2 Maccabees 1:10-17
Common English Bible
10 in the year 188.[a]
The second letter
The citizens of Jerusalem and Judea, the council of elders, and Judas send greetings and wishes of good health to Aristobulus, teacher of King Ptolemy and a member of the family of the anointed priests, and to the Jews in Egypt. 11 God saved us from great danger when we were battling against the king. So we greatly praise God 12 because he forced those fighting in the holy city to leave.
13 The ruler and his armed forces that went into Persia seemed invincible. But they were slain in the goddess Nanea’s temple, when Nanea’s priests tricked them. 14 Since Antiochus came in order to marry the goddess, he and his political advisors[b] came into the temple[c] to take the great wealth as payment for her dowry. 15 When the priests of Nanea had set it out, the king entered with a few men into the enclosed space of the shrine. After closing off the temple as Antiochus entered, 16 and opening the hidden door of the ceiling, they threw stones that struck down the ruler like a bolt of lightning. After dismembering and beheading the bodies, they tossed the heads to those outside.
17 May our God who gave up the immoral to death be praised in every way!
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 2 Maccabees 1:10 November–December, 124 BCE
- 2 Maccabees 1:14 Or Friends
- 2 Maccabees 1:14 Or place
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