9 Ptolemy immediately appointed Nicanor son of Patroclus, who was also in the closest circle of the King's Friends, and sent him with more than 20,000 troops of various nationalities to wipe out the entire Jewish race. Ptolemy also appointed Gorgias, a general of wide military experience, to go with him.
10 King Antiochus owed the Romans 68 tonnes of silver; Nicanor planned to pay off the debt by selling Jewish prisoners of war as slaves.
11 So he at once sent word to the towns along the coast, informing them that he would be selling Jews for less than a kilogramme of silver each. But he did not know of the judgement that Almighty God had in store for him.
12 Judas learnt that Nicanor was advancing with his army towards Judea, so he informed his men.
13 Some were cowardly and did not believe in the justice of God, and they ran away as fast as they could.
14 But others sold all their remaining possessions so that the Lord would consider them worthy to be saved from the godless Nicanor, who had sold them as slaves even before the battle had taken place.
15 They prayed that if God was not willing to do this for their sake alone, he might be willing to rescue them because of the covenants he had made with their ancestors, and because he, the great and wonderful God, had called them to be his people.