1. When the nations round about heard that the altar had been rebuilt and the sanctuary restored as before, they were enraged.
2. So they decided to destroy the descendants of Jacob who were among them, and they began to kill and eradicate the people.
3. Then Judas attacked the Edomites at Akrabattene in Idumea, because they were blockading Israel; he dealt them a heavy blow, humbled and despoiled them.
4. He also remembered the malice of the Baeanites, who had become a snare and a stumbling block to the people by ambushing them along the roads.
5. He forced them to take refuge in towers, which he besieged; he put them under the ban and burned down their towers along with all who were in them.
6. Then he crossed over to the Ammonites, where he found a strong army and a large body of people with Timothy as their leader.
7. He fought many battles with them, routed them, and struck them down.
8. After seizing Jazer and its villages, he returned to Judea.
9. The Gentiles in Gilead assembled to destroy the Israelites who were in their territory; these then fled to the stronghold of Dathema.
10. They sent a letter to Judas and his brothers saying: “The Gentiles around us have assembled against us to destroy us,