38
Lysias selected Ptolemy, Dorymenes' son, as well as Nicanor and Gorgias, two able men who were among the king's chief political advisors.
39
He sent them with forty thousand infantry and seven thousand cavalry to go into Judah and destroy it, as the king had commanded.
40
So they headed out with their whole force. When they arrived, they set up camp in the plain near Emmaus.
41
When traders in the region heard about their plan, they took a great amount of silver and gold, together with shackles, and went to the camp intending to obtain some Israelites for slaves. A force from Idumea and the land of the Philistines also joined them.
42
Judas and his brothers saw that the situation was becoming increasingly difficult, as the military forces were encamped in their territory. They learned also that the king had commanded their complete destruction.