The Seleucid armies encamped near Emmaus set the scene as Gorgias attempts a night march to catch Judas by surprise. Judas evades him, falls upon the camp, defeats it, and gathers the spoils; when Lysias later comes in person with a stronger force, Judas defeats him too at Beth-zur, and Lysias withdraws to Antioch. Judas and his brothers then go up to Mount Zion, find the sanctuary desolate and the altar profaned, tear down the defiled stones, build a new altar and holy vessels, and rededicate the temple with an eight-day feast that is remembered afterward each year. Recording the cleansing and rededication of the temple, the chapter reaches the center of the book's concern, the restoration of true worship.