Strike them down with the sword of those who love thee, and let all who know thy name praise thee with hymns: Good News Bible‘s wording makes “let us kill our enemies” the main clause, the center of attention; this refocuses the thought here in an unfortunate way. The idea is that the enemies (who do not acknowledge the true God, the God of Israel) should by rights fall beneath the swords of those who do acknowledge the true God. These people, then, should be in the position to sing praise to this one true God. There is a contrast here between those who love, know, worship, acknowledge the true God, and those who don’t. All who know thy name may be rendered “all those who worship you” or “all those who obey you.” Praise thee with hymns may be expressed as “sing songs praising you.” It would be good to continue with petitions in this last verse of the prayer by saying:

• Use our swords to kill them—the swords of people who love you! Let everyone who worships you sing songs praising you [or, telling you how great you are].”

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.