2 Maccabees 12

NEW JERUSALEM	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 These agreements once concluded, Lysias returned to the king and the Jews went back to theirfarming.	1 After these agreements were made, Lysias returned to the king, and the Jews went about their farming.
2 Among the local generals, Timotheus and Apol onius son of Gennaeus, as also Hieronymus andDemophon, and Nicanor the Cypriarch as wel , would not allow the Jews to live in peace and quiet.	2 But some of the local governors, Timothy and Apollonius, son of Gennaeus, as also Hieronymus and Demophon, to say nothing of Nicanor, the commander of the Cyprians, would not allow them to live in peace.
3 The people of Joppa committed a particularly wicked crime: they invited the Jews living among themto go aboard some boats they had lying ready, taking their wives and children. There was no hint of any intentionto harm them;	3 Some people of Joppa also committed this outrage: they invited the Jews who lived among them, together with their wives and children, to embark on boats which they had provided. There was no hint of enmity toward them;
4 there had been a public vote by the citizens, and the Jews accepted, as wel they might, beingpeaceable people with no reason to suspect anything. But once out in the open sea they were al sent to thebottom, a company of at least two hundred.	4 this was done by public vote of the city. When the Jews, not suspecting treachery and wishing to live on friendly terms, accepted the invitation, the people of Joppa took them out to sea and drowned at least two hundred of them.
5 When Judas heard of the cruel fate of his countrymen, he issued his orders to his men	5 As soon as Judas heard of the barbarous deed perpetrated against his countrymen, he summoned his men;
6 and after invoking God, the just judge, he attacked his brothers' murderers. Under cover of dark heset fire to the port, burned the boats and put to the sword everyone who had taken refuge there.	6 and after calling upon God, the just judge, he marched against the murderers of his kinsmen. In a night attack he set the harbor on fire, burnt the boats, and put to the sword those who had taken refuge there.
7 As the town gates were closed, he withdrew, intending to come back and wipe out the wholecommunity of Joppa.	7 When the gates of the town were shut, he withdrew, intending to come back later and wipe out the entire population of Joppa.
8 But hearing that the people of Jamnia were planning to treat their resident Jews in the same way,	8 On hearing that the men of Jamnia planned to give like treatment to the Jews who lived among them,
9 he made a night attack on the Jamnites and fired the port with its fleet; the glow of the flames wasseen as far off as Jerusalem, thirty miles away.	9 he attacked the Jamnian populace by night, setting fire to the harbor and the fleet, so that the glow of the flames was visible as far as Jerusalem, thirty miles away.
10 When they had left the town barely a mile behind them in their advance on Timotheus, Judas wasattacked by an Arab force of at least five thousand foot soldiers, with five hundred cavalry.	10 When the Jews had gone about a mile from there in the campaign against Timothy, they were attacked by Arabs numbering at least five thousand foot soldiers, and five hundred horsemen.
11 A fierce engagement fol owed, and with God's help Judas' men won the day; the defeated nomadsbegged Judas to offer them the right hand of friendship, and promised to surrender their herds and makethemselves general y useful to him.	11 After a hard fight, Judas and his companions, with God's help, were victorious. The defeated nomads begged Judas to make friends with them and promised to supply the Jews with cattle and to help them in every other way.
12 Realising that they might indeed prove valuable in many ways, Judas consented to make peace withthem and after an exchange of pledges the Arabs withdrew to their tents.	12 Realizing that they could indeed be useful in many respects, Judas agreed to make peace with them. After the pledge of friendship had been exchanged, the Arabs withdrew to their tents.
13 Judas also attacked a certain fortified town, closed by ramparts and inhabited by a medley of races;its name was Caspin.	13 He also attacked a certain city called Caspin, fortified with earthworks and ramparts and inhabited by a mixed population of Gentiles.
14 Confident in the strength of their wal s and their stock of provisions, the besieged adopted aninsolent attitude to Judas and his men, reinforcing their insults with blasphemies and profanity.	14 Relying on the strength of their walls and their supply of provisions, the besieged treated Judas and his men with contempt, insulting them and even uttering blasphemies and profanity.
15 But Judas and his men invoked the great Sovereign of the world who without battering-ram or siege-engine had overthrown Jericho in the days of Joshua; they then made a fierce assault on the wall.	15 But Judas and his men invoked the aid of the great Sovereign of the world, who, in the day of Joshua, overthrew Jericho without battering-ram or siege machine; then they furiously stormed the ramparts.
