1 Maccabees 1
Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Empire and divided his kingdom among his servants before his death. After Alexander's death, his servants and their sons ruled for many years, and evils multiplied on the earth. Antiochus, the son of King Antiochus, rose to power and conquered Egypt, then turned his attention to Israel, desecrating the temple in Jerusalem and taking its treasures. He imposed his own laws on the people, forcing them to abandon their Jewish traditions and worship idols, and those who refused were put to death.
And 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 MedesHe appointed many battles, and he took hold of all the fortifications, and he executed the kings of the earthAnd 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 sightAnd he gathered together power, and an exceedingly strong army. And he was exalted, and his heart was lifted upAnd he captured the regions of nations and of sovereign leaders, and they became tributaries to himAnd after these things, he fell down on his bed, and he knew that he would dieAnd he called his servants, nobles who were raised with him from his youth. And he divided his kingdom to them, while he was still aliveAnd Alexander reigned twelve years, and then he diedAnd his servants obtained his kingdom, each one in his placeAnd they all put diadems on themselves after his death, and their sons after them, for many years; and evils were multiplied on the earthAnd 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 GreeksIn 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 For since we have withdrawn from them, many evils have found us.And the word seemed good in their eyesAnd some of the people determined to do this, and they went to the king.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 GentilesAnd they built a sports arena in Jerusalem, according to the laws of the NationsAnd they made themselves uncircumcised, and they withdrew from the holy covenant, and they were joined to the nations, and they were sold into evil-doingAnd 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 kingdomsAnd he entered into Egypt with an oppressive multitude, with swift chariots, and elephants, and horsemen, and a great abundance of shipsAnd 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 woundedAnd he took hold of the fortified cities in the land of Egypt, and he received the spoils of the land of EgyptAnd Antiochus turned back, after he struck Egypt, in the one hundred and forty-third year, and he ascended against IsraelAnd he ascended to Jerusalem, with an oppressive multitudeAnd 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 allAnd 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 landAnd he caused a massacre of men, and he was speaking with great arroganceAnd there was great wailing in Israel and in all of their placesAnd the leaders and elders mourned, and the virgins and young men became weak, and the splendor of the women was changedEvery bridegroom took up lamentation, and those who sat in the marriage bed mournedAnd the land shook on behalf of the inhabitants in it, and the entire house of Jacob was clothed with confusionAnd 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 crowdAnd he spoke peaceful words to them, in deceitfulness; and they believed himAnd he rushed upon the city suddenly, and he struck it with a great scourging, and he destroyed many of the people of IsraelAnd he took the spoils of the city, and he burned it with fire, and he destroyed its houses and the walls around itAnd they led away the women as captives, and they possessed the children and the cattleAnd they built up the city of David with a great and strong wall, and with strong towers, and it became a stronghold for themAnd 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 Jerusalemand deposited them in that place. And they became a great snareAnd this became a place of ambush against the sanctuary and a diabolical evil in IsraelAnd they poured out innocent blood around the sanctuary, and they contaminated the sanctuaryAnd 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 herHer sanctuary was desolate, like a place of solitude, her feast days were turned into mourning, her sabbaths into disgrace, her honors into nothingHer shame was multiplied according to her glory, and her loftiness was turned into lamentationAnd king Antiochus wrote to all his kingdom, that all the people must be one, and that each one should relinquish his own lawAnd all Gentiles consented, according to the word of king AntiochusAnd many out of Israel consented to his servitude, and they sacrificed to idols, and they polluted the SabbathAnd 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 earthand that they should prohibit holocausts and sacrifices and atonements to be made in the temple of Godand that they should prohibit the celebration of the Sabbath and the solemn daysAnd he ordered the holy places to be defiled, along with the holy people of Israel"Grant us a pledge, and let the Jews cease from assailing us and the city.and 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 Godand that whoever would not act according to the word of king Antiochus should be put to deathAccording to all these words, he wrote to all his kingdom. And he appointed leaders over the people, who would compel them to do these thingsAnd these ordered the cities of Judah to sacrificeAnd many from the people, who had abandoned the law of the Lord, were gathered together by them. And they committed evils upon the landAnd they drove the people of Israel into hiding and into the secret places of fugitivesOn 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 JudahAnd they burned frankincense, and they sacrificed before the doors of houses and in the streetsAnd they cut up the books of the law of God and destroyed them with fireAnd 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 kingBy their power, they did these things to the people of Israel, as they were discovered in the cities, month after monthAnd on the twenty-fifth day of the month, they sacrificed on that altar which was opposite the high altarAnd the women who circumcised their sons were butchered, according to the order of king AntiochusAnd they suspended the children by their necks in all their houses, and those who had circumcised them, they butcheredAnd 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 foodsAnd they were not willing to infringe upon the holy law of God, and they were butcheredAnd there was a very great wrath upon the people
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