trust in the Lord.
[41] Last of all after the sons the mother died.
[42] Let this be enough now to have spoken
concerning the idolatrous feasts, and the extreme tortures.
2Mac.8
[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] 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] 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] 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] 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] 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] But
specially took he advantage of the night for such privy attempts, insomuch that the fruit of his holiness
was spread every where.
[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] 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] 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] 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] 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] They that were fearful,
and distrusted the justice of God, fled, and conveyed themselves away.
[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]
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] 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] 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]
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] 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] 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]
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] 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] 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] 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] And took their
money that came to buy them, and pursued them far: but lacking time they returned:
[26] For it was the
day before the sabbath, and therefore they would no longer pursue them.
[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] 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]