3 ²⁷ When king Antiochus heard these reports, he was greatly angered; and he sent and gathered all the forces of his kingdom, a very strong army. 3 ²⁸ And he opened his coffers and gave a year's pay to his forces, and ordered them to be ready for any need. 3 ²⁹ Then he saw that the money in the treasury was exhausted, and that the revenues from the country were small because of the dissension and disaster which he had caused in the land by abolishing the laws that had existed from the earliest days. 3 ³⁰ He feared that he might not have such funds as he had before for his expenses and for the gifts which he used to give more lavishly than preceding kings. 3 ³¹ He was greatly perplexed in mind, and determined to go to Persia and collect the revenues from those regions and raise a large fund.

3 ³² He left Lysias, a distinguished man of royal lineage, in charge of the king's affairs from the river Euphrates to the borders of Egypt. 3 ³³ Lysias was also to take care of Antiochus his son until he returned. 3 ³⁴ And he turned over to Lysias half of his troops and the elephants, and gave him orders about all that he wanted done. As for the residents of Judea and Jerusalem, 3 ³⁵ Lysias was to send a force against them to wipe out and destroy the strength of Israel and the remnant of Jerusalem; he was to banish the memory of them from the place, 3 ³⁶ settle aliens in all their territory, and distribute their land. 3 ³⁷ Then the king took the remaining half of his troops and departed from Antioch his capital in the one hundred and forty-seventh year. He crossed the Euphrates river and went through the upper provinces.