1 Maccabees 1-4
Good News Translation
Alexander the Great
1 This history begins when Alexander the Great, son of Philip of Macedonia, marched from Macedonia and attacked Darius, king of Persia and Media. Alexander enlarged the Greek Empire by defeating Darius and seizing his throne. 2 He fought many battles, captured fortified cities, and put the kings of the region to death. 3 As he advanced to the ends of the earth, he plundered many nations; and when he had conquered the world, he became proud and arrogant. 4 By building up a strong army, he dominated whole nations and their rulers, and forced everyone to pay him taxes.
5-7 When Alexander had been emperor for twelve years, he fell ill and realized that he was about to die. He called together his generals, noblemen who had been brought up with him since his early childhood, and he divided his empire, giving a part to each of them. 8 After his death, the generals took control, 9 and each had himself crowned king of his own territory. The descendants of these kings ruled for many generations and brought a great deal of misery on the world.
Antiochus Epiphanes and the Renegade Jews(A)
10 (B)The wicked ruler Antiochus Epiphanes, son of King Antiochus the Third of Syria, was a descendant of one of Alexander's generals. Antiochus Epiphanes had been a hostage in Rome before he became king of Syria in the year 137.[a]
11 At that time there appeared in the land of Israel a group of traitorous Jews who had no regard for the Law and who had a bad influence on many of our people. They said,
Let's come to terms with the Gentiles, for our refusal to associate with them has brought us nothing but trouble. 12 This proposal appealed to many people, 13 and some of them became so enthusiastic about it that they went to the king and received from him permission to follow Gentile customs. 14 They built in Jerusalem a stadium like those in the Greek cities. 15 (C)They had surgery performed to hide their circumcision, abandoned the holy covenant, started associating with[b] Gentiles, and did all sorts of other evil things.
Antiochus Attacks Egypt
16 When Antiochus had firmly established himself as king, he decided to conquer Egypt and rule that country as well as Syria. 17 He invaded Egypt with a large fleet of ships and a powerful army, including chariots, elephants, and cavalry. 18 When the attack came, King Ptolemy of Egypt turned and fled, and many of his soldiers were killed. 19 Antiochus was able to capture the fortified cities of Egypt and plunder the whole land.
Antiochus Persecutes the Jews
20 In the year 143,[c] after the conquest of Egypt, Antiochus marched with a great army against the land of Israel and the city of Jerusalem. 21 In his arrogance, he entered the Temple and took away the gold altar, the lampstand with all its equipment, 22 the table for the bread offered to the Lord, the cups and bowls, the gold fire pans, the curtain, and the crowns. He also stripped all the gold from the front of the Temple 23 and carried off the silver and gold and everything else of value, including all the treasures that he could find stored there. 24 Then he took it all to his own country. He had also murdered many people and boasted arrogantly about it. 25 There was great mourning everywhere in the land of Israel.
26 Rulers and leaders groaned in sorrow.
Young men and young women grew weak.
The beauty of our women faded.
27 Every bridegroom sang a funeral song,
and every bride sat mourning in her room.
28 All our people were clothed with shame,
and our land trembled for them.
29 Two years later Antiochus sent a large army from Mysia[d] against the towns of Judea. When the soldiers entered Jerusalem, 30 their commander spoke to the people, offering them terms of peace and completely deceiving them. Then he suddenly launched a fierce attack on the city, dealing it a major blow and killing many of the people. 31 He plundered the city, set it on fire, and tore down its buildings and walls. 32 He and his army took the women and children as prisoners and seized the cattle.
33 Then Antiochus and his forces built high walls and strong towers in the area north of the Temple, turning it into a fort. 34 They brought in a group of traitorous Jews and installed them there. 35 They also brought in arms and supplies and stored in the fort all the loot that they had taken in Jerusalem. This fort became a great threat to the city.
36 The fort was a threat to the Temple,
a constant, evil menace for Israel.
37 Innocent people were murdered around the altar;
the Holy Place was defiled by murderers.
