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.
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.