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,
11. and they are preparing to come and seize this stronghold to which we have fled. Timothy is the leader of their army.
12. Come at once to rescue us from them, for many of us have fallen.
13. All our kindred who were in the territory of the Tobiads have been killed; the Gentiles have captured their wives, their children and their goods, and they have slain there about a thousand men.”
14. While they were reading this letter, suddenly other messengers, with garments torn, arrived from Galilee to deliver a similar message:
15. that “the inhabitants of Ptolemais, Tyre, and Sidon, and the whole of Gentile Galilee have joined forces to destroy us.”
16. When Judas and the people heard this, a great assembly convened to consider what they should do for their kindred who were in distress and being attacked by enemies.
17. Judas said to his brother Simon: “Choose men for yourself, and go, rescue your kindred in Galilee; my brother Jonathan and I will go to Gilead.”