2 Maccabees 12:38-45

Good News Translation

Prayers for Those Killed in Battle

³⁸ After the battle Judas led his men to the town of Adullam. It was the day before the Sabbath, so they purified themselves according to Jewish custom and then observed the holy day. ³⁹ By the following day it was urgent that they gather up the bodies of the men who had been killed in battle and bury them in their family tombs. ^40 (A)But on each of the dead, hidden under their clothes, they found small images of the gods worshiped in Jamnia, which the Law forbids Jews to wear. Everyone then knew why these men had been killed. ⁴¹ So they praised the ways of the Lord, the just judge, who reveals what is hidden, ⁴² and they begged him that this sin might be completely blotted out. Then, Judas, that great man, urged the people to keep away from sin, because they had seen for themselves what had happened to those men who had sinned. ⁴³ He also took up a collection from all his men, totaling about four pounds of silver, and sent it to Jerusalem to provide for a sin offering. Judas did this noble thing because he believed in the resurrection of the dead. ⁴⁴ If he had not believed that the dead would be raised, it would have been foolish and useless to pray for them. ⁴⁵ In his firm and devout conviction that all of God's faithful people would receive a wonderful reward, Judas made provision for a sin offering to set free from their sin those who had died.