2 Maccabees 1:17-19

Good News Translation

¹⁷ Praise God for punishing those evil men! Praise him for everything!

Fire Consumes Nehemiah's Sacrifice

¹⁸ On the twenty-fifth day of the month of Kislev we will celebrate the Festival of Rededication just as we celebrate the Festival of Shelters. We thought it important to remind you of this, so that you too may celebrate this festival. In this way you will remember how fire appeared when Nehemiah offered sacrifices after he had rebuilt the Temple and the altar. ¹⁹ At the time when our ancestors were being taken to exile in Persia, a few devout priests took some fire from the altar and secretly hid it in the bottom of a dry cistern. They hid the fire so well that no one ever discovered it.