48 The king and his army advanced to fight the Jews at Jerusalem and laid siege to the whole of Judea and Jerusalem.
49 He made peace with the Jews of Bethzur, who then left the town. There had not been enough food in the town for them to withstand the siege because it was the sabbatical year, when no fields were sown.
50 The king occupied Bethzur and stationed a whole body of troops there to guard it.
51 Then he surrounded the Temple and besieged it for a long time. He set up siege-platforms, battering-rams, catapults for throwing fire and stones, and other weapons to throw spears and rocks.
52 The defenders also made war machines to oppose those of the enemy, and so the battle went on for a long time.
53 But there was no food left in the Temple storage bins because it was the sabbatical year, and the people who had fled from the Gentiles and taken refuge in Judea had eaten up all the food that had been stored there.
54 The shortage of food had been so severe that many people had scattered to their homes, and only a few men were left in the Temple.