8 They destroyed the temple gate and killed innocent people. But we begged the Lord for help, and when he answered our prayers, we brought sacrifices and offerings of grain into the temple. We lit the lamps and put the sacred loaves of bread on the table.”
9 And so, we now urge you to celebrate in the month of Chislev a festival like the Festival of Shelters.We are writing to you in the year 188 of the Greek Kingdom.
10 The Jews of Jerusalem and Judea had also written an earlier letter. It said:The Jews of Jerusalem and Judea, together with Judas and the council, send greetings to Aristobulus and the rest of our Jewish friends in Egypt.Aristobulus belongs to the family of chosen priests, and he is King Ptolemy's teacher. We wish Aristobulus and all the rest of you good health!
11 We thank God because he has rescued us from King Antiochus, who put us in dreadful danger.
12 The king's troops attacked our holy city of Jerusalem, but God forced him to retreat.
13-14 Antiochus then invaded Persia with an army that seemed too powerful for anyone to defeat. He and his trusted friends went into the temple of the goddess Nanea, where Antiochus lied and said he planned to marry her. But all he really wanted were the temple treasures that he would receive as wedding gifts.The priests of the temple made a clever plan to kill Antiochus.
15 They set out the treasures, and when Antiochus and a few of his friends entered the temple, the priests immediately locked the doors behind him.