2 Meqabyan
Chapter 1 of 21
1This is the account of Maccabeus, who came upon the Jews in Mesopotamia of Syria and killed them in their lowlands, from the Jabbok as far as the region around Jerusalem, and of the ruin of the holy land. [unclear in the Ge'ez] 2They joined forces from Samaria to the region around Jerusalem and all its borders, and they killed with the edge of the sword until they left none but a few. The Edomites, the Syrians and the Amalekites had joined with Maccabeus the Moabite, who destroyed the city of Jerusalem. 3When the children of Israel sinned, the LORD sent Maccabeus the Moabite against them, and he killed them all with the sword. 4Because of this, the enemies of the LORD came out against His holy city and joined together for war. 5The Edomites and the Philistines joined forces and began to take vengeance on the city of the LORD, for He Himself had sent them because the people had broken the word of the LORD. 6This Maccabeus came from Ramath of Moab. He set out in force from his city and joined with those who were with him. 7They gathered in the lowlands of Gelabuhe in Mesopotamia as far as Syria, to destroy the city of the LORD. From there he asked the Philistines and the Amalekites for help, and he gave them much gold and silver, horses and chariots, so that they would join him in the war. 8They came together, surrounded the city, and poured out the blood of those who lived in it like water. 9They made Jerusalem like a watchman's hut in a cucumber field. They committed filth, dung and everything the LORD hates, deeds of abomination in it, and they defiled the city of the LORD, which had been full of righteousness and holiness. 10They made the corpses of Your servants food for the birds of the sky, and the flesh of Your righteous ones food for the wild beasts. 11They seized the widow and the orphan, and they ripped open pregnant women and pulled out what was in their wombs, until the LORD, who tests the heart and the mind, was angered. They did all this without fear of the LORD, just as Satan had taught them. 12They went back to their own territories rejoicing over the evil they had done to the people of the LORD, and they took the captives and the plunder they had seized from the holy city. 13When they went home and returned to their dwellings, they celebrated with joy, revelry and feasting. ‹
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2 Meqabyan · Chapter 1 of 21