1 As King Antiochus passed through the eastern provinces, he heard that in Persia there was a city, Elam, famous for its wealth in silver and gold,
2 and that its temple was very rich, containing gold helmets, breastplates, and weapons left there by the first king of the Greeks, Alexander, son of Philip, king of Macedon.
3 He went therefore and tried to capture and loot the city. But he could not do so, because his plan became known to the people of the city
4 who rose up in battle against him. So he fled and in great dismay withdrew from there to return to Babylon.
5 While he was in Persia, a messenger brought him news that the armies that had gone into the land of Judah had been routed;
6 that Lysias had gone at first with a strong army and been driven back; that the people of Judah had grown strong by reason of the arms, wealth, and abundant spoils taken from the armies they had cut down;
7 that they had pulled down the abomination which he had built upon the altar in Jerusalem; and that they had surrounded with high walls both the sanctuary, as it had been before, and his city of Beth-zur.