1 Maccabees
Chapter 3

1

Then his son Judas, who was called Maccabeus, took his place.

2

All his brothers and all who had joined his father supported him, and they carried on Israel's war joyfully.

3

He spread abroad the glory of his people, and put on his breastplate like a giant. He armed himself with weapons of war; he planned battles and protected the camp with his sword.

4

In his actions he was like a lion, like a young lion roaring for prey.

5

He pursued the wicked, hunting them out, and those who troubled his people he destroyed by fire.

6

The lawbreakers were cowed by fear of him, and all evildoers were dismayed. By his hand redemption was happily achieved,

7

and he afflicted many kings; He made Jacob glad by his deeds, and his memory is blessed forever.

8

He went about the cities of Judah destroying the impious there. He turned away wrath from Israel

9

and was renowned to the ends of the earth; he gathered together those who were perishing.

10

¹ Then Apollonius gathered the Gentiles, together with a large army from Samaria, to fight against Israel.

11

When Judas learned of it, he went out to meet him and defeated and killed him. Many fell wounded, and the rest fled.

12

Their possessions were seized and the sword of Apollonius was taken by Judas, who fought with it the rest of his life.

13

But Seron, commander of the Syrian army, heard that Judas had gathered many about him, an assembly of faithful men ready for war.

14

So he said, "I will make a name for myself and win glory in the kingdom by defeating Judas and his followers, who have despised the king's command."

15

And again a large company of renegades advanced with him to help him take revenge on the Israelites.

16

² When he reached the ascent of Beth-horon, Judas went out to meet him with a few men.

17

But when they saw the army coming against them, they said to Judas: "How can we, few as we are, fight such a mighty host as this? Besides, we are weak today from fasting."

18

But Judas said: "It is easy for many to be overcome by a few; in the sight of Heaven there is no difference between deliverance by many or by few;

19

for victory in war does not depend upon the size of the army, but on strength that comes from Heaven.

20

With great presumption and lawlessness they come against us to destroy us and our wives and children and to despoil us;

21

but we are fighting for our lives and our laws.

22

³ He himself will crush them before us; so do not be afraid of them."

23

When he finished speaking, he rushed suddenly upon Seron and his army, who were crushed before him.

24

⁴ He pursued Seron down the descent of Beth-horon into the plain. About eight hundred of their men fell, and the rest fled to the country of the Philistines.

25

Then Judas and his brothers began to be feared, and dread fell upon the Gentiles about them.

26

His fame reached the king, and all the Gentiles talked about the battles of Judas.

27

When Antiochus heard about these events, he was angry; so he ordered a muster of all the forces of his kingdom, a very strong army.

28

He opened his treasure chests, gave his soldiers a year's pay, and commanded them to be prepared for anything.

29

He then found that this exhausted the money in his treasury; moreover the income from the province was small, because of the dissension and distress he had brought upon the land by abolishing the laws which had been in effect from of old.

30

He feared that, as had happened more than once, he would not have enough for his expenses and for the gifts that he had previously given with a more liberal hand than the preceding kings.

31

Greatly perplexed, he decided to go to Persia and levy tribute on those provinces, and so raise a large sum of money.

32

He left Lysias, a nobleman of royal blood, in charge of the king's affairs from the Euphrates River to the frontier of Egypt,

33

and commissioned him to take care of his son Antiochus until his own return.

34

He entrusted to him half of the army, and the elephants, and gave him instructions concerning everything he wanted done. As for the inhabitants of Judea and Jerusalem,

35

Lysias was to send an army against them to crush and destroy the power of Israel and the remnant of Jerusalem and efface their memory from the land.

36

He was to settle foreigners in all their territory and distribute their land by lot.

37

⁵ The king took the remaining half of the army and set out from Antioch, his capital, in the year one hundred and forty-seven; he crossed the Euphrates River and advanced inland.

38

⁶ Lysias chose Ptolemy, son of Dorymenes, and Nicanor and Gorgias, capable men among the King's Friends,

39

and with them he sent forty thousand men and seven thousand cavalry to invade the land of Judah and ravage it according to the king's orders.

