1 Maccabees 11:1-3

New Catholic Bible

Chapter 11

Demetrius II Becomes King. ¹ The king of Egypt then gathered a huge army, as numerous as the sands on the seashore, and also a great fleet of ships. His purpose was to take possession of Alexander’s kingdom by subterfuge and add it to his kingdom. ² He set out for Syria with protestations of peace, and the people of the towns opened their gates to him and went out to meet him. King Alexander had commanded them to do so, since Ptolemy was his father-in-law. ³ However, on entering the towns, Ptolemy stationed troops as a garrison in each one.