I Maccabees 5

¹And it was don, as hethene men herden in cumpas, that the auter was bildid, and the seyntuarie as bifore, thei weren wroth greetli.

²And thei thouyten for to do awei, `ether distrie, the kyn of Jacob, that was among hem; and thei bigunnen for to sle of the puple, and pursue.

³And Judas ouercam the sones of Esau in Ydume, and hem that weren in Arabathane, for thei saten aboute men of Israel; and he smoot hem with a greet wounde.

⁴And he thouyte on the malice of sones of Bean, that weren in to gnare, and in to sclaundre to the puple of Israel, and aspieden it, `ether settiden `buyschementis to it, in the weie.

⁵And thes weren closid togidere fro hym in the touris; and he appliede to hem, and curside hem, and brente with fier the touris of hem, with alle men that weren in hem.

⁶And he passide to the sones of Amon, and foond strong hond, and plenteuouse puple, and Tymothe, duyk of hem.

⁷And he smoot many batels with hem, and thei weren brokun in siyt of hym; and he smoot hem.

⁸And he took the citee Jaser, and vilages therof; and he turnede ayen in to Judee.

⁹And hethene men that weren in Galaad, weren gaderid ayens Israelitis, that weren in coostis of hem, for to do awei hem; and thei fledden in to the strengthing of Datheman.

¹⁰And thei senten lettris to Judas, and hise britheren, and seiden, Hethene men ben gaderid ayens vs bi cumpas, that thei do awei vs;

¹¹and thei maken redi for to come, and ocupie the strengthing, in to which we fledden; and Tymothe is duyk of the oost of hem.

¹²Now therfor come thou, and delyuere vs fro her hondis, for a multitude of vs felle doun;

¹³and alle oure britheren that weren in places of Tubyn, euerywhere ben slayn; and thei ledden awei caitif the wyues of hem, and children, and token spuylis, and killiden there almeste a thousynde men.

¹⁴And yit epistlis weren rad, and lo! othere messangeris camen fro Galile, with cootis to-rent,

¹⁵and telden bi these wordis, and seiden, that men camen togidere ayens hem fro Tolomaida, and Tire, and Sidon, and al Galile is fillid with aliens, for to distrie vs.

¹⁶Sotheli as Judas herde, and the puple, these wordis, a greet chirche cam togidere, for to thenke what thei schulden do to her britheren, that weren in tribulacioun, and weren ouer comun of hem.

¹⁷And Judas seide to Symount, his brother, Chese to thee men, and go, and delyuere thi britheren in Galile; Y forsothe and my brother Jonathas schulen go in to Galatithym.

¹⁸And he lefte Josafus, sone of Sacarie, and Azarie, duykis of the puple, with the residue oost in Judee to kepyng;

¹⁹and comaundide to hem, and seide, Be ye souereyns to this puple, and nyle ye smyte batel ayens hethene men, til we turnen ayen.

²⁰And men weren youun to Simount thre thousyndis, for to go in to Galile; to Judas sotheli eiyte thousynde, in to Galatithym.

²¹And Symount wente in to Galile, and ioynede many batels with hethene men. And hethene men weren al to-brokun fro his face, and

²²he pursuede hem til the yate of Tolomaida. And there fellen doun of hethene men almest thre thousynde of men;

²³and he took the spuylis of hem. And he took hem that weren in Galile, and in Arbathis, with wyues, and children, and alle thingis that weren to hem; and brouyte in to Judee with greet gladnesse.

²⁴And Judas Machabeis, and Jonathas, and hise britheren passiden Jordan, and wenten forth the weie of thre daies in to desert.

²⁵And Nabutheis camen ayens hem, and resseyueden hem pesibli, and telden to hem alle thingis that bifellen to her britheren in Galadithym;

²⁶and that manye of hem weren takun in Barasa, and Bosor, and in Alymys, and in Casphor, and Mathet, and Carnaym; alle these were strong citees and grete.

²⁷But and in othere citees of Galatithis thei ben holdun cauyt. And on the morewe thei ordeyneden for to moue oost to tho citees, and for to take, and do awei hem in o dai.

²⁸And Judas turnede, and his oost, the weie in to desert of Bosor sudenli; and ocupiede the citee, and slow ech male bi the scharpnesse of swerd, and took alle the spuylis of hem, and brente it with fier.

²⁹And thei risiden thennus in nyyt, and wenten `til to the strengthing.

³⁰And it was maad in sprynging of dai, whanne thei reisiden her iyen, and lo! myche puple, of whom was no noumbre, berynge laddris and engynes, for to take the strengthing, and ouer come hem.

³¹And Judas siy, that batel bigan, and crie of batel stiede in to heuene, as trumpe, and greet cry of citee.

