⁶ The high priest Joakim, who was in Jerusalem at the time, wrote to the people of Bethulia and Betomesthaim, which faces Esdraelon opposite the plain near Dothan,^{(A) 7} ordering them to seize the mountain passes, since by them Judea could be invaded, and it would be easy to stop any who tried to enter, for the approach was narrow, wide enough for only two at a time to pass.^(B)

¹¹ So the slaves took him and led him out of the camp into the plain, and from the plain they went up into the hill country and came to the springs below Bethulia.^{(A) 12} When the men of the town saw them,^[a] they seized their weapons and ran out of the town to the top of the hill, and all the slingers kept them from coming up by throwing stones at them. ¹³ So having taken shelter below the hill, they bound Achior and left him lying at the foot of the hill and returned to their master.