17. When Judas' men saw the army coming against them, they asked, “How can our little group of men fight an army as big as that? Besides, we have not eaten all day, and we are tired!”
18. “It is not difficult,” Judas answered, “for a small group to overpower a large one. It makes no difference to the Lord whether we are rescued by many people or by just a few.
19. Victory in battle does not depend on who has the largest army; it is the Lord's power that determines the outcome.
20. Our enemies are coming against us with great violence, intending to plunder our possessions and kill our wives and children.
21. But we are fighting for our lives and for our religion.
22. When we attack, the Lord will crush our enemies, so don't be afraid of them.”
23. As soon as Judas had finished speaking, he and his men made a sudden attack against Seron and his army and crushed them.
24. They pursued them down the pass at Beth Horon to the plain and killed about 800 men. Those who escaped fled to Philistia.
25. After that, Gentiles everywhere began to be afraid of Judas and his brothers.
26. His fame reached the ears of King Antiochus, and people in every nation talked about Judas and his victories.
27. When Antiochus heard what had happened, he was furious. He ordered all the armies of his empire to assemble in one huge force.
28. From his treasury he paid a full year's wages to his soldiers and ordered them to be prepared for any emergency.
29. But then he found that the funds in his treasury were exhausted. Income from taxes had decreased because of the disorder and the troubles he had brought on the world by doing away with the laws which had been in force from the earliest times.