lyke to be layed waste, to heare the voyce of the bloude that cryed vnto hym: to remēbre the moste vnryghteous deathes of yonge innocent chyldren, y• blasphemyes also done vnto his name, and to punysh them.
Nowe when Machabeus had gathered this multitude together, he was to mightye for the Heathen (for the wrath of the Lorde was turned into mercy) he fel vpō y• townes and cyties vnwares, brent them, toke the most commodious places, and slew many of the enemyes. But specyally he made suche chases by nyght, in so muche that hys man∣lynesse was spoken of euery where.
So when Phylippe sawe that the man [unspec B] increased by lytle & lytle, and that y• matter prospered wt him for the most part: he wrote vnto Ptolomy (which was a captayne in Celosyria and Phenices) to helpe him in the kynges busynes. Then sent he Nycanor Pa¦trocly (a speciall frende of his) in al the halt, and gaue him of the comen sorte of the Hea∣then no lesse then. xx. M. harnessed men, to rote out y• whole generacyon of the Iewes, hauynge to helpe hym one Gorgias a man of warre, which in matters cōcernynge bat∣tayls, had great experiēce. Nicanor ornened also the tribute (which the Romaynes shuld haue had) to be geuen vnto the kinge, out of the captyuyte of the Iewes, namely. ij. M. talētes. And immediatly he sent to y• cyties of the see coast, requyrynge them for to bye Iewes to be theyr seruauntes & bonde men, promisynge to sell thē. lxxx. and ten for one talente: but he considered not y• wrath of al∣myghtye God, that was to come vpon hym.
When Iudas knewe of this, he tolde the [unspec C] Iewes y• were wt him of Nicanors cōming. Nowe were there some of them fearfull, not trustynge vnto the ryghteousnes of God, & fled theyr waye. But the other y• remayned, came together, & besought the Lorde, to de∣lyuer thē from that wycked Nicanor, which had solde thē, or euer he came nye them: and though he wolde not do it for theyr sakes, yet for the couenaūt yt he made with their fa∣thers, & because they called vpon his holy & glorius name. And so Machabeus called his men together, namely about. vj. M. ex∣hortynge them not to agree vnto theyr ene∣myes, nether to be afrayed for y• multitude of theyr aduersaries cōmynge against them vuryghteously: but to fyght manly, cōsyde∣rynge the reprofe y• they had done to y• holy place without cause, howe they had despy∣sed & oppressed the cytie, yee, & destroyed the lawes of the fathers. For they (sayde he) trust in they'r weapens & boldnesse, but oure confidēce is in y• almighty Lorde, whiche in the twyncklyng of an eye may both destroye them y• come agaynst vs, and al the worlde.
He exhorted thē also to call to remēbraūce [unspec D] the helpe, y• God shewed vnto theyr fathers: as whē there perished an. C. &. lxxxv. M. of Sennacheribs people: And of the battayll that they had in Babylon agaynst the Gal∣lacyans: howe al the Macedonians yt came to helpe thē, stode in feare: & how they being but only. vj. M. slew an. C. &. xx. M. thorow the helpe yt was geuen thē frō heauen, wher∣by they also had receaued many benefytes.
Thorowe these wordes the mē toke good hertes vnto them, ready to dye for the lawe and the countre. So he set vpon euery com¦pany a captayne, one of his owne brethren: Symon, Ioseph and Ionathas: geuynge eche one. xv. C. men He caused Esdras also to reade the holy boke vnto thē, and to geue them a token of the helpe of God.
Then he hym selfe beynge captayne in the fore front of the battayll, buckled with Nicanor. And God was theyr helpe, in so much y• they slewe aboue. ix. M. men & con∣pelled the more parte of Nicanors hoost to [unspec E] fle, they were so woūded & feable. Thus they toke the money from those that came to bye thē, & folowed vpon thē on euery syde. But when y• tyme came vpon thē, they returned, for it was the Sabbath, & therfore they fo∣lowed nomore vpon thē. So they toke theyr weapens and spoyles and kepte the Sab∣bath, geuynge thākes vnto y• Lorde, whiche had delyuered them that daye, and shewed them his mercy. After the Sabboth they distributed the spoyles to the sycke, to the fa¦therlesse and to wyddowes, and the resydue had they them selues with theyrs. When this was done, and they all had made a ge∣nerall prayer: they besought the mercyfull Lorde to be at one with his seruauntes.
Of those also that were with Timotheus and Bachides, which fought against them, they slewe. xx. M. wanne hye and strōge hol¦des, and deuyded mo spoyles: euer geuynge an equal porcyon vnto y• sycke, to the father les, to wyddowes and to aged persons. And when they had dylygently gathered theyr weapens together, they layed them all in cō¦ueniente places, & the remnaunt of the spoy les brought they to Ierusalem. They slewe also Phylarches y• wycked personne, which was with Timotheus, and had vexed many Iewes. And when they helde the thankes∣geuyng [unspec F] at Ierusalem for the vyctorye, they brente〈2 pages missing〉〈2 pages missing〉