Praise God in His sanctuary, praise Him in His Mighty Power! Praise Him in His marvelous acts, praise Him according to His Excellent Greatness. Praise Him with the blast of horns, praise Him with psaltery and harp; Praise Him with timbrels and dances! Praise Him with stringed instruments and the pipe, HALLELUJAH! TWO VERY LATE PSALMS PREFIXED BY P TO THE FINAL COLLECTION OF THE PSALMS PSALM I Happy is the man that hath not walked in the counsel of the wicked. Nor stood in the way of sinners, Nor sat in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of Yahweh, And on His law doth he meditate, day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by streams of water, And its leaf doth not wither; And everything that he doeth shall prosper. Not so the wicked; For they are like chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the wicked shall not rise up in the judgment-seat Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For Yahweh approveth the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked shall come to naught. PSALM II Why do the nations rage, and the peoples grow! to no purpose? The kings of the earth take their stand, And the rulers take counsel together Against Yahweh, and against His Anointed: "Let us break their bonds asunder, and cast away their cords!" He that sitteth in Heaven doth laugh, Adonai scoffeth at them. He affrighteth them in His sore displeasure: Upon Zion, the mount of My holiness." I will make known the decree. Yahweh hath said unto me: Thou art My son; Ask of Me, Peoples for thine inheritance, This day have I begotten thee. and the ends of the earth For thy possession. Thou shalt shatter them with a rod of iron Like a potter's vessel shalt thou dash them to pieces. And now, O ye kings, be prudent! Take heed, ye rulers of earth! THE FIRST BOOK OF THE MACCABEES UNTIL HER RECOVERY OF FREEDOM 1 SECTION I.-Greek rule founded in S. W. Asia by Seleucus I, a Mace donian, a general under Alexander the Great. In the 137th year of the Seleucid Dynasty, Antiochus IV comes to the throne. In 143 he conquers Egypt and raids Jerusalem. Two years later he attempts to force the Greek customs and religion upon the Jews. Mattathias the Hasmonæan and his five sons revolt. They make successful raids upon the Greek forces. Death of Mattathias. Eulogy of Judas, his son, who becomes leader of the revolt. (1 Macc. i, 1-iii, 9.) Materials. Priestly records; later, personal observation of the writer, evidently an active participant in the struggle. After Alexander, son of Philip the Macedonian, who came out of the land of Chittim, had smitten Darius, king of the Persians and Medes, he reigned in his stead, the first over Greece. He made many wars and won many strongholds, and slew the kings of the earth; and he went through to the ends of the earth, insomuch that the earth was quiet before him; whereupon his heart was lifted up. And he mustered a mighty strong host and ruled over countries and nations and kings who became tributary unto him. Now after these things he fell sick and perceived that he should die; wherefore he summoned his servants, such as were honorable, who also had been brought up with him in his youth, and parted his kingdom among them while he was yet alive. So Alexander reigned twelve years, and died. And his servants bare rule, every cne in his place. But after his death they all assumed crowns; so did their sons after them many years, and evils were multiplied in the earth. And there came out of them a wicked root, Antiochus Epiphanes son of Antiochus the king, who had been a hostage at Rome; and he reigned in the hundred and thirty and seventh year of the kingdom of the Greeks." In those days there went out of Israel wicked men who persuaded many, saying: Let us go and make a covenant with the nations that are round about us; for since we departed from them we have had much sorrow. So this device pleased them well; and certain of the people were so forward therein that they went to the king, who gave them license to do after the ordinances of the nations. Whereupon they built a stadium at Jerusalem after the customs of the nations, and made them 1 Taken from the Apocrypha; written in Hebrew, simply and clearly. It is astonishing that it has never been put in the Canon, for it is much needed to fill a notable gap in the history of the Jews; and there is no other record of the recovery of their independence, until conquered by Rome (61 B.C.) 2 The kings of S. W. Asia during this period were Seleucus I (B.C. 312-281); Antiochus I (281-261); Antiochus II (261-242); Antiochus III (242-187); Seleucus IV (187-176); Antiochus IV (176-164); Antiochus V (164-162); Demetrius I (162-150); Alexander Balus, usurper (150-145); Demetrius II (145). All events are here dated from the founding of the Seleucid Dynasty in 312 B.C.; hence the desecration of the Temple and the revolt of Mattathias in the 145th year of the Greek kingdom would be in 167 B.C., and the leadership of Judas would begin in 166 B.C. ་ selves uncircumcised; and they forsook the holy covenant and joined themselves to the idolaters, and were sold to do mischief. Now when the kingdom was established under Antiochus [IV], he thought to reign over Egypt, that he might have dominion over two realms. Wherefore he entered into Egypt with a great multitude, with chariots and elephants and horsemen and a great navy, and made war against Ptolemy, king of Egypt; but Ptolemy was afraid of him and fled, and many were wounded to death. Thus they got the strong cities of Egypt, and he took the spoils thereof. And after that Antiochus had smitten Egypt, he returned in the hundred forty and third year, and went up against Judah and Jerusalem with a great multitude, and entered proudly into the sanctuary and took away the golden altar and the candlestick of light, and all the vessels thereof. And the table of the shew-bread, and the pouring-vessels, and the vials and the golden censers, and the veil and the crowns and the golden ornaments that were before the Temple, all which he pulled off. He took also the silver and the gold and the precious vessels; also he took the hidden treasures