21. When Judas heard what had happened, he called together the leaders of his troops and accused those men of selling their brothers by setting their enemies free to fight against them.
22. Then he executed the traitors and immediately captured the two forts.
23. Judas was always successful in battle, and in his assault on those two forts he killed more than 20,000 men.
24. Timothy, who had been defeated by the Jews once before, had gathered a large number of cavalry from Asia and a tremendous force of mercenary troops and was now advancing to take Judea by armed attack.
25. But as the enemy forces were approaching, Judas and his men prayed to God. They put on sackcloth, threw earth on their heads,
26. and lay face downwards on the steps of the altar, begging God to help them by fighting against their enemies, as he had promised in his Law.
27. When they had finished praying, they took up their weapons, went out a good distance from Jerusalem, and stopped for the night not far from the enemy.
28. At daybreak the two armies joined in battle. The Jewish forces depended upon both their bravery and their trust in the Lord for victory, while the enemy relied only on their ability to fight fiercely.
29. When the fighting was at its worst, the enemy saw five handsome men riding on horses with gold bridles and leading the Jewish forces.
30. These five men surrounded Judas, protecting him with their own armour and showering the enemy with arrows and thunderbolts. The enemy forces then became so confused and bewildered that they broke ranks, and the Jews cut them to pieces,