And they that were sent from king Antiochus came thither, to compel them that were fled into the city of Modin, to sacrifice, and to burn incense, and to depart from the law of God.16 And many of the people of Israel consented, and came to them: but Mathathias and his sons stood firm.17 And they that were sent from Antiochus, answering, said to Mathathias: Thou art a ruler, and an honourable, and great man in this city, and adorned with sons, and brethren.18 Therefore come thou first, and obey the king’s commandment, as all nations have done, and the men of Juda, and they that remain in Jerusalem: and thou, and thy sons, shall be in the number of the king’s friends, and enriched with gold, and silver, and many presents.19 Then Mathathias answered, and said with a loud voice: Although all nations obey king Antiochus, so as to depart every man from the service of the law of his fathers, and consent to his commandments:20 I and my sons, and my brethren will obey the law of our fathers.21 God be merciful unto us: it is not profitable for us to forsake the law, and the justices of God:22 We will not hearken to the words of king Antiochus, neither will we sacrifice, and transgress the commandments of our law, to go another way.23 Now as he left off speaking these words, there came a certain Jew in the sight of all to sacrifice to the idols upon the altar in the city of Modin, according to the king’s commandment.24 And Mathathias saw and was grieved, and his reins trembled, and his wrath was kindled according to the judgment of the law, and running upon him he slew him upon the altar:25 Moreover the man whom king Antiochus had sent, who compelled them to sacrifice, he slew at the same time, and pulled down the altar.26 And shewed zeal for the law, as Phinees did by Zamri the son of Salomi.27 And Mathathias cried out in the city with a loud voice, saying: Every one that hath zeal for the law, and maintaineth the testament, let him follow me.28 So he, and his sons fled into the mountains, and left all that they had in the city.29 Then many that sought after judgment, and justice, went down into the desert:
Law. Deuteronomy xi. 6., (Menochius) and xiii. 9. Those who attempted to introduce the worship of idols, were to be slain without farther trial. (Calmet) — Mathathias was then judge and high priest. (Worthington) — He acted not though private revenge. (St. Cyprian, exhort. 5.; St. Bernard, ep. 158.) (Worthington)
A psalm for Asaph. The God of gods, the Lord hath spoken: and he hath called the earth. From the rising of the sun, to the going down thereof:2 Out of Sion the loveliness of his beauty.5 Gather ye together his saints to him: who set his covenant before sacrifices.6 And the heavens shall declare his justice: for God is judge.14 Offer to God the sacrifice of praise: and pay thy vows to the most High.15 And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.
And when he drew near, seeing the city, he wept over it, saying:42 If thou also hadst known, and that in this thy day, the things that are to thy peace; but now they are hidden from thy eyes.†43 For the days shall come upon thee, and thy enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and straiten thee on every side,†44 And beat thee flat to the ground, and thy children who are in thee: and they shall not leave in thee a stone upon a stone: because thou hast not known the time of thy visitation.
All the blessings which Jesus pronounced in His Gospel He confirms by His own example, as having declared, Blessed are the meek; He afterwards sanctions it by saying, Learn of me, for I am meek; and because He had said, Blessed are they that weep, He Himself also wept over the city.
I do not deny then that the former Jerusalem was destroyed because of the wickedness of its inhabitants, but I ask whether the weeping might not perhaps concern this your spiritual Jerusalem. For if a man has sinned after receiving the mysteries of truth, he will be wept over. Moreover, no Gentile is wept over, but he only who was of Jerusalem, and has ceased to be.
But our Jerusalem is also wept over, because after sin enemies surround it, (that is, wicked spirits,) and cast a trench round it to besiege it, and leave not a stone behind; especially when a man after long continency, after years of chastity, is overcome, and enticed by the blandishments of the flesh, has lost his fortitude and his modesty, and has committed fornication, they will not leave on him one stone upon another, according to Ezekiel, His former righteousness I will not remember. (Ezek 18:24.)
About CSB. A personal translation of the New Testament, rendered directly from the public-domain Greek in a literary style — not a scholarly critical edition, and not for liturgical or doctrinal authority. It is one reader's work, offered for enjoyment; where it matters, weigh it against an established translation. (Placeholder text — final wording to come.)