...they willed, they gave the kingdom; and whomever they willed, they removed from power; and they were greatly exalted. ¹⁴And despite all this, not one of them stubbornly sought to wear a crown or clothe themselves in purple In the ancient world, purple dye was extremely expensive and reserved for royalty; the author is impressed by the Roman Republican system where leaders did not claim the trappings of kings. to establish their own authority. ¹⁵Instead, they built a house of counsel, and every day three hundred and twenty men entered into counsel regarding the people, so that the land might remain well-ordered. ¹⁶And they would appoint one man among them who was faithful as a leader for a year, that he might rule over all their land; and everyone listened to that one man with obedience, and there was no envy among them.

¹⁷Then Judas chose select men from every troop: Eupolemus the Akkotian, the son of John, and Jason the son of Eleazar. He sent them to the city of Rome to seek an alliance of peace and support from them, ¹⁸and that they might lift the yoke from their necks; for they saw that the Greeks Refers to the Seleucid Empire, the successor state of Alexander the Great that then ruled over Judea. had made the yoke of servitude heavy upon the necks of the Israelites. ¹⁹So they went to the regions of the Romans. The journey was very long, but the messengers arrived and appeared before the house of counsel. They stood in the midst and began to deliver their message:

²⁰"Judas Maccabeus and his brothers, and all the army of the Judeans, have sent us to speak with you regarding peace, to make you our allies, and to seek peace from you; so that it may be pleasing to you to write us down as your fellow-warriors and friends." ²¹And the word seemed good in their sight.

²²And this is the copy of the letter which they wrote back to them on tablets of bronze and sent to Jerusalem, and they kept a copy for themselves as a memorial of support and peace:

²³"May peace and good things be with Judea and with the Romans by sea and by land; may the sword and the enemy be far from them. ²⁴But if war should first come upon the Romans, or upon any of their friends in any place of their dominion, ²⁵the Judean troop shall come to their support immediately, as the occasion dictates to them, with a willing heart. ²⁶And they shall not give anything to the enemy, nor assist them with silver or gold, or weapons or ships. Thus it has seemed good to the Romans; let them keep this command without bribery. ²⁷Likewise, if war should come upon the Jewish nation, the Romans shall come to their support immediately with a sincere heart, as the occasion dictates to them. ²⁸And they shall not give anything to the enemy—gold or silver or weapons or ships—as it has seemed good to the Romans. They shall keep these commands without deceit."

²⁹And according to these words, the Romans established a covenant with the Judean troop. ³⁰But if, after these words, any counsel should enter among these or those to remove or add anything as the occasion arises, they shall do so by common consent, and it shall be firmly established. ³¹And concerning the evils that King Demetrius is bringing upon them, we have written to him, saying: "Why do you make the yoke heavy upon the necks of our fellow-warrior friends? ³²Know this, that if they complain against you, we will maintain justice for them and wage war against you, whether by sea or by land."

9

But Demetrius heard nothing of this; for Nicanor and his troop had fallen and been destroyed by them in battle. And he again sent Bacchides and Alcimus a second time, and the right wing of his army with them, into the land of Judea. ²And they went by the way of Gilgal, and they came and encamped at Mesaloth in the land of Arbela, and they captured it and slaughtered many people there. ³In the first month of the one hundred and fifty-third year, they encamped near Jerusalem. ⁴And they set out and went to Hasish in Berea with twenty thousand footmen and two thousand armed horsemen.

⁵Now Judas was encamped at Elasa, and three thousand select armed men were with him. ⁶When they saw the massive multitude of the troop, they were very afraid, and many slipped away from him; no one remained with Judas except eight hundred armed horsemen. ⁷When Judas saw that the troops had slipped away from him, and the battle was pressing him, he was troubled in his heart; for there was no time to gather them all at once. He was weakened and discouraged. ⁸He began to speak to those who remained and said, "Come, let us go and attack; perhaps we can strike some blow against them."

⁹But they urged him to turn back and said, "We are but few; we cannot prevail against them. But now let us save our lives; then let us return and gather our brothers and fight, even though we are few." ¹⁰Judas answered them and said, "Far be it from me to do such a thing, to turn in flight from them. If our time has come, let us die bravely for our brothers, and let us not stain our name for bravery with a reputation for cowardice."

¹¹Then the army came out from each camp and stood in battle array facing one another. There were two divisions; the division of Bacchides was fully armed. The slingers and archers marched in front of the troop, and the vanguard had marched out before them. ¹²But Bacchides was on the right wing, moving the troops forward with the sound of the trumpet in a great rush. ¹³And the troop of Judas sounded their trumpets and came charging upon them, so that the earth shook from the noise of the multitude from both sides. And the battle was joined without ceasing from morning until evening.

¹⁴When Judas saw that Bacchides was on the right wing with his most elite troops, he called the most select armed men from his own troop to the front, encouraged them, and immediately charged upon them. ¹⁵At that time, he broke the right wing and put the left to flight, and pursued the fugitives until the upper regions of Azotus. ¹⁶But those who were on the left wing, when they saw that the right wing was broken before the Judeans, they turned and followed close behind Judas and his troop, surrounding them. ¹⁷At that point, the wounded from both sides fell and rolled upon the ground. ¹⁸There Judas fell with his first champions; and those who remained turned to flight.

¹⁹Jonathan and Simon, his two brothers, took up Judas and carried him and buried him in the tombs of their fathers in Modein. ²⁰The children of Israel wept and mourned for him with a great lamentation; they observed many days of mourning and began to say: ²¹"How the mighty has fallen, the savior of Israel!" ²²As for the other battles or engagements or the driving of wars, or any other acts of bravery that Judas performed, they are not written in this book; for they were very many indeed.

²³And it happened after the death of Judas that the lawless ones broke through all the borders of the Israelites; they sprouted and burst forth, and those who committed lawlessness multiplied. ²⁴In those days there was a great famine, and the people themselves went over to them; and the land was assisting them. ²⁵And Bacchides chose lawless men and appointed them as lords over the people. ²⁶They investigated and searched for and brought the friends of Judas to Bacchides, and they took vengeance on them, making them suffer and mocking them. ²⁷And they oppressed and made a laughingstock of Israel; for such a thing had never happened since the time a prophet had appeared. ²⁸Then all the friends of Judas gathered and went to Jonathan Aphus and said: ²⁹"Your brother Judas is dead, and there is no man like him to go out against the enemy, to give an answer to those who have come with enmity to oppress our nation. ³⁰But you..."

16 Some say: A prince and a head. 17 Some say: The Apollonian Akkotians. 19 Some say: They wept in the midst and began. 20 Some say: And all the officers of the Judeans. 22 Oskian: And this is the copy of the command. 23 Missing from the original: Across every sea and... 24 Some say: Or to any of their friends. 25 Some say: Immediately it shall reach... it shall show them. 27 Some say: Likewise... if war reaches, you shall immediately come to support. 31 Some say: Why do you make it heavy? 32 Some say: These shall testify... whether it be by sea or... 9.1 Missing from the original: Sent back again. Other: And the right wing of his side with them to the land.

4 Some say: They reached Berea. In the original: And 2,000 horsemen. 7 Some say: And the battle was pressing them. 8 Some say: We might be able to strike something. 9 Some say: Save your life... then let us return. 10 Other: For the sake of the virtue of bravery. 11 Some say: They marched before the troop. 12 Some say: In the first wing there. 14 Some say: And then upon the attack. 15 Some say: In the regions of Mount Azotus. 17 Some say: From both sides falling to the ground... 18 The original marks this phrase in red ink: There Judas fell. 22 Other: Which Judas had done. 23 Some say: After the death of Judas.