38 The people of Jerusalem fled in fear,
and the city became a colony of foreigners.
Jerusalem was foreign to its own people,
who had been forced to abandon the city.
39 Her Temple was as empty as a wilderness;
her festivals were turned into days of mourning,
her Sabbath joy into shame.
Her honor became an object of ridicule.
40 Her shame was as great as her former glory,
and her pride was turned into deepest mourning.
41-43 Antiochus now issued a decree that all nations in his empire should abandon their own customs and become one people. All the Gentiles and even many of the Israelites submitted to this decree. They adopted the official pagan religion, offered sacrifices to idols, and no longer observed the Sabbath.
44 The king also sent messengers with a decree to Jerusalem and all the towns of Judea, ordering the people to follow customs that were foreign to the country. 45 He ordered them not to offer burnt offerings, grain offerings, or wine offerings in the Temple, and commanded them to treat Sabbaths and festivals as ordinary work days. 46 They were even ordered to defile the Temple and the holy things in it.[e] 47 They were commanded to build pagan altars, temples, and shrines, and to sacrifice pigs and other unclean animals there. 48 They were forbidden to circumcise their sons and were required to make themselves ritually unclean in every way they could, 49 so that they would forget the Law which the Lord had given through Moses and would disobey all its commands. 50 The penalty for disobeying the king's decree was death.
51 The king not only issued the same decree throughout his whole empire, but he also appointed officials to supervise the people and commanded each town in Judea to offer pagan sacrifices. 52 Many of the Jews were ready to forsake the Law and to obey these officials. They defiled the land with their evil, 53 and their conduct forced all true Israelites to hide wherever they could.
54 (D)On the fifteenth day of the month of Kislev in the year 145,[f] King Antiochus set up
The Awful Horror on the altar of the Temple, and pagan altars were built in the towns throughout Judea. 55 Pagan sacrifices were offered in front of houses and in the streets. 56 Any books of the Law which were found were torn up and burned, 57 and anyone who was caught with a copy of the sacred books or who obeyed the Law was put to death by order of the king. 58 Month after month these wicked people used their power against the Israelites caught in the towns.
59 On the twenty-fifth of the month, these same evil people offered sacrifices on the pagan altar erected on top of the altar in the Temple. 60 (E)Mothers who had allowed their babies to be circumcised were put to death in accordance with the king's decree. 61 Their babies were hung around their necks, and their families and those who had circumcised them were put to death. 62 But many people in Israel firmly resisted the king's decree and refused to eat food that was ritually unclean. 63 They preferred to die rather than break the holy covenant and eat unclean food—and many did die. 64 In his anger God made Israel suffer terribly.
The Faithfulness of Mattathias
2 During that time, a priest of the Jehoiarib family named Mattathias, who was the son of John and the grandson of Simeon, moved from Jerusalem and settled in Modein. 2 Mattathias had five sons: John (also called Gaddi), 3 Simon (also called Thassi), 4 Judas (also called Maccabeus), 5 Eleazar (also called Avaran), and Jonathan (also called Apphus).
6 When Mattathias saw all the sins that were being committed in Judea and Jerusalem, 7 he said:
Why was I born to see these terrible things,
the ruin of my people and of the holy city?
Must I sit here helpless
while the city is surrendered to enemies
and the Temple falls into the hands of foreigners?
8 The Temple is like someone without honor.
9 Its splendid furnishings
have been carried away as loot.
Our children have been killed in the streets,
and our young men by the sword of the enemy.
10 Every nation in the world has occupied the city
and robbed her of her possessions.
11 All her ornaments have been stripped away;
she is now a slave, no longer free.
12 Look at our Temple, profaned by the Gentiles,
emptied of all its splendor.
