he saw the money in treasury exhausted, because of dissensions he brought on himself

by abolishing the laws which had been in effect from of old. 
 1 MACCABEES 3


for victory in war does not depend upon the size of the army, but on strength that comes from Heaven.^a 20With great presumption and lawlessness they come against us to destroy us and our wives and children and to despoil us; 21but we are fighting for our lives and our laws. 22He^* will crush them before us; so do not fear them.”



When King Antiochus heard these reports, he was filled with rage; so he ordered that all the forces of his kingdom be gathered, a very strong army. 28He opened his treasury, gave his soldiers a year’s pay, and commanded them to be prepared for anything. 29But then he saw that this exhausted the money in his treasury; moreover the tribute from the province was small because of the dissension and distress he had brought upon the land by abolishing the laws which had been in effect from of old. 30


2He left Lysias, a noble of royal descent, in charge of the king’s affairs from the Euphrates River to the frontier of Egypt, 33and commissioned him to take care of his son Antiochus until his return. 34He entrusted to him half of his forces, and the elephants, and gave him instructions concerning everything he wanted done. As for the inhabitants of Judea and Jerusalem, 35Lysias was to send an army against them to crush and destroy the power of Israel and the remnant of Jerusalem and efface their memory from the place. 36He was to settle foreigners in all their territory and distribute their land by lot. 37^* The king took the remaining half of the army and set out from Antioch, his capital, in the year one hundred and forty-seven; he crossed the Euphrates River and went through the provinces beyond.

Preparations for Battle.

40Setting out with their whole force, they came and pitched their camp near Emmaus^* in the plain. 41When the merchants of the region heard of their prowess, they came to the camp, bringing a huge sum of silver and gold, along with fetters, to buy the Israelites as slaves. A force from Edom and from Philistia joined with them.

46^* Thus they assembled and went to Mizpah near Jerusalem, because formerly at Mizpah there was a place of prayer for Israel.^c 47That day they fasted and wore sackcloth; they sprinkled ashes on their heads and tore their garments. 48They unrolled the scroll of the law, to learn about the things for which the Gentiles consulted the images of their idols.^*