Common English Bible

2 Maccabees 12:21-28 Common English Bible (CEB)

21. After receiving information about Judas’ approach, Timothy sent the wives and children and their belongings ahead to a village called Carnaim. He did this because the place was difficult to surround or attack on account of the narrowness of the approaches.

22. After Judas’ first tactical unit appeared, the enemy was afraid, especially when the "one who sees all things" appeared to them. They took flight, running here and there, so that many were injured by their own comrades and pierced by the tips of their own swords.

23. Judas pursued them vigorously. Stabbing sinners left and right, he killed as many as thirty thousand men.

24. Timothy himself fell into the hands of Dositheus, Sosipater, and their men. He skillfully argued that he should be set free, persuading them that he held many parents and other relatives as prisoners who might not receive any consideration.

25. After he promised repeatedly to return them unharmed, they released him for the benefit of the safety of their relatives.

26. Next Judas attacked Carnaim and the temple of Atargatis, killing twenty-five thousand people.

27. After overturning and destroying these places, he made war also on Ephron, a fortified city with a mixed population, where Lysias made his home. Strong young men fought bravely, however, in front of the walls where there were also many war engines and arrows.

28. Calling on the Lord who crushes the strength of the enemy, the Jews took control of the city and killed about twenty-five thousand people.