14. for they said, “A priest of the line of Aaron has come with the army, and he will not do us any wrong.”
15. He spoke with them peacefully and swore to them, “We will not seek to injure you or your friends.”
16. So they trusted him. But he arrested sixty of them and killed them in one day, according to the words that he wrote:
17. “The flesh of your faithful,and their blood they have spilled all around about Jerusalem,and no one was left to bury them.”
18. Then fear and dread of them came upon all the people, who said: “There is no truth or justice among them; they violated the agreement and the oath that they swore.”
19. Bacchides withdrew from Jerusalem and camped in Beth-zaith. He had many of the men who deserted to him arrested and some of the people. He killed them and threw them into a great cistern.
20. He handed the province over to Alcimus, leaving troops to help him, while he himself returned to the king.
21. Alcimus struggled to maintain his high priesthood,
22. and all those who were troubling the people gathered about him. They took possession of the land of Judah and caused great distress in Israel.
23. When Judas saw all the evils that Alcimus and those with him were bringing upon the Israelites, even more than the Gentiles had,
24. he went about all the borders of Judea and took revenge on the men who had deserted, preventing them from going out into the country.
25. But when Alcimus saw that Judas and his followers were gaining strength and realized that he could not resist them, he returned to the king and accused them of grave crimes.