13 Why should we go on living?
14 In their grief, Mattathias and his sons tore their clothes, put on sackcloth, and continued in deep mourning.
15 Then the king's officials, who were forcing the people to turn from God, came to the town of Modein to force the people there to offer pagan sacrifices. 16 Many of the Israelites came to meet them, including Mattathias and his sons. 17 The king's officials said to Mattathias,
You are a respected leader in this town, and you have the support of your sons and relatives. 18 Why not be the first one here to do what the king has commanded? All the Gentiles, the people of Judea, and all the people left in Jerusalem have already done so. If you do, you and your sons will be honored with the title of
Friends of the King, and you will be rewarded with silver and gold and many gifts.
19 Mattathias answered in a loud voice,
I don't care if every Gentile in this empire has obeyed the king and yielded to the command to abandon the religion of his ancestors. 20 My children, my relatives, and I will continue to keep the covenant that God made with our ancestors. 21 With God's help we will never abandon his Law or disobey his commands. 22 We will not obey the king's decree, and we will not change our way of worship in the least.
23 Just as he finished speaking, one of the men from Modein decided to obey the king's decree and stepped out in front of everyone to offer a pagan sacrifice on the altar that stood there. 24 When Mattathias saw him, he became angry enough to do what had to be done. Shaking with rage, he ran forward and killed the man right there on the altar. 25 He also killed the royal official who was forcing the people to sacrifice, and then he tore down the altar. 26 (F)In this way Mattathias showed his deep devotion for the Law, just as Phinehas had done when he killed Zimri son of Salu.
The Guerrilla Warfare of Mattathias
27 Then Mattathias went through the town shouting,
Everyone who is faithful to God's covenant and obeys his Law, follow me! 28 With this, he and his sons fled to the mountains, leaving behind all they owned.
29-30 At that time also many of the Israelites who were seeking to be right with God through obedience to the Law went out to live in the wilderness, taking their children, their wives, and their livestock with them, because of the terrible oppression they were suffering. 31 The report soon reached the king's officials and the soldiers in the fort at Jerusalem that some men who had defied the king's command had gone into hiding in the wilderness. 32 (G)A large force of soldiers pursued them, caught up with them, set up camp opposite them, and prepared to attack them on the Sabbath.
33 There is still time, they shouted out to the Jews.
Come out and obey the king's command, and we will spare your lives.
34 We will not come out, they answered.
We will not obey the king's command, and we will not profane the Sabbath.
35 The soldiers attacked them immediately, 36 but the Jews did nothing to resist; they did not even throw stones or block the entrances to the caves where they were hiding. 37 They said,
We will all die with a clear conscience. Let heaven and earth bear witness that you are slaughtering us unjustly. 38 So the enemy attacked them on the Sabbath and killed the men, their wives, their children, and their livestock. A thousand people died.
39 When Mattathias and his friends heard the news about this, they were greatly saddened 40 and said to one another,
If all of us do as these other Jews have done and refuse to fight the Gentiles to defend our lives and our religion, we will soon be wiped off the face of the earth. 41 On that day they decided that if anyone attacked them on the Sabbath, they would defend themselves, so that they would not all die as other Jews had died in the caves.
42 Then Mattathias and his friends were joined by a group of devout and patriotic Jews, the strongest and bravest men in Israel, who had all volunteered to defend the Law. 43 In addition, everyone who was fleeing from the persecution joined them and strengthened their forces. 44 Now that they had an army, they gave vent to their anger by attacking the renegade Jews. Those who escaped were forced to flee to the Gentiles for safety. 45 Mattathias and his friends went everywhere tearing down pagan altars 46 and circumcising by force every uncircumcised boy they found within the borders of Israel. 47 They were also successful in hunting down the arrogant Gentile officials. 48 They rescued the Law of Moses from the Gentiles and their kings and broke the power of the wicked King Antiochus.
