1 Maccabees 9

1 When Demetrius heard that Nicanor and his army had fallen in battle, he sent Bacchides and Alcimus into the land of Judah a second time, and the right wing of his army with them. 2 They went by the road that leads to Gilgal and camped against Mesaloth in Arbela; they captured it and killed many people. [a] 3 In the first month of the 152nd year they encamped against Jerusalem; [b] 4 then they moved off and went to Berea, with twenty thousand foot soldiers and two thousand horsemen.

5 Now Judas was encamped at Elasa, and three thousand picked men with him. 6 But when they saw the mass of the enemy forces, how many they were, they were terrified, and many slipped away out of the camp, until no more than eight hundred men were left. 7 Judas saw that his army had melted away with the battle pressing upon him, and his heart broke, for he had no time to gather them again. 8 Losing strength, he said to those who remained, “Up — let us go against our enemies. Perhaps we may yet have strength to fight them.” 9 But they tried to turn him back: “We cannot. Let us save our own lives now, and come back with our brothers to fight them — we are too few.” 10 And Judas said, “Far be it from me to do such a thing — to run from them! If our time has come, then let us die like men for our brothers, and leave no stain on our honor.” [c]

11 Then the enemy army marched out of camp and took position to meet them. Their cavalry was split into two troops; their slingers and archers went ahead of the army, and all the front-line fighters were mighty men. And Bacchides was on the right wing. 12 The phalanx came on in its two divisions, sounding their trumpets; and the men on Judas’s side blew their trumpets too. 13 The earth shook with the noise of the armies, and the battle was joined, and it lasted from morning until evening.

14 Judas saw that Bacchides and the strength of his army were on the right, and all the stouthearted men rallied to him, 15 and the right wing was crushed by them, and he pursued them as far as Mount Azotus. 16 But when the men of the left wing saw that the right wing was crushed, they wheeled around and followed hard on the heels of Judas and his men, from behind. 17 The fighting grew desperate, and many on both sides fell dying of their wounds. 18 And Judas fell — and the rest fled.

19 Jonathan and Simon took up Judas their brother and buried him in the tomb of his fathers at Modein. 20 They wept for him, and all Israel mourned him with a great mourning. They grieved for many days, and they said:

22 The rest of the acts of Judas — his wars, the brave deeds he did, and his greatness — have not been written down, for they were very many.

23 After the death of Judas, the lawless raised their heads in all the territory of Israel, and all the workers of wrong sprang up. 24 In those days a very great famine came, and the country went over to their side. 25 Bacchides chose out ungodly men and set them as masters of the country. 26 They hunted and searched out the friends of Judas and brought them to Bacchides, and he took vengeance on them and made sport of them. 27 So there was great distress in Israel, such as had not been since the day a prophet last appeared among them.

28 Then all the friends of Judas came together and said to Jonathan, 29 “Since your brother Judas died, there has been no man like him to go out and come in against our enemies — against Bacchides, and against those of our own nation who hate us. 30 So today we choose you to take his place as our ruler and leader, to fight our war.” 31 And Jonathan accepted the command at that time, and rose up in the place of his brother Judas.

32 When Bacchides learned of it, he sought to kill him. 33 But Jonathan and his brother Simon and all who were with him found it out, and they fled into the wilderness of Tekoa and camped by the water of the pool of Asphar. 34 Bacchides learned of it on the Sabbath day, and he crossed with his whole army to the far side of the Jordan.

35 Jonathan sent his brother, a leader of the company, to ask his friends the Nabateans to store with them their baggage train, which was large. [d] 36 But the sons of Jambri came out from Medeba, and they seized John and everything he had, and made off with it. 37 After this, word came to Jonathan and his brother Simon that the sons of Jambri were holding a great wedding, and were escorting the bride — a daughter of one of the great nobles of Canaan — from Nadabath with a large procession. 38 They remembered the blood of their brother John, and they went up and hid under cover of the mountain.

