1 Maccabees 7:1-2, 9-14

In the one hundred and fifty-first year, Demetrius, son of Seleucus, set out from Rome, arrived with a few men at a coastal city, and began to rule there. As he was entering the royal palace of his ancestors, the soldiers seized Antiochus and Lysias to bring them to him.

He sent him and the renegade Alcimus, to whom he granted the high priesthood, with orders to take revenge on the Israelites. They set out and, on arriving in the land of Judah with a great army, sent messengers who spoke deceitfully to Judas and his brothers in peaceful terms. But these paid no attention to their words, seeing that they had come with a great army. A group of scribes, however, gathered about Alcimus and Bacchides to ask for a just agreement. The Hasideans were the first among the Israelites to seek peace with them, for they said, “A priest of the line of Aaron has come with the army, and he will not do us any wrong.”