The Death of Mattathias
49 When the time came for Mattathias to die, he said to his sons,
These are times of violence and distress. Arrogant people are in control and have made us an object of ridicule. 50 But you, my sons, must be devoted to the Law and ready to die to defend God's covenant with our ancestors. 51 Remember what our ancestors did and how much they accomplished in their day. Follow their example, and you will be rewarded with great glory and undying fame. 52 (H)Remember how Abraham put his trust in the Lord when he was tested and how the Lord was pleased with him and accepted him. 53 (I)Joseph, in his time of trouble, obeyed God's commands and became ruler over the land of Egypt. 54 Phinehas, our ancestor, because of his burning devotion, was given the promise that his descendants would always be priests. 55 (J)Joshua was made a judge in Israel because he obeyed the command of Moses. 56 Caleb brought back a good report to the community and was given a part of the land as a reward. 57 (K)David was made king and was given the promise that his descendants would always be kings because of his steadfast loyalty to God. 58 (L)Elijah, because of his great devotion to the Law, was taken up into heaven. 59 (M)Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael were saved from the flames because they had faith. 60 (N)Daniel was a man of integrity, and the Lord rescued him from the mouth of the lions. 61 Take each of these ancestors of ours as an example, and you will realize that no one who puts his trust in the Lord will ever lack strength. 62 Don't be afraid of the threats of a wicked man. Remember that he will die and all his splendor will end with worms feeding on his decaying body. 63 Today he may be highly honored, but tomorrow he will disappear; his body will return to the earth and his scheming will come to an end. 64 But you, my sons, be strong and courageous in defending the Law, because it is through the Law that you will earn great glory.
65 Your brother Simon is wise, so always listen to him as you would to me. 66 Judas Maccabeus has been strong all his life; he will be your commander and will lead you in battle against the enemy. 67 Call everyone who obeys God's Law to rally around you; then avenge the wrongs done to your people. 68 Pay back the Gentiles for what they have done, and always obey the Law and its commands.
69 Then Mattathias gave them his blessing and died. 70 He was buried in the family tomb at Modein, and all the people of Israel went into deep mourning for him. This happened in the year 146.[g]
The Early Victories of Judas(O)
3 Judas Maccabeus took the place of his father Mattathias. 2 All his brothers and all the loyal followers of his father gave him their support, and they were happy to carry on Israel's war.
3 Judas brought greater glory to his people.
In his armor, he was like a giant.
He took up his weapons and went to war;
with his own sword he defended his camp.
4 He was like a ferocious lion roaring as it attacks.
5 Judas hunted down those who broke the Law
and set fire to all who oppressed his people.
6 In fear of him, lawless men huddled together in terror,
not knowing which way to turn.
He advanced the cause of freedom by what he did.
7 He made life miserable for many kings,
but brought joy to the people of Israel.
We will praise him forever for what he did.
8 He went through the towns of Judea
and destroyed all the godless men.
He relieved Israel of its terrible suffering.[h]
9 His fame spread to the ends of the earth,
as he gathered together those who were threatened with death.
10 Then Apollonius assembled a Gentile army, including a large force from Samaria, to attack the people of Israel. 11 When Judas learned of this, he marched out to battle, defeated the army, and killed Apollonius. Many Gentiles lost their lives, and the rest fled. 12 When the spoils of war were collected, Judas took the sword of Apollonius and used it in battle until the day he died.
13 Seron, the general of the Syrian forces, learned that Judas had gathered together an army, consisting of a band of loyal men who were ready to fight under his command. 14 Seron said to himself,
I will make a reputation for myself throughout the empire by defeating Judas and his men, who have no respect for the king's command. 15 Then he began a new campaign against Judas and was joined by a strong force of godless men who were eager to help him take vengeance on Israel. 16 When he approached the pass at Beth Horon, Judas went out to meet him with a small group of men. 17 When Judas' men saw the army coming against them, they asked,
How can our little group of men fight an army as big as that? Besides, we have not eaten all day, and we are tired!
18 It is not difficult, Judas answered,
for a small group to overpower a large one. It makes no difference to the Lord whether we are rescued by many people or by just a few. 19 Victory in battle does not depend on who has the largest army; it is the Lord's power that determines the outcome. 20 Our enemies are coming against us with great violence, intending to plunder our possessions and kill our wives and children. 21 But we are fighting for our lives and for our religion. 22 When we attack, the Lord will crush our enemies, so don't be afraid of them.
