Catholic Public Domain Version

1 Maccabees 4:24-41 Catholic Public Domain Version (CPDV)

24. And returning, they sang a canticle, and they blessed God in heaven, because he is good, because his mercy is with every generation.

25. And so, a great salvation occurred in Israel in that day.

26. But those among the foreigners who escaped went and reported to Lysias all that had happened.

27. And when he heard these things, he was discouraged, being alarmed to his very soul. For things had not occurred in Israel according to his wishes, nor as the king had commanded.

28. And, in the following year, Lysias gathered together sixty thousand chosen men and five thousand horsemen, so that he might defeat them in warfare.

29. And they came into Judea, and they positioned their camp in Bethzur, and Judas met them with ten thousand men.

30. And they saw the strength of the army, and so he prayed, and he said: "Blessed are you, Savior of Israel, who crushed the assault of the powerful by the hand of your servant David, and who delivered up the camp of the foreigners into the hand of Jonathan, the son of Saul, and his armor bearer.

31. Enclose this army in the hand of your people Israel, and let them be confounded in their soldiers and their horsemen.

32. Strike them with dread, and melt away the boldness of their strength, and let them shudder in their grief.

33. Cast them down with the sword of those who love you, and let all who know your name praise you with hymns."

34. And they went forth to battle, and there fell from the army of Lysias five thousand men.

35. But Lysias, seeing their flight and the boldness of the Jews, and that they were prepared either to live or to die with fortitude, went to Antioch and chose soldiers, so that they might come back to Judea with greater numbers.

36. Then Judas and his brothers said: "Behold, our enemies have been crushed. Let us go up now to cleanse and renew the holy places."

37. And all the army gathered together, and they ascended to Mount Zion.

38. And they saw the sanctuary deserted, and the altar profaned, and the gates burned, and weeds growing up in the courts, as in a forest or as on the mountains, and the adjoining chambers demolished.

39. And they rent their garments, and they made a great wailing, and they placed ashes on their heads.

40. And they fell to the ground on their faces, and they sounded the trumpets of alarm, and they cried out toward heaven.

41. Then Judas numbered men to fight against those who were in the stronghold, until they had cleansed the holy places.