|
1 Three years after this, Judas and his men learned that Demetrius son of Seleuscus had landed at the port of Tripolis with a strong army and a fleet, 2 and that he had occupied the country and had killed Antiochus and his tutor Lysias.
3 A certain Alcimus, a former high priest, had wilfully incurred defilement at the time of the insurrection; realising that whichever way he turned there was no security for him, nor any further acess to the holy altar,
4 he went to King Demetrius in about the year one hundred and fifty-one and presented him with a golden crown and a palm, together with the traditional olive branches from the Temple; there, for that day, he let the matter rest.
5 Presently he found an opportunity that suited his perverse purpose. When Demetrius called him into his council and questioned him about the dispositions and intentions of the Jews, he replied,
6 'Those Jews called Hasidaeans, who are led by Judas Maccabaeus, are warmongers and rebels who are preventing the kingdom from finding stability. 7 That is why, after being deprived of my hereditary dignity, I mean the high-priesthood, I have come here now,
8 first, out of gunuine concern for the king's interests, adn secondly, out of a regard for our own fellow citizens, because the irresponsible behaviour of those I have mentioned has bought great degradation on our entire race.
9 When your majesty has taken note of all these points, may it please you to make provision for the welfare of our country and our oppressed nation, as befits the gracious benevolence you extend to all; 10 for as long as Judas remains alive the state will never enjoy peace.'
11 When Alcimus had finished this speech, the rest of the Friends of the King, who hated Judas, seized the occasion to arouse Demetrius' anger against him. 12 He at once selected Nicanor, who had been commander of the elephants, promoted him military commissioner for Judaea and despatched him
13 with instructions to dispose of Judas, disperse his followers and instal Alcimus as high priest of the greatest of temples. 14 The pagans in Judaea, who had fled before Judas, flocked to join Nicanor, thinking that the misfortunes and troubles of the Jews would be to their own advantage. |