2 Maccabees 8

NEW JERUSALEM	KING JAMES BIBLE
1 Judas, otherwise known as Maccabaeus, and his companions made their way secretly among thevil ages, ral ying their fellow-countrymen; they recruited those who remained loyal to Judaism and assembledabout six thousand.	1 Then Judas Maccabeus, and they that were with him, went privily into the towns, and called their kinsfolks together, and took unto them all such as continued in the Jews' religion, and assembled about six thousand men.
2 They cal ed on the Lord to have regard for the people oppressed on al sides, to take pity on theTemple profaned by the godless,	2 And they called upon the Lord, that he would look upon the people that was trodden down of all; and also pity the temple profaned of ungodly men;
3 to have mercy on the city now being destroyed and level ed to the ground, to hear the blood of thevictims that cried aloud to him,	3 And that he would have compassion upon the city, sore defaced, and ready to be made even with the ground; and hear the blood that cried unto him,
4 to remember too the criminal slaughter of innocent babies and to avenge the blasphemies perpetratedagainst his name.	4 And remember the wicked slaughter of harmless infants, and the blasphemies committed against his name; and that he would shew his hatred against the wicked.
5 As soon as Maccabaeus had an organised force, he at once proved invincible to the foreigners, theLord's anger having turned into compassion.	5 Now when Maccabeis had his company about him, he could not be withstood by the heathen: for the wrath of the Lord was turned into mercy.
6 Making surprise attacks on towns and villages, he fired them; he captured favourable positions andinflicted very heavy losses on the enemy,	6 Therefore he came at unawares, and burnt up towns and cities, and got into his hands the most commodious places, and overcame and put to flight no small number of his enemies.
7 general y availing himself of the cover of night for such enterprises. The fame of his valour spread farand wide.	7 But specially took he advantage of the night for such privy attempts, insomuch that the fruit of his holiness was spread every where.
8 When Philip saw Judas was making steady progress and winning more and more frequent successes,he wrote to Ptolemy, the general officer commanding Coele-Syria and Phoenicia, asking for reinforcements inthe royal interest.	8 So when Philip saw that this man increased by little and little, and that things prospered with him still more and more, he wrote unto Ptolemeus, the governor of Celosyria and Phenice, to yield more aid to the king's affairs.
9 Ptolemy chose Nicanor son of Patroclus, one of the king's First Friends, and sent him without delay atthe head of an international force of at least twenty thousand men to exterminate the entire Jewish race. As hisassociate he appointed Gorgias, a professional general of wide military experience.	9 Then forthwith choosing Nicanor the son of Patroclus, one of his special friends, he sent him with no fewer than twenty thousand of all nations under him, to root out the whole generation of the Jews; and with him he joined also Gorgias a captain, who in matters of war had great experience.
10 Nicanor for his part proposed, by the sale of Jewish prisoners of war, to raise the two thousand talentsof tribute money owed by the king to the Romans.	10 So Nicanor undertook to make so much money of the captive Jews, as should defray the tribute of two thousand talents, which the king was to pay to the Romans.
11 He lost no time in sending the seaboard towns an invitation to come and buy Jewish manpower,promising delivery of ninety head for one talent; but he did not reckon on the judgement from the Almighty thatwas soon to overtake him.	11 Wherefore immediately he sent to the cities upon the sea coast, proclaiming a sale of the captive Jews, and promising that they should have fourscore and ten bodies for one talent, not expecting the vengeance that was to follow upon him from the Almighty God.
12 When news reached Judas of Nicanor's advance, he warned his men of the enemy's approach,	12 Now when word was brought unto Judas of Nicanor's coming, and he had imparted unto those that were with him that the army was at hand,
13 whereupon the cowardly ones and those who lacked confidence in the justice of God took to theirheels and ran away.	13 They that were fearful, and distrusted the justice of God, fled, and conveyed themselves away.
14 The rest sold al their remaining possessions, at the same time praying the Lord to deliver them fromthe godless Nicanor, who had sold them even in advance of any encounter-	14 Others sold all that they had left, and withal besought the Lord to deliver them, sold by the wicked Nicanor before they met together:
15 if not for their own sakes, then at least out of consideration for the covenants made with theirancestors, and because they themselves bore his sacred and majestic name.	15 And if not for their own sakes, yet for the covenants he had made with their fathers, and for his holy and glorious name's sake, by which they were called.
16 Maccabaeus marshal ed his men, who numbered about six thousand, and exhorted them not to bedismayed at the enemy or discouraged at the vast horde of gentiles wickedly advancing against them, but tofight bravely,	16 So Maccabeus called his men together unto the number of six thousand, and exhorted them not to be stricken with terror of the enemy, nor to fear the great multitude of the heathen, who came wrongly against them; but to fight manfully,
17 keeping before their eyes the outrage committed by them against the holy place and the infamous andscornful treatment inflicted on the city, not to mention the destruction of their traditional way of life.	17 And to set before their eyes the injury that they had unjustly done to the holy place, and the cruel handling of the city, whereof they made a mockery, and also the taking away of the government of their forefathers:
18 'They may put their trust in their weapons and their exploits,' he said, 'but our confidence is in almightyGod, who is able with a single nod to overthrow both those marching on us and the whole world with them.'	18 For they, said he, trust in their weapons and boldness; but our confidence is in the Almighty who at a beck can cast down both them that come against us, and also all the world.
