Troubles in Joppa and Jamnia

1After the agreement was signed, Lysias went back to King Antiochus, and our people started farming again. 2But some of the local officials, especially Timothy, Apollonius, Hieronymus, and Demophon, kept causing trouble, and so did Nicanor, who was an official in Cyprus.

3The people of Joppa also committed a terrible crime against their Jewish neighbors. They pretended to be on good terms with them and said, "We want you and your families to go sailing with us. We'll provide the ships."

4They accepted this invitation since the whole town of Joppa had voted to invite them. Besides, they wanted to be on good terms with the Gentiles and didn't suspect a plot. But when the ships reached the open sea, the people of Joppa drowned about 200 of the Jews.

5When Judas heard that such cruel things had been done to his own people, he told his troops what had to be done. 6Everyone prayed to God, who always judges fairly. Then after dark, Judas and his troops attacked the murderers and set the harbor on fire. They destroyed its ships and killed everyone they caught hiding there. 7But when Judas found the gates to Joppa closed, he led his troops away, planning to wipe out the town another time.

8Judas was then told that the citizens of Jamnia also planned to kill their Jewish neighbors. 9So one night, he and his troops attacked the town and set fire to the harbor and its ships. The light from the fire could be seen 45 kilometers away in Jerusalem.

The Wars of Judas in Gilead

10Judas and his troops left Jamnia to go after Timothy. But about a kilometer and a half from town, they were attacked by a force of almost 5,000 Arabs and 500 cavalry. 11The fighting was fierce. But God helped Judas defeat these desert tribes, and they begged Judas for peace and offered him cattle and promised other help as well. 12Judas knew they could be useful in many ways, and so he agreed to make peace. The Arabs accepted his terms and went back to their camp.

13Then Judas surrounded the fortress at Caspin, a town protected by huge mounds of earth and high walls. Foreigners from many places lived there, 14and they had a large supply of food. In fact, they felt so secure behind their walls that they shouted insults against Judas and his troops, and they cursed God.

15Judas and his troops prayed, "Lord God All-Powerful, you rule the world. And long ago, when Joshua was our leader, you helped our people destroy the town of Jericho, without using anything to knock down the gates or climb over the walls."

Then our troops fiercely attacked Caspin, 16because God wanted them to capture it. They killed countless enemies--so many that a nearby lake, which was 370 meters wide, seemed to be filled with blood.

Timothy's Army Is Defeated

17From Caspin, Judas led his troops 137 kilometers to the Jewish town of Charax, not far from the city of Tob. 18Timothy had been there and gone. He had not done any damage, but he had stationed a very strong force in a nearby fortress. 19So Judas gave orders for Dositheus and Sosipater to take some of the Jewish troops and attack the fortress. They were successful and killed more than 10,000 of the soldiers left there by Timothy.

20Judas now divided up his soldiers into two groups, placing one under the command of Dositheus and the other under the command of Sosipater. Then they all hurried after Timothy, who had 120,000 soldiers and 2,500 cavalry.

21But Timothy learned that Judas' army was coming after him. So he ordered the families of his soldiers to go to the town of Carnaim and take all their baggage with them. This town was a hard place to attack or even to reach because of the narrow passes leading to it.

22When the first group of our soldiers reached Timothy's camp, the God who sees everything terrified the enemy troops and sent them scattering in all directions, injuring themselves and others with their own swords. 23Our troops eagerly chased Timothy's wicked army and slaughtered almost 30,000 of them.

24The soldiers under the command of Dositheus and Sosipater caught up with Timothy himself, who very cleverly said, "Many of your parents and brothers and other relatives are my prisoners, and if you kill me, they will be shown no mercy."

25So after Timothy had solemnly promised to release his prisoners unharmed, he was set free.

Judas Fights More Battles

26Judas and his troops attacked the town of Carnaim and the temple of the goddess Atargatis, where they killed 25,000 people 27and destroyed both the temple and the town. Then they surrounded the fortress at Ephron because Lysias and people from many different nations lived there. But the people of Ephron had stationed strong young soldiers just outside the town wall, who fiercely defended it. And inside the town they had stored a lot of military supplies and weapons.

28Our troops prayed for help from our mighty Lord, who crushes powerful enemies. Then we captured Ephron and killed almost 25,000 people.

29From Ephron, our army hurried to Scythopolis, a town about 110 kilometers from Jerusalem. 30The Jews who lived there told our troops that the people of the town were always kind and helpful, especially in times of trouble. 31So our soldiers thanked those people and urged them to always stay on good terms with the Jews. Then Judas and our troops returned to Jerusalem, just before the Harvest Festival, which is also known as Pentecost.

Judas' Victory over Gorgias

32 Following the Harvest Festival, Judas and his troops quickly left Jerusalem and attacked Gorgias, the governor of Idumea, 33whose army of 3,000 soldiers and 400 cavalry fought back 34and killed a few of our troops.

35Dositheus, a very strong man, belonged to the group of our cavalry led by Bacenor, and he did something very heroic. He wanted to capture Gorgias alive, so he grabbed that evil man by his coat and started dragging him away. However, a Thracian horseman suddenly rode by Dositheus and chopped off his right arm. Then Gorgias escaped to the town of Marisa.

36After our troops under the command of Esdris had been fighting a long time and were worn out, Judas prayed, "Our Lord, please be our leader and help us win this battle."

37In his native language, Judas sang some hymns and then shouted the battle cry, as he led his troops in a surprise attack that forced Gorgias and his army to retreat.

Judas Prays for the Dead

38Judas brought his troops together and led them to the town of Adullam. It was now the day before the Sabbath, so they went through the traditional ceremonies to prepare themselves for that holy day. Then they celebrated the Sabbath.

39The next day, Judas and his troops had to collect the bodies of those who had been killed in battle and to bring them home for burial in their family graves. 40 But under the shirt of each dead soldier they found good luck charms in the shape of those idols in the temple at Jamnia. Since our Jewish Law doesn't allow us to wear such things, everyone knew why these soldiers had died in the fighting.

41Our troops praised the Lord, who judges fairly and makes all secrets known. 42They also begged the Lord to forgive this terrible sin. Judas, that wonderful man, said, "You have seen for yourselves how God punished those who disobeyed him. So I warn you not to sin!"

43Then Judas collected from his troops 2,000 silver coins, which he sent to Jerusalem as payment for a sacrifice to forgive this sin. Judas did this generous and honorable thing because he firmly believed God raises the dead to life. 44Otherwise, it would have been useless and foolish of him to have spent this money on prayers for the dead. 45But he was a man of deep faith, who was convinced that God's faithful servants would receive a wonderful reward after death. So he paid for a special sacrifice to take away the sin of those dead soldiers.