1 With the Lord leading them on, Maccabeus and those with him received back the temple and the city.
2 They took down the altars fabricated in the marketplace by the foreigners, and also destroyed the sacred precincts.
3 When they had purified the temple, they made another altar and, striking fire out of stones, they offered sacrifices—the first in two years. They offered incense and lit lamps and set out the bread of the Presence.
4 When they had done this, they fell prostrate and besought the Lord so as never again to fall into such calamities, but if they should ever sin, they might be chastised by Him with gentleness and not be handed over to blasphemous and barbarous nations.
5 It happened on the anniversary of the same day the temple was profaned by the foreigners, that the purification of the temple took place: on the twenty-fifth day of the same month, which was Chislev.
6 They celebrated it for eight days with rejoicing, in the manner of the Feast of Tabernacles, remembering how a short time before they had spent the feast living in mountains and caves like wild animals.
7 Therefore, carrying ivy-wreathed wands, beautiful olive branches, and even palm branches, they offered hymns of praise to Him who made possible the purifying of His own place.
8 They decreed by a common edict and vote that the whole Jewish nation should celebrate these days every year.
9 Such then was the end of Antiochus, called Epiphanes.
10 Now we will tell what took place under Antiochus Eupator, the son of that ungodly man, and will set forth and encompass briefly the calamities of the wars.
11 For this man inherited the kingdom and appointed a certain Lysias as chief governor of Coelesyria and Phoenicia.
12 Then Ptolemy, called Macron, led the way in protecting the rights of the Jews because of the wrongdoing that happened to them, and he attempted to maintain peaceful relations with them.
13 For this reason he was accused before Eupator by the king's friends. He heard himself called a traitor at every turn because he abandoned Cyprus, entrusted to him by Philometor, and defected to Antiochus Epiphanes. Since he could not exercise his noble authority honorably, he took poison and ended his life.
14 When Gorgias became governor of the region, he maintained mercenary troops and attacked the Jews at every turn.
15 At the same time, the Idumeans, in possession of vital strongholds, were harassing the Jews. They received fugitives from Jerusalem and endeavored to keep up the war.
16 But Maccabeus and his men made supplication and implored God to be their ally, then rushed against the strongholds of the Idumeans.
17 They attacked them aggressively, gained possession of the places, and drove back all who fought upon the wall. They slaughtered everyone they encountered, killing no fewer than twenty thousand.
18 But at least nine thousand fled into two very strong towers, which were well equipped, containing everything necessary to withstand a siege.
19 So Maccabeus left behind Simon, Joseph, and also Zacchaeus and those with him, a force sufficient to besiege them. Then he went to more urgent places.
20 But those around Simon, who were money lovers, were bribed by some of those in the towers. When they had received seventy thousand drachmas, they allowed some of them to slip away.
21 When news of what happened reached Maccabeus, he gathered the leaders of the people and accused them of selling their brothers for money by releasing their enemies to fight against them.
22 Then he killed these men who had become traitors and immediately seized the two towers.
23 Faring well at arms in everything he undertook, he destroyed more than twenty thousand in the two fortresses.
24 Now Timothy, who had been defeated previously by the Jews, gathered a very massive and powerful force of mercenaries and assembled cavalry from Asia in no small number. Then he arrived as though he would take Judea captive.
25 As he drew near, Maccabeus and his men made supplication to God as they sprinkled earth on their heads and girded their loins with sackcloth.
26 They fell prostrate before the foot of the altar and implored Him to be merciful to them and to be an enemy to their enemies and an adversary to their adversaries, as the law plainly shows.
27 Then arising from prayer, they took up their weapons and advanced a considerable distance from the city. When they came near the enemy, they were by themselves.
28 But as dawn was breaking, the armies attacked one another. The one had the guarantee of prosperity and victory, with their virtue and the Lord as their place of refuge, but the other depended on rage as their leader in the fight.
29 When the battle was strongly contested, there appeared to the enemy from heaven five majestic men on horses with golden bridles, and they were leading the Jews.
30 They took Maccabeus between them and shielded him with their own armor. They kept him from being wounded and cast arrows and thunderbolts on the enemy. Wherefore, confused with blindness and full of disorder, they were cut to pieces.
31 Twenty thousand five hundred were slaughtered along with six hundred cavalry.
32 Timothy himself fled to a stronghold called Gazara, especially well garrisoned, where Chaereas was commander.
33 Maccabeus and his men eagerly besieged the stronghold for four days,
34 but the men within it trusted in the security of the place. So they kept blaspheming beyond measure and uttering disgusting words.
35 Now when the fifth day dawned, twenty young men in the army of Maccabeus burned with anger because of the blasphemies. So they bravely attacked the wall and with savage fury struck down everyone they encountered.
36 Others likewise went up during the distraction against those inside and burned down the towers. They kindled fires and burned the blasphemers alive. Others broke through the gates, let in the rest of the force, and took control of the city.
37 They killed Timothy, who was hiding in a well, and his brother Chaereas and Apollophanes.
38 When they had done this, they blessed the Lord with hymns and praises, thanking Him who shows great kindness to Israel and gives them victory.