17 Don't ever forget how they disgraced our holy temple, or how they brought terrible troubles to Jerusalem and refused to let us follow the customs of our ancestors.
18 They depend on their weapons and on heroic deeds to win battles. But we depend on God All-Powerful, who can wipe out these enemies and the whole world by simply shaking his head.
19 I can recall many times when God came to the rescue of our ancestors. For example, when King Sennacherib of Assyria attacked Jerusalem, he lost 185,000 soldiers.
20 On another occasion, 8,000 Jews were fighting on the side of 4,000 Macedonians who were losing a battle against the Galatians in Babylonia. God helped our troops, and they killed 120,000 enemy soldiers, then took everything of value that they wanted.
21 These stories encouraged the troops and made them willing to die for their faith and their nation.Judas now divided his army into four groups
22 of 1,500 soldiers each. He and his brothers Simon, Joseph, and Jonathan each took command of one group.
23 Then he told Eleazar to read the Scriptures to the troops, and Judas ordered them to go into battle shouting, “God will help us!” Judas himself led the first group into the battle against Nicanor.