24
Timothy himself was captured by the troops of Dositheus and Sosipater. But he was very shrewd and managed to convince them that many of their relatives were his prisoners and would be put to death if anything happened to him.
25
Finally, after he had promised to send their relatives home safely, they let him go free.
26
Next, Judas attacked the city of Karnaim and the temple of the goddess Atargatis there, killing 25,000 people
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, seventy-five miles 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 toward 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,
1
33
who met them with 3,000 infantry and 400 cavalry.
34
In the battle that followed, a few Jews were killed.