Anonymous (Septuagint) · a new plain-English translation from the original language
1| To the Jewish brothers throughout Egypt, greetings from the Jewish brothers in Jerusalem and those in the country of Judea: good peace.
2| May God do good to you, and remember his covenant made with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob, those servants who kept faith with him.
3| May he grant all of you a heart set on reverence for him, ready to carry out what he wills, with generous spirit and a soul that is willing.
4| May he open your heart to his law and his commandments, and grant peace.
5| May he listen to your prayers, and be reconciled to you, and never abandon you in an evil time.
6| And now we are here praying for you.
7| In the reign of Demetrius, in the year one hundred and sixty-nine, we the Jews wrote to you in the affliction and the crisis that came upon us in these years, from the time Jason and those with him revolted from the holy land and the kingdom,
8| and set fire to the gate, and shed innocent blood. But we prayed to the Lord and were heard; we offered sacrifice and fine flour, and we lit the lamps, and we set out the loaves of bread.
9| And now, keep the days of Booths in the month of Chislev.
10| In the year one hundred and eighty-eight, from Jerusalem. Those in Judea and the council of elders and Judas, to Aristobulus, teacher of King Ptolemy, who belongs to the lineage of priests set apart by anointing, and to our fellow Jews living in Egypt: greetings and good health.
11| Having been saved by God from great dangers, we thank him greatly, as men who have taken the field against a king.
12| For he it was who cast out those who took the field against the holy city into Persia.
13| For when the leader had arrived, along with the force around him that seemed irresistible, they were cut down in the temple of Nanaia, the priests of Nanaia having practiced a deception.
14| For as though he were to marry her, Antiochus came to the place, along with his friends who were with him, for the purpose of receiving the great sums of money in the name of a dowry.
15| And when the priests of the temple of Nanaia had set the money out, and he had come forward with a few men into the enclosure of the sacred precinct, the temple doors were closed the moment Antiochus stepped inside,
16| and opening a hidden door in the paneled ceiling, they hurled stones and struck down the leader, and cutting him limb from limb and severing the heads, they flung them out to those outside.
17| Blessed in every way is our God, who has given up the impious to their fate.
18| Since we are about to keep, on the twenty-fifth of Chislev, the purification of the temple, we thought it right to inform you, so that you too may keep the feast of Booths and of the fire, recalling when Nehemiah, who then built the temple and the altar, offered sacrifices.
19| For indeed, when our fathers were being led away to Persia, the pious priests of that time took some of the fire from the altar and secretly hid it in the hollow of a dry well, where they secured it so that the place would be unknown to anyone.
20| And when many years had passed, when it pleased God, Nehemiah, sent from the king of Persia, dispatched the descendants of the priests who had hidden it to fetch the fire.
21| And when they reported to us that they had not found fire but thick water, he ordered them to draw some up and bring it; and when the materials for the sacrifices had been brought up, Nehemiah ordered the priests to sprinkle the water on the wood and on what lay upon it.
22| And when this had been done, and time had passed, and the sun, which had been hidden by cloud, shone out, a great fire blazed up, so that all were amazed.
23| And while the sacrifice was being consumed, the priests offered a prayer, both the priests and everyone else, Jonathan leading and the rest responding, along with Nehemiah.
24| The prayer went in this way: Lord God, creator of all things, fearsome and mighty and just and merciful, the only king and the only good one,
25| the only provider, the only just and almighty and eternal one, who saves Israel from every evil, who made our fathers chosen, and sanctified them,
26| accept this sacrifice on behalf of all your people Israel, and guard your portion and consecrate it.
27| Gather together our scattered people, set free those enslaved among the nations, look upon those who are despised and abhorred, and let the nations know that you are our God.
28| Bring torment on those who oppress us and insult us in their arrogance.
29| Plant your people firmly in your holy place, as Moses said.
30| And the priests were singing the hymns.
31| And when the sacrifice had been consumed, Nehemiah ordered the water that remained to be poured over some large stones.
32| And when this was done, a flame blazed up; but it was consumed by the light shining back from the altar.
33| And when the matter became known, and it was reported to the king of the Persians that in the place where the deported priests had hidden the fire, the water had appeared, with which Nehemiah and his companions had purified the sacrifices,
34| the king enclosed the place and made it sacred, after testing the matter.
35| And to those he favored the king would give many different gifts, sharing them out generously.
36| And Nehemiah and his companions called this thing Nephthar, which is translated Purification, but it is called Nephthar by most people.