44-46 Eleazar killed every enemy soldier around him, and others ran away as he bravely fought his way toward the huge elephant. Then he ran under it and stabbed it to death. But the heavy elephant sank down and crushed him. Eleazar gave up his life to save his people, and he will never be forgotten.
47 Suddenly the Jews realized how helpless they were against the fierce attack of the king's army, and they started running away.
48-49 Antiochus the Fifth surrounded Jerusalem with part of his army, while the rest of his troops set up camp everywhere in Judea. All of this happened during the Seventh Year, when the Jews do not plant crops.Antiochus attacked the town of Beth-Zur. Its people soon ran out of food and had to stop fighting, so they surrendered and left their town.
50 Then Antiochus stationed his own soldiers there.
51 Meanwhile, his army was still attacking the troops stationed in the temple. They built movable towers and weapons that hurled fire, stones, arrows, and other deadly objects.
52 The Jews then built the same kinds of weapons and fought back for several days.
53 But it was the year when they had let the fields rest, and they ran out of supplies, because they had given what little food they had stored in the temple to those who had run away from the Gentiles and had come to Judea.