So also crush this army before us today: So also is rendered “Now, in the same way” by Good News Bible. It will be necessary in a number of languages to phrase Judas’ request to God politely; for example, “In the same way, then, please crush [or, destroy] Nicanor’s army that is facing us today.”

Let the rest learn that Nicanor has spoken wickedly against thy sanctuary: It is not clear if the rest refers to any Syrian survivors of the battle, or simply to all people anywhere. Probably it is the latter. So Contemporary English Version has “our enemies.” We may also say “the rest of our enemies.” There is an unexpressed, but clearly implicit idea here. The point is not that people should learn that Nicanor committed blasphemy, but that his crushing defeat came about because he committed blasphemy. Good News Bible makes this clear by inserting “that Nicanor is being punished.” In some languages this will need to be translated in the active voice; for example, the whole sentence may be rendered “and let our enemies know that you are punishing Nicanor because he insulted [or, spoke evil words against] your Temple.” The word “holy” in Good News Bible is not necessary.

And judge him according to this wickedness may be expressed as “Please punish him as his wickedness deserves,” “Give him all the punishment that his wickedness deserves,” or even “He has been so wicked, you should punish him very severely.”

An alternative model for this verse is:

• So, in the same way [or, just like you did at that time], please crush [or, destroy] Nicanor’s army that we face today. It will show our enemies [or, the Gentiles/people everywhere] that you are punishing Nicanor because he insulted [or, spoke evil words against] your Temple. He has been so wicked, you should punish him very severely.”

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on 1-2 Maccabees. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.