The Koine Bible

And King Antiochus was passing through the upper regions, and he heard that there is in Persia a city, Elymais, glorious with wealth, with silver and gold

and the sanctuary in it exceedingly rich, and there golden coverings and breastplates and weapons, which Alexander the son of Philip, the king of Macedon, left there, who reigned first among the Greeks

And he came and was seeking to capture the city and plunder it, and he was not able, because the matter was made known to those from the city.

And they opposed him in war, and he fled, and he departed from there with great grief to turn back to Babylon

And someone came reporting to him into Persia that the armies which had gone into the land of Judea had been routed.

And Lysias went with a strong force at first, and was turned back from before them, and they grew strong with weapons and with power and with many spoils, which they took from the camps which they cut down.

And they pulled down the abomination which he had built upon the altar that was in Jerusalem, and the sanctuary, as before, they surrounded with high walls, and his city Bethsoura

And it happened, when the king heard these words, he was astonished and greatly shaken, and he fell upon the bed and fell into sickness from grief, because it had not happened to him as he was planning.

And he was there for many days, because great grief had been renewed upon him, and he reckoned that he was dying.

And he called all his friends and said to them: Sleep is departing from my eyes, and I have collapsed in heart because of the anxiety

And I said in my heart, Until what affliction have I come, and of a great surge, in which I am now, because I was kind and beloved in my authority

But now I remember the evils that I did in Jerusalem, and I took all the silver and golden vessels that were in it, and I sent out to carry off the inhabitants of Judah without cause

I know that because of these things these evils have found me, and behold, I am perishing with great grief in a foreign land.

And he called Philip, one of his friends, and appointed him over all his kingdom.

And he gave him his diadem and his robe and his ring, to bring in Antiochus his son and to nourish him to reign

And King Antiochus died there in the one hundred and forty-ninth year.

And Lysias learned that the king had died, and he set up Antiochus his son, whom he had brought up while still young, to reign, and he called his name Eupator.

And those from the Akra were enclosing Israel around the sanctuary, and seeking evils continually, and a support for the nations

And Judas resolved to remove them, and he assembled all the people to lay siege against them.

And they were gathered together and encamped around it in the one hundred and fiftieth year, and he made missile platforms and engines

And some from among them came out from the blockade and joined to them certain of the ungodly from Israel.

And they went to the king and said, Until when will you not execute judgment and avenge our brothers?

We are well pleased to serve your father and to go according to the things spoken by him and to follow his commands

And the sons of our people were besieging it for this reason, and they were being alienated from us; except as many as were found from us were being put to death, and our inheritances were being plundered.

And they did not stretch out their hand against us alone, but also against all their borders.

And behold, they have encamped today against the Acra in Jerusalem to seize it, and they have fortified the sanctuary and Bethsura.

and if he does not overtake them quickly, they will do greater things than these, and you will not be able to hold them

And the king was angered when he heard, and he gathered all his friends, the rulers of his might, and those over the chariots of his power.

And from other kingdoms and from islands of the seas there came to him hired forces

And the number of his forces was one hundred thousand foot soldiers and twenty thousand horsemen and thirty-two elephants, trained for war.

And they came through Idumea and camped against Bethsura and fought many days and made engines and went out and burned them with fire and fought manfully

And Judas departed from the Akra and encamped at Beth-zachariah opposite the camp of the king

And the king rose early in the morning and removed the camp in its rush along the road of Baithzacharia, and the forces were drawn up for battle, and they sounded with the trumpets.

And to the elephants they showed the blood of grapes and of mulberries, to set them in battle

And they divided the beasts into the phalanxes, and they stationed to each elephant a thousand men armored in mail coats and bronze helmets upon their heads, and five hundred horsemen arranged to each beast, chosen.

These before the time when the beast would be, they were, and wherever it would go, they went together; they did not withdraw from it.

and wooden towers over them, fortified, covered, with each beast girded on it with engines, and on each four men of strength fighting against them, and its rider

And the rest of the horse he stationed on this side and on that side, at the two parts of the camp, shaking and barricading themselves in the phalanxes.

And as the sun shone upon the golden and bronze shields, the mountains shone from them and gleamed like torches of fire

And a certain part of the king’s camp was extended to the high mountains, and some to the low places, and they were coming safely and in order

And all who heard the voice of their multitude and the marching of the multitude and the clashing of the weapons were shaken, for the camp was very great and strong.

And Judas and his camp drew near into battle line, and six hundred men fell from the camp of the king.

And Eleazar the Avaran saw one of the beasts armored with royal breastplates, and it was surpassing all the beasts, and he thought that the king was in it

And he gave himself to save his people and to gain for himself an everlasting name

And he ran upon it with boldness into the midst of the phalanx, and he put to death those on the right and on the left, and they were split apart from him here and there.

And he crept under the elephant and put it under him and killed him, and he fell to the ground on top of him, and he died there

and they saw the strength of the kingdom and the onset of the forces, and they turned aside from them

And those from the camp of the king were going up to meet them to Jerusalem, and the king encamped in Judea and on Mount Zion

And he made peace with those from Bethsour, and they went out from the city, because there was no provision for them there to be shut up in it, because it was a sabbath for the land.

And the king seized Bethsour and stationed there a garrison to keep it.

And he camped against the sanctuary for many days and set there missile-throwers and engines and fire-shooters and stone-throwers and scorpions for casting arrows and slings

And they also made engines against their engines, and they fought many days.

But there was no food in the vessels because it was the seventh year, and those who had been rescued into Judea from the nations consumed the remainder of the stored provisions.

And there were left in the holy places a few men, because the famine had prevailed over them, and each was scattered to his own place.

And Lysias heard that Philip, whom king Antiochus had appointed while he was still alive to bring up his son Antiochus to make him king,

He turned back from Persia and Media, and the forces that had gone with the king with him, and that he sought to take possession of the affairs thereof

And he hastened and signaled to depart, and he said to the king and to the commanders of the force and to the men, We are failing day by day, and the food is little for us, and the place where we encamp is strong, and the affairs of the kingdom are pressing upon us.

Now then let us give right hands to these men and make peace with them and with every nation of theirs

and let us establish for them to go in their laws as before, for because of their laws, which we scattered, they were angered and did all these things

And the word pleased the king and the rulers, and he sent to them to make peace, and they accepted it.

And the king and the rulers swore to them concerning these things; and they came out from the stronghold.

And the king entered Mount Zion and saw the stronghold of the place, and he nullified the oath which he had sworn, and he ordered the wall to be torn down all around

And he departed in haste and returned to Antioch, and he found Philip ruling over the city, and he fought against him and took the city by force.