1 Maccabees 9

Revised Standard Version

Bacchides Returns to Judea

9 When Deme′trius heard that Nica′nor and his army had fallen in battle, he sent Bac′chides and Al′cimus into the land of Judah a second time, and with them the right wing of the army. ² They went by the road which leads to Gilgal and encamped against Mes′aloth in Arbe′la, and they took it and killed many people. ³ In the first month of the one hundred and fifty-second year^[a] they encamped against Jerusalem; ⁴ then they marched off and went to Berea with twenty thousand foot soldiers and two thousand cavalry.

⁵ Now Judas was encamped in El′asa, and with him were three thousand picked men. ⁶ When they saw the huge number of the enemy forces, they were greatly frightened, and many slipped away from the camp, until no more than eight hundred of them were left.

⁷ When Judas saw that his army had slipped away and the battle was imminent, he was crushed in spirit, for he had no time to assemble them. ⁸ He became faint, but he said to those who were left, “Let us rise and go up against our enemies. We may be able to fight them.” ⁹ But they tried to dissuade him, saying, “We are not able. Let us rather save our own lives now, and let us come back with our brethren and fight them; we are too few.” ¹⁰ But Judas said, “Far be it from us to do such a thing as to flee from them. If our time has come, let us die bravely for our brethren, and leave no cause to question our honor.”

The Last Battle of Judas

¹¹ Then the army of Bac′chides^[b] marched out from the camp and took its stand for the encounter. The cavalry was divided into two companies, and the slingers and the archers went ahead of the army, as did all the chief warriors. ¹² Bac′chides was on the right wing. Flanked by the two companies, the phalanx advanced to the sound of the trumpets; and the men with Judas also blew their trumpets. ¹³ The earth was shaken by the noise of the armies, and the battle raged from morning till evening.

¹⁴ Judas saw that Bac′chides and the strength of his army were on the right; then all the stouthearted men went with him, ¹⁵ and they crushed the right wing, and he pursued them as far as Mount Azo′tus. ¹⁶ When those on the left wing saw that the right wing was crushed, they turned and followed close behind Judas and his men. ¹⁷ The battle became desperate, and many on both sides were wounded and fell. ¹⁸ Judas also fell, and the rest fled.

¹⁹ Then Jonathan and Simon took Judas their brother and buried him in the tomb of their fathers at Mo′de-in, ²⁰ and wept for him. And all Israel made great lamentation for him; they mourned many days and said,

²² Now the rest of the acts of Judas, and his wars and the brave deeds that he did, and his greatness, have not been recorded, for they were very many.

Jonathan Succeeds Judas

²³ After the death of Judas, the lawless emerged in all parts of Israel; all the doers of injustice appeared. ²⁴ In those days a very great famine occurred, and the country deserted with them to the enemy. ²⁵ And Bac′chides chose the ungodly and put them in charge of the country. ²⁶ They sought and searched for the friends of Judas, and brought them to Bac′chides, and he took vengeance on them and made sport of them. ²⁷ Thus there was great distress in Israel, such as had not been since the time that prophets ceased to appear among them.

²⁸ Then all the friends of Judas assembled and said to Jonathan, ²⁹ “Since the death of your brother Judas there has been no one like him to go against our enemies and Bac′chides, and to deal with those of our nation who hate us. ³⁰ So now we have chosen you today to take his place as our ruler and leader, to fight our battle.” ³¹ And Jonathan at that time accepted the leadership and took the place of Judas his brother.

The Campaigns of Jonathan

³² When Bac′chides learned of this, he tried to kill him. ³³ But Jonathan and Simon his brother and all who were with him heard of it, and they fled into the wilderness of Teko′a and camped by the water of the pool of Asphar. ³⁴ Bac′chides found this out on the sabbath day, and he with all his army crossed the Jordan.

³⁵ And Jonathan^[c] sent his brother as leader of the multitude and begged the Nabate′ans, who were his friends, for permission to store with them the great amount of baggage which they had. ³⁶ But the sons of Jambri from Me′deba came out and seized John and all that he had, and departed with it.

