What the Records Tell of Jeremiah
1In the records it is found that the prophet Jeremiah ordered the deportees to take some of the fire, as has been noted, 2and that the prophet, after giving them the law, instructed the deportees not to forget the Lord’s commandments, nor to be led astray in their thoughts when they saw gold and silver statues and the finery that adorned them. 3With other such words he urged them not to let the law depart from their hearts. 4The same writing also related that the prophet, having received an oracle, ordered the tabernacle, and the ark too, to follow him, and how he went out to the mountain where Moses had gone up and viewed God’s inheritance. 5When Jeremiah arrived, he found a cave-like chamber; into it he carried the tabernacle and the ark, together with the altar of incense, and he sealed the entrance. 6Some of his followers came up to mark the path, but they were not able to find it. 7When Jeremiah learned of this, he rebuked them and said, “The place shall remain unknown until God gathers his people together again and shows them mercy. 8Then the Lord will disclose these things; the Lord’s glory will be seen, and the cloud too, as it was shown in the days of Moses, and as when Solomon asked that the place be solemnly consecrated.” 9It was also made known how Solomon, being wise, offered a sacrifice for the dedication and the completion of the temple. 10Just as, when Moses prayed to the Lord, fire descended from heaven and consumed the sacrifice, so when Solomon also prayed, the fire came down and devoured the burnt offerings. 11And Moses said, “The sin offering was consumed because it had not been eaten.” 12Solomon too celebrated the eight days in the same way. 13The same things were also set out in the records and in the memoirs of Nehemiah, as well as how he founded a library and gathered the books about the kings and the prophets, the writings of David, and letters of kings about votive offerings. 14In the same way Judas also gathered all the books that had been scattered because of the war that befell us, and they are in our keeping. 15So if you need any of them, send people to bring them to you. 16Since, then, we are on the point of celebrating the purification, we have written to you. You will do well to keep the days. 17It is God who saved his whole people and restored to all of them the inheritance, the kingship, the priesthood, and the consecration, 18as he promised through the law. For we hope in God that he will soon have mercy on us and gather us into the holy place from everywhere under heaven, for he has rescued us from great evils and has purified the place.
The Abridger’s Preface
19The story of Judas Maccabeus and his brothers, of how the great temple was purified and the altar dedicated, 20and moreover the wars with Antiochus Epiphanes and his son Eupator, 21and the manifestations from heaven granted to those who fought bravely and with honor for Judaism, so that, few as they were, they raided the whole country and pursued the barbarian hordes, 22how they regained the temple famous throughout the whole world, set the city free, and set right again the laws that were on the point of being abolished, while the Lord, in all his forbearance, was merciful to them — 23all this, which Jason of Cyrene has set forth in five books, we shall attempt to condense into a single volume. 24For we saw the flood of figures, and the difficulty that the sheer mass of material creates for those who want to find their way into the narratives of history, 25and so we have taken care to offer enjoyment to those who wish to read, ease to those who are eager to commit things to memory, and profit to everyone who picks up the book. 26For us who have taken on the hardship of this abridgment, the task is no easy one: it is a matter of sweat and sleepless nights, 27just as it is no light work for someone who prepares a banquet and looks to the advantage of others. Even so, for the gratitude of many we will gladly bear the hardship, 28leaving to the historian the exact treatment of each detail and devoting our effort to following the outlines of an abridgment. 29For just as the architect of a new house has to see to the whole structure, while the one who undertakes the encaustic work and the painting must search out what is suitable for its decoration, so too, I think, in our case. 30To wade into a subject, to range widely in discussion, and to busy oneself with every detail is the task of the original author of the history; 31but the one who recasts it must be allowed to pursue brevity of expression and to leave aside an exhaustive treatment of the subject. 32So let us begin the narrative at this point, adding only this much to what has already been said: it is foolish to be expansive before the history and then cut the history itself short.
