1 Maccabees 3
Victory Does Not Depend on the Size of the Army
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Judas Maccabeus Arises
3:1His son Judas, called Maccabeus, arose in his place.
3:2All his brothers and everyone who had joined his father helped him, and they fought Israel’s war with gladness.
3:3He spread glory for his people, put on a breastplate like a giant, girded himself with his weapons of war, and waged battles, protecting the army with his sword.
3:4In his deeds he was like a lion, like a young lion roaring over prey.
3:5He searched out and pursued the lawless, and burned those who troubled his people.
3:6The lawless shrank back from fear of him; all workers of lawlessness were shaken, and deliverance prospered in his hand.
3:7He embittered many kings and gladdened Jacob by his deeds; his memory is a blessing forever.
3:8He passed through the cities of Judah, destroyed the ungodly out of her, and turned wrath away from Israel.
3:9His name reached to the end of the earth, and he gathered those who were perishing.
Apollonius Defeated
3:10Apollonius gathered nations and a great force from Samaria to fight against Israel.
3:11Judas learned of it, went out to meet him, struck him, and killed him. Many fell wounded, and the survivors fled.
3:12They took their spoils. Judas took Apollonius’s sword and fought with it all his days.
Seron at the Ascent of Beth-horon
3:13Seron, commander of the Syrian force, heard that Judas had gathered a body of men, an assembly of faithful men who were with him and went out to war.
3:14He said, “I will make a name for myself and be honored in the kingdom. I will fight Judas and those with him who despise the king’s command.”
3:15He set out again, and a strong army of ungodly men went up with him to help him take vengeance on the sons of Israel.
3:16He approached the ascent of Beth-horon, and Judas went out to meet him with only a few men.
3:17When they saw the army coming to meet them, they said to Judas, “How can we, being so few, fight such a strong multitude? We are exhausted, having eaten nothing today.”
3:18Judas said, “It is easy for many to be shut into the hands of a few. Before Heaven there is no difference between saving by many or by few.
3:19Victory in battle does not depend on the multitude of an army; strength comes from Heaven.
3:20They come against us in an abundance of arrogance and lawlessness to destroy us, our wives, and our children, and to plunder us.
3:21But we are fighting for our lives and our customs.
3:22He Himself will crush them before us. Do not be afraid of them.”
3:23When he finished speaking, he rushed upon them suddenly, and Seron and his army were crushed before him.
3:24They pursued him down the descent of Beth-horon as far as the plain. About eight hundred of their men fell, and the rest fled into the land of the Philistines.
3:25Then fear of Judas and his brothers began, and terror fell upon the nations around them.
3:26His name reached the king, and the nations recounted the battles of Judas.
The Wrath of Antiochus
3:27When King Antiochus heard these reports, he became furious. He sent and gathered all the forces of his kingdom, an exceedingly strong army.
3:28He opened his treasury, gave the forces a year’s pay, and commanded them to be ready for every need.
3:29He saw that the money in the treasuries was exhausted and the revenues of the country were small because of the dissension and disaster he had brought upon the land by removing the customs that had existed from the earliest days.
3:30He feared that he would not have enough, as on former occasions, for expenses and for the gifts that he had previously given with a lavish hand, surpassing the kings before him.
3:31He was greatly perplexed in his soul and resolved to go to Persia, collect the revenues of the countries, and gather much silver.
Lysias Left in Charge
3:32He left Lysias, an honored man of royal lineage, in charge of the king’s affairs from the Euphrates River to the borders of Egypt
3:33and to bring up his son Antiochus until he returned.
3:34He handed over to him half the forces and the elephants, and instructed him concerning everything he wished, including the inhabitants of Judea and Jerusalem:
3:35he was to send an army against them to crush and remove Israel’s strength and the remnant of Jerusalem, and to remove their memory from the place.
3:36He was to settle foreigners throughout all their territory and allot their land to them.
3:37The king took the remaining half of the forces and set out from Antioch, his royal city, in the one hundred and forty-seventh year. He crossed the Euphrates River and traveled through the upper countries.
The Force Sent into Judea
3:38Lysias selected Ptolemy son of Dorymenes, Nicanor, and Gorgias, capable men among the king’s Friends.
3:39He sent with them forty thousand men and seven thousand cavalry to enter the land of Judah and destroy it, according to the king’s command.
3:40He set out with all their force, and they came and encamped near Emmaus in the lowland.
3:41The merchants of the country heard their reputation, took a very great quantity of silver and gold, along with shackles, and came to the camp to buy the sons of Israel as slaves. A force from Syria and the land of foreigners joined them.
The Assembly at Mizpah
3:42Judas and his brothers saw that the evils had multiplied and that the forces were encamping within their borders. They learned the king’s commands to bring destruction and an end upon the people.
3:43Each said to his neighbor, “Let us restore our people’s fallen state and fight for our people and the holy places.”
3:44The assembly gathered to prepare for war, to pray, and to ask for mercy and compassion.
3:45Jerusalem was uninhabited like a wilderness. None of those born in her went in or out; the sanctuary was being trampled, and foreigners were in the citadel, a lodging for the nations. Delight was removed from Jacob, and flute and lyre ceased.
3:46They gathered and came to Mizpah opposite Jerusalem, because formerly Mizpah had been a place of prayer for Israel.
3:47They fasted that day, put on sackcloth, placed ashes on their heads, and tore their garments.
3:48They unrolled the book of the law concerning the matters for which the nations consulted the likenesses of their idols.
3:49They brought the priestly garments, the firstfruits, and the tithes, and brought forward the Nazirites who had completed their days.
3:50They cried aloud to Heaven, saying, “What shall we do with these, and where shall we take them,
3:51when Your holy places have been trampled and profaned, and Your priests are in mourning and humiliation?
3:52Look! The nations have gathered against us to destroy us. You know what they are planning against us.
3:53How can we stand before them unless You help us?”
3:54They sounded the trumpets and cried out with a loud voice.
Leaders Appointed and the Camp at Emmaus
3:55After this Judas appointed leaders of the people: commanders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens.
3:56He told those building houses, those betrothed to wives, those planting vineyards, and the fearful to return, each to his own house, according to the law.
3:57The army set out, and they encamped south of Emmaus.
3:58Judas said, “Gird yourselves and become men of strength. Be ready in the morning to fight these nations that have gathered against us to destroy us and our holy places.
3:59It is better for us to die in battle than to look upon the evils suffered by our nation and the holy places.
3:60But as the will in heaven may be, so He will do.”
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Saints Translation · Liturgical reading edition · V1 · working draft awaiting specialist review.