33 We love and worship you; so let us kill our enemies, that we may then sing your praises.”
34 The battle began, and in the hand-to-hand fighting about 5,000 of Lysias' men were killed.
35 When Lysias saw that his army was being defeated and when he saw the reckless courage of Judas and his men, who showed that they were ready to live or die with honour, he returned to Antioch. There he recruited some mercenaries and planned to return to Judea later with a much larger army.
36 Judas and his brothers said, “Now that our enemies have been defeated, let's go to Jerusalem to purify the Temple and rededicate it.”
37 So the whole army was assembled and went up to Mount Zion.
38 There they found the Temple abandoned, the altar profaned, the gates torn down, the courtyards overgrown with a forest of weeds, and the priests' rooms burnt down.
39 In their sorrow, they tore their clothes, cried loudly, threw ashes on their heads,