heathen into the hands of Jonathan the son of
Saul, and of his armor-bearer.
Shut up this army in the hand of thy people Israel,
And let them be ashamed of their army and their horsemen.
Give them faintness of heart,
And let their bold courage melt away,
And let them tremble at their destruction.
Cast them down by the sword of those who love thee,
So that all may know thy name who praise thee with thanksgiving.
Then they joined battle; and there fell of the army of Lysias about five
thousand men, and they fell on the spot before them.
[Sidenote: I Macc. 4:35]
But when Lysias saw that his army was retreating, and the boldness that
had come upon those who were with Judas, and how they were ready either to
live or to die nobly, he removed to Antioch and gathered together hired
soldiers, that he might come again into Judea with a still greater force.
[Sidenote: I Macc. 4:36-51]
Then Judas and his brothers said, Now that our enemies have been defeated,
let us go up to cleanse the sanctuary and to dedicate it again; so they
went up to Mount Zion. And all the army was gathered together and went up
to Mount Zion. And when they saw the sanctuary laid desolate, the altar
profaned, the gates burnt, and shrubs growing in the courts, as in a
forest or as on one of the mountains, and the priests' chambers pulled
down, they tore their garments and made great lamentation, and putting
ashes upon their heads, they fell prone upon the ground. Then they blew a
signal on the trumpets and cried to Heaven. And Judas appointed certain
men to fight against those who were in the citadel, until he should have
cleansed the sanctuary. And he chose priests who were unimpeachable
observers of the law, who cleansed the sanctuary and carried out the
polluted stones to an unclean place. And they deliberated as to what they
should do with the altar of burnt-offerings which had been profaned. They
finally reached this wise decision: to pull it down lest it should be a
reproach to them, because the heathen had defiled it. So they pulled down
the altar and laid the stones on the temple mount in a convenient place,
until there should come a prophet to give an oracle concerning them. Then
they took whole stones as the law required and built a new altar after the
design of the former. They also rebuilt the sanctuary and the inner parts
of the temple and consecrated the courts. They also made the holy vessels
new and brought the candlestick and the alt
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