1Now King Antiochus was traveling through the upper regions, and he heard that in Elymais in Persia there was a city renowned for its wealth in silver and gold.
2And its temple was exceedingly rich, and there were golden shields, breastplates, and weapons, which Alexander son of Philip, the Macedonian king who was the first to rule over the Greeks, had left there.
3So he came and tried to capture the city and plunder it, but he could not, because the report became known to the inhabitants of the city.
4And they rose up against him for war, so he fled and departed from there with great sorrow to return to Babylon.
5And a messenger came to him in Persia, reporting that the armies that had gone into the land of Judah had been routed,
6and that Lysias had gone with a strong force at first but was driven back before them, and that they had grown strong with the weapons they took from the armies they had destroyed.
7And they had torn down the abomination he had built upon the altar in Jerusalem, and had surrounded the sanctuary with high walls as it was before, and also his city, Beth-zur.
8When the king heard these reports, he was stunned and greatly shaken. He fell on his bed and fell into a sickness from sorrow, because things had not turned out for him as he had intended.
9And he remained there for many days, because his great sorrow was renewed, and he concluded that he was dying.
10So he called all his Friends and said to them, “Sleep has departed from my eyes, and my heart fails me from anxiety.
11And I said to myself, ‘To what affliction and to what a great tempest have I come, in which I now find myself? For I was kind and beloved in my reign.’
12But now I remember the evil things I did in Jerusalem: I took all the silver and gold vessels that were in it, and I sent to wipe out the inhabitants of Judah for no reason.
13I know that on account of these things these evils have found me. And behold, I am perishing from great sorrow in a foreign land.”
14And he called Philip, one of his Friends, and appointed him over his whole kingdom.
15He gave him the diadem, his robe, and the signet ring, with instructions to bring his son Antiochus and raise him for the kingship.
16And King Antiochus died there in the one hundred and forty-ninth year.
17When Lysias learned that the king was dead, he set up Antiochus his son—whom he had raised from youth—to reign in his place, and he named him Eupator.
18Now the men from the citadel were hemming in Israel around the sanctuary, continually seeking to do evil and serving as a stronghold for the Gentiles.
19So Judas resolved to wipe them out, and he assembled all the people to besiege them.
20This was in the one hundred and fiftieth year; and he set up catapults and siege engines against them.
21Then some of the besieged came out, and some of the ungodly from Israel joined them.
22They went to the king and said, “How long will you fail to execute judgment and avenge our brothers?
23We were content to serve your father, to live by his words, and to follow his decrees.
24For this reason our own people became estranged from us; moreover, as many of us as were found were put to death, and our property was plundered.
25And not against us alone have they stretched out their hand, but also against all their territories.
26And behold, today they have encamped against the citadel in Jerusalem to capture it and the sanctuary, and they have fortified Beth-zur.
27And if you do not move against them quickly, they will do even greater things than these, and you will not be able to restrain them.”
28The king was enraged when he heard this, and he gathered all his Friends, the commanders of his army, and the cavalry officers.
29And mercenary forces came to him from other kingdoms and from the islands of the seas.
30The number of his forces was one hundred thousand foot soldiers, twenty thousand horsemen, and thirty-two elephants trained for war.
31And they came through Idumea and encamped against Beth-zur; they fought for many days and made siege engines. And the defenders came out, set them on fire, and fought bravely.
32And Judas departed from the citadel and encamped at Beth-zechariah, opposite the king’s camp.
33And the king rose early in the morning and moved his army with a rush along the road to Beth-zechariah, and the forces were arrayed for battle, and they sounded the trumpets.
34And they showed the elephants the juice of grapes and mulberries to provoke them for the battle.
35And they distributed the beasts among the phalanxes, and with each elephant they stationed a thousand men armed with coats of mail and bronze helmets on their heads; and five hundred chosen cavalry were assigned to each beast.
36These cavalry would be in position wherever the beast was; and wherever it went, they went with it and did not separate from it.
37And upon each beast were strong, covered wooden towers, fastened to them with harnesses; and on each were thirty-two men who fought from them, as well as its Indian driver.
38And he stationed the rest of the cavalry on the two flanks of the army to cause panic and to screen the phalanxes.
39And when the sun shone upon the golden and bronze shields, the mountains glittered from their reflection and flashed like torches of fire.
40And part of the king’s army was deployed on the high mountains and some on the low ground, and they advanced securely and in good order.
41And all who heard the sound of their multitude, the tramp of the host, and the clashing of their weapons were shaken, for the army was exceedingly great and strong.
42And Judas and his army drew near for battle, and six hundred men of the king’s army fell.
43And Eleazar, called Savaran, saw one of the beasts armored with royal armor, and it was taller than all the other beasts, and he supposed that the king was on it.
44And he gave himself to save his people and to gain for himself an everlasting name.
45And he ran boldly toward it into the midst of the phalanx, killing to the right and to the left, so that they parted before him on both sides.
46And he slipped under the elephant, thrust his sword up into it, and killed it. And it fell to the ground on top of him, and he died there.
47And when Judas’s men saw the strength of the kingdom and the fierce assault of the forces, they retreated from them.
48Then the king’s army went up to Jerusalem to attack them, and the king encamped against Judea and against Mount Zion.
49And he made peace with the people of Beth-zur, and they came out of the city because they had no food there to endure a siege, for it was a sabbatical year for the land.
50So the king took Beth-zur and stationed a garrison there to guard it.
51And he besieged the sanctuary for many days, and set up there ballistas, siege engines, fire-throwers, stone-throwers, and “scorpions” for shooting arrows, and slings.
52And the defenders also made engines to counter their engines, and they fought for many days.
53But there was no food in the storehouses, because it was the seventh year, and the refugees who had fled to Judea from the Gentiles had eaten up the rest of the provisions.
54And few men were left in the sanctuary, because the famine was severe among them; and they were scattered, each to his own home.
55Now Lysias heard that Philip—whom King Antiochus, while he was still alive, had appointed to bring up his son Antiochus to be king—
56had returned from Persia and Media with the forces that had gone with the king, and that he was seeking to take control of the government.
57So he was eager to depart and said to the king, the commanders of the army, and the men, “We are growing weaker daily, our food is scarce, the place we are besieging is strong, and the affairs of the kingdom are pressing upon us.”
58Now therefore, let us give these men our right hand in pledge and make peace with them and with their whole nation.
59And let us allow them to live by their own laws, as they did before; for it was on account of their laws, which we abolished, that they became angry and did all these things.
60And the proposal was pleasing to the king and the commanders, and he sent to the Jews to make peace, and they accepted it.
61So the king and his commanders swore an oath to them on these terms, and they came out of the stronghold.
62And the king entered Mount Zion and saw the fortification of the place. But he broke the oath that he had sworn, and he gave orders and tore down the wall all around.
63And they departed with haste, and he returned to Antioch, where he found Philip in control of the city. So he made war against him and took the city by force.
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