2 Maccabees 1:7-9

Good News Translation

⁷ In the year 169,^[a] when Demetrius the Second was king of Syria, we wrote to tell you about the persecution and the hard times that came upon us in the years after Jason revolted against authority in the Holy Land. ⁸ Jason and his men set fire to the Temple gates and slaughtered innocent people. Then we prayed to the Lord and he answered our prayers. So we sacrificed animals, gave offerings of grain, lit the lamps in the Temple, and set out the sacred loaves. ⁹ This is why we urge you to celebrate in the month of Kislev a festival similar to the Festival of Shelters. Written in the year 188.^[b]