16 By God's wil , having captured the town, they made such indescribable slaughter that the nearbylake, a quarter of a mile across, seemed fil ed to overflowing with blood.	16 Capturing the city by the will of God, they inflicted such indescribable slaughter on it that the adjacent pool, which was about a quarter of a mile wide, seemed to be filled with the blood that flowed into it.
17 Ninety-five miles further on from there, they reached the Charax, in the country of Jews known asTubians.	17 When they had gone on some ninety miles, they reached Charax, where there were certain Jews known as Toubiani.
18 They did not find Timotheus himself in that neighbourhood; he had already left the district, havingachieved nothing apart from leaving a very strong garrison at one point.	18 But they did not find Timothy in that region, for he had already departed from there without having done anything except to leave behind in one place a very strong garrison.
19 Dositheus and Sosipater, two of the Maccabaean generals, marched out and destroyed the forceTimotheus had left behind in the fortress, amounting to more than ten thousand men.	19 But Dositheus and Sosipater, two of Maccabeus' captains, marched out and destroyed the force of more than ten thousand men that Timothy had left in the stronghold.
20 Maccabaeus himself divided his army into cohorts to which he assigned commanders, and thenhurried in pursuit of Timotheus, whose troops numbered one hundred and twenty thousand infantry and twothousand five hundred cavalry.	20 Meanwhile, Maccabeus divided his army into cohorts, with a commander over each cohort, and went in pursuit of Timothy, who had a force of a hundred and twenty thousand foot soldiers and twenty-five hundred horsemen.
21 Timotheus' first move on learning of Judas' advance was to send away the women and children andthe rest of the baggage train to the place called the Carnaim, since it was an impregnable position, difficult ofaccess owing to the narrowness of al the approaches.	21 When Timothy learned of the approach of Judas, he sent on ahead of him the women and children, as well as the baggage, to a place called Karnion, which was hard to besiege and even hard to reach because of the difficult terrain of that region.
22 Judas' cohort came into sight first. The enemy, seized with fright and panic-stricken by themanifestation of the Al -seeing, began to flee, one running this way, one running that, often wounding oneanother in consequence and running on the points of one another's swords.	22 But when Judas' first cohort appeared, the enemy was overwhelmed with fear and terror at the manifestation of the All-seeing. Scattering in every direction, they rushed away in such headlong flight that in many cases they wounded one another, pierced by the swords of their own men.
23 Judas pursued them with a wil , cutting the sinners to pieces and kil ing something like thirtythousand men.	23 Judas pressed the pursuit vigorously, putting the sinners to the sword and destroying as many as thirty thousand men.
24 Timotheus himself, having fal en into the hands of Dositheus and Sosipater and their men, verycraftily pleaded with them to let him go with his life, on the grounds that he had the relatives and even thebrothers of many of them in his power, and that these could otherwise expect short shrift.	24 Timothy himself fell into the hands of the men under Dositheus and Sosipater; but with great cunning, he asked them to spare his life and let him go, because he had in his power the parents and relatives of many of them, and could make these suffer.
25 When at long last he convinced them that he would honour his promise and return these people safeand sound, they let him go for the sake of saving their brothers.	25 When he had fully confirmed his solemn pledge to restore them unharmed, they let him go for the sake of saving their brethren.
26 Reaching the Carnaim and the Atargateion, Judas slaughtered twenty-five thousand men.	26 Judas then marched to Karnion and the shrine of Atargatis, where he killed twenty-five thousand people.
27 Having defeated and destroyed them, he led his army against Ephron, a fortified town, whereLysanias was living. Stalwart young men drawn up outside the walls offered vigorous resistance, while insidethere were quantities of war-engines and missiles in reserve.	27 After the defeat and destruction of these, he moved his army to Ephron, a fortified city inhabited by people of many nationalities. Robust young men took up their posts in defense of the walls, from which they fought valiantly; inside were large supplies of machines and missiles.
28 But the Jews, having invoked the Sovereign who by his power shatters enemies' defences, gainedcontrol of the town and cut down nearly twenty-five thousand of the people inside.	28 But the Jews, invoking the Sovereign who forcibly shatters the might of his enemies, got possession of the city and slaughtered twenty-five thousand of the people in it.
29 Moving off from there, they pressed on to Scythopolis,	29 Then they set out from there and hastened on to Scythopolis, seventy-five miles from Jerusalem.
