May 8 - 2 Maccabees 1-2
2 Maccabees
1To the brothers, the Jews, who are throughout Egypt: the brothers, the Jews, who are in Jerusalem and in the region of Judea, send greetings and good peace2May God be gracious to you, and may he remember his covenant, which was spoken to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, his faithful servants3And may he give all of you the heart to worship him, and to do his will, with a great heart and a willing soul4May he throw open your heart with his law and with his precepts, and may he create peace5May he heed your prayers and be reconciled to you, and may he not forsake you in the evil time6And now, in this place, we are praying for you7When Demetrius reigned, in the one hundred and sixty-ninth year, we Jews wrote to you during the tribulation and assaults which overcame us in those years, from the time that Jason withdrew from the holy land and from the kingdom8They burnt the gate, and they shed innocent blood. And we prayed to the Lord and were heard, and we brought forth sacrifices and fine wheat flour, and we kindled the lamps and set forth the loaves9And now, celebrate the days of shelters in the month of Kislev10In the one hundred and eighty-eighth year, from the people who are at Jerusalem and in Judea, and from the Senate and Judas: to Aristobulus, the magistrate of king Ptolemy, who is of the ancestry of anointed priests, and to those Jews who are in Egypt: greetings and good health11Having been freed by God from great peril, we give thanks to him greatly, in as much as we have been struggling against so great a king12For he caused those who fought against us and against the holy city to burst forth from Persia13For when the commander himself was in Persia, and with him an immense army, he fell in the temple of Nanea, having been deceived by the counsel of the priests of Nanea14For Antiochus also came to the place with his friends, as if to live with her, and so that he would receive much money in the name of a dowry15And when the priests of Nanea had made the proposal, and he had entered with a few men into the vestibule of the shrine, they closed the temple16after Antiochus had entered. And throwing open a hidden entrance to the temple, they cast stones, and they struck the leader and those who were with him. And, having severed their limbs and cut off their heads, they threw them outside17Blessed be God through all things, who has delivered up the impious18Therefore, establishing the purification of the temple on the twenty-fifth day of the month of Kislev, we considered it necessary to signify this to you, so that you, likewise, may keep the day of shelters, and the day of the fire that was given when Nehemiah offered sacrifice, after the temple and the altar had been built19For when our fathers were led into Persia, the priests, who at that time were worshippers of God, secretly took the fire from the altar, and they kept it hidden in a valley, where there was a deep and dry pit, and they kept it safe in that place, in such a way that the place would be unknown to all20But when many years had passed, and it pleased God that Nehemiah should be sent by the king of Persia, he sent some of the posterity of those priests who had hidden it to seek the fire. And, just as they told us, they did not find fire, but only deep water21Then he ordered them to draw it up and to carry it to him. And the priest, Nehemiah, ordered the sacrifices, which had been set out, to be sprinkled with the same water, both the wood and those things that were placed on it22And when this was done, and the time came when the sun shined brightly, which before was in a cloud, there was kindled a great fire, so much so that all were filled with wonder23But all the priests were reciting prayer, while the sacrifice was being consumed, with Jonathan beginning and the rest answering24And the prayer of Nehemiah was held in this way: "O Lord God, Creator of all, terrible and strong, just and merciful, you alone are the good King25You alone are excellent, you alone are just, and all-powerful, and eternal, who frees Israel from all evil, who created the chosen fathers and sanctified them26Receive the sacrifice on behalf of all of your people Israel, and preserve and sanctify your portion27Gather together our dispersion, free those who are in servitude to the Gentiles, and respect those who are despised and abhorred, so that the Gentiles may know that you are our God28Afflict those who, in their arrogance, are oppressing us and treating us abusively29Establish your people in your holy place, just as Moses said.30And so the priests sang hymns until the sacrifice had been consumed31But when the sacrifice had been consumed, Nehemiah ordered the remainder of the water to be poured upon the great stones32When this had been done, a flame was kindled from them, but it was consumed by the light that shined brightly from the altar33In truth, when this thing became known, it was reported to the king of Persia that in the place where the fire had been hidden by those priests who had been led away, water appeared, by which Nehemiah, and those who were with him, purified the sacrifices34But the king, considering and examining the matter diligently, made a temple for it, so that he might study what had happened35And when he had studied it, he gave the priests many goods and presents, of one kind or another, and using his own hands, he distributed these36And Nehemiah called this place Nephthar, which is interpreted as Purification. But with many it is called Nephi
