5. When Gorgias and his army reached Judas' camp that night, they found no one there. They thought Judas and his men were trying to escape, so they started looking for them in the mountains.
6. At dawn Judas appeared in the plain with 3,000 men, not all of them as well armed as they would have liked.
7. They saw the huge Gentile army of experienced troops wearing armour and protected by cavalry.
8. But Judas said to his men, “Don't worry about the size of their army, and don't be frightened when they attack.
9. Remember how our ancestors were saved at the Red Sea when the king of Egypt was pursuing them with his army!
10. Now let us ask the Lord to have mercy on us. Let us pray that he will honour his covenant with our ancestors and crush this army when we attack today.
11. Then all the Gentiles will know that Israel has a God who rescues and saves them.”
12. When the Gentiles saw Judas and his men preparing for battle,
13. they moved out of their camp to fight. Then Judas and his men sounded their trumpets
14. and attacked. The Gentiles broke ranks and fled to the plain,
15. but all the stragglers were killed. The Israelites pursued the enemy as far as Gezer, the plains of Idumea, and the towns of Azotus and Jamnia. Altogether they killed about 3,000 of the enemy.
16. When Judas and his army came back from the pursuit,
19. Judas was just finishing his speech when an enemy patrol on a scouting mission looked down from the mountains
20. and saw that their army had been put to flight; they could tell from the smoke that their camp was burning.
21. When they saw all this, they were terrified, and when they also saw that Judas' army was in the plain ready for battle,
22. they all fled to Philistia.
23. Then Judas returned to loot the enemy camp; he took large amounts of gold and silver, blue and purple cloth, and other rich plunder.
24. When the Jews came back to their own camp, they sang a hymn: “The Lord is worthy of praise; his mercy endures for ever.”
25. That day brought a great victory to the people of Israel.
26. The Gentile troops that escaped went to Lysias and reported all that had happened.