19 He reminded them of the occasions on which their ancestors had received help: that time when, underSennacherib, a hundred and eighty-five thousand men had perished;	19 Moreover, he recounted unto them what helps their forefathers had found, and how they were delivered, when under Sennacherib an hundred fourscore and five thousand perished.
20 that time in Babylonia when in the battle with the Galatians the Jewish combatants numbered onlyeight thousand, with four thousand Macedonians, yet when the Macedonians were hard pressed, the eightthousand had destroyed a hundred and twenty thousand, thanks to the help they had received from Heaven, andhad taken great booty as a result.	20 And he told them of the battle that they had in Babylon with the Galatians, how they came but eight thousand in all to the business, with four thousand Macedonians, and that the Macedonians being perplexed, the eight thousand destroyed an hundred and twenty thousand because of the help that they had from heaven, and so received a great booty.
21 Having so roused their courage by these words that they were ready to die for the laws and theircountry, he then divided his army into four,	21 Thus when he had made them bold with these words, and ready to die for the law and the country, he divided his army into four parts;
22 putting his brothers, Simon, Joseph and Jonathan in command of one division each, and assigningthem fifteen hundred men apiece.	22 And joined with himself his own brethren, leaders of each band, to wit Simon, and Joseph, and Jonathan, giving each one fifteen hundred men.
23 Next, he ordered Esdrias to read the Holy Book aloud and gave them their watchword 'Help fromGod'. Then, putting himself at the head of the first division, he attacked Nicanor.	23 Also he appointed Eleazar to read the holy book: and when he had given them this watchword, The help of God; himself leading the first band,
24 With the Almighty for their ally they slaughtered over nine thousand of the enemy, wounded andcrippled the greater part of Nicanor's army and put them al to flight.	24 And by the help of the Almighty they slew above nine thousand of their enemies, and wounded and maimed the most part of Nicanor's host, and so put all to flight;
25 The money of their prospective purchasers fell into their hands. After pursuing them for a good while,they turned back, since time was pressing:	25 And took their money that came to buy them, and pursued them far: but lacking time they returned:
26 it was the eve of the Sabbath, and for that reason they did not prolong their pursuit.	26 For it was the day before the sabbath, and therefore they would no longer pursue them.
27 They col ected the enemy's weapons and stripped them of their spoils, and because of the Sabbatheven more heartily blessed and praised the Lord, who had saved them and who had chosen that day for the firstmanifestation of his compassion.	27 So when they had gathered their armour together, and spoiled their enemies, they occupied themselves about the sabbath, yielding exceeding praise and thanks to the Lord, who had preserved them unto that day, which was the beginning of mercy distilling upon them.
28 When the Sabbath was over, they distributed some of the booty among the victims of the persecutionand the widows and orphans; the rest they divided among themselves and their children.	28 And after the sabbath, when they had given part of the spoils to the maimed, and the widows, and orphans, the residue they divided among themselves and their servants.
29 They then joined in public supplication, imploring the merciful Lord to be ful y reconciled with hisservants.	29 When this was done, and they had made a common supplication, they besought the merciful Lord to be reconciled with his servants for ever.
30 They also chal enged the forces of Timotheus and Bacchides and destroyed over twenty thousand ofthem, gaining possession of several high fortresses. They divided their enormous booty into two equal shares,one for themselves, the other for the victims of the persecution and the orphans and widows, not forgetting theaged.	30 Moreover of those that were with Timotheus and Bacchides, who fought against them, they slew above twenty thousand, and very easily got high and strong holds, and divided among themselves many spoils more, and made the maimed, orphans, widows, yea, and the aged also, equal in spoils with themselves.
31 They carefully col ected the enemy's weapons and stored them in suitable places. The rest of thespoils they took to Jerusalem.	31 And when they had gathered their armour together, they laid them up all carefully in convenient places, and the remnant of the spoils they brought to Jerusalem.
32 They kil ed the tribal chieftain on Timotheus' staff, an extremely wicked man who had done great harmto the Jews.	32 They slew also Philarches, that wicked person, who was with Timotheus, and had annoyed the Jews many ways.
33 In the course of their victory celebrations in Jerusalem, they burned the men who had fired the HolyGates; with Cal isthenes they had taken refuge in one smal house; so these received a fitting reward for theirsacrilege.	33 Furthermore at such time as they kept the feast for the victory in their country they burnt Callisthenes, that had set fire upon the holy gates, who had fled into a little house; and so he received a reward meet for his wickedness.
34 The triple-dyed scoundrel Nicanor, who had brought the thousand merchants to buy the Jews,	34 As for that most ungracious Nicanor, who had brought a thousand merchants to buy the Jews,
35 finding himself with the Lord's help humbled by men he had himself reckoned as of very little account,stripped off his robes of state, and made his way across country unaccompanied, like a runaway slave, reachingAntioch by a singular stroke of fortune, since his army had been destroyed.	35 He was through the help of the Lord brought down by them, of whom he made least account; and putting off his glorious apparel, and discharging his company, he came like a fugitive servant through the midland unto Antioch having very great dishonour, for that his host was destroyed.
36 Thus the man who had promised the Romans to make good their tribute money by sel ing theprisoners from Jerusalem, bore witness that the Jews had a defender and that they were in consequenceinvulnerable, since they fol owed the laws which that defender had ordained.	36 Thus he, that took upon him to make good to the Romans their tribute by means of captives in Jerusalem, told abroad, that the Jews had God to fight for them, and therefore they could not be hurt, because they followed the laws that he gave them.