40

⁷ Setting out with all their forces, they came and pitched their camp near Emmaus in the plain.

41

When the merchants of the country heard of their fame, they came to the camp, bringing fetters and a large sum of silver and gold, to buy the Israelites as slaves. A force from Idumea and from Philistia joined with them.

42

Judas and his brothers saw that the situation had become critical now that armies were encamped within their territory; they knew of the orders which the king had given to destroy and utterly wipe out the people.

43

So they said to one another, "Let us restore our people from their ruined estate, and fight for our people and our sanctuary!"

44

The assembly gathered together to prepare for battle and to pray and implore mercy and compassion.

45

Jerusalem was uninhabited, like a desert; not one of her children entered or came out. The sanctuary was trampled on, and foreigners were in the citadel; it was a habitation of Gentiles. Joy had disappeared from Jacob, and the flute and the harp were silent.

46

⁸ Thus they assembled and went to Mizpah near Jerusalem, because there was formerly at Mizpah a place of prayer for Israel.

47

That day they fasted and wore sackcloth; they sprinkled ashes on their heads and tore their clothes.

48

⁹ They unrolled the scroll of the law, to learn about the things for which the Gentiles consulted the images of their idols.

49

¹⁰ They brought with them the priestly vestments, the first fruits, and the tithes; and they brought forward the nazirites who had completed the time of their vows.

50

And they cried aloud to Heaven: "What shall we do with these men, and where shall we take them?

51

For your sanctuary has been trampled on and profaned, and your priests are in mourning and humiliation.

52

Now the Gentiles are gathered together against us to destroy us. You know what they plot against us.

53

How shall we be able to resist them unless you help us?"

54

Then they blew the trumpets and cried out loudly.

55

After this Judas appointed officers among the people, over thousands, over hundreds, over fifties, and over tens.

56

He proclaimed that those who were building houses, or were just married, or were planting vineyards, and those who were afraid, could each return to his home, according to the law.

57

Then the army moved off, and they camped to the south of Emmaus.

58

Judas said: "Arm yourselves and be brave; in the morning be ready to fight these Gentiles who have assembled against us to destroy us and our sanctuary.

59

It is better for us to die in battle than to witness the ruin of our nation and our sanctuary. Whatever Heaven wills, he will do."

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Footnotes

¹ [10] Apollonius: the Mysian commander mentioned in 1 Macc 1:29; 2 Macc 5:24.

² [16] Beth-horon: the famous pass leading up from the coastal plain to the Judean hill country. Here Joshua won an important battle (Joshua 10:10-11), and in 66 A.D. a Roman force under Cestius was trapped and massacred.

³ [22] He himself: out of reverence for God, the author of 1 Macc prefers to use this and other expressions, such as "Heaven," instead of the divine name. Cf 1 Macc 3:50.

⁴ [24] About eight hundred: the figures given in this book for strength of armies and number of casualties are not to be taken literally. In accordance with biblical usage, they indicate rather the importance of the battle described or the greatness of the victory.

⁵ [37] This expedition, in the spring of 165 B.C., resulted in failure; cf 1 Macc 6.

⁶ [38] Nicanor: the leader of another attack against the Jews four years later. He was finally killed by Judas; cf 1 Macc 7:26-46.

⁷ [40] Emmaus: probably not the village mentioned in Luke 24:13 but a settlement about twenty miles west of Jerusalem at the edge of the hill country.

⁸ [46] ...Mizpah a place of prayer for Israel: a holy place established of old eight miles north and slightly west of Jerusalem. It was here that Samuel began to judge the Israelites (1 Sam 7:5-11; 10:17).

⁹ [48] To learn . . . idols: favorable omens for the coming battle. A contrast is intended between the idol worship of the pagans and the consultation of the word of God by the Jews; cf 2 Macc 8:23.

¹⁰ [49] Nazirites: see note on Numbers 6:1-3.

New American Bible Copyright © 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

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