³²And he seide to his oost, Fiyte ye to dai for youre britheren.

³³And he cam, and thre ordris after hem, and thei crieden with trumpis, and crieden in preier.

³⁴And oostis of Thymothe knewen, that it was Machabeus, and thei fledden fro his face. And thei han smytun hem with greet wounde; and there fellen doun of hem in that dai almest eiyte thousynde of men.

³⁵And Judas turnede awei in to Maspha; and ouercam and took it, and slow ech male therof, and took spuylis of it, and brente it with fier.

³⁶Fro thennus he wente, and took Casbon, and Mageth, and Bosor, and othere citees of Galathite.

³⁷Forsothe after these wordis Thymothe gaderide an other oost, and puttide tentis ayens Raphon, ouer the streem.

³⁸And Judas sente for to biholde the oost, and thei telden ayen to hym, and seide, That alle hethene men that ben in oure cumpas, ful myche oost, camen togidere to hym.

³⁹And thei hiriden Arabiens in to help to him, and thei han set tentis ouer the streem, and ben redi for to come to thee in to batel. And Judas wente ayens hem.

⁴⁰And Tymothe seide to princes of his oost, Whanne Judas neiyeth, and his oost, to the streem of water, if he passith formere to vs, we schulen not mowe abide hym, for he miyti schal mowe ayens vs.

⁴¹Sotheli if he dredith for to passe, and settith tentis biyende the flood, passe we ouer to hem, and we schulen mowe ayens hym.

⁴²Forsothe as Judas neiyede to the streem of water, he ordeynede scribis, `ether writeris of the puple, bisidis the streem, and comaundide to hem, and seide, Leeue ye noon of men, but come alle in to batel.

⁴³And he the formere passide ouer to hem, and al the puple after hym. And alle these hethene men weren brokun fro the face of hem, and thei castiden awei her armeris; and thei fledden to the temple, that was at Carnaym.

⁴⁴And Judas ocupiede `the ilke citee, and brente the temple with fier, with alle that weren in it; and Carnaym was oppressid, and miyte not abide ayens the face of Judas.

⁴⁵And Judas gaderide alle Israelitis that weren in Galadithes, fro the leeste to the moste, and wyues of hem, and children, and ful greet oost, that thei schulden come in to the lond of Judee.

⁴⁶And thei camen til to Efron, and this greet citee put in the entre was ful strong; and ther was not for to bowe awei fro it, in riyt half or left, but the weie was thorou the myddil.

⁴⁷And thei that weren in the citee closiden in hem, and stoppiden the yatis with stoonys. And Judas sente to hem with pesible wordis, and seide,

⁴⁸Passe we bi youre lond, for to go in to oure lond, and no man schal anoie you, oneli on feet we schulen go.

⁴⁹And thei wolden not opene to hem. And Judas comaundide for to preche in tentis, `ether oost, that ech man schulde applie, `that is, asaile the citee, in what place he was.

⁵⁰And men of vertu applieden hem, and he fauyt ayens that citee al dai and al niyt, and the citee was bitakun in his hond.

⁵¹And thei slowen ech `knaue child bi the scharpnesse of swerd, and drow vp bi the rootis it, and took the spuylis therof, and passide bi al the citee on the slayn men.

⁵²And thei passiden ouer Jordan, in the greet feeld ayens the face of Bethsan.

⁵³And Judas was gaderynge the laste men, and monestide the puple bi al the weie, til thei camen in to the lond of Juda.

⁵⁴And thei stieden in to the hil of Sion with gladnesse and ioie, and offriden brent sacrifices, that no man of hem `was deed, til thei turneden ayen in pees.

⁵⁵And in the daies in whiche Judas was, and Jonathas, in the lond of Galaad, and Symount, his brother, in Galilee, ayens the face of Tholomaida,

⁵⁶Josofus, sone of Zacarie, herde, and Azarias, prince of vertu, the thingis doon wel, and batels that weren maad.

⁵⁷And he seide, Make we also a name to vs, and go we for to fiyte ayens hethene men, that ben in oure cumpas.

⁵⁸And he comaundide to these that weren in his oost, and thei wenten forth to Jamnyan.

⁵⁹And Gorgias wente out of the citee, and hise men, ayens hem, in to fiyt.

⁶⁰And Josofus and Azarias weren dryuun `til to the endis of Judee; and ther fellen doun in that dai of the puple of Israel, men to twei thousyndis. And a greet wounde was maad in the puple;

⁶¹for thei herden not Judas and hise britheren, and gessiden hem to do strongli.

⁶²Forsothe thei weren not of the seed of tho men, bi whiche helthe was maad in Israel.

⁶³And men of Juda weren magnefied greetli in the siyt of al Israel, and of alle hethene men, where the name of hem was herd.

