonites and encountered a strong force and a numerous people, with Timothy as their leader.
7He engaged in many battles with them, and they were crushed before him, and he struck them down.
8He also captured Jazer and its villages, and then he returned to Judea.
9Then the nations in Gilead gathered together against the Israelites who were in their territory in order to destroy them, and they fled to the fortress of Dathema.
10And they sent letters to Judas and his brothers, saying, “The nations around us have gathered against us to destroy us,
11and they are preparing to come and capture the fortress where we have taken refuge. Timothy is leading their army.
12Now therefore, come and rescue us from their hand, because a great number of us have fallen.
13All our brothers in the region of Tob have been put to death; and the enemy has taken their wives, their children, and their possessions captive, and has destroyed about a thousand men there.”
14While these letters were still being read, behold, other messengers arrived from Galilee with their clothes torn, reporting this message:
15saying, “The people of Ptolemais, Tyre, and Sidon, and all Galilee of the Gentiles have gathered against them to wipe us out.”
16When Judas and the people heard these words, a great assembly was gathered to deliberate what they should do for their brothers who were in distress and were being attacked by them.
17And Judas said to his brother Simon, “Choose men for yourself, and go rescue your brothers in Galilee. I and my brother Jonathan will go into Gilead.”
18And he left Joseph son of Zechariah, and Azariah, a leader of the people, with the rest of the army in Judea to guard it.
19And he commanded them, saying, “Take charge of this people, but do not engage in battle with the nations until we return.”
20Three thousand men were assigned to Simon to go into Galilee, and eight thousand men to Judas for Gilead.
21So Simon went into Galilee and engaged in many battles with the nations, and the nations were crushed before him.
22He pursued them to the gates of Ptolemais, and about three thousand men of the nations fell. And he took their plunder.
23And he took the Jews of Galilee and Arbatta, with their wives and children and all their possessions, and brought them to Judea with great joy.
24Meanwhile, Judas Maccabeus and his brother Jonathan crossed the Jordan and went a three days’ journey into the wilderness.
25They met the Nabateans, who received them peacefully and told them everything that had happened to their brothers in Gilead:
26that many of them were shut up in Bosora and Bosor, and in Alema, Casphor, Maked, and Carnaim—all of which are large, fortified cities.
27and that they were shut up in the other cities of Gilead, and that on the next day the enemy was set to attack the fortresses, to capture them and destroy all of them in a single day.
28So Judas and his army immediately turned onto the wilderness road to Bosor. He captured the city, killed every male by the edge of the sword, took all their plunder, and burned the city with fire.
29He set out from there by night and marched toward the fortress.
30When morning came, they lifted up their eyes and behold, there was a vast, innumerable army raising ladders and siege engines to capture the fortress, and they were attacking them.
31And Judas saw that the battle had begun, and the cry of the city went up to heaven with trumpets and a great shout.
32And he said to the men of his force, “Fight today for our brothers.”
33And he came out behind them in three divisions; and he sounded the trumpets, and they cried out in prayer.
34And Timothy’s army recognized that it was Maccabeus, and they fled from his presence. And he struck them with a great slaughter, and about eight thousand of their men fell on that day.
35And he turned aside to Maapha and made war on it; he captured it, killed every male in it, took its spoils, and burned it with fire.
36From there he departed and captured Caspho, Maked, Bosor, and the other cities of Gilead.
37But after these events, Timothy gathered another army and encamped opposite Raphon, on the other side of the wadi.
38And Judas sent men to spy on the army, and they reported back to him, saying, “All the nations around you have gathered to them—a very great force.”
39“And Arabs have been hired to help them, and they are encamped beyond the wadi, ready to come against you for battle.” And Judas went to meet them.
40And Timothy said to the commanders of his force, as Judas and his army were approaching the stream, “If he crosses over to us first, we will not be able to withstand him, for he will surely prevail against us.”
41“But if he loses heart and encamps on the other side of the river, we will cross over to him.”
42But when Judas drew near to the stream, he stationed the officers of the people by the stream and commanded them, saying, “Do not let any man make camp, but let all come to the battle.”
43And he crossed over against them first, and all his people after him. And all the nations were crushed before him; they threw down all their weapons and fled to the temple precinct in Carnaim.
44And they captured the city and set the temple precinct on fire with all who were in it. And Carnaim was subdued and could no longer withstand Judas.
45And Judas gathered all the Israelites in Gilead, from the least to the greatest, with their wives and children and their possessions—a very great company—to go to the land of Judah.
46And they came to Ephron. This was a large and very strong city on the road, and it was not possible to turn aside from it to the right or to the left, but one had to go through the middle of it.
47And the people of the city shut them out and blocked up the gates with stones.
48And Judas sent to them with words of peace, saying, “Let me pass through your land to go to our own land, and no one will harm you; we will only pass through on foot.” But they were unwilling to open the gates to him.
49And Judas commanded a proclamation to be made in the camp for everyone to make camp where he was.
50So the men of the force made camp, and they fought against the city all that day and all the night, and the city was delivered into his hands.
51And he destroyed every male with the edge of the sword, razed the city to the ground, took its spoils, and passed through the city over the slain.
52And they crossed the Jordan into the great plain opposite Beth-shan.
53And Judas was gathering the stragglers and encouraging the people all along the way, until he came into the land of Judah.
54And they went up to Mount Zion with gladness and joy, and they offered burnt offerings because not one of them had fallen until they returned in peace.
55Now in the days when Judas and Jonathan were in the land of Gilead, and Simon his brother was in Galilee opposite Ptolemais,
56Joseph son of Zechariah, and Azariah, commanders of the forces, heard of the valiant deeds and the war that they had waged.
57and they said, “Let us also make a name for ourselves, and let us go and fight against the nations around us.”
58And they gave orders to the men of the force that was with them, and they marched against Jamnia.
59And Gorgias and his men came out of the city to meet them for battle.
60And Joseph and Azariah were routed and pursued to the borders of Judea. And about two thousand men of the people of Israel fell on that day.
61And there was a great rout among the people because they did not listen to Judas and his brothers, thinking they would perform a heroic deed.
62But they were not of the lineage of those men by whose hand salvation was given to Israel.
63And the man Judas and his brothers were greatly honored before all Israel and all the Gentiles, wherever their name was heard.
64And people gathered to them, praising them.
65And Judas and his brothers went out and waged war against the sons of Esau in the land to the south. He struck Hebron and its villages, tore down its fortification, and set its towers on fire all around.
66And he set out to go into the land of the foreigners, and he passed through Samaria.
67On that day some priests fell in battle, desiring to perform a heroic deed, because they went out to war ill-advisedly.
68And Judas turned aside to Azotus in the land of the foreigners, and he tore down their altars, burned the carved images of their gods, and took the plunder of the cities; and he returned to Judea.
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