23 As soon as Judas had finished speaking, he and his men made a sudden attack against Seron and his army and crushed them. 24 They pursued them down the pass at Beth Horon to the plain and killed about 800 men. Those who escaped fled to Philistia. 25 After that, Gentiles everywhere began to be afraid of Judas and his brothers. 26 His fame reached the ears of King Antiochus, and people in every nation talked about Judas and his victories.
The King Appoints Lysias as Governor
27 When Antiochus heard what had happened, he was furious. He ordered all the armies of his empire to assemble in one huge force. 28 From his treasury he paid a full year's wages to his soldiers and ordered them to be prepared for any emergency. 29 But then he found that the funds in his treasury were exhausted. Income from taxes had decreased because of the disorder and the troubles he had brought on the world by doing away with the laws which had been in force from the earliest times. 30 Antiochus had always given presents more lavishly than earlier kings, but now he was worried that he might not be able to continue this, or even to meet expenses—this had happened once or twice before. 31 He was very disturbed; but finally he decided to go to Persia, collect the taxes from the provinces there, and bring together a large sum of ready cash.
32 He appointed Lysias, an important man who had been granted the title
Relative of the King, as governor to take care of the king's affairs in the whole territory between the Euphrates River and the Egyptian border. 33 The king also made Lysias the guardian of his son Antiochus the Fifth until his own return. 34 He put Lysias in charge of all the elephants and of half his army, and then gave him detailed instructions about what he wanted done, and in particular, what he wanted done with the inhabitants of Judea and Jerusalem. 35 Lysias was ordered to send an army against the Jews, especially the Jews in Jerusalem, to break their power and destroy them, so that no trace of them would remain. 36 He was ordered to take their land and give it to foreigners, who would settle the whole area. 37 Taking the other half of his army, the king set out from Antioch, his capital city, in the year 147.[i] He crossed the Euphrates River and marched through Mesopotamia.
The Victories of Judas(P)
38 Lysias chose Nicanor, Gorgias, and Ptolemy son of Dorymenes as army commanders; all three were able men who bore the title
Friend of the King. 39 He put them in charge of 40,000 infantry and 7,000 cavalry and ordered them to invade the land of Judea and destroy it as the king had commanded. 40 These commanders set out with their entire force, and when they came to the plains near Emmaus, they made camp. 41 A force from Idumea[j] and Philistia joined them. The merchants of the region heard about the strength of the army, and they came to the camp with chains and a large amount of money, hoping to buy some Jewish slaves.
42 Judas and his brothers saw that their situation was getting more and more difficult, with foreign armies camped within their own borders. They also learned that the king had commanded the complete destruction of the people. 43 So they determined to rebuild their ruined nation and fight for their country and the Temple. 44 Then the whole community came together to prepare for war and to pray for God's mercy.
45 Jerusalem was as empty as a wilderness;
no citizens left or entered the city.
The holy Temple was profaned by foreigners,
and Gentiles camped in the city's fort;
so joy departed from the people of Israel,
and the sound of music was heard no more.
46 Then Judas and his men assembled and marched to Mizpah, opposite Jerusalem, because the people of Israel had previously had a place of worship there. 47 In deep mourning, they fasted all that day, put on sackcloth, threw ashes on their heads, and tore their clothes. 48 The Gentiles would have consulted their idols in such a situation, but the Israelites unrolled the book of the Law to search for God's guidance.49 They brought the priests' robes, the offerings of the first grain, and the tithes, and then they brought in some Nazirites who had completed their vows. 50 The whole community prayed,
Lord, what shall we do with these things? Where shall we take them, 51 now that your holy Temple has been trampled and profaned by Gentiles, and your priests mourn in disgrace? 52 The Gentiles have come to attack and destroy us. You know what they plan to do! 53 If you don't help us, how can we stand up against them?