⁶⁴And thei camen togidere, criynge to hem `prosperite, ether preisyngis.

⁶⁵And Judas wente out, and his britheren, and ouercamen the sones of Esau, in the lond that is at the south; and he smoot Chebron, and vilagis therof, and distriede `the wardyngis therof, and wallis therof, and brente in fier touris therof in cumpas.

⁶⁶And he mouede tentis, for to go in to the lond of aliens; and wente thorou Samarie.

⁶⁷In that dai prestis fellen doun in batel, while thei wolden do strongli, while with out counsel thei wenten out in to batel.

⁶⁸And Judas bowide awei in to Asotus, in the lond of aliens, and distriede auteris of hem, and brenten in fier the spuylis of her goddis, and took preies of citees; and turnede ayen in to the lond of Juda.

I Maccabees 5

¹Now when the nations round about heard that the altar was built and the sanctuary renewed as before, it displeased them very much.

²Wherefore they thought to destroy the generation of Jacob that was among them, and thereupon they began to slay and destroy the people.

³Then Judas fought against the children of Esau in Idumea at Arabattine, because they besieged Gael: and he gave them a great overthrow, and abated their courage, and took their spoils.

⁴Also he remembered the injury of the children of Bean, who had been a snare and an offence unto the people, in that they lay in wait for them in the ways.

⁵He shut them up therefore in the towers, and encamped against them, and destroyed them utterly, and burned the towers of that place with fire, and all that were therein.

⁶Afterward he passed over to the children of Ammon, where he found a mighty power, and much people, with Timotheus their captain.

⁷So he fought many battles with them, till at length they were discomfited before him; and he smote them.

⁸And when he had taken Jazar, with the towns belonging thereto, he returned into Judea.

⁹Then the heathen that were at Galaad assembled themselves together against the Israelites that were in their quarters, to destroy them; but they fled to the fortress of Dathema.

¹⁰And sent letters unto Judas and his brethren, The heathen that are round about us are assembled together against us to destroy us:

¹¹And they are preparing to come and take the fortress whereunto we are fled, Timotheus being captain of their host.

¹²Come now therefore, and deliver us from their hands, for many of us are slain:

¹³Yea, all our brethren that were in the places of Tobie are put to death: their wives and their children also they have carried away captives, and borne away their stuff; and they have destroyed there about a thousand men.

¹⁴While these letters were yet reading, behold, there came other messengers from Galilee with their clothes rent, who reported on this wise,

¹⁵And said, They of Ptolemais, and of Tyrus, and Sidon, and all Galilee of the Gentiles, are assembled together against us to consume us.

¹⁶Now when Judas and the people heard these words, there assembled a great congregation together, to consult what they should do for their brethren, that were in trouble, and assaulted of them.

¹⁷Then said Judas unto Simon his brother, Choose thee out men, and go and deliver thy brethren that are in Galilee, for I and Jonathan my brother will go into the country of Galaad.

¹⁸So he left Joseph the son of Zacharias, and Azarias, captains of the people, with the remnant of the host in Judea to keep it.

¹⁹Unto whom he gave commandment, saying, Take ye the charge of this people, and see that ye make not war against the heathen until the time that we come again.

²⁰Now unto Simon were given three thousand men to go into Galilee, and unto Judas eight thousand men for the country of Galaad.

²¹Then went Simon into Galilee, where he fought many battles with the heathen, so that the heathen were discomfited by him.

²²And he pursued them unto the gate of Ptolemais; and there were slain of the heathen about three thousand men, whose spoils he took.

²³And those that were in Galilee, and in Arbattis, with their wives and their children, and all that they had, took he away with him, and brought them into Judea with great joy.

²⁴Judas Maccabeus also and his brother Jonathan went over Jordan, and travelled three days’ journey in the wilderness,

²⁵Where they met with the Nabathites, who came unto them in a peaceable manner, and told them every thing that had happened to their brethren in the land of Galaad:

²⁶And how that many of them were shut up in Bosora, and Bosor, and Alema, Casphor, Maked, and Carnaim; all these cities are strong and great:

²⁷And that they were shut up in the rest of the cities of the country of Galaad, and that against to morrow they had appointed to bring their host against the forts, and to take them, and to destroy them all in one day.

²⁸Hereupon Judas and his host turned suddenly by the way of the wilderness unto Bosora; and when he had won the city, he slew all the males with the edge of the sword, and took all their spoils, and burned the city with fire,

²⁹From whence he removed by night, and went till he came to the fortress.

³⁰And betimes in the morning they looked up, and, behold, there was an innumerable people bearing ladders and other engines of war, to take the fortress: for they assaulted them.

³¹When Judas therefore saw that the battle was begun, and that the cry of the city went up to heaven, with trumpets, and a great sound,

³²He said unto his host, Fight this day for your brethren.

