53. Then he took the sons of the leading men of the country as hostages and imprisoned them in the fort.
54. In the second month of the year 153, the High Priest Alcimus ordered that the wall of the inner court of the Temple must be torn down. This would have destroyed what the prophets had accomplished; but just as the work began,
55. he had a stroke, and work was stopped. Paralysed and unable to open his mouth, he could not speak or even make a will for his family.
56. He died in great torment.
57. When Bacchides learnt that Alcimus was dead, he returned to King Demetrius, and the land of Judea had peace for two years.
58. Then all the renegades got together and said, “Look, Jonathan and his men are living in peace and security. If we bring Bacchides here now, he can capture them all in a single night.”
59. They went to discuss the matter with Bacchides,
60. and he set out with a large army. He sent secret letters to all his allies in Judea, asking them to seize Jonathan and his men. But they were not able to do so, because the plot was discovered.
61. Jonathan and his men captured fifty of the traitorous leaders who had been involved in the plot and put them to death.
62. Then Jonathan, Simon, and their forces withdrew to Bethbasi in the wilderness. They rebuilt the ruined fortifications and strengthened the defences of the town.
63. When Bacchides learnt about all this, he got his whole army together and alerted his supporters in Judea.
64. He attacked Bethbasi from all sides and built siege-platforms. After the battle had gone on for a long time,
65. Jonathan slipped out into the country with a small body of men and left his brother Simon in charge of the town.