They fell face down on the ground: They did not fall by accident or literally fall at all. They deliberately got flat on the ground, face down. In English we would probably say “They got down on the ground and lay flat on their stomachs” or “They knelt face down.” It will be helpful to translate this clause as a fourth sign of sorrow (see the previous verse), rather than have it sound like a separate action performed after the crying, tearing of clothes, and throwing of ashes. It needs to be separated from what immediately follows.

And sounded the signal on the trumpets, and cried out to Heaven: As in 1Macc 3.54, this is a call to battle, and must not be confused with the signs of sorrow in verses 39-40a. Enemy soldiers were still occupying the nearby fort, and here Judas was preparing to deal with them. Placing these two clauses and the following verse in a separate paragraph may help. (Good News Bible‘s paragraphing is very misleading.) Heaven is our writer’s way of speaking of God without naming God (see the comments on 1Macc 3.18). Translators following the author in not referring to God directly must avoid following Good News Bible here. An alternative model for these two clauses is “Then they sounded [or, blew] the trumpets as a signal to begin fighting, and the people shouted out to Heaven [or, the One in Heaven].”

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.