Jodeǁîn ge ǁîn ǂgoms ǃaroma ra ǃgôaǃgonhe
1 Gaxu ǁae-i tsîn ǃkharu tamaseb ge gao-aoba, Ateneǁîn di kaiba Jodeǁînab nî ǁîn di ǂgoms tsî ǁîn di aboxagu ǁnaetigan nî ǁnāxūse ǁgariga ge sî. 2 ǁÎb ge ǁkhāti Tempela, Olimpiaǁîn elob Seub di tempeli tib ge ǂgai ǃkhais ǀkha ge ǃanuoǃnâ kai. Gerisimǃhommi ai ge mâ i Tempeli ge ǂhanusise “Seub, Khoexaǃnâsib Elob di Tempeli” ti khoen ǁnāpa ge ǁan hâ in ge ǂgan khami ge ǀonǂgaihe.
3 ǁGâiǀāb ge taniheǁoasase, kaise ge ǁkhō i. 4 Jodeǁî taman ge Tempeli ǃnâ ǀhao tsî ā tsî ǂguiǃnâgu ǂkhabadīga gere dī. ǁÎgu ge ǁkhāti ǀai-aodi ǀkhas tsîna ǁnāpa gere ǁgoe. ǂKhāhesa xūn tsîn ge Tempeli ǃnâ gere hā-ūhe 5 tsîs ge altarsa ǂhanub ǂkhā hâ ǀurixa ǁguibaxūn xa ge ǀoa hâ i. 6 Khoen ge Sabbattsēsa tsēdi ǁoa, ǁîn aboxagu di kaitsēde ǁâudī ǁoa tamas ka io Jodeǁîn a ti ge ǂgaisen ǁoa i. 7 Mâ ǁkhâb hîas gere gao-aob di ǃnaetsēsa tsēdīheb ain ge ǁguibaǂûǁares ǃoa ǁgarihe. Tsîn ge ǂauxûib di elob, Dionisub ǁâudīb tawan ǁnâun ǀkha kurusa ǂgabu-aina ǁîn di danadi ai ǂnûi tsîn ǁâudīb ǃnâ nî ǁhao ǃkhaisa gere ǂgaoǀkhāhe. 8 Ptolemib ǀapemās ai di ge ǂnamipeb ǃnâ hâ Grike ǃāde ǁkhāti ge mîmāhe, î di ǁnāpa hâ Jodeǁîna ǁguibaden nî ǂû ǃkhaisa ǂgaoǀkhā, 9 î i ǁkhāti Grike ûiǀgauba ga ūǃoa ǂgao tama Jodeǁî-i hoa-i nî ǃgamhe ǃkhais tsîna mîbahe. ǃGomsigu ǁîna ra hāǂam ǃkhais ge ge mûmûsa i. 10 Aiǁgaus ase ra ge ǀgam khoera ǁîra di ôakha ra ge ǃgao kai xui-ao, ǃkhōsis ǃnâ ge ūhe. ǁÎra ge ǁîra ôarokha samra âra ai ǂgāmâihe hâse ǃās ǃnâ gere ǃgûma-ūhe tsî ega ǃās di ǂnubiǂgoaba xu ge aoǁnâhe. 11 ǀNî ǃnā-eb ge Filipuba, Jodeǁîn ge ǀgūse hâ ǁhoa-i ǃnâ, ǂganǃgâsib ǃnân nî Sabbattsēsa ǁnâuǀnamga ǀhao ti ge mîbahe. Filipub ge ǁîna ǁnāǂam tsî hoana ge ǂhubiǂui. ǁÎn ge ǁnātikō ǃgôasiba Sabbattsēsa ge ūba hâ i tsîn ge ǁkhaubasenn nîgas tsîna ǃkhamǃoa tama ge hâ i.
ǃKhūb ge ǁkhara tsî ra ǀkhomxa
12 ǃHuriǃhurisa xūn hîa ge īn xa du ga khomai, o du ǂkhabuǂâi tide ǃkhaisa ta ge ra ǀkhoma du. Nēb ge ǃKhūb di ǀgaub hîkākās ose, khoena ǁkharas dib ti ǂâi re. 13 ǃGâisib di saos ge khoe-e gaxuse ǃâu kais xa, ǁnātimîsi ǁî-i di ǁoren ǃaroma ǁkharasa. 14 ǃKhūb ge sada ǀkha nau ǁaedeb ra sîsenū khami sîsen tama hâ. ǁÎb ge ǁîn nî ǃgamse ǁoreb ǃnâ ǁnās kōse, ǁkharab nîs aiǃâ ǃnūǃnâxase ra ǃâu, 15 xaweb ge sada kaise da nî ǁores aiǃâ ge ǁkhara. 16 ǃKhūb ge hugaǀgui, sada ǁîb di ǂhunuma khoeda ra ǀkhomxa. Tsūǀkhāgu ǀkhab ra ǁkhara da, xaweb ge tātsē ǁnāxū da tama hâ. 17 Nē xūna da ge ǂâihō da nîga ra dībahe. Nēsi da ge ǂhôas ǀkha nî aiǃgû.