39 When they lifted their eyes and looked, there was a noisy crowd with much baggage, and the bridegroom had come out with his friends and his brothers to meet the bridal party, with tambourines and musicians and many weapons. 40 Then they rose against them from the ambush and killed them. Many fell dying of their wounds, and the rest fled to the mountain; and they took all their spoils. 41 So the wedding was turned into mourning, and the sound of their music into a funeral lament. 42 And when they had taken full vengeance for the blood of their brother, they turned back to the marshes of the Jordan.

43 When Bacchides heard of it, he came on the Sabbath day to the banks of the Jordan with a great force. 44 And Jonathan said to his men, “Up — let us fight for our lives! Today it is not as it was yesterday and the day before. 45 Look: the battle is in front of us and behind us; the water of the Jordan is on this side and on that, with marsh and thicket — there is nowhere to turn. 46 So now, cry out to Heaven, that you may be saved from the hand of our enemies.”

47 Then the battle was joined. Jonathan stretched out his hand to strike Bacchides down, but he drew back out of his reach. 48 And Jonathan and his men leaped into the Jordan and swam across to the other side, and the enemy did not cross the Jordan after them. 49 About a thousand of Bacchides’ men fell that day.

50 Bacchides returned to Jerusalem, and they built fortified cities in Judea — the fortress at Jericho, and Emmaus, Beth-horon, Bethel, Timnath, Pharathon, and Tephon — with high walls and gates and bars, 51 and he set garrisons in them to harass Israel. 52 He fortified the city of Beth-zur, and Gazara, and the citadel, and he put troops in them and stores of food. 53 And he took the sons of the leading men of the country as hostages and put them under guard in the citadel at Jerusalem.

54 In the 153rd year, in the second month, Alcimus ordered the wall of the inner court of the holy place to be torn down — tearing down the work of the prophets — and he began the demolition. [e] 55 At that very time Alcimus was struck down, and his work was stopped. His mouth was closed and he was paralyzed, so that he could no longer speak a word or give orders concerning his own house. 56 And Alcimus died at that time in great torment. 57 When Bacchides saw that Alcimus was dead, he returned to the king; and the land of Judah had rest for two years.

58 Then all the lawless men plotted together: “Look — Jonathan and his men are living in quiet and full of confidence. Let us bring Bacchides back now, and he will seize them all in a single night.” 59 So they went and took counsel with him. 60 He set out to come with a great force, and he secretly sent letters to all his allies in Judea, telling them to seize Jonathan and his men. But they could not, because their plan became known; 61 instead, about fifty of the men of the country who were ringleaders in the plot were seized and put to death.

62 Then Jonathan and Simon and their men withdrew to Beth-basi in the wilderness; they rebuilt what was broken down in it and made it strong. 63 When Bacchides learned of it, he gathered his whole force and sent word to his men in Judea, 64 and he came and laid siege to Beth-basi. He fought against it many days and built siege engines.

65 But Jonathan left his brother Simon in the town and went out into the countryside, taking a number of men with him. 66 He struck down Odomera and his brothers, and the sons of Phasiron in their tents; and they began to strike them, and pressed forward with their forces. [f] 67 And Simon and his men sallied out of the town and set fire to the siege engines. 68 They fought against Bacchides, and he was crushed by them. They pressed him very hard, for his plan and his whole campaign had come to nothing. 69 He was furious with the lawless men who had advised him to come into the country; he killed many of them, and he resolved to go back to his own land.

70 When Jonathan learned of it, he sent envoys to him to arrange peace with him and the return of the prisoners. 71 Bacchides agreed, and did as Jonathan asked; and he swore to him that he would never seek his harm all the days of his life. 72 He gave back to him the prisoners he had taken earlier as captives from the land of Judah; then he turned and went away to his own land, and he never again came into their territory. 73 So the sword ceased from Israel. And Jonathan settled at Michmash; and Jonathan began to judge the people, and he wiped out the ungodly from Israel.