1 Maccabees 4:36-51

Revised Standard Version

Cleansing and Dedication of the Temple

³⁶ Then said Judas and his brothers, “Behold, our enemies are crushed; let us go up to cleanse the sanctuary and dedicate it.” ³⁷ So all the army assembled and they went up to Mount Zion. ³⁸ And they saw the sanctuary desolate, the altar profaned, and the gates burned. In the courts they saw bushes sprung up as in a thicket, or as on one of the mountains. They saw also the chambers of the priests in ruins. ³⁹ Then they rent their clothes, and mourned with great lamentation, and sprinkled themselves with ashes. ⁴⁰ They fell face down on the ground, and sounded the signal on the trumpets, and cried out to Heaven. ⁴¹ Then Judas detailed men to fight against those in the citadel until he had cleansed the sanctuary.

⁴² He chose blameless priests devoted to the law, ⁴³ and they cleansed the sanctuary and removed the defiled stones to an unclean place. ⁴⁴ They deliberated what to do about the altar of burnt offering, which had been profaned. ⁴⁵ And they thought it best to tear it down, lest it bring reproach upon them, for the Gentiles had defiled it. So they tore down the altar, ⁴⁶ and stored the stones in a convenient place on the temple hill until there should come a prophet to tell what to do with them. ⁴⁷ Then they took unhewn^[a] stones, as the law directs, and built a new altar like the former one. ⁴⁸ They also rebuilt the sanctuary and the interior of the temple, and consecrated the courts. ⁴⁹ They made new holy vessels, and brought the lampstand, the altar of incense, and the table into the temple. ⁵⁰ Then they burned incense on the altar and lighted the lamps on the lampstand, and these gave light in the temple. ⁵¹ They placed the bread on the table and hung up the curtains. Thus they finished all the work they had undertaken.