1. Gorgias took 5,000 infantry and 1,000 of his most experienced cavalry and left camp by night,
2. with men from the fort in Jerusalem as his guides. He had planned to make a surprise attack on the Jewish army,
3. but Judas learnt of the plan and moved out with his men to attack the king's army at Emmaus
4. while Gorgias and his troops were still away from the camp.
5. When Gorgias and his army reached Judas' camp that night, they found no one there. They thought Judas and his men were trying to escape, so they started looking for them in the mountains.
6. At dawn Judas appeared in the plain with 3,000 men, not all of them as well armed as they would have liked.