³⁷ After these things it was reported to Jonathan and Simon his brother, “The sons of Jambri are celebrating a great wedding, and are conducting the bride, a daughter of one of the great nobles of Canaan, from Nad′abath with a large escort.” ³⁸ And they remembered the blood of John their brother, and went up and hid under cover of the mountain. ³⁹ They raised their eyes and looked, and saw a tumultuous procession with much baggage; and the bridegroom came out with his friends and his brothers to meet them with tambourines and musicians and many weapons. ⁴⁰ Then they rushed upon them from the ambush and began killing them. Many were wounded and fell, and the rest fled to the mountain; and they took all their goods. ⁴¹ Thus the wedding was turned into mourning and the voice of their musicians into a funeral dirge. ⁴² And when they had fully avenged the blood of their brother, they returned to the marshes of the Jordan.

⁴³ When Bac′chides heard of this, he came with a large force on the sabbath day to the banks of the Jordan. ⁴⁴ And Jonathan said to those with him, “Let us rise up now and fight for our lives, for today things are not as they were before. ⁴⁵ For 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 no place to turn. ⁴⁶ Cry out now to Heaven that you may be delivered from the hands of our enemies.” ⁴⁷ So the battle began, and Jonathan stretched out his hand to strike Bac′chides, but he eluded him and went to the rear. ⁴⁸ Then Jonathan and the men with him leaped into the Jordan and swam across to the other side, and the enemy^[d] did not cross the Jordan to attack them. ⁴⁹ And about one thousand of Bac′chides’ men fell that day.

Bacchides Builds Fortifications

⁵⁰ Bac′chides^[e] then returned to Jerusalem and built strong cities in Judea: the fortress in Jericho, and Emma′us, and Beth-hor′on, and Bethel, and Timnath, and^[f] Phar′athon, and Tephon, with high walls and gates and bars. ⁵¹ And he placed garrisons in them to harass Israel. ⁵² He also fortified the city of Beth-zur, and Gazar′a, and the citadel, and in them he put troops and stores of food. ⁵³ And he took the sons of the leading men of the land as hostages and put them under guard in the citadel at Jerusalem.

⁵⁴ In the one hundred and fifty-third year,^[g] in the second month, Al′cimus gave orders to tear down the wall of the inner court of the sanctuary. He tore down the work of the prophets! ⁵⁵ But he only began to tear it down, for at that time Al′cimus was stricken and his work was hindered; his mouth was stopped and he was paralyzed, so that he could no longer say a word or give commands concerning his house. ⁵⁶ And Al′cimus died at that time in great agony. ⁵⁷ When Bac′chides saw that Al′cimus was dead, he returned to the king, and the land of Judah had rest for two years.

The End of the War

⁵⁸ Then all the lawless plotted and said, “See! Jonathan and his men are living in quiet and confidence. So now let us bring Bac′chides back, and he will capture them all in one night.” ⁵⁹ And they went and consulted with him. ⁶⁰ He started to come with a large force, and secretly sent letters to all his allies in Judea, telling them to seize Jonathan and his men; but they were unable to do it, because their plan became known. ⁶¹ And Jonathan’s men^[h] seized about fifty of the men of the country who were leaders in this treachery, and killed them.

⁶² Then Jonathan with his men, and Simon, withdrew to Beth-ba′si in the wilderness; he rebuilt the parts of it that had been demolished, and they fortified it. ⁶³ When Bac′chides learned of this, he assembled all his forces, and sent orders to the men of Judea. ⁶⁴ Then he came and encamped against Beth-ba′si; he fought against it for many days and made machines of war.

⁶⁵ But Jonathan left Simon his brother in the city, while he went out into the country; and he went with only a few men. ⁶⁶ He struck down Odome′ra and his brothers and the sons of Phasi′ron in their tents. ⁶⁷ Then he^[i] began to attack and went into battle with his forces; and Simon and his men sallied out from the city and set fire to the machines of war. ⁶⁸ They fought with Bac′chides, and he was crushed by them. They distressed him greatly, for his plan and his expedition had been in vain. ⁶⁹ So he was greatly enraged at the lawless men who had counseled him to come into the country, and he killed many of them. Then he decided to depart to his own land.

⁷⁰ When Jonathan learned of this, he sent ambassadors to him to make peace with him and obtain release of the captives. ⁷¹ He agreed, and did as he said; and he swore to Jonathan^[j] that he would not try to harm him as long as he lived. ⁷² He restored to him the captives whom he had formerly taken from the land of Judah; then he turned and departed to his own land, and came no more into their territory. ⁷³ Thus the sword ceased from Israel. And Jonathan dwelt in Michmash. And Jonathan began to judge the people, and he destroyed the ungodly out of Israel.