¹⁸ Now be the first to come and do what the king commands, as all the nations and the people of Judah and those who are left in Jerusalem have done. Then you and your sons will be numbered among the Friends of the king, and you and your sons will be honored with silver and gold and many gifts.”^(A)

Preparations for Battle

³⁸ Lysias chose Ptolemy son of Dorymenes and Nicanor and Gorgias, able men among the Friends of the king,^(A)

³⁹ and sent with them forty thousand infantry and seven thousand cavalry to go into the land of Judah and destroy it, as the king had commanded.

¹⁴ On the pretext of intending to marry her, Antiochus came to the place together with his Friends, to secure most of its treasures as a dowry.^(A)