Expedition of Bacchides and Alcimus

7 In the one hundred fifty-first year Demetrius son of Seleucus set out from Rome, sailed with a few men to a town by the sea, and there began to reign.^(A)

⁵ Then there came to him all the renegade and godless men of Israel; they were led by Alcimus, who wanted to be high priest.^(A)

⁷ Now, then, send a man whom you trust; let him go and see all the ruin that Judas^[a] has brought on us and on the land of the king, and let him punish them and all who help them.”

⁸ So the king chose Bacchides, one of the king’s Friends, governor of the province Beyond the River; he was a great man in the kingdom and was faithful to the king.^(A)

⁴³ So the armies met in battle on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar. The army of Nicanor was crushed, and he himself was the first to fall in the battle.^(A)

⁴⁴ When his army saw that Nicanor had fallen, they threw down their arms and fled.