Revised Standard Version, Good News Bible, and Contemporary English Version begin a new paragraph at this point, since the author now describes the reaction of Lysias’ listeners.

The speech pleased the king and the commanders: Good News Bible renders The speech as “This recommendation,” since it was the content of the speech—Lysias’ recommendation—that pleased the group, not the speech itself. Other ways of translating this clause are “The king and the officers accepted this idea” and “Antiochus and his officers agreed to what Lysias suggested.”

And he sent to the Jews an offer of peace, and they accepted it may be rendered “so Lysias made an offer to the Jews to stop the fighting, and they accepted it.”

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on 1-2 Maccabees. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.