1 Maccabees 5:9-54

Good News Translation

⁹ The Gentiles in Gilead assembled to attack and destroy the Israelites living in their territory. But the Israelites fled to the fortress of Dathema ^10-11 and sent the following letter to Judas and his brothers:

¹⁴ This letter was still being read when other messengers, who had torn their clothes in sorrow, arrived with a report from Galilee. ¹⁵ They said,

¹⁶ When Judas and the people heard all this, a great assembly was held to decide what should be done to help these countrymen, who were in such difficulty under enemy attack. ¹⁷ Judas said to his brother Simon,

²¹ Simon went into Galilee and fought many battles with the Gentiles. He defeated them ²² and pursued them all the way to the city of Ptolemais, killing about 3,000 of them, and taking the loot. ²³ Then he took the Jews who were in Galilee and Arbatta, with their wives, their children, and all they owned, and brought them back to Judea with him. There was great rejoicing.

²⁴ During this time, Judas Maccabeus and his brother Jonathan had crossed the Jordan River and had marched for three days through the desert. ²⁵ They met some friendly Nabateans who told them all that had happened to the Jews in Gilead. ²⁶ They reported that many Jews were imprisoned in the fortified cities of Bozrah, Bosor, Alema, Chaspho, Maked, and Karnaim, ²⁷ while others were imprisoned in the smaller towns of Gilead. They also reported that the enemy was drawn up to make an attack the next day on the Jewish fortresses, hoping to destroy all the Jews in a single day.

²⁸ So Judas and his army suddenly turned and attacked Bozrah by the desert road, captured the town, and killed every man in it. They looted the town and set it on fire. ²⁹ They left there and marched all night to the fortress at Dathema. ³⁰ At dawn Judas and his men saw a vast army attacking the fortress; they were bringing up ladders, siege platforms, and battering rams in an effort to capture it. ³¹ When Judas heard the noise, the shouts, and the sound of trumpets coming from the city, he realized that the battle had begun, ³² so he said to his men,

³³ He ordered his men to march in three columns and attack the enemy from the rear. As they moved forward, they blew trumpets and shouted prayers. ³⁴ When the army under Timothy's command saw that it was Judas Maccabeus, the soldiers turned and fled. Judas crushed them and killed about 8,000 men that day.

³⁵ Then Judas turned aside to attack the town of Alema;^[b] he captured it and killed all the men in it. He looted the town and set fire to it. ³⁶ From there he went on and captured Chaspho, Maked, Bosor, and the other towns of Gilead.

³⁷ After this, Timothy gathered another army and camped opposite Raphon, on the other side of a river. ³⁸ Judas sent some men to spy on the camp, and they reported back to him that all the Gentiles in the region had joined Timothy and had formed a large army. ³⁹ Timothy had also hired Arab mercenaries to help him, and these were camped on the other side of the river ready to attack Judas. So Judas went out to meet them in battle.

⁴² When Judas reached the bank of the river, he gave orders to his officers to let no one stop but to push everyone forward into battle. ⁴³ Judas was the first to cross the river against the enemy, and all his men followed him. The Gentiles broke ranks before them, threw away their arms, and fled to the pagan temple at Karnaim. ⁴⁴ But Judas and his men took the city and burned down the temple with all who were in it. With Karnaim overthrown, the Gentiles could no longer offer any resistance to Judas.

⁴⁵ Then Judas gathered together all the Jews in Gilead to take them back to Judea with him. It was a large group of all kinds of people, together with their wives and children and all that they owned. ⁴⁶ They went as far as Ephron, a large, well-fortified town. It was impossible to go around it on either side, and the road passed directly through the town. ⁴⁷ But the people there would not let them pass and blocked the town gates with stones. ⁴⁸ Then Judas sent a friendly message to them:

⁴⁹ So Judas told everyone in the group, except the fighting men, to camp where they were. ⁵⁰ The fighting men were ordered to take up their positions and attack the town. They fought all day and all night, until they had taken it. ⁵¹ Judas had all the men of Ephron put to death, plundered the town, and leveled it. Then he and his army marched through the town over the dead bodies. ⁵² They crossed the Jordan into the wide plain opposite Beth Shan. ⁵³ Throughout the whole march Judas kept gathering up the stragglers and encouraging the people until they reached the land of Judea. ⁵⁴ With thanksgiving and rejoicing, they went up to Mount Zion and sacrificed burnt offerings because they had returned safely without a single loss.