10 Antiochus owed 2,000,000 silver coins to the Romans, and Nicanor planned to raise the money by selling captured Jews as slaves.
11 So he decided to charge about ten silver coins for each slave, then he sent news of the sale to the coastal towns.Nicanor did not expect it, but God All-Powerful was about to punish him.
12 When Judas found out that Nicanor had invaded Judea, he told his army what had happened.
13 Some of his troops were cowards, and others did not believe that God would punish the foreigners. And so all of them ran away.
14 Others sold their property and prayed:Our Lord, please rescue your troops from that godless Nicanor. He has already started selling us as slaves, before the battle has even begun.
15 If you don't want to help us for our sake alone, then do it because of the promises you made to our ancestors. After all, you are the holy and glorious God who chose them.
16 After Judas had brought together his army of 6,000 soldiers, he encouraged them by saying:Don't be afraid and panic when you see the huge army of foreigners! They were wrong to invade our country, so fight them bravely.