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1Not long afterward the king sent an influential Athenian citizen to force the Jews to abandon the laws of God and their ancestors[#6:1 Some manuscripts read an influential citizen of Antioch.]
2and to defile the Temple in Jerusalem. They were to call it the temple of Olympian Zeus, and the temple on Mount Gerizim was to be called the temple of Zeus the Hospitable, just as it was by those who lived there.
3This intensification of evil was hard for everyone to bear.
4The Temple was filled with Gentiles getting drunk at wild parties. They took their pleasure in prostitutes and had intercourse with women in the sacred Temple area. And for sacrifices they brought in things that were prohibited by the law of Moses.
5The altar was covered with offerings that were strictly forbidden by the laws.
6The Sabbath was not allowed to be kept as a holy day, and the people were prohibited from celebrating the festivals instituted by their ancestors. They were not even allowed to identify themselves as Jews.
7Each month at the king’s birthday celebration, they were forced to participate in the pagan sacrifices. And when the festival of Dionysus was celebrated, they were forced to wear ivy wreaths in honor of the pagan god.
8At the suggestion of the people of Ptolemais, a decree was sent to neighboring Greek cities that all Jews should be forced to participate in the sacrifices[#6:8 Or At the suggestion of Ptolemy.]
9and that anyone who refused to conform to Gentile customs should be executed. The misery of the Jews was obvious.
10For example, two women were accused of having circumcised their children. They were seized and paraded through the city, clutching their infants to their breasts. Then they were thrown down from the city walls.
11Others who met secretly in nearby caves to keep the Sabbath day were betrayed to Philip. Then, because it was the holy Sabbath, they refused to resist their attackers, and they were all burned to death.
12Now, I urge those who read this book not to be disheartened by these calamities. Look at these, not as being for the destruction, but for the correction of our people.
13For it is a sign of great kindness when sinners are not allowed to continue in their sin for a long time but are immediately punished.
14In the case of other nations, the Lord waits patiently to judge them so that their punishment will be based on the full measure of their sins.
15But that’s not how he deals with us. He punishes us before our sins reach their limit.
16That way he never withdraws his mercy from us. Although he chastises his people with adversity, he never abandons them.
17But let these words be sufficient warning to the readers. Now we must go on with the story.
18Eleazar, one of the leading teachers of religious law and an elderly man of noble appearance, was being forced to eat pork.
19But he preferred an honorable death to a defiled life, so he spit out the pork and went voluntarily to be beaten and tortured.
20He acted as all people should who have the courage to refuse to eat forbidden food, even if it means ignoring their natural instincts for staying alive.
21The officials in charge of the pagan sacrificial meal were old friends of Eleazar. In private they urged him to secretly bring meat he was allowed to eat by the law of Moses and only pretend to eat the pork from the king’s sacrificial meal.
22In this way they were trying to be kind to Eleazar and help him save himself from death.
23But Eleazar had firmly decided to do otherwise. He was a gray-haired old man, who had lived an honorable life since childhood. He was worthy of the distinction that comes with such age and reputation, and he wanted to obey God’s holy law. So he answered immediately that they should send him to his death.[#6:23 Greek to Hades.]
24“It is not right to pretend at my age,” he said. “And I don’t want to give young people the idea that Eleazar, at the age of ninety, has converted to a foreign religion.
25I could gain a few more days of life by pretending to eat the pork, but I would also lead young people astray and defile and disgrace my old age.
26For even if I should escape human punishment, whether I live or die, I will not escape the hands of the Almighty.
27Therefore, by giving up my life bravely, I show myself worthy of my old age.
28I also will give the young people a good example of how to die an honorable death willingly and bravely for the revered and holy laws of Moses.” Then he was immediately taken to be tortured to death.
29Those who had just acted kindly toward Eleazar suddenly turned on him because what he had said seemed to them to be utter madness.
30When he was about to die from the blows, he moaned, “The Lord knows all things. He knows I could have saved my life, but instead I suffer this agonizing pain. He also knows I am happy to suffer these things because I worship and fear him.”
31So this was how Eleazar died, leaving a memorial of virtue and courage not only for the young but also for the greater part of the nation.