2 Maccabees 13
Antiochus Eupator, accompanied by Lysias and Menelaus, marched against Judea with a large army, but Menelaus was thrown to his death in a pile of ashes for his treachery. Antiochus then intensified his persecution of the Jews, prompting Judas to instruct the people to pray and prepare for battle. Judas led a successful nighttime attack on the king's camp, killing 4,000 men and causing widespread fear. The king attempted to take the fortified garrison of Bethzur but was repelled, and later, after learning of a rebellion in Antioch, he begged the Jews for peace, swore to uphold justice, and offered sacrifices at the temple.
1 In the one hundred and forty-ninth year, Judas realized that Antiochus Eupator was coming with a multitude against Judea 2 And with him was Lysias, the procurator, who was in charge of the government, having with him one hundred and ten thousand foot solders, five thousand horsemen, and twenty-two elephants, and three hundred swift chariots with curved blades 3 Menelaus also joined himself to them, and with many lies he pleaded with Antiochus, not for the welfare of his country, but hoping that he would be appointed as first ruler 4 But the King of kings awakened the mind of Antiochus against the sinner. And when Lysias was suggesting this to be the cause of all the evils, he ordered (as is the custom with them) that he should be apprehended and killed in the same place 5 Now there was, in the same place, a tower of fifty cubits, having a pile of ashes on every side. This had a lookout over a precipice 6 From there, he ordered this sacrilegious one to be thrown down into the ashes, with all propelling him into the afterlife 7 And by such a law, it turned out that the betrayer of the law, Menelaus, died, not having so much as a burial in the earth 8 And indeed, this satisfied justice, for just as he had committed many offenses toward the altar of God, the fire and ashes of which are holy, so was he condemned to die in ashes 9 But the king, with his mind being unbridled, came to reveal himself as more wicked to the Jews than his father was 10 When Judas understood this, he instructed the people to call upon the Lord day and night, so that, just as always, now also he would help them 11 Of course, they were afraid to be deprived of their law and their country, and of the holy temple, and also that he might allow the people, who had recently taken a breath for a little while, to be again subdued by blasphemous nations 12 And so, having together done all these things, and having sought mercy from the Lord with weeping and fasting, lying prostrate on the ground continually for three days, Judas exhorted them to prepare themselves 13 In truth, with the elders he decided that, before the king could move his army into Judea and obtain the city, they would go out and commit the outcome of the event to the judgment of the Lord 14 And so, giving everything to God, the Creator of the world, and having exhorted his own to contend with fortitude and to stand up, even unto death, for the laws, the temple, the city, their country and the citizens: he positioned his army around Modin 15 And having given his own a sign of the victory of God, he attacked the quarters of the king by night, with the strongest chosen young men, and he slew four thousand men in the camp, and the greatest of the elephants, along with those who would have been positioned on them 16 And so, having filled the camp of their enemies with the greatest fear and disturbance, they went away with good success 17 Now this was done at the first light of day, with the Lord assisting and protecting them 18 But the king, having received a taste of the audacity of the Jews, attempted to take the difficult places by craftiness 19 And so, he moved his camp to Bethzur, which was a fortified garrison of the Jews. But as he struck, he was put to flight and reduced in number 20 Then Judas sent necessities to those who were inside 21 But Rhodocus, a certain one from the Jewish army, reported the secrets to the enemies, so he was sought out, apprehended, and imprisoned 22 Again, the king held talks with those who were in Bethzur. He gave his right hand as a pledge, and accepted theirs, and he went away 23 He joined battle with Judas; he was overcome. But when he realized that Philip, who had been left out of these events, had rebelled at Antioch, he was in a consternation of mind, and, begging the Jews, and being submissive to them, he swore to all things that seemed just. And, being reconciled, he offered sacrifice, honored the temple, and left gifts 24 He embraced Maccabeus, and he made him commander and leader from Ptolemais all the way to the Gerrenians 25 But when he arrived at Ptolemais, the Ptolemaians considered the conditions of the alliance burdensome, being indignant lest perhaps they might break the pact 26 Then Lysias went up to the tribunal, and explained the reasons, and calmed the people, and so he returned to Antioch. And this is the way things went concerning the journey and return of the king