4. They also asked the Lord to show his hatred of evil by taking revenge on those who were murdering his people, mercilessly slaughtering innocent children, and saying evil things against the Lord.
5. When Judas had finally organized his forces, the Gentiles were unable to stand against him, because the Lord's anger against Israel had now turned to mercy.
6-7. Judas would make sudden attacks on towns and villages and burn them. He captured strategic positions and routed many enemy troops, finding that he was most successful at night. People everywhere spoke of his bravery.
8. When Philip, governor of Jerusalem, realized that Judas was gaining ground little by little and that his victories were becoming more and more frequent, he wrote a letter to Ptolemy, governor of Greater Syria, requesting his help in defending the royal interests.
9. Ptolemy immediately appointed Nicanor son of Patroclus, who was also in the closest circle of the King's Friends, and sent him with more than 20,000 troops of various nationalities to wipe out the entire Jewish race. Ptolemy also appointed Gorgias, a general of wide military experience, to go with him.
10. King Antiochus owed the Romans 68 tonnes of silver; Nicanor planned to pay off the debt by selling Jewish prisoners of war as slaves.
11. So he at once sent word to the towns along the coast, informing them that he would be selling Jews for less than a kilogramme of silver each. But he did not know of the judgement that Almighty God had in store for him.
12. Judas learnt that Nicanor was advancing with his army towards Judea, so he informed his men.
13. Some were cowardly and did not believe in the justice of God, and they ran away as fast as they could.
14. But others sold all their remaining possessions so that the Lord would consider them worthy to be saved from the godless Nicanor, who had sold them as slaves even before the battle had taken place.
15. They prayed that if God was not willing to do this for their sake alone, he might be willing to rescue them because of the covenants he had made with their ancestors, and because he, the great and wonderful God, had called them to be his people.
16. Judas brought together all 6,000 of his men and encouraged them not to be frightened or to flee in panic at the sight of the large number of Gentile troops who were marching against them without cause. Instead they should fight bravely,
17. never forgetting the crimes the Gentiles had committed against the Temple, and how they had made Jerusalem suffer terribly and had done away with Jewish traditions.
18. “They rely on their weapons and their daring,” Judas said, “but we trust in Almighty God, who is able to destroy not only these troops, but, if necessary, the entire world, with a mere nod of his head.”
19. Then Judas went on to remind them of the ways God had helped their ancestors: during the time of Sennacherib 185,000 of the enemy had been destroyed;