Mattathias and His Five Sons
1In those days Mattathias son of John, son of Simeon, a priest from among the sons of Joiarib, arose; he left Jerusalem and settled in Modein. 2He had five sons: John, surnamed Gaddi; 3Simon, called Thassi; 4Judas, called Maccabeus; 5Eleazar, called Avaran; and Jonathan, called Apphus. 6He saw the blasphemies being committed in Judah and in Jerusalem, 7and he said, “Alas! Why was I born to look on the shattering of my people, and the holy city shattered with them, while I sit here and watch her handed over to enemies and the sanctuary to strangers? 8Her temple has become like a man stripped of honor; 9the vessels of her glory have been carried off as plunder, her infants killed in her open squares, her young men by the sword of the enemy. 10What nation has not taken possession of her palaces and seized her spoils? 11All her adornment has been stripped away; once free, she has become a slave. 12Look — our holy place, our beauty, our glory, made a desert; the Gentiles have profaned them. 13What is life to us any longer?” 14Mattathias and his sons tore their garments, put on sackcloth, and mourned deeply.
Mattathias Refuses at Modein
15The king’s men, who were forcing the apostasy, came to the town of Modein so that they would sacrifice. 16Many from Israel came forward to them, but Mattathias and his sons gathered together. 17Then the king’s officers spoke up and said to Mattathias, “You are a leader, honored and great in this town, with sons and brothers to back you. 18Come forward now, first of all, and carry out the king’s decree, as all the Gentiles have done, and the men of Judah, and those left behind in Jerusalem. Then you and your sons will belong to the king’s Friends, and both you and your sons will be glorified with silver and gold and many presents.” 19Mattathias answered in a loud voice: “Even if all the Gentiles within the king’s realm obey him, so that each one abandons the worship of his ancestors and gives his consent to the king’s commands, 20yet I, with my sons and my brothers, will walk by the covenant of our ancestors. 21May we never abandon the law and its ordinances! 22To the king’s words we will not listen, and we will not swerve from our worship, to right or to left.” 23As he finished speaking these words, a Jew came forward in the sight of everyone to sacrifice on the pagan altar at Modein, as the king had decreed. 24Mattathias saw it, and zeal seized him; his inmost being trembled, and he gave his rage its due, as was just. He ran and slaughtered the man on the pagan altar. 25At that same moment he killed the king’s man who was forcing them to sacrifice, and he pulled the pagan altar down. 26So he was zealous for the law, as Phinehas had been toward Zimri son of Salu. 27Then Mattathias shouted through the town in a loud voice: “Everyone who is zealous for the law and stands by the covenant, come out after me!” 28And he fled to the hills with his sons, and they left behind everything they owned in the town.
Those Who Died in the Wilderness on the Sabbath
29At that time many who were seeking righteousness and justice went down to the wilderness to settle there — 30they, their sons, their wives, and their livestock — for the evils pressing on them had grown harsh. 31Word reached the king’s men and the garrison holding the city of David in Jerusalem, that men who had set aside the king’s command had gone down to the hiding places in the wilderness. 32Many ran after them, overtook them, camped against them, and drew up for battle — and the day was the Sabbath. 33They said to them, “This has gone far enough. Come out, do as the king says, and you will live.” 34But they answered, “We will not come out, and we will not do as the king says, and so profane the Sabbath day.” 35So they rushed into battle against them. 36But they gave them no answer, and they threw not one stone at them, and they did not block up their hiding places. 37They said, “We will all die with our integrity whole; heaven and earth bear witness over us that you are destroying us without a trial.” 38So on the Sabbath they rose against them in battle, and they perished — they, their wives, their children, their cattle — up to a thousand human souls. 39When Mattathias and his friends learned of it, they grieved bitterly over them. 40And each said to his neighbor, “If all of us do as our brothers did, and do not fight the nations for our life and for our ordinances, they will wipe us from the earth all the sooner.” 41On that day they resolved: “If anyone attacks us on a Sabbath day, we will fight back, so that we do not all die as our brothers died in the hiding places.”
The Hasideans Join the Revolt
42Then a company of Hasideans joined them, men of Israel strong in power, every one of them a willing volunteer for the law. 43And all who were fleeing from the evils were added to them and became a support for them. 44They put together a force and struck down sinners in their anger, and men without law in their fury; and the rest fled to the nations to save their lives. 45Mattathias made the rounds with his friends, tearing down the pagan altars. 46They circumcised by force any boys they found uncircumcised within the borders of Israel. 47They pursued the sons of arrogance, and their undertaking prospered in their hands. 48They took the law back out of Gentile hands, and out of royal hands too, and they gave no horn to the sinner.
The Last Words of Mattathias
49Mattathias’s days were drawing to their end, and he spoke to his sons: “Now arrogance and reproach stand entrenched, a time of ruin and burning wrath. 50Now, children, show zeal for the law, and for the covenant of our ancestors give up your lives. 51Remember the works the ancestors did in their generations, and take to yourselves great glory and a name that lasts forever. 52Was Abraham not found faithful when he was tested, and was it not credited to him as righteousness? 53Joseph kept the commandment in his hour of anguish, and he became lord over Egypt. 54Phinehas our father, for the zeal that burned in him, received the covenant of an eternal priesthood. 55Joshua, for fulfilling the word, became a judge in Israel. 56Caleb, for testifying before the assembly, received an inheritance in the land. 57David, for his mercy, inherited a royal throne for all ages. 58Elijah, because his zeal for the law burned in him, was taken up to heaven. 59Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael believed, and they were saved from the flame. 60Daniel, in his integrity, was rescued from the mouth of lions. 61So consider this, generation after generation: not one who hopes in him will lose his strength. 62Do not fear what a sinful man says, for his glory ends in dung and worms. 63Today he is exalted, and tomorrow no one can find him, for he has gone back to his own dust and his scheming has perished with him. 64My children, take courage and be strong in the law, for it is the law that will bring you honor. 65Look to Simon your brother. I know he is a man of counsel; listen to him always, and he will be a father to you. 66And Judas Maccabeus, strong in power from his youth — he will be your commander of the army, and he will fight the war of the peoples. 67And you, bring in to yourselves all who do the law, and take full vengeance for your people. 68Pay the nations back in full, and hold fast to what the law commands.” 69Then he blessed them, and he was gathered to his ancestors. 70He died in the one hundred and forty-sixth year. His body was laid in the tombs of his ancestors at Modein, and all Israel made a great lamentation for him.