54 Then they blew trumpets and shouted loudly.
55 After that, Judas divided his men into groups of ten, fifty, a hundred, and a thousand, placing officers in charge of each group. 56 (Q)Then, in obedience to the Law, he sent home everyone who had recently been married, built a house, or planted a vineyard, as well as anyone who was afraid. 57 Finally, the army marched out and took up positions south of Emmaus, 58 where Judas said to them:
Prepare yourselves for battle and be courageous! Be ready early tomorrow morning to fight these Gentiles who have joined forces to attack us and destroy us and our Temple. 59 It is better for us to die fighting than to stand idly by and watch the destruction of our nation and our Temple. 60 But the Lord will do what he pleases.
4 Gorgias took 5,000 infantry and 1,000 of his most experienced cavalry and left camp by night, 2 with men from the fort in Jerusalem as his guides. He had planned to make a surprise attack on the Jewish army, 3 but Judas learned of the plan and moved out with his men to attack the king's army at Emmaus 4 while Gorgias and his troops were still away from the camp. 5 When Gorgias and his army reached Judas' camp that night, they found no one there. They thought Judas and his men were trying to escape, so they started looking for them in the mountains.
6 At dawn Judas appeared in the plain with 3,000 men, not all of them as well armed as they would have liked. 7 They saw the huge Gentile army of experienced troops wearing armor and protected by cavalry. 8 But Judas said to his men,
Don't worry about the size of their army, and don't be frightened when they attack. 9 Remember how our ancestors were saved at the Red Sea when the king of Egypt was pursuing them with his army! 10 Now let us ask the Lord to have mercy on us. Let us pray that he will honor his covenant with our ancestors and crush this army when we attack today. 11 Then all the Gentiles will know that Israel has a God who rescues and saves them.
12 When the Gentiles saw Judas and his men preparing for battle, 13 they moved out of their camp to fight. Then Judas and his men sounded their trumpets 14 and attacked. The Gentiles broke ranks and fled to the plain, 15 but all the stragglers were killed. The Israelites pursued the enemy as far as Gezer, the plains of Idumea, and the towns of Azotus and Jamnia. Altogether they killed about 3,000 of the enemy.
16 When Judas and his army came back from the pursuit, 17-18 he said to his men,
Don't be greedy for loot. Gorgias and his army are nearby in the mountains, so there is still heavy fighting ahead of us. We must stand firm and fight. After that, you can safely take all the loot you want. 19 Judas was just finishing his speech when an enemy patrol on a scouting mission looked down from the mountains 20 and saw that their army had been put to flight; they could tell from the smoke that their camp was burning. 21 When they saw all this, they were terrified, and when they also saw that Judas' army was in the plain ready for battle, 22 they all fled to Philistia. 23 Then Judas returned to loot the enemy camp; he took large amounts of gold and silver, blue and purple cloth, and other rich plunder. 24 When the Jews came back to their own camp, they sang a hymn:
The Lord is worthy of praise; his mercy endures forever. 25 That day brought a great victory to the people of Israel.
Victory over Lysias(R)
26 The Gentile troops that escaped went to Lysias and reported all that had happened. 27 When Lysias heard that his troops had lost the battle, he was shocked and disappointed that Israel had not been defeated as the king had commanded.
28 In the following year Lysias gathered an army of 60,000 well-trained infantry and 5,000 cavalry, intending to conquer the Jews. 29 They marched into Idumea and camped at Bethzur. Judas came to meet them with 10,000 men. 30 (S)When Judas saw how strong the enemy's army was, he prayed,
We will praise you, Savior of Israel. You broke the attack of the giant by the hand of your servant David and you let Saul's son Jonathan and the young man who carried his weapons defeat the entire Philistine army. 31 Now in the same way let your people Israel defeat our enemy. Put them to shame, in spite of all their confidence in their infantry and cavalry. 32 Make them afraid; let their bold strength melt away; let them tremble at the prospect of defeat. 33 We love and worship you; so let us kill our enemies, that we may then sing your praises.
