The. holie. Bible. conteynyng the olde Testament and the newe.

The .v. Chapter.

3 Iudas vanquisheth the heathen that go about to destroy Israel, and is holpen of his bre∣thren Simon and Ionathas. 50 He ouerthroweth the citie of Ephron, because they de∣nied him passage thorowe it.

[unspec A] 1 IT happened also, that when the heathen rounde about hearde howe that the aulter * 1.1& the sanctuarie were set vp in their old estate, it displeased them very sore,

2 Wherfore they thought to destroy the generation of Iacob that was among them: in so much that they began to slay and to persecute certayne of the peo∣ple.

3 * 1.2Then Iudas fought against the chil∣dren of Esau in Idumea at Araba∣thane: for they dwelt rounde about the Israelites, where he slue and spoyled a great multitude of them.

4 He thought also vpon the malice and vn∣faythfulnesse of the children of Bean, how they were a snare and stoppe vnto the people, and howe they layed wayte for them in the hye way:

5 Wherfore he shut them vp into towres, and came vnto them, besieged them, and destroyed them vtterly, & brent vp their towres, with all that were in them.

6 Afterward went he against the children of Ammon, whereof he founde a migh∣tie power and a great multitude of peo∣ple, with Timothi their captayne.

7 So he stroke many battayles with [unspec B] them, which were destroyed before hym.

8 And when he had slayne them, he wan Gazer the citie, with the townes belon∣ging therto, and so turned againe into Iurie.

9 The heathen also in Galaad, gathe∣red them together against the Isra∣elites that were in their quarters, to slay them: but they fled to the castle of Dathemam,

10 And sent letters vnto Iudas and his brethren, saying: The heathen that are about vs are gathered against vs on euery side, to destroy vs.

11 And nowe they make them redy for to come and lay siege to the castel wher∣vnto we are fled, and Timothi is cap∣tayne of their hoast:

12 Come therefore and deliuer vs out of their handes, for there is a great multi∣tude of vs slayne alredy.

13 Yea and our brethren that were at Tubin, are slayne and destroyed well∣nye a thousande men and their wyues, their children and their goodes haue the enemies led away captiue.

[unspec C] 14 Whyle these letters were yet a reading, beholde there came other messengers from Galilee with rent clothes, whiche tolde euen the same tidinges,

15 And sayde, that they of Ptolomais, of Tyrus, and of Sidon were gathered against them, and that all Galilee was filled with enemies to destroy Is∣rael.

16 * 1.3When Iudas and the people hearde this, they came together a great congre∣gation, to deuise what they might do for their brethren that were in trouble and besieged of their enemies.

17 And Iudas sayd vnto Simon his bro∣ther: Choose thee out certayne men, & go deliuer thy brethren in Galilee: As for me & my brother Ionathas, we will go into Galaaditim.

18 So he left Iosephus the sonne of Za∣chari, and Azarias, to be captaynes of the people, to kepe the remnaunt of the hoast in Iewry,

19 And commaunded them, saying: Take the ouersight of this people, and see that ye make no warre against the heathen, vntill the time that we come againe.

20 And vnto Simon he gaue three thou∣sand men for to go into Galilee: but Iu∣das himselfe had eyght thousand in Ga∣laaditim.

[unspec D] 21 Then went Simon into Galilee, and stroke diuers battayles with the hea∣then, whom he discomfited,

22 And folowed vpon them into the port of Ptolomais: and there were slayne of the heathen almost three thousande men.

23 So he toke the spoyles of them, and ca∣ried away the Israelites that were in Galilee and Arbatis, with their wyues, their children, and all that they had, and brought them into Iewry with great gladnesse.

24 Iudas Machabeus also and his bro∣ther Ionathas went ouer Iordane, and trauayled three dayes iourney in the wildernesse:

25 Where the Nabathees met them, and receaued them louingly, and tolde them euery thing that had happened vnto their brethren in Galaaditim:

26 And howe that many of them were besieged in Barasa, Bosor, Alimis, Cas∣bon, Mageth, and Carnaim (all these are strong walled and mightie great ci∣ties,)

27 And that they were kept in other cities of Galaaditim also, and to morowe they are appoynted to bring their hoast vnto these cities, to take them, and to destroy them in one day.

28 So Iudas and his hoast turned in all [unspec E] the haste in the wildernesse toward Bo∣sor, and wan the citie, slue all the males with the sworde, toke all their goodes, and set fire vpon the citie:

29 And in the night they toke their iour∣ney from thence, and came to the ca∣stell,

30 And betimes in the morning when they loked vp, beholde there was an innu∣merable people bearing ladders and o∣ther instrumentes of warre, to take the castell, and to ouercome them.

31 When Iudas sawe that the battayl be∣gan, and that the noyse therof went vp and rang into the heauen, and that there was so a great crye in the citie,

32 He sayd vnto his hoast, Fight this day for your brethren:

33 And so came behinde their enemies in three companies, and blewe vp the trumpettes, and cryed in their prayer to God:

34 But so soone as Timotheus hoast per∣ceaued that Machabeus was there, they fled from hym: and he slue them downe right sore, so that there were kil∣led of them the same day almost eyght thousande men.

