Demetrius I escapes from Rome, seizes the throne, and puts Antiochus V and Lysias to death, changing the whole backdrop of the war. The wicked Alcimus seeks the high priesthood and comes with the general Bacchides; the pious Hasideans trust him as a priest of Aaron's line and are betrayed, sixty of them killed in a single day. Judas presses the fight, and when Nicanor is sent and threatens the temple, Judas defeats him at Capharsalama and destroys his army at Adasa, where Nicanor falls and his head and blaspheming hand are cut off and displayed. The people appoint the thirteenth of Adar as a yearly day of gladness, and the land has rest, the chapter showing deliverance granted again to the faithful.