The Josippon (Zëna Ayhud, 'History of the Jews') is a medieval historical chronicle composed in southern Italy around 953 CE, anonymously attributed to Joseph ben Gurion (identified with the historian Josephus). Unlike all other books in the Ethiopian canon, the Josippon has no native division into chapters and verses in its manuscript tradition. It was translated from Arabic into Ge'ez around 1300 CE and added to the Scriptures of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. In this digital edition, each 'verse' represents one complete paragraph of the continuous text.
Josippon
Chapter 25 — Yehudah's Death
A year past, and Yehudah's time to die drew near; God commanded that Yehudah end his days and be gathered to his people, the Hasidim. Bacchides came against him with thirty thousand Makedonian warriors and suddenly attacked Yehudah; he was at Lisah (Laisa) with some three thousand men. And all who were with him fled, but Yehudah remained with his brothers and eight hundred young men from the youth of Israel who did not turn tail or retreat; these were Yehudah's comrades, tested in every battle that Yehudah had fought with the gentiles.
Bacchides came with fifteen thousand and arrayed for battle to Yehudah's right, and he arrayed on his left the remaining fifteen thousand of the army; they raised a great cry against Yehudah from his right and his left. Yehudah saw that the battle was dire, and he recognized that Bacchides stood on his right, for all of Bacchides's heroes were there, and the right wing was with him; so Yehudah raised a cry and sprang into battle, his brothers joining him along with the remaining Hasmonean heroes, and he ran toward Bacchides. A great battle ensued, and at the beginning of the battle, thousands of Makedonian casualties fell as corpses to the ground. During the battle, Yehudah saw Bacchides standing in the midst of the army, and he ran to him in the fury of his anger, smiting his warriors, knocking many dead to the ground, killing all those who stood in his way: from the right and the left, corpses fell without number. Now the men that Yehudah killed on that day were many, until there was no room except in that spot, so that Yehudah stomped upon the dead, trampling over them as he advanced against Bacchides with his sword drawn, dripping blood. Bacchides beheld the face of Yehudah and, behold, his face like a lion standing over his kill striking fear and trembling, and Bacchides turned his back to flee, heading toward Ashdod. Yehudah pursued him, beating him and all who were with him, killing fifteen thousand men in the battle. Bacchides fled and took refuge in Ashdod. Now the Makedonian force that was to the rear of Yehudah found him tired and exhausted, and they fell upon him; Bacchides too went out from the city and surrounded him on every side, and many more fell dead. Yehudah too fell on that day upon his many victims that he slew, and Shimon and Yonathan, his brothers, took him and buried him on Mount Modiin, and all Israel mourned him for many days.