27. and completely destroying both the city and the temple. Then he attacked the fortified city of Ephron where Lysias and people of all nationalities were living. Strong young men took up their positions in front of the walls and fought bravely, while inside the city were stored large quantities of military supplies and weapons.
28. But the Jews prayed for help to the Lord, who crushes the power of his enemies. So they captured the city and killed about 25,000 people.
29. From there they hurried on to the city of Beth Shan, 120 kilometres north of Jerusalem.
30. The Jews there told Judas how kindly the people of the city had treated them, especially during hard times.
31. So Judas and his men thanked the people and urged them to show the same good will towards the Jews in the future. Then they left for Jerusalem, where they arrived shortly before the Harvest Festival.
32. After Pentecost (as the Harvest Festival is called in Greek) Judas and his men quickly marched out against Gorgias, the governor of Idumea,
33. who met them with 3,000 infantry and 400 cavalry.
34. In the battle that followed, a few Jews were killed.
35. Then a Jew from the city of Tob, a powerful cavalry soldier by the name of Dositheus, grabbed Gorgias by his cloak and started dragging him away by brute force, intending to take the worthless man alive. But suddenly one from the Thracian cavalry rushed at Dositheus and chopped off his arm, allowing Gorgias to escape to the city of Marisa.
36. By now the Jewish men under the command of Esdrias had been fighting for a long time and were exhausted. So Judas prayed that the Lord would show that he was on their side and in command of their troops.
37. Then, while Judas sang a hymn in his native language as a battle-cry, the Jews made a surprise attack against Gorgias and his men and put them to flight.
38. After the battle Judas led his men to the town of Adullam. It was the day before the Sabbath, so they purified themselves according to Jewish custom and then observed the holy day.
39. By the following day it was urgent that they gather up the bodies of the men who had been killed in battle and bury them in their family tombs.
40. But on each of the dead, hidden under their clothes, they found small images of the gods worshipped in Jamnia, which the Law forbids Jews to wear. Everyone then knew why these men had been killed.
41. So they praised the ways of the Lord, the just judge, who reveals what is hidden,
42. and they begged him that this sin might be completely blotted out. Then, Judas, that great man, urged the people to keep away from sin, because they had seen for themselves what had happened to those men who had sinned.
43. He also took up a collection from all his men, totalling about two kilogrammes of silver, and sent it to Jerusalem to provide for a sin offering. Judas did this noble thing because he believed in the resurrection of the dead.