9 Antiochus was an arrogant and savage king, who wanted to punish the people of Judea more severely than his father had ever done. He was on his way to invade the country,
10 when Judas found out what was happening. So Judas told the people to pray day and night, and they prayed, “Our Lord, we need you now more than ever before! Please don't let our Law and our nation and our holy temple be destroyed.
11 You have just given your people a fresh start. Don't let those godless Gentiles rule us again.”
12 For three days, they lay face down on the ground, crying and refusing to eat, while begging the Lord to have pity and send help. After this, Judas encouraged everyone, then ordered his troops to prepare for battle.
13 Judas met privately with the nation's leaders, and together they decided that with God's help Judas could attack and defeat Antiochus before he invaded Judea and captured Jerusalem.
14 So Judas left everything in the hands of God, the Creator of the world, and urged his soldiers to be willing to die for the Law, the temple, Jerusalem, the country, and our Jewish way of life.Judas camped with his army near the town of Modein,
15 and he told them, “When you go into battle, shout, ‘God gives victory!’ ” Then later that night, he and a chosen group of brave young troops attacked the enemy camp near the king's tent. They killed almost 2,000 foreigners, as well as the soldier who was leading the elephants.