2 Maccabees 5:24-26

Good News Translation

²⁴ that he sent an army of 22,000 mercenary troops from Mysia to Jerusalem under the command of a man named Apollonius, with orders to kill every man in the city and to sell the women and boys as slaves. ²⁵ Apollonius arrived in Jerusalem, pretending to be on a peace mission. Then on a Sabbath, when all the Jews were observing the day of rest, he led his troops, who were fully armed, in a parade outside the city. ²⁶ Suddenly he commanded his men to kill everyone who had come out to see them. They rushed into the city and murdered a great many people.