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.
24 God All-Powerful helped our forces kill more than 9,000 of Nicanor's soldiers. They wounded many more and forced the rest of them to run for their lives.
25 When the fighting was over, they took the money from those who had come to buy them as slaves. Then they chased after the rest of Nicanor's army for a long way. But when evening came, they had to return,
26 because it was almost time to celebrate the Sabbath.
27 After the troops had collected the valuables from the dead enemy soldiers, they celebrated the Sabbath, and they praised and thanked the Lord for keeping them safe while they fought. This victory meant that God was being kind to our nation once again.