5. Then all the godless traitorous Jews led by Alcimus, who wanted to be High Priest, went to Demetrius.
6. They brought accusations against the other Jews and said, “Judas and his brothers have killed everybody who supported you, and they have driven us out of our country.
7. We advise you to send someone whom you can trust to go and inspect all the damage done to our property and the king's territory and to punish Judas, his brothers, and all who support them.”
8. King Demetrius chose one of his advisers, a man by the name of Bacchides, who was the governor of Greater Syria. He was an important man in the empire and loyal to the king.
9. He was sent along with the godless Alcimus, whom the king had appointed High Priest; Alcimus had orders to take revenge on the Jews.
10. They left Antioch and arrived in Judea with a large army. Bacchides tried to trick Judas and his brothers by sending to them messengers with offers of peace.
11. But when Judas and his brothers saw what a large army they had brought, they did not believe what the messengers said.
12. A group of teachers of the Law came to Alcimus and Bacchides, asking for justice.
13. These devout and patriotic men were the first of the Jews to try to make peace with Alcimus and Bacchides.
14. They trusted Alcimus, who was a priest descended from Aaron, and they thought he would not cause them any harm.
15. Alcimus assured them of his peaceful intentions and solemnly promised that no harm would come to them or their friends.
16. But as soon as they began to trust him, he arrested sixty of them and put them all to death on the same day. As the scripture says,
17. “The blood of your faithful people was poured out,their bodies were scattered round Jerusalem,and there was no one left to bury the dead.”
18. When this happened, all the people were afraid of Alcimus and Bacchides, and they said, “They don't know what truth or justice means. They gave their solemn word and then broke it!”
19. Bacchides left Jerusalem and set up his headquarters at Beth Zaith. He ordered the arrest of some of the faithful Jews and even many of the renegades who had willingly joined him; he had them killed and thrown into a deep pit.
20. Bacchides put the country under the control of Alcimus, left troops there to help him, and returned to the king.