1 Maccabees 1

1And it happened, after Alexander the Macedonian, the son of Philip, who had come out from the land of Kittim, struck down Darius king of the Persians and Medes, that he reigned in his place, having first reigned over Greece.

2And he waged many wars, and seized strongholds, and slaughtered kings,

3And he passed on to the ends of the earth, and took plunder from a multitude of nations; and the earth was quiet before him, and he was exalted, and his heart was lifted up.

4And he gathered a very strong force, and began to rule over lands and nations and dominions, and they became tributary to him.

5And after these things he fell upon his bed, and knew that he was dying.

6And he called his honored servants, who had been brought up with him from youth, and divided his kingdom among them while he was still alive.

7And Alexander reigned twelve years, and died.

8And his sons became strong, each in his own place;

9And they all put on crowns after his death, and their sons after them for many years; and they multiplied evils in the land.

10And from them came forth a sinful root, Antiochus Epiphanes, son of King Antiochus, who had been a hostage in Rome. And he reigned in the one hundred forty-seventh year of the kingdom of the Greeks.

11In those days lawless men came out from Israel and persuaded many, saying, “Let us go and make a covenant with the nations around us, because since we separated ourselves from them, many evils have found us.”

12And the proposal pleased them.

13And some from the people eagerly sought this, and they went to the king; and he gave them authority to practice the customs of the nations.

14And they built a gymnasium in Jerusalem according to the customs of the nations.

15and they made themselves foreskins, and turned away from the holy covenant, and yoked themselves to the nations, and sold themselves to do evil.

16And the kingdom was established before Antiochus, and he undertook to rule the land of Egypt, so that he might rule over the two kingdoms.

17And he entered Egypt with a heavy force, with chariots and elephants and horsemen and a great fleet.

18And he waged war against Ptolemy the king of Egypt; and Ptolemy was routed before him and fled, and many fell wounded.

19And they captured the fortified cities in the land of Egypt, and he took the plunder of the land of Egypt.

20And after striking Egypt, Antiochus returned in the one hundred forty-third year; and he went up against Israel and Jerusalem with a great multitude.

21And he entered the sanctuary in arrogance, and took the golden altar, and the lampstand of the light with all its utensils,

22and the table for the presentation of the bread, and the libation vessels and the bowls and the golden censers and the curtain and the crowns and the gold decoration on the front of the temple—and he stripped it all off.

23And he took the silver and the gold, and the precious vessels; and he took the hidden treasures that he found.

24And after taking everything, he went away to his own land. And they committed murder, and spoke great arrogance.

25And there was great mourning in Israel in all their places.

26And rulers and elders groaned; virgins and young men grew weak, and the beauty of the women was altered.

27Every bridegroom took up lamentation; she who sat in the bridal chamber became one in mourning.

28And the earth shook for those who dwelt on it, and the whole house of Jacob clothed itself with shame.

29After two years had passed, the king sent a chief collector of tribute to the cities of Judah, and he came to Jerusalem with a heavy crowd.

30And he spoke peaceful words to them with deceit, and they trusted him; then he fell upon the city suddenly, struck it a great blow, and destroyed many people from Israel.

31And he took the plunder of the city and burned it with fire, and he tore down its houses and its walls all around.

32And they took the women and the children captive, and they took the livestock as plunder.

33And they fortified the city of David with a great and strong wall, with strong towers, and it became a citadel for them.

34And they stationed there a sinful nation, lawless men, and they strengthened themselves in it.

35And they stored up weapons and provisions, and after gathering the spoils of Jerusalem they deposited them there, and it became a great snare,

36And it became an ambush against the sanctuary, and a wicked adversary against Israel continually.

37And they poured out innocent blood around the sanctuary, and they defiled the sanctuary.

38And the inhabitants of Jerusalem fled because of them, and she became a dwelling place of foreigners; she became foreign to her offspring, and her children abandoned her.

39Her sanctuary was laid waste like a wilderness; her feasts were turned into mourning, her Sabbaths into reproach, her honor into contempt,

40According to her glory, her dishonor was multiplied, and her exaltation was turned into mourning.

41And the king wrote to all his kingdom that all should become one people,

42and that each should abandon his own customs. And all the nations accepted the word of the king.

43And many from Israel approved of his worship, and they sacrificed to the idols and profaned the Sabbath.

44And the king sent letters by the hand of messengers to Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, that they should follow laws foreign to the land,

45and to forbid whole burnt offerings and sacrifices and drink offerings from the sanctuary, and to profane Sabbaths and feasts,

46and to defile the sanctuary and the holy ones;

47to build altars and shrines and idols, and to sacrifice swine and unclean animals,

48and to leave their sons uncircumcised, to make their souls abominable with every unclean thing, and to profane them,

49so that they might forget the law and alter all the ordinances.

50And whoever does not act according to the word of the king shall die.

51According to all these words he wrote to his whole kingdom, and he appointed overseers over all the people; and he commanded the cities of Judah to offer sacrifices, city by city.

52And many from the people gathered to them, everyone who was abandoning the law; and they did evil in the land,

53And they drove Israel into hiding, into every refuge they had.

54And on the fifteenth day of Chislev, in the one hundred forty-fifth year, they built the abomination of desolation upon the altar; and in the surrounding cities of Judah they built altars,

55And on the doorways of the houses and in the streets they burned incense.

56And the books of the law that they found, they tore to pieces and burned with fire.

57And wherever a book of the covenant was found with anyone, or if anyone consented to the law, the king’s decree put him to death.

58By their power they kept doing this to Israel, to those who were found in the cities month after month.

59And on the twenty-fifth day of the month they were sacrificing on the altar that was upon the altar of burnt offering.

60And they put to death the women who had circumcised their children, according to the decree,

61And they hung the infants from their necks, and their household members, and those who had circumcised them.

62And many in Israel stood firm and were strengthened among themselves so as not to eat defiled food;

63And they chose to die, so that they might not be defiled by the foods and might not profane the holy covenant; and they died.

64And there was very great wrath against Israel.