1Now it is found in the descriptions of the prophet Jeremiah that he ordered those who transmigrated to take the fire, just as it was signified and as he ordered, into the transmigration2And he gave them the law, so that they would never forget the commandments of the Lord, and so that they would not go astray in their minds, seeing the idols of gold and silver, and their ornaments3And in this manner, with other sayings, he exhorted them, lest they remove the law from their heart4Furthermore, it was in the same writing, how the prophet, by divine response, ordered that the tabernacle and the ark be made to accompany him, until he exited from the mountain, where Moses ascended and saw the inheritance of God5And arriving there, Jeremiah found a place in a cave. And he brought both the tabernacle, and the ark, and the altar of incense into that place, and he obstructed opening6And certain ones of those who followed him, approached to make note of the location, but they were not able to find it7But when Jeremiah knew of it, he blamed them, saying: "The place shall be unknown, until God shall gather together the congregation of the people, and until he may be favorably inclined8And then the Lord will reveal these things, and the majesty of the Lord shall appear, and there will be a cloud, just as it was also manifested to Moses, and just as he manifested these when Solomon petitioned that the place should be sanctified to the great God9For he also drew upon wisdom magnificently, and so, having wisdom, he offered the sacrifice of the dedication and the consummation of the temple10And, just as Moses prayed to the Lord, and fire descended from heaven and consumed the holocaust, so also Solomon prayed and fire descended from heaven and consumed the holocaust11And Moses said that it was consumed because the sin offering was not eaten12And similarly, Solomon also celebrated the eight days of the dedication13Moreover, these same things were put into the descriptions and commentaries of Nehemiah, including how, when constructing a library, he gathered together from the regions the books of the Prophets, and of David, and the epistles of the kings, and from the holy gifts14And, similarly, Judas also gathered together all the things that were destroyed by the war that befell us, and these are with us15Therefore, if you desire these things, send those who may carry them to you16And so, since we will be celebrating the purification, we wrote to you. Therefore, you will do well, if you keep these days17But we hope that God, who has freed his people and has rendered to all the inheritance, and the kingdom, and the priesthood, and sanctification18just as he promised in the law, will quickly have mercy on us and will gather us together from under heaven into the holy place19For he has rescued us from great perils, and he has purged the place20The truth about Judas Maccabeus, and his brothers, and the purification of the great temple, and the dedication of the altar21and also about the battles, which pertain to Antiochus the illustrious, and his son, Eupator22and about the illuminations, which came from heaven to those who acted on behalf of the Jews with fortitude, was such that they, though few, vindicated the entire region and put to flight a multitude of the barbarous23and recovered the most famous temple in the whole world, and freed the city, and restored the laws that were abolished. For the Lord, with all tranquility, was acting favorably toward them24And similar things as have been comprised in five books by Jason the Cyrenean, we have attempted to abridge into one volume25For, considering the multitude of the books, and the difficulty that those who are willing to undertake the narrations of histories find, due to the multitude of events26we have taken care, so that, indeed, those who are willing to read may have delights of the mind, and so that, in truth, the studious may more easily be able to commit it to memory, and also so that all readers may find it useful27And indeed, we ourselves, who have taken up the task of abridging this work, have no easy labor. For, in truth, more correctly, we have assumed an activity full of vigilance and sweat28Just as those who prepare a feast also seek to be attentive to the will of others, for the sake of the gratitude of many, we willingly undertake the labor29Indeed, leaving to the authors the truths about particular details, we instead have been devoted to this form, striving to be brief30For, just as the architect of a new house will have concern for the entire structure, and, in truth, he who takes care to paint it will seek out what is fitting to adorn it, so also should such things be considered by us31Moreover, to collect knowledge, and to order words, and to discuss every particular point attentively, is the duty of the author of a history32Yet truly, to pursue brevity of speech, and to shun the extension of matters, is conceded to an abbreviator33Therefore, here we will begin the narration. Let so much be sufficient to say in preface. For it is foolish to go on and on before the account, when the account itself is succinct