4. The same document also tells how the prophet, in virtue of an oracle, ordered that the tent and the ark should accompany him, and how he went to the very mountain that Moses climbed to behold God’s inheritance.
5. When Jeremiah arrived there, he found a chamber in a cave in which he put the tent, the ark, and the altar of incense; then he sealed the entrance.
6. Some of those who followed him came up intending to mark the path, but they could not find it.
7. When Jeremiah heard of this, he reproved them: “The place is to remain unknown until God gathers his people together again and shows them mercy.
8. Then the Lord will disclose these things, and the glory of the Lord and the cloud will be seen, just as they appeared in the time of Moses and of Solomon when he prayed that the place might be greatly sanctified.”
9. It is also related how Solomon in his wisdom offered a sacrifice for the dedication and the completion of the temple.
10. Just as Moses prayed to the Lord and fire descended from the sky and consumed the sacrifices, so also Solomon prayed and fire came down and consumed the burnt offerings.
11. Moses had said, “Because it had not been eaten, the purification offering was consumed.”
12. Solomon also celebrated the feast in the same way for eight days.
13. These same things are also told in the records and in Nehemiah’s memoirs, as well as how he founded a library and collected the books about the kings and the prophets, the books of David, and the royal letters about votive offerings.
14. In like manner Judas also collected for us all the books that had been scattered because of the war, and we now have them in our possession.
15. If you need them, send messengers to get them for you.
16. As we are about to celebrate the purification, we are writing: you should celebrate the feast days.
17. It is God who has saved all his people and has restored to all of them their inheritance, the kingdom, the priesthood, and the sacred rites,
18. as he promised through the law. For we hope in God, that he will soon have mercy on us and gather us together from everywhere under the heavens to his holy place, for he has rescued us from great perils and has purified the place.
19. This is the story of Judas Maccabeus and his brothers, of the purification of the great temple, the dedication of the altar,
20. the campaigns against Antiochus Epiphanes and his son Eupator,
21. and of the heavenly manifestations accorded to the heroes who fought bravely for the Jewish people. Few as they were, they plundered the whole land, put to flight the barbarian hordes,
22. regained possession of the temple renowned throughout the world, and liberated the city. They re-established the laws that were in danger of being abolished, while the Lord favored them with every kindness.