which he discovered. And when he had taken all away, he went into his own land, having made a great massacre and spoken very proudly. Therefore was there great mourning in Israel, in every place where they were; the princes and elders mourned, the young men and maidens were enfeebled and the beauty of women was changed. Every bridegroom took up lamentation, and she that sat in the marriage-chamber was in heaviness. The land also was in sympathy with the inhabitants thereof, and all the House of Jacob was covered with confusion. And after two years fully expired, the king sent his chief collector of tribute unto the cities of Judah, who came into Jerusalem with a great multitude and spake peaceably but deceitfully unto them; for when they had given him credence, he fell suddenly upon the city and smote it very sore, and destroyed much people of Israel. And when he had taken the spoils of the city, he set it on fire, and pulled down the houses and walls thereof on every side; but the women and the children took they captive, and carried off the cattle. Then builded they the City of David with a great and strong wall with mighty towers, and made it their stronghold, and put therein a sinful nation, wicked men, and fortified themselves therein. They stored it also with armor and victuals; and when they had gathered together the spoils of Jerusalem, they laid them up there; and so they became a sore vexation, for it was a place for lying in wait against the sanctuary, and an evil adversary to Israel. Thus they shed innocent blood on every side of the sanctuary, and defiled it; insomuch that the inhabitants of Jerusalem fled because of them; whereby it was made a habitation of strangers, and became strange to those that were born in her; and her own children left her. Her sanctuary was laid waste like a wilderness, her feasts were turned into mourning, her sabbaths into reproach, her honor into contempt. As had been her glory, so was her dishonor increased; her excellency was turned into mourning. Moreover Antiochus wrote to his whole kingdom, that all should be one people, and every race should forsake its [former] laws; and they all agreed to the commandment of the king; yea, many also of the Israelites consented to his religion, and sacrificed to idols, and profaned the sabbath. For the king had sent letters by messengers unto Jerusalem and the cities of Judah that they should follow the foreign laws in the 1 The "City of David" was on the southern end of the eastern hill (Ophel), below the Temple and overlooking the "Virgin's Spring." land; he forbade burnt-offerings and sacrifices and drink-offerings in the Temple, and commanded that they should profane the sabbaths and festival-days, and pollute the sanctuary and holy people; should set up altars and groves and chapels of idols, and sacrifice swine's flesh and unclean beasts; that they should also leave their children uncircumcised, and make their souls abominable with all manner of uncleanness and profanations, to the end that they might forget their law and all its ordinances. And whosoever would not do according to the commandment of the king, should die. In the self-same manner wrote he to his whole kingdom, and appointed overseers over all the people, commanding all the cities of Judah to sacrifice, city by city. Then many of the people were gathered unto them, to wit, every one that forsook the law; and so they committed evils in the land; and the Israelites fled into secret places, even whithersoever they could flee for safety. Now, on the fifteenth day of [the month] Casleu of the hundred forty and fifth year, they set up the abomination of desolation upon the altar, and builded altars for idols throughout all the cities of Judah on every side; and burnt incense at the doors of their houses and in the streets. And when they had rent in pieces all the copies of the Books of the Law they could find, they burnt them with fire. And wheresoever any one was found with the book of the testament, or if any abode by it, the king's command was that they should put him to death. Thus did they by their authority every month unto the Israelites, as many as were found in the cities. Now on the five and twentieth day of the month, they sacrificed to the idol that was on the altar of God. At which time they, according to the command, put to death certain women who had caused their children to be circumcised; and they hanged the infants about their necks, and rifled their houses, and slew them that had circumcised them. Howbeit, many in Israel were fully resolved and confirmed in themselves not to eat any unclean thing. They chose rather to die that they might not be defiled, and that they might not profane the holy covenant. So then they died. And there was very great wrath against Israel. In those days Mattathias, son of John, son of Simeon, a priest of the sons of Joarib, rose up from Jerusalem and dwelt in Modin. And he had five sons: Joannan, called Caddis; Simeon, called Thassi; Judas, called Maccabæus; Eleazar, called Avaran, and Jonathan, whose surname was Apphus. And when he saw the blasphemies that were committed in Judah and in Jerusalem, he said: Woe is me! wherefore was I born to see this misery of my people and of the holy city, and to dwell there when it was delivered into the hand of the enemy, and the sanctuary into the hand of aliens! Her Temple is become as a man without repute; her vessels are carried away, her infants are dashed to death in the streets, her young men are slain with the sword of the enemy. What nation hath not seized a portion of her kingdom, and taken her spoils! All her ornaments are taken away; from a free woman she hath become a bondslave. And behold, our sanctuary, even our beauty and our glory, is laid waste, and the peoples have profaned it. To what end, therefore, shall we live any longer? Then Mattathias and his sons rent their clothes and put on sackcloth and mourned very sore. In the meanwhile, the king's officers, such as compelled the people to revolt, came into the city Modin to make them sacrifice. And when many Israelites came unto them, Mattathias also and his sons came |