³³So he went forth behind them in three companies, who sounded their trumpets, and cried with prayer.

³⁴Then the host of Timotheus, knowing that it was Maccabeus, fled from him: wherefore he smote them with a great slaughter; so that there were killed of them that day about eight thousand men.

³⁵This done, Judas turned aside to Maspha; and after he had assaulted it he took and slew all the males therein, and received the spoils thereof and and burnt it with fire.

³⁶From thence went he, and took Casphon, Maged, Bosor, and the other cities of the country of Galaad.

³⁷After these things gathered Timotheus another host and encamped against Raphon beyond the brook.

³⁸So Judas sent men to espy the host, who brought him word, saying, All the heathen that be round about us are assembled unto them, even a very great host.

³⁹He hath also hired the Arabians to help them and they have pitched their tents beyond the brook, ready to come and fight against thee. Upon this Judas went to meet them.

⁴⁰Then Timotheus said unto the captains of his host, When Judas and his host come near the brook, if he pass over first unto us, we shall not be able to withstand him; for he will mightily prevail against us:

⁴¹But if he be afraid, and camp beyond the river, we shall go over unto him, and prevail against him.

⁴²Now when Judas came near the brook, he caused the scribes of the people to remain by the brook: unto whom he gave commandment, saying, Suffer no man to remain in the camp, but let all come to the battle.

⁴³So he went first over unto them, and all the people after him: then all the heathen, being discomfited before him, cast away their weapons, and fled unto the temple that was at Carnaim.

⁴⁴But they took the city, and burned the temple with all that were therein. Thus was Carnaim subdued, neither could they stand any longer before Judas.

⁴⁵Then Judas gathered together all the Israelites that were in the country of Galaad, from the least unto the greatest, even their wives, and their children, and their stuff, a very great host, to the end they might come into the land of Judea.

⁴⁶Now when they came unto Ephron, (this was a great city in the way as they should go, very well fortified) they could not turn from it, either on the right hand or the left, but must needs pass through the midst of it.

⁴⁷Then they of the city shut them out, and stopped up the gates with stones.

⁴⁸Whereupon Judas sent unto them in peaceable manner, saying, Let us pass through your land to go into our own country, and none shall do you any hurt; we will only pass through on foot: howbeit they would not open unto him.

⁴⁹Wherefore Judas commanded a proclamation to be made throughout the host, that every man should pitch his tent in the place where he was.

⁵⁰So the soldiers pitched, and assaulted the city all that day and all that night, till at the length the city was delivered into his hands:

⁵¹Who then slew all the males with the edge of the sword, and rased the city, and took the spoils thereof, and passed through the city over them that were slain.

⁵²After this went they over Jordan into the great plain before Bethsan.

⁵³And Judas gathered together those that came behind, and exhorted the people all the way through, till they came into the land of Judea.

⁵⁴So they went up to mount Sion with joy and gladness, where they offered burnt offerings, because not one of them were slain until they had returned in peace.

⁵⁵Now what time as Judas and Jonathan were in the land of Galaad, and Simon his brother in Galilee before Ptolemais,

⁵⁶Joseph the son of Zacharias, and Azarias, captains of the garrisons, heard of the valiant acts and warlike deeds which they had done.

⁵⁷Wherefore they said, Let us also get us a name, and go fight against the heathen that are round about us.

⁵⁸So when they had given charge unto the garrison that was with them, they went toward Jamnia.

⁵⁹Then came Gorgias and his men out of the city to fight against them.

⁶⁰And so it was, that Joseph and Azaras were put to flight, and pursued unto the borders of Judea: and there were slain that day of the people of Israel about two thousand men.

⁶¹Thus was there a great overthrow among the children of Israel, because they were not obedient unto Judas and his brethren, but thought to do some valiant act.

⁶²Moreover these men came not of the seed of those, by whose hand deliverance was given unto Israel.

⁶³Howbeit the man Judas and his brethren were greatly renowned in the sight of all Israel, and of all the heathen, wheresoever their name was heard of;

⁶⁴Insomuch as the the people assembled unto them with joyful acclamations.

⁶⁵Afterward went Judas forth with his brethren, and fought against the children of Esau in the land toward the south, where he smote Hebron, and the towns thereof, and pulled down the fortress of it, and burned the towers thereof round about.

⁶⁶From thence he removed to go into the land of the Philistines, and passed through Samaria.

⁶⁷At that time certain priests, desirous to shew their valour, were slain in battle, for that they went out to fight unadvisedly.

⁶⁸So Judas turned to Azotus in the land of the Philistines, and when he had pulled down their altars, and burned their carved images with fire, and spoiled their cities, he returned into the land of Judea.