3 That unhappy man asked, "Is there a powerful One in heaven, who commanded the day of the Sabbath to be kept."
4 And they responded to him, "There is the living Lord himself in heaven, the powerful One, who ordered the seventh day to be kept."
5 And so he said: "I also am powerful upon the earth, so I command arms to be taken up and the king's plans to be fulfilled." Nevertheless, he did not succeed in accomplishing his plan.
6 And Nicanor, being certainly lifted up with the greatest arrogance, had decided to establish a public monument of his victory over Judas.
7 But Maccabeus, as always, trusted with all hope that God would be present to help them.
8 And he exhorted his own not to fear the arrival of the nations, but to keep in mind the assistance they had received before from heaven, and now to hope for a future victory from the Almighty.
9 And speaking to them from the law and the prophets, reminding them even of the conflicts they had fought before, he made them more willing.