1 Maccabees 1

¹And it happened afterwards that Alexander, the son of Philip the Macedonian, who first reigned in Greece having come from the land of Kittim, struck Darius the king of the Persians and the Medes

²He appointed many battles, and he took hold of all the fortifications, and he executed the kings of the earth

³And he passed through even to the ends of the earth. And he received the spoils of many nations. And the earth was silenced in his sight

⁴And he gathered together power, and an exceedingly strong army. And he was exalted, and his heart was lifted up

⁵And he captured the regions of nations and of sovereign leaders, and they became tributaries to him

⁶And after these things, he fell down on his bed, and he knew that he would die

⁷And he called his servants, nobles who were raised with him from his youth. And he divided his kingdom to them, while he was still alive

⁸And Alexander reigned twelve years, and then he died

⁹And his servants obtained his kingdom, each one in his place

¹⁰And they all put diadems on themselves after his death, and their sons after them, for many years; and evils were multiplied on the earth

¹¹And there went forth from among them a sinful root, Antiochus the illustrious, the son of king Antiochus, who had been a hostage at Rome. And he reigned in the one hundred and thirty-seventh year of the kingdom of the Greeks

¹²In those days, there went forth from Israel sons of iniquity, and they persuaded many, saying: “Let us go and negotiate a covenant with the Gentiles that are all around us. For since we have withdrawn from them, many evils have found us.

¹³And the word seemed good in their eyes

¹⁴And some of the people determined to do this, and they went to the king. And he gave them the power to act according to the justice of the Gentiles

¹⁵And they built a sports arena in Jerusalem, according to the laws of the Nations

¹⁶And they made themselves uncircumcised, and they withdrew from the holy covenant, and they were joined to the nations, and they were sold into evil-doing

¹⁷And the kingdom was ready in the sight of Antiochus, and he began to reign over the land of Egypt, so that he might reign over two kingdoms

¹⁸And he entered into Egypt with an oppressive multitude, with swift chariots, and elephants, and horsemen, and a great abundance of ships

¹⁹And he appointed a war against Ptolemy, the king of Egypt, and Ptolemy was filled with dread before his face, and he fled, and many fell down wounded

²⁰And he took hold of the fortified cities in the land of Egypt, and he received the spoils of the land of Egypt

²¹And Antiochus turned back, after he struck Egypt, in the one hundred and forty-third year, and he ascended against Israel

²²And he ascended to Jerusalem, with an oppressive multitude

²³And he entered into the sanctuary with arrogance, and he took the golden altar, and the lampstand of light, and all the vessels, and the table for the bread of the Presence, and the vessels of libation, and the vials, and the little mortars of gold, and the veil, and the crowns, and the golden ornament, which was at the face of the temple. And he crushed them all

²⁴And he took the silver and gold, and the precious vessels, and he took the hidden treasures, which he found. And having taken all these things away, he departed into his own land

²⁵And he caused a massacre of men, and he was speaking with great arrogance

²⁶And there was great wailing in Israel and in all of their places

²⁷And the leaders and elders mourned, and the virgins and young men became weak, and the splendor of the women was changed

²⁸Every bridegroom took up lamentation, and those who sat in the marriage bed mourned

²⁹And the land shook on behalf of the inhabitants in it, and the entire house of Jacob was clothed with confusion

³⁰And after two years of days, the king sent the prince of his tributes to the cities of Judah, and he came to Jerusalem with a great crowd

³¹And he spoke peaceful words to them, in deceitfulness; and they believed him

³²And he rushed upon the city suddenly, and he struck it with a great scourging, and he destroyed many of the people of Israel

³³And he took the spoils of the city, and he burned it with fire, and he destroyed its houses and the walls around it

³⁴And they led away the women as captives, and they possessed the children and the cattle

³⁵And they built up the city of David with a great and strong wall, and with strong towers, and it became a stronghold for them

³⁶And they set up in that place a sinful people, wicked men, and together they grew strong in it. And they stored up weapons and provisions. And they gathered together the spoils of Jerusalem

³⁷and deposited them in that place. And they became a great snare

³⁸And this became a place of ambush against the sanctuary and a diabolical evil in Israel

³⁹And they poured out innocent blood around the sanctuary, and they contaminated the sanctuary

⁴⁰And the inhabitants of Jerusalem fled because of them, and the city became the dwelling place of outsiders, and she became a stranger to her own offspring, and her own children abandoned her

⁴¹Her sanctuary was desolate, like a place of solitude, her feast days were turned into mourning, her sabbaths into disgrace, her honors into nothing

⁴²Her shame was multiplied according to her glory, and her loftiness was turned into lamentation

⁴³And king Antiochus wrote to all his kingdom, that all the people must be one, and that each one should relinquish his own law

⁴⁴And all Gentiles consented, according to the word of king Antiochus

⁴⁵And many out of Israel consented to his servitude, and they sacrificed to idols, and they polluted the Sabbath

⁴⁶And the king sent letters, by the hand of messengers, to Jerusalem and to all the cities of Judah: that they should follow the law of the Nations of the earth

⁴⁷and that they should prohibit holocausts and sacrifices and atonements to be made in the temple of God

⁴⁸and that they should prohibit the celebration of the Sabbath and the solemn days

⁴⁹And he ordered the holy places to be defiled, along with the holy people of Israel

⁵⁰“Grant us a pledge, and let the Jews cease from assailing us and the city.

⁵¹and that they should leave their sons uncircumcised, and defile their souls with all that is unclean, and with abominations, so that they would forget the law and would alter all the justifications of God

⁵²and that whoever would not act according to the word of king Antiochus should be put to death

⁵³According to all these words, he wrote to all his kingdom. And he appointed leaders over the people, who would compel them to do these things

⁵⁴And these ordered the cities of Judah to sacrifice

⁵⁵And many from the people, who had abandoned the law of the Lord, were gathered together by them. And they committed evils upon the land

⁵⁶And they drove the people of Israel into hiding and into the secret places of fugitives

⁵⁷On the fifteenth day of the month of Kislev, in the one hundred and forty-fifth year, king Antiochus set up the abominable idol of desolation on the altar of God, and they built altars throughout all the surrounding cities of Judah

⁵⁸And they burned frankincense, and they sacrificed before the doors of houses and in the streets

⁵⁹And they cut up the books of the law of God and destroyed them with fire

⁶⁰And all those who were found with the books of the testament of the Lord, and whoever observed the law of the Lord, they butchered, according to the edict of the king

⁶¹By their power, they did these things to the people of Israel, as they were discovered in the cities, month after month

⁶²And on the twenty-fifth day of the month, they sacrificed on that altar which was opposite the high altar

⁶³And the women who circumcised their sons were butchered, according to the order of king Antiochus

⁶⁴And they suspended the children by their necks in all their houses, and those who had circumcised them, they butchered

⁶⁵And many of the people of Israel decided within themselves that they would not eat unclean things. And they chose to die, rather than to be defiled with unclean foods

⁶⁶And they were not willing to infringe upon the holy law of God, and they were butchered

⁶⁷And there was a very great wrath upon the people