1In the one hundred and forty-ninth year, word came to Judas and his men that Antiochus Eupator had arrived in Judea with a great army,
2and with him was Lysias, the regent and prime minister, with a Greek force of one hundred and ten thousand infantry, five thousand three hundred cavalry, twenty-two elephants, and three hundred scythed chariots.
3Menelaus also joined them and with great hypocrisy urged Antiochus on—not for the salvation of his fatherland, but because he thought he would be established in his office.
4But the King of kings stirred up the anger of Antiochus against the scoundrel, and when Lysias pointed out that this man was the cause of all the troubles, the king ordered him to be taken to Berea and executed, as is the custom in that place.
5In that place there is a tower, fifty cubits high, full of ash. It had a revolving mechanism, steep on all sides, that plunged down into the ash.
6There they push anyone guilty of sacrilege, or who has committed some other preeminent evil, forward to destruction.
7By such a fate it came to pass that the lawless Menelaus died, not even receiving burial.
8And this was very just, for since he had committed many sins against the altar—whose fire and ash were holy—he received his death in ash.
9But the king, advancing with a savage disposition, intended to show the Jews things far worse than what had happened in his father’s time.
10When Judas learned of this, he instructed the people to call upon the Lord day and night, that if ever he had helped them at any other time, he would come to their aid now—
11to help those who were about to be deprived of the law, their fatherland, and the holy temple, and not to allow the people, who had only recently had a brief respite, to fall into the hands of the blasphemous Gentiles.
12When all had done this together and had implored the merciful Lord with weeping, fasting, and prostration for three days without stopping, Judas encouraged them and ordered them to be ready.
13Then, meeting by himself with the elders, he resolved that before the king’s army could invade Judea and take control of the city, they would go out and decide the matter with the help of God.
14Entrusting the outcome to the Lord of the world, and exhorting his men to fight bravely to the death for the laws, the temple, the city, the fatherland, and their way of life, he pitched his camp near Modein.
15Giving his men the watchword, ‘God’s Victory,’ he took a company of his best-chosen young men and attacked the king’s headquarters by night. In the camp he killed about two thousand men, and he dispatched the lead elephant along with the man in its tower.
16Finally, they filled the camp with fear and confusion and departed in triumph.
17This happened just as day was dawning, thanks to the protecting shelter of the Lord that was over him.
18The king, having had a taste of the Jews’ boldness, began to attack their strongholds by means of strategy.
19He advanced against Beth-zur, a strong fortress of the Jews; he attacked, was turned back, was checked, and was getting the worst of it.
20Judas sent the necessary supplies to those inside.
21But a man named Rhodocus, from the Jewish ranks, betrayed their secrets to the enemy. He was sought out, captured, and imprisoned.
22The king parleyed a second time with those in Beth-zur; he gave his pledge, received theirs, and departed.
23He attacked Judas and his men but was defeated. Then he learned that Philip, who had been left in charge of affairs in Antioch, had revolted. Thrown into confusion, he appealed to the Jews, submitted to them, and swore to all their just terms. He was reconciled, offered a sacrifice, honored the temple, and showed kindness to the place.
24He received Maccabeus with favor and left Hegemonides as governor of the region from Ptolemais to Gerar.
25He went to Ptolemais, but the people of Ptolemais were displeased with the treaty; for they were extremely indignant and wanted to annul the agreements.
26Lysias went up to the speaker’s platform, made the best defense he could, persuaded and calmed them, and made them well-disposed again. Then he departed for Antioch. This is how the king’s invasion and withdrawal proceeded.
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