20. After Antiochus had defeated Egypt in the one hundred and forty-third year, he returned and went up against Israel and against Jerusalem with a strong force.
21. He insolently entered the sanctuary and took away the golden altar, the lampstand for the light with all its utensils,
22. the offering table, the cups and bowls, the golden censers, and the curtain. The cornices and the golden ornament on the facade of the temple—he stripped it all off.
23. And he took away the silver and gold and the precious vessels; he also took all the hidden treasures he could find.
24. Taking all this, he went back to his own country. He shed much blood and spoke with great arrogance.
25. And there was great mourning throughout all Israel,
26. and the rulers and the elders groaned.Young women and men languished,and the beauty of the women faded.
27. Every bridegroom took up lamentation,while the bride sitting in her chamber mourned,
28. And the land quaked on account of its inhabitants,and all the house of Jacob was clothed with shame.
29. Two years later, the king sent the Mysian commander to the cities of Judah, and he came to Jerusalem with a strong force.
30. He spoke to them deceitfully in peaceful terms, and they believed him. Then he attacked the city suddenly, in a great onslaught, and destroyed many of the people in Israel.
31. He plundered the city and set fire to it, demolished its houses and its surrounding walls.
32. And they took captive the women and children, and seized the animals.
33. Then they built up the City of David with a high, strong wall and strong towers, and it became their citadel.
34. There they installed a sinful race, transgressors of the law, who fortified themselves inside it.
35. They stored up weapons and provisions, depositing there the plunder they had collected from Jerusalem, and they became a great snare.