1 Maccabees 7:1-21

Good News Translation

The High Priest Alcimus and the Campaign of Nicanor^(A)

7 In the year 151,^[a] Demetrius son of Seleucus left Rome and with a few men landed at a town on the Mediterranean coast, where he proclaimed himself king. ² As he was making his way to the royal palace of his ancestors, the soldiers arrested Antiochus the Fifth and Lysias, planning to take them to Demetrius. ³ When Demetrius heard about it, he said,

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,

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 60 of them and put them all to death on the same day. As the scripture says,

²¹ Alcimus then began his struggle to establish himself as High Priest.