2 Maccabees 12

NEW JERUSALEM	Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
1 These agreements once concluded, Lysias returned to the king and the Jews went back to theirfarming.	1 When this agreement had been reached, 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 governors in various places, Timothy and Apollonius the son of Gennaeus, as well as Hieronymus and Demophon, and in addition to these Nicanor the governor of Cyprus, would not let them live quietly and 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 And some men of Joppa did so ungodly a deed as this: they invited the Jews who lived among them to embark, with their wives and children, on boats which they had provided, as though there were no ill will to the Jews;
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 and this was done by public vote of the city. And when they accepted, because they wished to live peaceably and suspected nothing, the men of Joppa took them out to sea and drowned them, not less than two hundred.
5 When Judas heard of the cruel fate of his countrymen, he issued his orders to his men	5 When Judas heard of the cruelty visited on his countrymen, he gave orders to 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, calling upon God the righteous Judge, attacked the murderers of his brethren. He set fire to the harbor by night, and burned the boats, and massacred 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 Then, because the city's gates were closed, he withdrew, intending to come again and root out the whole community of Joppa.
8 But hearing that the people of Jamnia were planning to treat their resident Jews in the same way,	8 But learning that the men in Jamnia meant in the same way to wipe out the Jews who were living 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 people of Jamnia by night and set fire to the harbor and the fleet, so that the glow of the light was seen in Jerusalem, thirty miles distant.
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 they had gone more than a mile from there, on their march against Timothy, not less than five thousand Arabs with five hundred horsemen attacked them.
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 men won the victory, by the help of God. The defeated nomads besought Judas to grant them pledges of friendship, promising to give him cattle and to help his people in all other ways.
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 Judas, thinking that they might really be useful in many ways, agreed to make peace with them; and after receiving his pledges they departed 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 which was strongly fortified with earthworks and walls, and inhabited by all sorts of Gentiles. Its name was Caspin.
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 And those who were within, relying on the strength of the walls and on their supply of provisions, behaved most insolently toward Judas and his men, railing at them and even blaspheming and saying unholy things.
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, calling upon the great Sovereign of the world, who without battering-rams or engines of war overthrew Jericho in the days of Joshua, rushed furiously upon the walls.
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 They took the city by the will of God, and slaughtered untold numbers, so that the adjoining lake, a quarter of a mile wide, appeared to be running over with blood.
17 Ninety-five miles further on from there, they reached the Charax, in the country of Jews known asTubians.	17 When they had gone ninety-five miles from there, they came to Charax, to the Jews who are called 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 They did not find Timothy in that region, for he had by then departed from the region without accomplishing anything, though in one place he had left 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 Dositheus and Sosipater, who were captains under Maccabeus, marched out and destroyed those whom Timothy had left in the stronghold, more than ten thousand men.
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 But Maccabeus arranged his army in divisions, set men in command of the divisions, and hastened after Timothy, who had with him a hundred and twenty thousand infantry and two thousand five hundred cavalry.
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 off the women and the children and also the baggage to a place called Carnaim; for that place was hard to besiege and difficult of access because of the narrowness of all the approaches.
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 division appeared, terror and fear came over the enemy at the manifestation to them of him who sees all things; and they rushed off in flight and were swept on, this way and that, so that often they were injured by their own men and pierced by the points of their swords.
23 Judas pursued them with a wil , cutting the sinners to pieces and kil ing something like thirtythousand men.	23 And Judas pressed the pursuit with the utmost vigor, putting the sinners to the sword, and destroyed 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 Dositheus and Sosipater and their men. With great guile he besought them to let him go in safety, because he held the parents of most of them and the brothers of some and no consideration would be shown them.
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 And when with many words he had confirmed his solemn promise 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 Then Judas marched against Carnaim and the temple of Atargatis, and slaughtered 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 rout and destruction of these, he marched also against Ephron, a fortified city where Lysias dwelt with multitudes of people of all nationalities. Stalwart young men took their stand before the walls and made a vigorous defense; and great stores of war engines and missiles were there.
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 called upon the Sovereign who with power shatters the might of his enemies, and they got the city into their hands, and killed as many as twenty-five thousand of those who were within it.
29 Moving off from there, they pressed on to Scythopolis,	29 Setting out from there, they hastened to Scythopolis, which is 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 dwelt there bore witness to the good will which the people of Scythopolis had shown them and their kind treatment of them in times of misfortune,
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 they thanked them and exhorted them to be well disposed to their race in the future also. Then they went up to Jerusalem, as the feast of weeks was close at hand.
32 After Pentecost, as it is cal ed, they marched against Gorgias, the general commanding Idumaea.	32 After the feast called Pentecost, they hastened against Gorgias, the governor of Idumea.
33 He came out at the head of three thousand infantry and four hundred cavalry;	33 And he came out with three thousand infantry and four hundred cavalry.
34 in the course of the ensuing battle a few Jews lost their lives.	34 When they joined battle, it happened that a few of the Jews fell.
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 But a certain Dositheus, one of Bacenor's men, who was on horseback and was a strong man, caught hold of Gorgias, and grasping his cloak was dragging him off by main strength, wishing to take the accursed man alive, when one of the Thracian horsemen bore down upon him and cut off his arm; so Gorgias escaped and reached 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 As 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 In the language of their fathers he raised the battle cry, with hymns; then he charged against 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 Then Judas assembled his army and went to the city of Adullam. As the seventh day was coming on, they purified themselves according to the custom, and they 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 next day, as by that time it had become necessary, Judas and his men went to take up the bodies of the fallen and to bring them back to lie with their kinsmen in the sepulchres of their fathers.
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 Then under the tunic of every one of the dead they found sacred tokens of the idols of Jamnia, which the law forbids the Jews to wear. And it became clear to all that this was why these men had fallen.
41 Al then blessed the ways of the Lord, the upright judge who brings hidden things to light,	41 So they all blessed the ways of the Lord, the righteous Judge, who reveals 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 and they turned to prayer, beseeching that the sin which had been committed might be wholly blotted out. And the noble Judas exhorted the people 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 also took up a collection, man by man, to the amount of two thousand drachmas of silver, and sent it to Jerusalem to provide for a sin offering. In doing this he acted very well and honorably, taking account of the resurrection.
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 that those who had fallen would rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead.
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 was looking to the splendid reward that is laid up for those who fall asleep in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Therefore he made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin.