Judas Maccabeus Succeeds His Father
1 Maccabees 3, verse 1. Then Judas his son, who was called Maccabeus, rose up in his place. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 2. His brothers all helped him, and everyone who had been allied with his father, and they fought the battle for Israel with gladness.
Eulogy to Mattathias
1 Maccabees 3, verse 3. He enlarged his people's glory And was clothed with a breastplate like a giant; And he girded on his weapons And waged war, Sheltering the camp with his sword. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 4. He was like a lion in his deeds, Like a young lion roaring for its prey. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 5. For he pursued the lawless and searched them out; And he set on fire those who troubled his people. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 6. The lawless were humbled from fear of him, And all the workers of lawlessness were troubled; For deliverance prospered by his hand. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 7. He embittered many rulers, And brought joy to Jacob by his deeds; And may his memory be blessed forever. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 8. He passed through the cities of Judah And destroyed the ungodly from the land; And he turned wrath away from Israel. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 9. His name was known to the ends of the earth, And he gathered those who were perishing.
Judas’ Early Victories
1 Maccabees 3, verse 10. Then Apollonius gathered the Gentiles together and brought a great army from Samaria to wage war with Israel. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 11. But Judas knew it and went out to meet him. He struck and killed him, and many wounded fell; and the rest fled. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 12. They took their spoils, and Judas took the sword of Apollonius and fought with it every day. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 13. Now Seron, the leader of the army of Syria, heard Judas had gathered a large assembly of faithful men with him, and they were going out into battle. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 14. So he said, “I will make a name for myself and be honored in the kingdom. I will fight Judas and his followers who despised the word of the king.” 1 Maccabees 3, verse 15. He set forth, and with him went an army of godless men, strong enough to help him take vengeance on the sons of Israel. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 16. So he drew near to the highlands of Beth-Horon, and Judas went out to meet him with only a few allies. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 17. As they saw the army coming to meet them, they said to Judas, “How will we, being few, be able to fight against such a powerful number? We who have come out today are weak from lack of food.” 1 Maccabees 3, verse 18. Then Judas said, “It is easy to hem in many at the hands of a few, and it makes no difference before heaven to save with many or with few. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 19. For victory in battle does not come from the size of the army, but from the might of heaven. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 20. These come against us in the abundance of insolence and lawlessness, to seize us and our women and children, and to take spoils from us; 1 Maccabees 3, verse 21. but we are fighting for our lives and our laws. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 22. God Himself will crush them from before our face; but as for you, do not fear because of them.” 1 Maccabees 3, verse 23. When he was through speaking, Judas suddenly rushed against them, and Seron and his army were destroyed before him. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 24. He pursued him into the descent of Beth-Horon as far as the plain. Around eight hundred of their soldiers perished; the remainder fled into the land of the Philistines. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 25. Then fear of Judas and his brothers began, and terror fell upon the nations around them. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 26. So his fame reached the king, and the Gentiles talked about the battles of Judas.
Syrian Counterattack
1 Maccabees 3, verse 27. When Antiochus the king heard these words, he was very angry, and he sent and gathered all the forces of his kingdom, an exceedingly strong army. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 28. He also opened his treasury and gave a year's wages to the troops, and commanded them to be ready for any need. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 29. Then he noticed the silver in the treasury was depleted, and the taxes from the region were small, because of the dissension and misfortune he caused in the land when he took away the laws that existed from the earliest days. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 30. So he took care not to pay out expenditures and give gifts as abundantly as he had done before, even more lavishly than the previous kings. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 31. He was very disturbed in himself, so he decided to go to Persia and collect taxes from those regions and gather abundant silver. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 32. He left Lysias, a man of distinction from the royal lineage, in charge of all the king's affairs, from the river Euphrates to the boundary of Egypt. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 33. He was also to take care of his son Antiochus until his return. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 34. Then he handed over to Lysias half of the armies and the elephants. He gave him orders concerning all his wishes and concerning those who lived in Judea and Jerusalem. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 35. He ordered him to send an army against them, to destroy them and remove the might of Israel and the remnant of Jerusalem, and to remove their memory from that place. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 36. He was also to settle foreigners in all their regions and distribute their land by lot. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 37. Then the king took half of the remaining armies and left Antioch, the capital of his kingdom. In the one hundred and forty-seventh year, he crossed over the Euphrates River and entered the regions on the other side. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 38. Lysias appointed Ptolemy, the son of Dorymenes, and Nicanor and Gorgias, valiant men who were loyal to the king, 1 Maccabees 3, verse 39. and he sent with them forty thousand infantry and seven thousand cavalry to go into the region of Judah and crush it according to the king's orders. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 40. So he set out with the whole army, and they went and camped near Emmaus on the plain. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 41. When the merchants of the region heard about them, they took a very large amount of silver and gold and shackles and went into the camp to obtain the sons of Israel as slaves. The army of Syria and of the land of the Philistines joined them as well.
The Jews Prepare for Battle
1 Maccabees 3, verse 42. Now Judas and his brothers saw that evil events were increasing and the armies were encamped at their borders. They learned also the words of the king which he ordered, to bring destruction and annihilation on the people. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 43. So each man said to his neighbor, “Let us repair the ruin of our people and battle for our people and the sanctuary.” 1 Maccabees 3, verse 44. Then the assembly gathered to prepare for battle and to pray and ask God for mercy and compassion. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 45. Jerusalem was uninhabited like a desert. No one brought products in or took them out, And the sanctuary had been trampled down. The sons of foreigners were in the citadel, A lodging place for the Gentiles. Gladness was taken from Jacob, And flute and harp played no more. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 46. They assembled and went into Mizpah, opposite Jerusalem, because at a former time Mizpah was a place for prayer in Israel. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 47. They fasted on that day and put on sackcloth, sprinkled ashes upon their head, and tore their garments. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 48. They opened the book of the law to look into those matters about which the Gentiles consulted the likenesses of their idols. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 49. They also carried the priestly garments and the firstfruits and the tithe, and they stirred up the Nazirites who had finished their days. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 50. Then they cried aloud to heaven, saying, “What do we do with these, And where will we take them? 1 Maccabees 3, verse 51. Your sanctuary has been trampled down and defiled, And Your priests are in mourning and humiliated. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 52. Behold, the Gentiles have gathered against us to destroy us. You know what they plan against us. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 53. How will we be able to stand against them If You will not help us?” 1 Maccabees 3, verse 54. Then they blew the trumpets and cried out with a loud shout. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 55. After this, Judas appointed rulers for the people, leaders for thousands and hundreds and fifties and tens. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 56. He ordered those who were building houses, or were betrothed to women, or were growing vineyards, or were afraid, to return each one to his own home, according to the law. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 57. Then the army departed and set up camp south of Emmaus. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 58. Judas said to them, “Be ready at dawn to fight with these Gentiles who have gathered against us to destroy us and our sanctuary. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 59. For it is better for us to die in war than to look upon the evils the Gentiles would bring to us and the sanctuary. 1 Maccabees 3, verse 60. But as God's will is in heaven, so He will do.”