49. So Judas told everyone in the group, except the fighting men, to camp where they were.
50. The fighting men were ordered to take up their positions and attack the town. They fought all that day and all night, until they had taken it.
51. Judas had all the men of Ephron put to death, plundered the town, and levelled it. Then he and his army marched through the town over the dead bodies.
52. They crossed the Jordan into the wide plain opposite Beth Shan.
53. Throughout the whole march Judas kept gathering up the stragglers and encouraging the people until they reached the land of Judea.
54. With thanksgiving and rejoicing, they went up to Mount Zion and sacrificed burnt offerings because they had returned safely without the loss of a single person.
55. While Judas and Jonathan were in Gilead and their brother Simon was attacking Ptolemais in Galilee,
56. Joseph and Azariah, the commanders of the army in Judea, heard about their brave deeds and victories.
57. They said to one another, “Let us go to war with the Gentiles around us and win some fame for ourselves.”
58. So they and their men attacked Jamnia.
59. Gorgias and his men went out of the town to meet them in battle.
60. They defeated Joseph and Azariah and pursued them as far as the borders of Judea. At least 2,000 Israelite men were killed that day.
61. This great defeat came about because the Jewish commanders wanted to be heroes and refused to obey Judas and his brothers.
62. Besides, they did not belong to the family of the Maccabees, whom God had chosen to bring freedom to the people of Israel.
63. But Judas Maccabaeus and his brothers won great respect among all the Israelites and all the Gentiles. When people heard of their fame,
64. large crowds gathered to praise them.
65. Then Judas and his brothers went to war against the Edomites to the south. He attacked Hebron and its surrounding towns, destroyed its fortifications, and burnt down the towers round it.
66. Then he marched into the land of the Philistines and passed through Marisa.
67. That day a number of priests were killed in battle because they wanted to be heroes and foolishly went out to fight.