1 But after a time of three years, Judas and those who were with him realized that Demetrius of Seleucus had gone up to strategic places with a very strong multitude and a navy at the port of Tripoli,
2 and had taken hold of the regions opposite Antiochus, and his commander, Lysias.
3 Now a certain Alcimus, who had been high priest, but who had willfully defiled himself in the time of the co-mingling, considering there to be no means for his safety, nor access to the altar,
4 went to king Demetrius in the one hundred and fiftieth year, offering to him a crown of gold, and a palm, and beyond these, some branches that seemed to belong to the temple. And, indeed, on that day, he was silent.
5 But, having met with an opportune time for his madness, he was called to a counsel by Demetrius and asked what things the Jews relied upon and what were their counsels.