25
After that, Gentiles everywhere began to be afraid of Judas and his brothers.
26
His fame reached the ears of King Antiochus, and people in every nation talked about Judas and his victories.
27
When Antiochus heard what had happened, he was furious. He ordered all the armies of his empire to assemble in one huge force.
28
From his treasury he paid a full year's wages to his soldiers and ordered them to be prepared for any emergency.
29
But then he found that the funds in his treasury were exhausted. Income from taxes had decreased because of the disorder and the troubles he had brought on the world by doing away with the laws which had been in force from the earliest times.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.