1 Maccabees 9:7-9

New Catholic Bible

⁷ When Judas realized that the battle was imminent and that his army was melting away, he became despondent, for he had no time to redeploy them. ⁸ But despite being disheartened, he said to those who remained, “Let us rise up and advance against the enemy. We may have sufficient strength to defeat them.” ⁹ His men tried to dissuade him, saying, “We do not have the necessary strength. Let us save our own lives now and return to fight them when our kindred have joined up with us. Right now we are too few.”