9. and each had himself crowned king of his own territory. The descendants of these kings ruled for many generations and brought a great deal of misery on the world.
10. The wicked ruler Antiochus Epiphanes, son of King Antiochus the Third of Syria, was a descendant of one of Alexander's generals. Antiochus Epiphanes had been a hostage in Rome before he became king of Syria in the year 137.
11. At that time there appeared in the land of Israel a group of traitorous Jews who had no regard for the Law and who had a bad influence on many of our people. They said, “Let's come to terms with the Gentiles, for our refusal to associate with them has brought us nothing but trouble.”
12. This proposal appealed to many people,
13. and some of them became so enthusiastic about it that they went to the king and received from him permission to follow Gentile customs.
14. They built in Jerusalem a stadium like those in the Greek cities.
15. They had an operation performed to hide their circumcision, abandoned the holy covenant, started associating with Gentiles, and did all sorts of other evil things.
16. When Antiochus had firmly established himself as king, he decided to conquer Egypt and rule that country as well as Syria.
17. He invaded Egypt with a large fleet of ships and a powerful army, including chariots, elephants, and cavalry.
18. When the attack came, King Ptolemy of Egypt turned and fled, and many of his soldiers were killed.
19. Antiochus was able to capture the fortified cities of Egypt and plunder the whole land.
20. In the year 143, after the conquest of Egypt, Antiochus marched with a great army against the land of Israel and the city of Jerusalem.
21. In his arrogance, he entered the Temple and took away the gold altar, the lampstand with all its equipment,
22. the table for the bread offered to the Lord, the cups and bowls, the gold fire pans, the curtain, and the crowns. He also stripped all the gold from the front of the Temple
23. and carried off the silver and gold and everything else of value, including all the treasures that he could find stored there.
24. Then he took it all to his own country. He also murdered many people and boasted arrogantly about it.
25. There was great mourning everywhere in the land of Israel.
26. Rulers and leaders groaned in sorrow.Young men and young women grew weak.The beauty of our women faded.