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1Gorgias took a detachment of five thousand foot soldiers and a thousand select horsemen and moved out of the camp by night.
2Their plan was for the men of the citadel in Jerusalem to guide them to the camp of the Jews, and then they would launch a surprise attack.
3But Judas heard of their plan, so he and his soldiers prepared to attack the king’s forces in Emmaus
4while the army was divided.
5When Gorgias reached Judas’s camp that night, he found no one there, so he began looking for them in the hills, saying, “They ran away from us.”
6Daybreak found Judas on the plain with three thousand men, but they lacked the armor and swords they needed.
7They saw that the camp of the Gentiles was well fortified, with men wearing body armor and horsemen patrolling it. These were trained soldiers.
8But Judas told his soldiers, “Don’t be frightened by their numbers. Don’t flinch at their attack.
9Remember how our ancestors were saved at the Red Sea when Pharaoh pursued them with his army.
10Now let us call upon God with the hope that he will think of us, remembering his covenant with our ancestors, and that he will destroy this army facing us today.[#4:10 Greek heaven; also in 4:24, 55.]
11Then all the Gentiles will know that there is one who redeems and rescues Israel.”
12The foreigners looked up and saw Judas’s army advancing against them,
13so they rushed out of the camp to engage them in battle. The trumpet sounded for Judas’s army,
14and they began fighting. The Gentiles were routed and fled across the plain,
15and their rear guard was destroyed. Judas and his army chased them as far as Gazara and even to Azotus and Jamnia and the plains of Idumea. The enemy lost about three thousand men.
16Judas stopped the pursuit and returned with his men.
17He said to the people, “Forget the plunder. We have another battle to face.
18Gorgias and his detachment are in the hills nearby. First stand firm against our enemies and crush them. Then you may take as much plunder as you want.”
19While Judas was still speaking, the enemy was spotted coming out of the hills.
20But Gorgias saw that the soldiers he left in Emmaus had fled, and the smoke rising from his camp showed that Judas’s men had set fire to it.
21When Gorgias’s troops saw this, they were terrified. Then they saw Judas and his army in battle formation on the plain,
22so they all fled into Philistia.
23Then Judas turned back to plunder the camp. He and his men carried away a great amount of gold and silver, blue and purple silks, and other valuables.
24On the way home they sang hymns of praise to God, singing, “He is good, and his faithful love endures forever.”
25So Israel experienced great deliverance that day.
26The Gentiles who escaped reported to Lysias all that had happened.
27He was shocked and upset when he heard about it, because things had not turned out as he had planned for Israel, and he had failed to fulfill the king’s command.
28So the next year Lysias gathered sixty thousand select troops and five thousand horsemen in order to subdue the Jews.
29This army marched into Idumea and set up camp in Beth-zur, where Judas faced them with ten thousand men.
30When Judas saw their military might, he prayed, “Blessed are you, O Savior of Israel, for you stopped the giant warrior by your servant David and handed over the Philistine camp to Jonathan son of Saul and his armor bearer.
31Now let this army be surrounded by your people Israel, and let their many soldiers and horsemen become confused.
32Strike them with fear, and undermine their confidence in their own strength. Give them fear for their own destruction.
33Let those who love you strike them down with swords so that your followers may praise you with hymns.”
34The opposing forces engaged in hand-to-hand combat, and five thousand men of the army of Lysias were killed.
35Lysias saw his men in retreat, and he also saw that Judas’s followers were very bold and ready to live or die bravely. So he withdrew to Antioch to recruit mercenary soldiers; then he planned to return to Judea with an even larger army.
36Judas and his brothers said, “Our enemies have been utterly defeated. Now let us go up to purify the Temple and dedicate it.”
37So all the army was assembled, and they went up to Mount Zion.
38There they saw the empty sanctuary, the desecrated altar, the gates burned down, the weeds growing in the courtyards as in a forest or on a hill, and the priests’ rooms next to the Temple in ruins.
39They tore their garments and mourned deeply, putting ashes on their heads
40and falling face down on the ground. When the trumpets gave the signal, the people cried out to God.[#4:40 Greek to heaven.]
41Then Judas sent troops to attack the defenders of the citadel while he purified the Temple.
42He chose blameless priests, who were devoted to the law of Moses.
43They cleansed the sanctuary, and the stones that had been defiled were carried away to an unclean place.
44They discussed what should be done about the altar of burnt offering, for it had been defiled.
45Someone suggested that it be torn down so it would not become a lasting shame to them, for the Gentiles had defiled it. So they pulled the altar down
46and put the stones in a suitable place on the Temple hill until a prophet could come someday and tell them what to do with them.
47Then they took uncut stones, as required in the law of Moses, and built a new altar like the old one.
48They restored the sanctuary and all the things inside the Temple. Finally, they sanctified the Temple and its courtyards.
49They made new sacred vessels and took into the Temple the lampstand, the altar of incense, and the table for the Bread of the Presence.
50They burned incense on the altar and lit the lamps on the lampstand, which gave light in the Temple.
51Then they set the Bread of the Presence on the table, hung up the curtains, and finished all the work they had set out to do.
52On December 14 in the one hundred forty-eighth year of Greek rule, they arose early in the morning[#4:52 Greek On the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month, which is Kislev, of the Hebrew lunar calendar. This event occurred on December 14, 164 b.c. ; see also 4:59.]
53and offered sacrifices on the new altar of burnt offering, as the law of Moses directed.
54On the day of the month that the Gentiles regularly defiled it, the altar was dedicated anew with songs, harps, lutes, and cymbals.[#4:54 See 1:59.]
55And all the people fell face down in adoration and blessed God, who had given them success.
56For eight days they celebrated the dedication of the altar, and they joyfully offered burnt offerings, praise, and thanksgiving for their deliverance.
57They adorned the front of the Temple with gold crowns and shields, and they repaired the gates and restored the priests’ rooms, furnishing them with doors.
58The people were very joyful because the disgrace caused by the Gentiles had been removed.
59Judas and his brothers and all Israel decreed that the dedication of the altar should be celebrated every year with joy and gladness for eight days, beginning on December 14.[#4:59 Greek On the twenty-fifth day of the month of Kislev, of the Hebrew lunar calendar. This is the origin of the Festival of Dedication, or the Festival of Lights, also known as Hanukkah. The 25th day of Kislev occurs every year in December.]
60They then built high walls and fortified towers around Mount Zion to stop the Gentiles from attacking and destroying it as they did before.
61Judas assigned a garrison to guard Mount Zion, and he fortified Beth-zur, so that the people would have a defense against Idumea.