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 towards 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,
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.