42 Then was assembled to them the congregation of the Assideans, the stoutest of Israel, every one that had a good will for the law.
43 And all they that fled from the evils, joined themselves to them, and were a support to them.
44 And they gathered an army, and slew the sinners in their wrath, and the wicked men in their indignation: and the rest fled to the nations for safety.
45 And Mathathias and his friends went round about, and they threw down the altars:
46 And they circumcised all the children whom they found in the confines of Israel that were uncircumcised: and they did valiantly.
47 And they pursued after the children of pride, and the work prospered in their hands:
48 And they recovered the law out of the hands of the nations, and out of the hands of the kings: and they yielded not the horn to the sinner.