1 Maccabees 2:30-32

New Catholic Bible

³⁰ taking with them their sons, their wives, and their livestock, so oppressive were the sufferings that they had been forced to endure.

³¹ Shortly thereafter it was reported to the officers of the king and the forces stationed in Jerusalem, the City of David, that those who had refused to obey the king’s edict had retreated to hiding places in the desert. ³² A large force set out in pursuit and caught up with them; they encamped opposite them and prepared to attack them on the Sabbath.