53
Judas kept rallying the laggards and encouraging the people all the way until he came to the land of Judah.
54
So they went up to Mount Zion with joy and gladness, and offered burnt offerings, because they had returned in safety; not one of them had fallen.
55
Now while Judas and Jonathan were in Gilead and their brother Simon was in Galilee before Ptolemais,
56
Joseph son of Zechariah, and Azariah, the commanders of the forces, heard of their brave deeds and of the heroic war they had fought.
57
So they said, "Let us also make a name for ourselves; let us go and make war on the Gentiles around us."