5
Once he organized his army, the Maccabee couldn't be stopped by the Gentiles, because the Lord's wrath had turned into mercy.
6
He would come suddenly into towns and villages, set them ablaze, capture a number of the strategically important places, and put many of the enemy to flight.
7
He especially found the night advantageous for such attacks. Talk of his good courage spread everywhere.
8
Philip saw how Judas was progressing little by little and gaining ground with each success, so he wrote to Ptolemy the governor of Coele-Syria and Phoenicia to come to the aid of the royal government.
9
Nicanor, Patroclus' son, one of the king's most important political advisors, was immediately chosen and sent with a military unit of no fewer than twenty thousand men of various nationalities to eliminate Judea's entire population. He also sent with him Gorgias, a general experienced in military affairs.