Second Book of Maccabees 2

¹ We find in the archives that the prophet Jeremiah[*a], when he had given the deportees the order to take the fire, as we have described,

² in giving them the Law warned the deportees never to forget the Lord’s precepts, nor to let their thoughts be tempted by the sight of gold and silver statues or the finery adorning them.

³ Among other similar admonitions he urged them not to let the Law depart from their hearts.

⁴ The document also described how the prophet, warned by an oracle, gave orders for the tabernacle and the ark to go with him when he set out for the mountain which Moses had climbed to survey God’s heritage.

⁵ On his arrival Jeremiah found a cave-dwelling, into which he brought the tabernacle, the ark and the altar of incense, afterwards blocking up the entrance.

⁶ Some of his companions came up to mark out the way, but were unable to find it.

⁷ When Jeremiah learned this, he reproached them: ‘The place is to remain unknown’ he said ‘until God gathers his people together again and shows them his mercy.

⁸ Then the Lord will bring these things once more to light, and the glory of the Lord will be seen, and so will the cloud, as it was revealed in the time of Moses and when Solomon prayed that the Holy Place might be gloriously hallowed.’

⁹ It was also recorded how Solomon in his wisdom offered the sacrifice of the dedication and completion of the sanctuary.

¹⁰ As Moses had prayed to the Lord and fire had come down from heaven and burned up the sacrifice, so Solomon also prayed, and the fire from above burned up the holocausts.

¹¹ Moses had said, ‘It is because it had not been eaten that the sin-offering was burned up’.

¹² Solomon kept the feast in the same way for eight days.

¹³ In addition to the above, it was also recorded, both in the archives and in the Memoirs of Nehemiah[*b] how he founded a library and made a collection of the books dealing with the kings and the prophets, the writings of David and the letters of the kings on the subject of offerings.

¹⁴ In the same way Judas made a complete collection of the books dispersed in the late war, and these we still have.

¹⁵ If you need any of them, send someone to fetch copies for you.

¹⁶ To conclude, since we are now about to celebrate the purification of the Temple, we are writing to you requesting you to observe the same days.

¹⁷ God, who has saved his whole people, conferring on all the heritage, kingdom, priesthood and sanctification

¹⁸ as he promised through the Law, will surely, as our hope is in him, be swift to show us mercy and gather us together from everywhere under heaven to the Holy Place, since he has rescued us from great evils and has purified the Temple.

¹⁹ The story of Judas Maccabaeus and his brothers, the purification of the great Temple, the dedication of the altar,

²⁰ together with the wars against Antiochus Epiphanes and his son Eupator,

²¹ and the manifestations from heaven that came to hearten the brave champions of Judaism, so that, few though they were, they despoiled the whole country, routed the barbarian hordes,

²² recovered the sanctuary renowned the whole world over, liberated the city and re-established the laws which were all but abolished, the Lord showing his favour by all his gracious help to them-

²³ all this, already related in five books by Jason of Cyrene, we shall attempt to condense into a single digest.

²⁴ Considering the spate of figures and the difficulty encountered, because of the mass of material, by those who wish to immerse themselves in historical records,

²⁵ we have aimed at providing diversion for those who merely want something to read, a saving of labour for those who enjoy committing things to memory, and profit for each and all.

²⁶ For us who have undertaken the drudgery of this abridgement, this has been no easy task but a matter of sweat and midnight oil,

²⁷ comparable to the exacting task of a man organising a banquet, whose aim is to satisfy a variety of tastes; nevertheless, for the sake of rendering a general service we remain glad to endure this drudgery,

²⁸ leaving accuracy of detail to the historian and concentrating our effort on tracing the outlines in this condensed version.

²⁹ Just as the architect of a new house is responsible for the construction as a whole, while the man undertaking the ceramic painting is responsible for estimating the decorative requirements, so, I think, it is with us.

³⁰ To make the subject his own, to explore its by-ways, to be meticulous about details, is the business of the original historian,

³¹ but the man making the adaptation must be allowed to aim at conciseness of expression and to forgo any exhaustive treatment of his subject.

³² So now let us begin our narrative, without adding any more to what has been said above; there would be no sense in expanding the preface to the history and curtailing the history itself.