34 The battle began, and in the hand-to-hand fighting about 5,000 of Lysias' men were killed. 35 When Lysias saw that his army was being defeated and when he saw the reckless courage of Judas and his men, who showed that they were ready to live or die with honor, he returned to Antioch. There he recruited some mercenaries and planned to return to Judea later with a much larger army.
The Purification of the Temple(T)
36 Judas and his brothers said,
Now that our enemies have been defeated, let's go to Jerusalem to purify the Temple and rededicate it. 37 So the whole army was assembled and went up to Mount Zion. 38 There they found the Temple abandoned, the altar profaned, the gates burned down, the courtyards grown up in a forest of weeds, and the priests' rooms torn down. 39 In their sorrow, they tore their clothes, cried loudly, threw ashes on their heads, 40 and fell face down on the ground. When the signal was given on the trumpets, everyone cried out to the Lord.
41 Then Judas ordered some of his soldiers to attack the men in the fort, while he purified the Temple. 42 He chose some priests who were qualified and who were devoted to the Law. 43 They purified the Temple and took the stones that had been defiled and put them in an unclean place. 44 They discussed what should be done with the altar of burnt offerings, which had been desecrated 45 by the Gentiles, and decided to tear it down, so that it would not stand there as a monument to their shame. So they tore down the altar 46 and put the stones in a suitable place on the Temple hill, where they were to be kept until a prophet should appear and decide what to do with them. 47 (U)Then they took uncut stones, as the Law of Moses required, and built a new altar like the old one. 48 They repaired the Temple, inside and out, and dedicated its courtyards. 49 They made new utensils for worship and brought the lampstand, the altar of incense, and the table for the bread into the Temple. 50 They burned incense on the altar and lit the lamps on the lampstand, and there was light in the Temple! 51 They placed the loaves of bread on the table, hung the curtains, and completed all the work.
52-54 (V)The twenty-fifth day of the ninth month, the month of Kislev, in the year 148[k] was the anniversary of the day the Gentiles had desecrated the altar. On that day a sacrifice was offered on the new altar in accordance with the Law of Moses. The new altar was dedicated and hymns were sung to the accompaniment of harps, lutes, and cymbals. 55 All the people bowed down with their faces to the ground and worshiped and praised the Lord for giving them victory.
56 For eight days they celebrated the rededication of the altar. With great joy they brought burnt offerings and offered fellowship offerings and thank offerings. 57 They decorated the front of the Temple with gold crowns and shields, rebuilt the gates and the priests' rooms and put doors on them. 58 Now that the Jews had removed the shame which the Gentiles had brought, they held a great celebration. 59 Then Judas, his brothers, and the entire community of Israel decreed that the rededication of the altar should be celebrated with a festival of joy and gladness at the same time each year, beginning on the twenty-fifth of the month of Kislev and lasting for eight days.
60 Then they built high walls and strong towers around Mount Zion, so that the Gentiles could not come in and trample and defile it again. 61 Judas placed a detachment of soldiers there to guard the Temple. He also fortified the town of Bethzur, so that the people of Israel would have a fortress facing Idumea.
Footnotes
- 1 Maccabees 1:10 the year 137: The dates in this book are counted from the beginning of the Syrian Kingdom in 312 B.C. The year 137 corresponds to 175 B.C.
- 1 Maccabees 1:15 started associating with; or married.
- 1 Maccabees 1:20 the year 143: This corresponds to 169 B.C.
- 1 Maccabees 1:29 Probable text a large army from Mysia; Greek a tax collector with a large army.
- 1 Maccabees 1:46 the holy things in it; or the priests.
- 1 Maccabees 1:54 the year 145: This corresponds to 167 B.C.
- 1 Maccabees 2:70 the year 146: This corresponds to 166 B.C.
- 1 Maccabees 3:8 relieved Israel of its terrible suffering; or saved Israel from God's anger.
- 1 Maccabees 3:37 the year 147: This corresponds to 165 B.C.
- 1 Maccabees 3:41 Probable text Idumea; Greek Syria.
- 1 Maccabees 4:52 the year 148: This corresponds to 164 B.C.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
