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.
26. Then the king sent Nicanor, one of his honored officers, who was a bitter enemy of Israel, with orders to destroy the people.
27. Nicanor came to Jerusalem with a large force and deceitfully sent to Judas and his brothers this peaceable message:
28. “Let there be no fight between me and you. I will come with a few men to meet you face to face in peace.”
29. So he came to Judas, and they greeted one another peaceably. But Judas’ enemies were prepared to seize him.
30. When he became aware that Nicanor had come to him with deceit in mind, Judas was afraid of him and would not meet him again.
31. When Nicanor saw that his plan had been discovered, he went out to fight Judas near Capharsalama.
32. About five hundred men of Nicanor’s army fell; the rest fled to the City of David.
33. After this, Nicanor went up to Mount Zion. Some of the priests from the sanctuary and some of the elders of the people came out to greet him peaceably and to show him the burnt offering that was being sacrificed for the king.
34. But he mocked and ridiculed them, defiled them, and spoke arrogantly.
35. In a rage he swore: “If Judas and his army are not delivered to me at once, when I return victorious I will burn this temple down.” He went away in great anger.