d and the precious vessels;
and he took the hidden treasures which he found. And when he had taken
all, he went away into his own land, having made a great massacre.

And after two full years the king sent a chief collector of tribute
unto the cities of Judah, and he came unto Jerusalem with a great
multitude. And he spoke peaceable words unto them, but all was deceit:
for when they believed him he fell upon the city suddenly, and smote
it very sore, and destroyed much people out of Israel. And he took the
spoils of the city, and set it on fire, and pulled down the houses
thereof and the walls thereof on every side. And they led captive the
women and the children, and the cattle they took in possession. And
they builded the city of David with a great and strong wall, with
strong towers, and it became unto them a citadel. And they put there a
garrison of cruel soldiers, transgressors of the law, and they
strengthened themselves therein. And they stored up arms and
provisions, and gathering together the spoils of Jerusalem, they laid
them up there. And they shed innocent blood on every side of the
sanctuary, and defiled the sanctuary. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem
fled because of them; and she became a habitation of strangers, and
she became strange to them that were born in her, and her children
forsook her. Her sanctuary was laid waste like a wilderness, her
feasts were turned into mourning, her Sabbaths into reproach, her
honor into contempt. According to her glory, so was her dishonor
multiplied, and her high estate was turned into mourning.

{422}

And King Antiochus wrote to his whole kingdom, that all should be one
people, and that each should forsake his own laws. And all the nations
agreed according to the word of the king; and many of Israel consented
to his worship, and sacrificed to the idols and profaned the Sabbath.
And the king sent letters by messengers unto Jerusalem and the cities
of Judah, that they should follow laws strange to the land, and should
forbid whole burnt offerings and sacrifice and drink offerings in the
sanctuary; and should profane the Sabbaths and feasts, and pollute the
sanctuary and them that were holy; that they should build altars, and
temples, and shrines for idols, and should sacrifice swine's flesh and
unclean beasts. And whosoever shall not do according to the word of
the king, he shall die. According to all these words wrote he to his
whole kingdom; and he appointed overs