6 But when they saw the size of the enemy army, they were terrified and ran. Only about 800 soldiers stayed in camp.
7 When the fighting was about to start, Judas suddenly realized that most of his troops had deserted, and he was terribly discouraged because there was no time to bring them back.
8 Judas felt like giving up, but he said to his remaining troops, “Get ready to attack! We've got a good chance to win.”
9 But they argued with Judas and said, “We will all be killed if we attack with such a small force. Let's wait and come back with a larger army.”
10 Judas answered, “We will never back down from a fight with the enemy! If it's our time to die for the honor of our nation, then let's die like heroes.”
11-12 Bacchides led his army out of camp and placed half of his cavalry to the left of his soldiers and half to the right. His best troops led the way, followed by men who were experts with bows and arrows or rocks and slings. Bacchides himself was on the right side of his army.Both armies gave the signal to attack, and the battle began.
13 The fighting lasted from daylight until dark, and the ground trembled because of the noise.