35 Then departed Iudas vnto Maspha, [unspec F] layed siege vnto it, and wan it, slue al the males in it, spoyled it, and set fire vpon it.

36 From thence went he and toke Cas∣bon, Mageth, Bosor, and the other cities in Galaaditim.

37 * 1.4After this, gathered Timothi ano∣ther hoast, which pitched their tentes before Raphon beyond the water.

38 Iudas also sent to spye the hoast, and they brought him worde againe, saying: All the heathen that be rounde about vs, are gathered vnto him, and the hoast is very great:

39 Yea, they haue hired the Arabians to helpe them, & haue pitched their tentes beyond the water, and are redie to come and fight against thee. So Iudas went on to meete them.

40 And Timothi saide vnto the captaines of his hoast: whē Iudas and his hoast come nye the ryuer, if he go ouer first, we shall not be able to withstand him: for why? he wyll be to strong for vs.

41 But if he dare not come ouer, so that he pitch his tent beyond the water: then wyll we go ouer, for we shalbe strong inough against him.

42 Now assoone as Iudas came to the riuer, he appoynted certaine scribes of the people by the riuer, and cōmaunded them, saying: See that ye leaue none be∣hinde vpon this side of the riuer, but let euery man come to the battaile.

43 So he went first ouer vnto them, & all his people after him, and al the heathen were discomfited before him, & let their weapons fall, and ranne into the temple that was at Carnaim,

[unspec F] 44 Which citie Iudas wanne, and brent the temple, with all that were in it: So was Carnaim subdued, and might not withstand Iudas.

45 Then Iudas gathered all the Israe∣lites that were in Galaaditim, from the least vnto the most, with their wiues and their children, a very great hoast, for to come into the lande of Israel.

46 * 1.5So they came vnto Ephron, which was a mightie great and strong citie, and laye in their way: for they coulde not go by it, neither on the right hande nor on the left, but must go through it.

47 Neuerthelesse, they that were in the citie, woulde not let them go through, but walled vp the portes with stones: And Iudas sent vnto them with peace∣able wordes saying:

48 Let vs passe through your lande, that we may go into our owne countrey, there shall no body do you harme, we wyl but onely go through on foote. But they would not let them in.

49 Wherfore Iudas commaunded a pro∣clamation to be made throughout the hoast, that euery man should assault the citie in his order.

50 And so they did their best, lyke vali∣aunt men: and Iudas besieged the citie all that day, and all that night, and so wanne it,

51 Where they slue as many as were males, and destroyed the citie, and sp••y∣led it, and went through al the citie ouer them that were slaine.

52 Then went they ouer Iordane into the playne fielde before Bethsam.

53 And Iudas helped those forward that came behinde, and gaue the people good exhortation al the way through, til they were come into the lande of Iuda.

54 Thus they went vp vnto the mount Sion, where they offered burnt offe∣ringes with mirth* 1.6 and thankesgeuing, because there were none of them slaine, [unspec G] but came home againe peaceably.

55 Now what time as Iudas and Io∣nathas were in the land of Galaad and Simon their brother in Galilee before Ptolomais:

56 Then Iosephus the sonne of Zachari and Azarias the captaynes, hearing of the actes that were done, and of the bat∣tailes that were striken, saide:

57 Let vs get vs a name also, and go fight against the heathen that are rounde a∣bout vs.

58 So they gaue their hoast a commaun∣dement, and went toward Iamma.

59 Then came Gorgias and his men out of the citie, to fight against them:

60 Iosephus also and Azarias were cha∣sed vnto the borders of Iewry, and ther were slaine that day of the people of Is∣rael two thousand men: so that there was a great miserie among the people of Israel,

61 * 1.7And all because they were not obedi∣ent vnto Iudas and his brethren, but thought they shoulde quite themselues manfully.

62 Neuerthelesse, they came not of the seede of these men by whom Israel was helped.

63 But the men that were with Iudas were greatly commended in the sight of all Israel, and all the Heathen, where∣soeuer their name was heard vpon.

64 And the people came vnto them, bid∣ding them welcome.

65 After this, went Iudas foorth with his brethren, and fought against the chil∣dren of Esau in the lande that lyeth to∣ward the south, where he wan the citie of Hebron and the townes that lye be∣side it: and as for the walles and tow∣ers rounde about it, he brent them vp.

66 Then remoued he to go into the lande of the Philistines, and went through Samaria.

67 At the same time were there [many] priestes slaine in the battaile, which wil∣fully and without aduisement went out for to fight to get them honour.

68 And when Iudas came to Azot in the Philistines lande,* 1.8 he brake downe their aulters, brent the images of their idols, spoyled the cities, and came againe into the lande of Iuda.

Notes

• * 1.1

  ••p xii. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 xiii.
• * 1.2

  Eze xxv b. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 xxxv. a ••. Mach. c.
• * 1.3

  2. Mach. 8. c.
• * 1.4

  M••. x d.
• * 1.5

  1. ••lac. vii e.
• * 1.6

  ii. Par. xx. a.
• * 1.7

  i. Mac. v. b.
• * 1.8

  Deu. v••