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1Lysias was a relative and the guardian of young King Antiochus Eupator. He was also running the government for the king.[#11.1 Antiochus V; see the note at 2.19-23. He was only about nine years old when he became king.]
Soon afterwards, when Lysias learned what had happened to Timothy, he became furious
2and got together his cavalry and almost 80,000 soldiers to attack our people. He planned to turn Jerusalem into a Greek city
3and to tax the temple, as he had done to the temples in other nations. He also wanted to sell the position of high priest to the highest bidder each year.
4Lysias took great pride in his army that had tens of thousands of soldiers, as well as thousands of cavalry troops and 80 elephants. But he completely forgot about the power of God.
5Lysias led this army into Judea, where he fiercely attacked the fortress at Beth-Zur, about 32 kilometers from Jerusalem.
6Meanwhile, Judas and his soldiers found out that Lysias was attacking the fortresses. So they and everyone else cried and begged God to send a good angel to rescue Israel.
7When they had finished praying, Judas was the first to reach for his weapons. Then he urged his troops to do the same. “Let's save our people, no matter what the cost!” he said.
They eagerly set out for the enemy camp.
8But no sooner had they left Jerusalem, than they noticed someone on horseback leading them. He was dressed in white and carrying weapons of gold.
9Together they thanked God for having pity on them and sending an angel. They felt brave enough to attack humans, or the most savage animals, or even fortresses of solid iron.
10Our troops marched in battle formation, led by the angel that their merciful Lord had sent.
11They attacked the enemy army like lions, killing 11,000 soldiers and 1,600 cavalry. The rest of the enemy soldiers ran for their lives,
12since most of them were wounded and without weapons. Lysias himself ran away like a coward.
13Lysias was a smart man, and he kept thinking about the defeat he had just suffered. Finally, he realized he could never destroy the Jewish people. After all, God All-Powerful fought on our side. So he wrote a letter
14urging our people to sign a peace treaty that would be fair. Lysias also promised that he would persuade King Antiochus to be kind to our nation.[#11.14 One possible meaning for the difficult Greek text.]
15Judas wanted to do what was best for everyone, so he agreed to do what Lysias had asked, since the king had always agreed to every request that he had made in writing to Lysias.[#11.15 One possible meaning for the difficult Greek text.]
16This is a copy of the letter that Lysias wrote:
22This is a copy of the letter that Antiochus wrote to Lysias:
27This is a copy of the letter from Antiochus to our nation:
34This is a copy of the letter the Romans sent to the Jews: