73. Now you too will be unable to withstand our cavalry and such a force as this in the plain, where there is not a stone or a pebble or a place to flee.”
74. When Jonathan heard the message of Apollonius, he was provoked. Choosing ten thousand men, he set out from Jerusalem, and Simon his brother joined him to help him.
75. He encamped near Joppa, but the people of the city shut him out because Apollonius had a garrison in Joppa. When they attacked it,
76. the people of the city became afraid and opened the gates, and so Jonathan took possession of Joppa.
77. When Apollonius heard of it, he drew up three thousand cavalry and a large force of infantry. He marched toward Azotus as though he were going on through, but at the same time he was advancing into the plain, because he had such a large number of cavalry to rely on.
78. Jonathan pursued him toward Azotus, and the armies engaged in battle.
79. Apollonius, however, had left a thousand cavalry in hiding behind them.
80. Jonathan discovered that there was an ambush behind him; his army was surrounded. From morning until evening they showered his troops with arrows.
81. But his troops held their ground, as Jonathan had commanded, while the enemy’s horses became tired out.
82. Then Simon brought forward his force, and engaged the phalanx in battle. Since the cavalry were exhausted, the phalanx was crushed by him and fled,