8 ¹ But Judas, who was also called Maccabeus, and his companions secretly entered the villages and summoned their kinsmen and enlisted those who had continued in the Jewish faith, and so they gathered about six thousand men. 8 ² They besought the Lord to look upon the people who were oppressed by all, and to have pity on the temple which had been profaned by ungodly men, 8 ³ and to have mercy on the city which was being destroyed and about to be leveled to the ground, and to hearken to the blood that cried out to him, 8 ⁴ and to remember also the lawless destruction of the innocent babies and the blasphemies committed against his name, and to show his hatred of evil.

8 ⁵ As soon as Maccabeus got his army organized, the Gentiles could not withstand him, for the wrath of the Lord had turned to mercy. 8 ⁶ Coming without warning, he would set fire to towns and villages. He captured strategic positions and put to flight not a few of the enemy. 8 ⁷ He found the nights most advantageous for such attacks. And talk of his valor spread everywhere.