33 Then Antiochus told him:Look after my son until I get back.
34 I am placing half of my army and all of my elephants under your command. Obey my orders, especially concerning the people of Judea and Jerusalem.
35 Destroy the army of Judas and kill anyone you find in Jerusalem. Make the whole world forget that those Jews ever lived
36 and give their land to Gentiles.
37 In the year 147 of the Syrian Kingdom, Antiochus and the rest of his army set out from the capital city of Antioch. They crossed the Euphrates River and started through Mesopotamia.
38 Nicanor, Gorgias, and Ptolemy the son of Dorymenes were three important and trusted friends of Antiochus. So Lysias chose them as army commanders.
39 He told them what the king had commanded and gave them 40,000 soldiers and 7,000 cavalry troops to invade and destroy the land of Judea.