2 Maccabees 9 - New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition 2021(NRSVUE)

2 Maccabees 9The Last Campaign of Antiochus Epiphanes

1 with the result that Antiochus was put to flight by the inhabitants and beat a shameful retreat.

3Antiochus Makes a Promise to God

13 Prov 1.28 Then the abominable fellow made a vow to the Lord, who would no longer have mercy on him, stating

14v 4; 2 Macc 3.1that the holy city, which he was hurrying to level to the ground and to make a cemetery, he was now declaring to be free,

152 Macc 6.1and the Jews, whom he had not considered worth burying but had planned to throw out with their children for the wild animals and for the birds to eat, he would make, all of them, equal to citizens of Athens,

162 Macc 3.3and the holy sanctuary, which he had formerly plundered, he would adorn with the finest offerings, and all the holy vessels he would give back many times over, and the expenses incurred for the sacrifices he would provide from his own revenues,

17and in addition to all this he also would become a Jew and would visit every inhabited place to proclaim the power of God.

18But when his sufferings did not in any way abate, for the judgment of God had justly come upon him, he gave up all hope for himself and wrote to the Jews the following letter, in the form of a supplication. This was its content:

Antiochus’s Letter and Death

19 2 Macc 4.9, 19 “To his worthy Jewish citizens, Antiochus their king and general sends hearty greetings and good wishes for their health and prosperity.

20If you and your children are well and your affairs are as you wish, I am glad as my hope is in heaven.

21v 1Now I was feeling weak, and so I was remembering with affection your esteem and goodwill. On my way back from the region of Persia I suffered an annoying illness, and I have deemed it necessary to take thought for the general security of all.

22I do not despair of my condition, for I have good hope of recovering from my illness,

23but I observed that my father, on the occasions when he made expeditions into the upper country, appointed his successor,

24so that, if anything unexpected happened or any unwelcome news came, the people throughout the realm would not be troubled, for they would know to whom the government was left.

251 Macc 1.10; 6.29Moreover, I understand how the princes along the borders and the neighbors of my kingdom keep watching for opportunities and waiting to see what will happen. So I have appointed my son Antiochus to be king, whom I have often entrusted and commended to most of you when I hurried off to the upper provinces, and I have written to him the appended letter.

26vv 14–16I therefore urge and beg you to remember the public and private services rendered to you and to maintain your present goodwill, each of you, toward me and my son.

27For I am sure that he will follow my policy and will treat you with moderation and kindness.”

28 1 Macc 6.16 So the murderer and blasphemer, having endured the more intense suffering such as he had inflicted on others, came to the end of his life by a most pitiable fate, among the mountains in a strange land.

291 Macc 1.18; 6.14, 55, 63; 2 Macc 4.21And Philip, one of his courtiers, took his body home; then, fearing the son of Antiochus, he withdrew to Ptolemy Philometor in Egypt.