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26 (A)Judas then marched to Karnion and the shrine of Atargatis,[a] where he killed twenty-five thousand people. 27 After the defeat and destruction of these, he moved his army to Ephron, a fortified city inhabited by Lysias and people of many nationalities. Robust young men took up their posts in defense of the walls, from which they fought valiantly; inside were large supplies of war machines and missiles. 28 But the Jews, invoking the Sovereign who powerfully shatters the might of enemies, got possession of the city and slaughtered twenty-five thousand of the people in it.

29 Then they set out from there and hastened on to Scythopolis,[b] seventy-five miles from Jerusalem. 30 But when the Jews who lived there testified to the goodwill shown by the Scythopolitans and to their kind treatment even in times of adversity, 31 Judas and his men thanked them and exhorted them to be well disposed to their nation in the future also. Finally they arrived in Jerusalem, shortly before the feast of Weeks.

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Footnotes

  1. 12:26 Atargatis: a Syrian goddess, represented by the body of a fish, who in Hellenistic times was identified with Astarte and Artemis.
  2. 12:29 Scythopolis: the Greek name of the city of Beth-shan; cf. 1 Mc 5:52.
'2 Maccabees 12:26-31' not found for the version: New International Version.