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53 He took as hostages the sons of the leading people of the country and put them in custody in the citadel at Jerusalem.(A)

54 In the one hundred and fifty-third year, in the second month,[a] Alcimus ordered the wall of the inner court of the sanctuary to be torn down, thus destroying the work of the prophets. But he only began to tear it down. 55 Just at that time Alcimus was stricken, and his work was interrupted; his mouth was closed and he was paralyzed, so that he could no longer utter a word or give orders concerning his household.

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Footnotes

  1. 9:54 In the one hundred and fifty-third year, in the second month: May, 159 B.C. The work of the prophets: probably Haggai and Zechariah, who were instrumental in building the Second Temple after the Babylonian exile; cf. Hg 1:12–14; Zec 4:8–10; Ezr 5:1–2.