33. After these events, Nicanor went up to Mount Zion. Some priests from the sanctuary and some of the elders of the people came out to greet him peacefully. They pointed out to him the entirely burned offering that was being offered on behalf of the king.
34. But he mocked, ridiculed, and defiled them, and spoke in an arrogant way.
35. Angrily, he swore, "Unless Judas and his army are handed over to me this time, I will burn down this house if I return safely in the future." And he departed in great fury.
36. Then the priests went inside and stood before the altar and the temple. They wept out loud and said:
37. You, heavenly one, chose this houseto be called by your nameand to be a house of prayerand petition for your people.
38. Take vengeance on this manand on his army!Make them die by the sword.Remember their evil slander.Don’t let them live any longer.
39. Now Nicanor, along with the Syrian army, left Jerusalem and camped in Beth-horon.
40. Judas camped in Adasa with three thousand men. Then Judas prayed:
41. When the messengersfrom the king of the Assyriansinsulted us with words,your angel went out and struck downone hundred eighty-five thousand.
42. So crush this army before us today.Let the rest learnthat he has spoken againstyour sanctuary in an evil way,and judge him for this wickedness.
43. So the armies met in battle on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar. Nicanor’s army was crushed, and he himself was the first to die in the battle.
44. When his army saw that Nicanor had died, they threw down their weapons and fled.
45. The Jews pursued them a day’s journey, from Adasa to Gazara. As they followed them, they kept blasting the battle call on the trumpets.
46. People came out of the surrounding Judean villages. They outflanked the enemy and drove them back toward their pursuers so that they all died by the sword. Not a single one of them was left alive.
47. Then the Jews seized the spoils and the goods left behind. They cut off Nicanor’s head and his right hand, which he had arrogantly stretched out. They brought them and displayed them just outside Jerusalem.
48. The people rejoiced greatly and celebrated that day as a day of great happiness.
49. They established this day as a day of annual celebration on the thirteenth day of Adar.