1 Maccabees 5:48

48 Then Judas sent a friendly message to them: "Let us pass through your territory to return home. No one will harm you; we will just pass through." But they still refused to open the gates.

1 Maccabees 5:48 In-Context

46 They went as far as Ephron, a large, well-fortified town. It was impossible to go around it on either side, and the road passed directly through the town.

47 But the people there would not let them pass and blocked the town gates with stones.

48 Then Judas sent a friendly message to them: "Let us pass through your territory to return home. No one will harm you; we will just pass through." But they still refused to open the gates.

49 So Judas told everyone in the group, except the fighting men, to camp where they were.

50 The fighting men were ordered to take up their positions and attack the town. They fought all day and all night, until they had taken it.