24
On their return they sang hymns and praises to Heaven—"For he is good, for his mercy endures forever."
25
Thus Israel had a great deliverance that day.
26
Those of the foreigners who escaped went and reported to Lysias all that had happened.
27
When he heard it, he was perplexed and discouraged, for things had not happened to Israel as he had intended, nor had they turned out as the king had ordered.
28
But the next year he mustered sixty thousand picked infantry and five thousand cavalry to subdue them.