21. but we are fighting for our lives and our laws.
22. He will crush them before us; so do not fear them.”
23. When he finished speaking, he rushed suddenly upon Seron and his army, who were crushed before him.
24. He pursued Seron down the descent of Beth-horon into the plain. About eight hundred of their men fell, and the rest fled to the land of the Philistines.
25. Then Judas and his brothers began to be feared, and dread fell upon the Gentiles about them.
26. His fame reached the king, and the Gentiles talked about the battles of Judas.
27. When King Antiochus heard these reports, he was filled with rage; so he ordered that all the forces of his kingdom be gathered, a very strong army.
28. He opened his treasury, gave his soldiers a year’s pay, and commanded them to be prepared for anything.
29. But then he saw that this exhausted the money in his treasury; moreover the tribute from the province was small because of the dissension and distress he had brought upon the land by abolishing the laws which had been in effect from of old.