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."
58
So they issued orders to the men of the forces that were with them and marched against Jamnia.
59
Gorgias and his men came out of the town to meet them in battle.
60
Then Joseph and Azariah were routed, and were pursued to the borders of Judea; as many as two thousand of the people of Israel fell that day.
61
Thus the people suffered a great rout because, thinking to do a brave deed, they did not listen to Judas and his brothers.
62
But they did not belong to the family of those men through whom deliverance was given to Israel.
63
The man Judas and his brothers were greatly honored in all Israel and among all the Gentiles, wherever their name was heard.