Judas Maccabeus Defeats the Idumeans^(A)

¹⁴ When Gorgias became governor of Idumea, he kept a force of mercenaries and attacked the Jews at every opportunity. ¹⁵ Not only this, but the Idumeans themselves controlled certain strategic fortresses and were constantly harassing the Jews. They welcomed those who fled from Jerusalem and did everything they could to keep the country in a perpetual state of war. ¹⁶ So Judas Maccabeus and his men, after offering prayers for God's help, rushed out and made a vigorous attack against the Idumean fortresses. ¹⁷ They beat back those who were defending the walls and captured the fortresses, killing everyone they found, a total of about 20,000 people.

¹⁸ About 9,000 of the enemy, however, managed to take refuge in two easily defended forts, with everything they needed to withstand a siege. ¹⁹ Judas had to go on to some other places in the country, where he was more urgently needed, but he left behind Simon and Joseph, together with Zacchaeus and his men. This force was large enough to continue the siege, ²⁰ but some of Simon's men were greedy, and when they were offered 140 pounds of silver, they let some of the enemy escape from the forts. ²¹ When Judas heard what had happened, he called together the leaders of his troops and accused those men of selling their brothers by setting their enemies free to fight against them. ²² Then he executed the traitors and immediately captured the two forts. ²³ Judas was always successful in battle, and in his assault on those two forts he killed more than 20,000 men.

Judas Defeats Timothy

²⁴ Timothy, who had been defeated by the Jews once before, had gathered a large number of cavalry from Asia and a tremendous force of mercenary troops and was now advancing to take Judea by armed attack. ²⁵ But as the enemy forces were approaching, Judas and his men prayed to God. They put on sackcloth, threw dirt on their heads, ²⁶ and lay face downward on the steps of the altar, begging God to help them by fighting against their enemies, as he had promised in his Law.

²⁷ When they had finished praying, they took up their weapons, went out a good distance from Jerusalem, and stopped for the night not far from the enemy. ²⁸ At daybreak the two armies joined in battle. The Jewish forces depended upon both their bravery and their trust in the Lord for victory, while the enemy relied only on their ability to fight fiercely. ²⁹ When the fighting was at its worst, the enemy saw five handsome men riding on horses with gold bridles and leading the Jewish forces. ³⁰ These five men surrounded Judas, protecting him with their own armor and showering the enemy with arrows and thunderbolts. The enemy forces then became so confused and bewildered that they broke ranks, and the Jews cut them to pieces, ³¹ slaughtering 20,500 infantry and 600 cavalry.

³² Timothy himself escaped to the strongly defended fort of Gezer, where his brother Chaereas was in command. ³³ Judas and his men besieged the fort for four days with great enthusiasm,

¹⁹ The following is a copy of the earlier letter:

²⁰ King Arius of Sparta to Onias the High Priest, greetings. ²¹ We have found a document about the Spartans and the Jews indicating that we are related and that both of our nations are descended from Abraham. ²² Now that we have discovered this, please send us a report about your situation. ²³ In reply, we will send you a letter indicating that we are willing to share our possessions, including cattle and property, if you will do the same. We have given orders to our ambassadors to give you a full report about these matters.

Campaigns of Jonathan and Simon

²⁴ Jonathan learned that the officers of Demetrius had returned to attack him with an even larger army than before. ²⁵ Jonathan did not want to give them an opportunity to penetrate his own territory, so he left Jerusalem and went to meet them in the region of Hamath. ²⁶ Jonathan sent spies into the enemy camp, who reported to him that the enemy forces were making plans to attack the Jews by night. ²⁷ At sunset Jonathan ordered all his soldiers to be on the alert and to have their weapons ready for a surprise attack any time during the night. He also stationed guards all around the camp. ²⁸ When the enemy soldiers learned that Jonathan and his men were ready for battle, they were panic-stricken and fled, leaving their campfires burning. ²⁹ Jonathan and his men saw the campfires but did not realize what had happened until the next morning. ³⁰ Jonathan then set out after them, but he could not overtake them because they had already crossed the Eleutherus River. ³¹ Then Jonathan turned aside and attacked a tribe of Arabs called Zabadeans. He defeated them and plundered their possessions. ³² Then he broke camp and went to Damascus, inspecting the entire area along the way.

³³ Meanwhile, Simon had also set out on a campaign and had advanced as far as Ascalon and the neighboring fortresses. Then he turned aside to Joppa ³⁴ and stationed a detachment of soldiers there because he had heard that the people were planning to hand over the fortress of Joppa to the soldiers of Demetrius.

³⁵ When Jonathan returned, he called the council of the leaders together and made plans with them to build fortresses in Judea, ³⁶ to increase the height of the walls of Jerusalem, and to build a high wall to separate the fort from the city. This would isolate the fort, making it impossible for the enemy to buy or sell anything. ³⁷ The people worked together to strengthen the city's defenses because a part of the east wall along the Kidron Valley had collapsed and the Chaphenatha section was in need of repair. ³⁸ Simon also rebuilt the town of Adida in the foothills. He fortified it and constructed barred gates for it.

Trypho Captures Jonathan

³⁹ Then Trypho plotted a rebellion against King Antiochus so that he could make himself king of Syria. ⁴⁰ He was afraid, however, that Jonathan would not agree to this and would go to war against him to prevent it. So Trypho got his army ready and went to Beth Shan in the hope of capturing Jonathan and putting him to death. ⁴¹ But Jonathan also came to Beth Shan with 40,000 well-trained soldiers. ⁴² When Trypho saw how large an army Jonathan had brought with him, he was afraid to take action. ⁴³ So he received Jonathan with all honors, presented him to all his advisers, gave him gifts, and ordered his advisers and soldiers to obey Jonathan as they would him. ⁴⁴ He asked Jonathan,