2 Maccabees 11:1-5 Common English Bible (CEB)

1. Lysias, the guardian and relative of the king, was in charge of the government. After a very short time he became extremely displeased at what happened.

2. He led eighty thousand troops and all his cavalry against the Jews. He intended to make the city a Greek territory,

3. to make the temple subject to tribute like the sacred sites of other nations, and to put the high priesthood on sale every year.

4. He gave no thought whatsoever to the power of God but was inflated by his tens of thousands of foot soldiers, his thousands of cavalry, and his eighty elephants.

5. He entered Judea, drew near to Beth-zur (a strongly fortified town about a half mile from Jerusalem), and attacked it.

2 Maccabees 11