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1King Antiochus was passing through the upper provinces when he heard that the city of Elymais in Persia was famous for its rich stores of silver and gold.
2The temple in this city was very rich, containing gold armor, shields, and weapons left there by Alexander the Macedonian, son of Philip, the first ruler of Greece.
3Antiochus came and tried to capture the city and strip it of its wealth, but he did not succeed because its citizens had learned of his plans to attack.
4They resisted him in battle, so he retreated and returned to Babylon greatly disappointed.
5While Antiochus was still in Persia, someone told him that his armies had been defeated in Judea.[#6:5 Greek in the land of Judah.]
6He was told that Lysias had attacked them with a strong force but had been defeated by the Jews. The Jews had now grown strong by capturing armor, war supplies, and stores of goods from the armies they destroyed.
7Antiochus was told that the Jews had thrown down the sacrilegious object he had set up on the altar in Jerusalem, had surrounded the Temple with high walls as in the past, and had fortified Beth-zur, his town.
8When the king heard this news, he was astounded and badly shaken. He became so sick with grief that he was confined to his bed, for things had not worked out as he had planned.
9He lay there for many days, overcome with bitterness and constant grief, until finally he realized he was dying.
10The king called for his favored leaders and said to them, “I can’t sleep, and my heart has been broken with worry.
11At first I said to myself, ‘How could I have come to such distress and deep sorrow? I have been kind, and my people have always loved me.’
12But now I remember the wrongs I committed in Jerusalem—how I seized all the vessels of gold and silver and ordered the slaughter of the people of Judea without just cause.[#6:12 Greek of Judah.]
13I know now that this is why these evils have fallen on me. Now I will die of great sorrow in a foreign land.”
14King Antiochus then called for Philip, one of his favored leaders, and put him in command of all his kingdom.
15He gave Philip the royal crown, his robe, and his signet ring, with the understanding that Philip would be guardian to his son Antiochus and train him to become king.
16Antiochus Epiphanes died there in Persia in the one hundred forty-ninth year of Greek rule.[#6:16 The 149th year of Greek rule was 163 b.c.]
17Now when Lysias learned that the king was dead, he went ahead and crowned the king’s son Antiochus as the new king. Lysias had raised him from childhood and gave him the title Eupator.
18Meanwhile, the soldiers from the garrison in the Jerusalem citadel were harassing the Israelites near the sanctuary. They tried in every way they could to harm the Jews and strengthen the Gentiles.
19Judas decided to destroy them, so he gathered all the people to besiege the citadel.
20They joined together and attacked the citadel in the one hundred fiftieth year of Greek rule, using siege weapons and battering rams.[#6:20 The 150th year of Greek rule was 162 b.c.]
21Some of the people in the citadel escaped from the siege, and some ungodly Israelites joined them.
22They went to King Antiochus Eupator and said, “How long will you refuse to do justice and avenge the attacks on our people?[#6:22 Greek the king.]
23We were content to serve your father, doing all he ordered and obeying his commands.
24But because of this, the other Israelites are angry with us and have besieged the citadel. They have killed as many of us as they could catch and have seized our inheritances.
25They have opposed not only us but also people in all the surrounding territories.
26Now they have besieged the citadel in Jerusalem and have fortified the Temple and the stronghold of Beth-zur.
27Unless you act quickly, they will do worse things than these, and you will not be able to stop them.”
28The king became angry when he heard this. He called together all his favored leaders, the commanders of his army, and the officers over his horsemen.
29He also hired mercenaries from various places, including the Mediterranean islands.
30His army numbered one hundred thousand foot soldiers, twenty thousand horsemen, and thirty-two elephants trained in warfare.
31After marching through Idumea, they came to Beth-zur and attacked it for many days. They even used battering rams in the attack, but the Jews bravely ran out of the town and set the battering rams on fire.
32Judas and his army left the siege of the citadel in Jerusalem and moved their camp to Beth-zechariah, opposite the camp of the king’s army.
33The king rose before daylight and marched his men toward Beth-zechariah, where they prepared for battle and sounded the trumpets.
34The elephants were given grape juice and mulberry juice to provoke them to fight.
35The elephants were distributed among the ranks of foot soldiers, each elephant to a thousand men, who were dressed in coats of mail and wearing bronze helmets. Five hundred select horsemen were assigned to each elephant.
36These horsemen anticipated the moves of the elephants and went with them, never leaving them.
37Fastened to each elephant by a harness was a sturdy wooden tower. A team of men fought from each tower while an Indian driver directed the beast.[#6:37 Some manuscripts read 32; others read 30. The text could also be understood to read 4.]
38The rest of the horsemen were placed on either flank of the army to harass the enemy while being protected by the ranks of foot soldiers.
39When the sun reflected from the shields of gold and bronze, the hills caught the glare and gleamed as if on fire.
40Part of the king’s army was deployed on the high hills, while the other part was on the plain. The soldiers advanced steadily and in solid formation.
41Everyone trembled at the noise of this great multitude, for the powerful and numerous army thundered as it marched in its clanging armor.
42Judas and his army marched forward, and six hundred of the king’s men were killed.
43Judas’s brother Eleazar, who was called Avaran, saw that one of the elephants was larger than the other beasts and was equipped with royal armor. He thought that the king was on it,
44so he sacrificed himself to win the battle and earn everlasting fame.
45As Eleazar fought his way boldly through the middle of the enemy ranks, killing men left and right, the troops parted as he came.
46He got under the elephant, plunged his sword into it, and killed it; but the elephant collapsed on him and he died.
47When the Jews saw the strength and determination of the king’s army, however, they retreated.
48The king’s army followed them to Jerusalem, where it set up camp to blockade Judea and Mount Zion.
49The king granted terms of peace to the people of Beth-zur, and they evacuated the town. (They had no food to withstand a siege, since it was a Sabbath year for the land.)
50So the king captured Beth-zur and stationed a garrison there to hold it.
51Then he began a long siege of the Temple. He set up siege weapons, battering rams, machines to hurl fire and stones, machines to shoot arrows, and catapults.
52The Jews also constructed weapons of war to match these, and they fought for many days.
53But since it was the Sabbath year, there was no food in the town. Those who had sought refuge in Judea from the Gentiles had eaten all the stored food.
54Because of the food shortage, only a few men stayed in the Temple; all the others had scattered to their own homes.
55Before he died, Antiochus Epiphanes had appointed Philip to raise his son, Antiochus Eupator, and to prepare him to be king. Lysias now heard that Philip
56had returned from Persia and Media with the late king’s army and was trying to seize control.
57So Lysias gave orders to withdraw from attacking the Temple, and he went to King Antiochus Eupator and told him and his commanders, “We are growing weaker every day, we are short of food, and the place we are attacking is strong. Besides, the other affairs of the kingdom demand urgent attention.
58Therefore, let us make a peace treaty with these people and their nation.
59Let us agree that they may live according to their own laws once again. It is because we abolished their laws that they became angry and rebelled like this.”
60The proposal pleased the king and his commanders. He sent the Jews an offer of peace, and they accepted it.
61So the king and his commanders gave their word, and the defenders left the stronghold.
62But when the king went up to Mount Zion, he saw that its defenses were very strong, so he broke his word and gave orders to tear down the wall around the Temple.
63Then he quickly left and returned to Antioch. There he found Philip in control of the city, so he attacked the city and captured it.