We do not feel it is necessary to begin a new paragraph at this verse. The next one should begin at verse 34.
When he saw that the army was strong, he prayed, saying: Good News Bible is a good model here.
Blessed art thou, O Savior of Israel: This form of blessing, addressed directly to God rather than said of God (Blessed is God), is found only a few times, and only in late sources (see 1~Chr 29.10; Psa 119.12; Tob 3.11; TYM 3 [Dan 3.26]). When a human being speaks of God as Blessed, he or she is saying that God deserves praise, is worthy of our praise. Good News Bible renders Blessed are thou as “We will praise you,” which is good, but we may also say “You deserve our praise.” Savior of Israel speaks of God as the one whom Israel honors for having come to the rescue of his people in times past. Translators who are following our author in avoiding direct references to God must take care here. A possible model is “because you are the one who comes to rescue Israel” or “because you are the Savior of Israel.”
Who didst crush the attack of the mighty warrior by the hand of thy servant David: The mighty warrior (literally “the mighty one”) is rendered “the giant” in Good News Bible (Contemporary English Version “a Philistine giant”), since the obvious reference is to Goliath (see 1~Sam 17). By the hand of is simply a Hebrew idiom meaning “by.” Good News Bible has a rather idiomatic model for this whole clause. Contemporary English Version provides a more suitable model for many languages, saying “When Saul was king, you let your servant David kill a Philistine giant.”
And didst give the camp of the Philistines into the hands of Jonathan, the son of Saul, and of the man who carried his armor: See 1~Sam 14.1-15. The word man does not occur in the Greek text; it is only implied. Good News Bible correctly translates “young man” since it is specifically a young man in 1~Sam 14. In this context there is no emphasis on the armor (weapons) as such, so it will also suffice to say “young helper.” An alternative model for this whole clause is “You also let Saul’s son Jonathan and his young helper who carried his weapons capture an entire camp of Philistine soldiers.”
Another possible model for this verse is:
• When Judas saw how strong the Syrian army was, he prayed, “We praise you [or, You deserve our praise], because you are the one who came to rescue Israel when Saul was king. You allowed David to kill the Philistine giant, and you also allowed Saul’s son Jonathan and his young helper who carried his weapons to capture an entire camp of Philistine soldiers [or, capture all the Philistine soldiers in their camp].
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.