30 seventy-five miles from Jerusalem. But as the Jews who had settled there assured Judas that thepeople of Scythopolis had always treated them wel and had been particularly kind to them when times were attheir worst,	30 But when the Jews who lived there testified to the good will shown by the Scythopolitans and to their kind treatment even in times of adversity,
31 he and his men thanked them and urged them to extend the same friendship to his race in the future.They reached Jerusalem shortly before the feast of Weeks.	31 Judas and his men thanked them and exhorted them to be well disposed to their race in the future also. Finally they arrived in Jerusalem, shortly before the feast of Weeks.
32 After Pentecost, as it is cal ed, they marched against Gorgias, the general commanding Idumaea.	32 After this feast called Pentecost, they lost no time in marching against Gorgias, governor of Idumea,
33 He came out at the head of three thousand infantry and four hundred cavalry;	33 who opposed them with three thousand foot soldiers and four hundred horsemen.
34 in the course of the ensuing battle a few Jews lost their lives.	34 In the ensuing battle, a few of the Jews were slain.
35 A man called Dositheus, a horseman of the Tubian contingent, a valiant man, overpowered Gorgiasand, gripping him by the cloak, was forcibly dragging him along, intending to take the accursed man alive, butone of the Thracian cavalry, hurling himself on Dositheus, slashed his shoulder, and Gorgias escaped to Marisa.	35 A man called Dositheus, a powerful horseman and one of Bacenor's men, caught hold of Gorgias, grasped his military cloak and dragged him along by main strength, intending to capture the vile wretch alive, when a Thracian horseman attacked Dositheus and cut off his arm at the shoulder. Then Gorgias fled to Marisa.
36 Meanwhile, since Esdrias and his men had been fighting for a long time and were exhausted, Judascal ed on the Lord to show himself their ally and leader in battle.	36 After Esdris and his men had been fighting for a long time and were weary, Judas called upon the Lord to show himself their ally and leader in the battle.
37 Then, chanting the battle cry and hymns at the top of his voice in his ancestral tongue, by a surpriseattack he routed Gorgias' troops.	37 Then, raising a battle cry in his ancestral language, and with songs, he charged Gorgias' men when they were not expecting it and put them to flight.
38 Judas then ral ied his army and moved on to the town of Adul am where, as it was the seventh day ofthe week, they purified themselves according to custom and kept the Sabbath.	38 Judas rallied his army and went to the city of Adullam. As the week was ending, they purified themselves according to custom and kept the sabbath there.
39 Next day, they came to find Judas (since the necessity was by now urgent) to have the bodies of thefal en taken up and laid to rest among their relatives in their ancestral tombs.	39 On the following day, since the task had now become urgent, Judas and his men went to gather up the bodies of the slain and bury them with their kinsmen in their ancestral tombs.
40 But when they found on each of the dead men, under their tunics, objects dedicated to the idols ofJamnia, which the Law prohibits to Jews, it became clear to everyone that this was why these men had lost theirlives.	40 But under the tunic of each of the dead they found amulets sacred to the idols of Jamnia, which the law forbids the Jews to wear. So it was clear to all that this was why these men had been slain.
41 Al then blessed the ways of the Lord, the upright judge who brings hidden things to light,	41 They all therefore praised the ways of the Lord, the just judge who brings to light the things that are hidden.
42 and gave themselves to prayer, begging that the sin committed might be completely forgiven. Next,the valiant Judas urged the soldiers to keep themselves free from al sin, having seen with their own eyes theeffects of the sin of those who had fal en;	42 Turning to supplication, they prayed that the sinful deed might be fully blotted out. The noble Judas warned the soldiers to keep themselves free from sin, for they had seen with their own eyes what had happened because of the sin of those who had fallen.
43 after this he took a col ection from them individual y, amounting to nearly two thousand drachmas,and sent it to Jerusalem to have a sacrifice for sin offered, an action altogether fine and noble, prompted by hisbelief in the resurrection.	43 He then took up a collection among all his soldiers, amounting to two thousand silver drachmas, which he sent to Jerusalem to provide for an expiatory sacrifice. In doing this he acted in a very excellent and noble way, inasmuch as he had the resurrection of the dead in view;
44 For had he not expected the fallen to rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to prayfor the dead,	44 for if he were not expecting the fallen to rise again, it would have been useless and foolish to pray for them in death.
45 whereas if he had in view the splendid recompense reserved for those who make a pious end, thethought was holy and devout. Hence, he had this expiatory sacrifice offered for the dead, so that they might bereleased from their sin.	45 But if he did this with a view to the splendid reward that awaits those who had gone to rest in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought.
	46 Thus he made atonement for the dead that they might be freed from this sin.