Eleasari ge ǂgoms âb ǃaroma ra ǁō
18 Kai tsî ǀgapiǃgôahesa ǂhanub di ǁgauǃnâ-aob, Eleasar ti ge ǀon hâ ib, hîa ge ams âba hāguǁgan-eb nî ǂûga ǁgari ǁkhowa-amheba ge hâ i. 19-20 Xaweb ge ǁîba taotaosa ûib xa ǂhanu-ai ǁōba ge ǁhûi. ǁÎb ge ǁgan-e ǂaraǂui tsî ǁkhoaǂgaoxase tsûtsûheb nî ǃkhaib ǃoa ge ǃgû. ǁÎb ge mâtin khoena nî ǁîn ûigan ga ǂoaǃnâ xawe, ǁkhoaǂgaoxa tsî ǃanuoǃnâ ǂûna ǂûsa ǂkhā ǃkhaisa ge ǁgau. 21-22 Nē khoegu, ǁguibadi di ǃereamsa ge ūhâ igu ge gaxu ǁae-e ge Eleasari di ǀhōsa i tsî ǁnā-amaga ǁîba ge mîba, îb ǀguri hâse ǁîba ǂhanu-aiba ǁgan-e ǂû nîse hā-ū. ǁÎb ge hāguǁgan-e ra ǂû khami ǀgui nî dī tsîb ge ǁnā ǀgaus ai ǃgamhe tide, ti gu ge ge mî.
23 Xaweb ge Eleasara ǃgâi ǀapeǁguib ǁîb di ûib, ǁîb di kairasib tsî ǀhai ǀûn tsî ǁîb di ǃgâi ûiǀgaub ǂkhamsisa xūb ge ūhâ ib ǀkha ǀgopeǀnōhe ǁkhāba ge dī. ǁÎb ge ǁîb di ûiǁaeb hoaragab ǃnâ Elob di ǃanu ǂhanuba ge ǀnam i tsî ge ǃeream: “Nēsi nēpa ǃgam te. 24 Nēti ī ǀhôagaosib ge ti kurigu khami kō kuriga ūhâ khoeba anu tama hâ. ǂGui ǂkham khoen ge tita ge ti ǂgomsa khoesedisi kurixa ta ge, o ǀūxū ti ǂâi hâ. 25 Tita ga nē ǁgan-e ra ǂû khami, gaxu ǁaero-i ǀgui-e ta nî ûiga dīo, os ge ǁnā ǃkhaisa taosib tsî ǃgôaoǃnâsib tsîna ti ǂama hā kai tsî ǂgui ǂkham khoena nî ǂgaeǂhapu. 26 Nēsisa ta ge sago nî dība te xūna xu a ǃnora ǁkhā, xawe ûi ta kas, ǁō ta kas hoasa ta ge Hoaǀgaixa Eloba xu ǃnora tide. 27 ǁKhoaǂgaoxase ta ga ǁō, o i ge ti gaxu ûiba ta anu ǃkhaisa nî ǁgau. 28 ǁKhātis ge nē ǃgâi aiǁgausa, mâ ǀgaub ain ǂkham khoena ǂgaon rase tsî ǃgâiaǂgaoxase ǁō ǁkhā, sada di ǃanu tsî ǃgôahesa ǂhanub ǃaroma ǃkhaisa nî ǁgau.”
Nēnab ge mîtoa, ob ge tsûtsûhe nîse ge ǃgû, 29 tsî ǁîba gere ǃgâise ǃkhōǂhomi khoen ge ǁîb ge ǃkhau hâ khoe-i khami ǃhoa tin ge ǂâi hâ i, xui-ao ǁîb ǃoagu ge dabasen. 30 ǁÎn ǁîba ǁō ǁgab ras kōse ǂnaus ǀkha ǀhabe, hîab ge ǃgae tsî ge mî: “ǃKhūb ge hoa ǃanu ǂansa ūhâ. ǁÎb ge nē tsâgu tsî ǁōba xu ta go ǃnora ǁkhā i ǃkhaisa a ǂan. ǁKhātib ge ǃgâiaǂgaoxase ta ra tsâ, ǃao tama ta hâ xui-ao ǃkhaisa a ǂan.”
31 ǁNātib ge Eleasara ge ǁō. Xawe ǁîb di ǁkhoaǂgaoxa ǁōb ge ǂkhaisa aiǁgaus ase ǂkham khoen ǀguin xas ose, xawe hoaraga ǁaes xa ǂâis ǃnâ ge ūhâhe.
The Jews Are Persecuted Because of Their Faith
1 Not long after that, the king sent an elderly Athenian to force the Jews to abandon their religion and the customs of their ancestors. 2 He was also to defile their Temple by dedicating it to the Olympian god Zeus. The temple on Mount Gerizim was to be officially named “Temple of Zeus the God of Hospitality,” as the people who lived there had requested.
3 The oppression was harsh and almost intolerable. 4 Gentiles filled the Temple with drinking parties and all sorts of immorality. They even had intercourse with prostitutes there. Forbidden objects were brought into the Temple, 5 and the altar was covered with detestable sacrifices prohibited by our Law. 6 It was impossible to observe the Sabbath, to celebrate any of the traditional festivals, or even so much as to admit to being a Jew. 7 Each month when the king's birthday was celebrated, the Jews were compelled by brute force to eat the intestines of sacrificial animals. Then, during the festival in honor of the wine god Dionysus, they were required to wear ivy wreaths on their heads and march in procession. 8 On the advice of Ptolemy, the neighboring Greek cities were also instructed to require Jews to eat the sacrifices; 9 they were told to put to death every Jew who refused to adopt the Greek way of life. It was easy to see that hard times were ahead. 10 For example, two women were arrested for having their babies circumcised. They were paraded around the city with their babies hung from their breasts; then they were thrown down from the city wall. 11 On another occasion, Philip was told that some Jews had gathered in a nearby cave to observe the Sabbath in secret. Philip attacked and burned them all alive. They had such respect for the Sabbath that they would not fight to defend themselves.
The Lord Punishes and Shows Mercy
12 I beg you not to become discouraged as you read about the terrible things that happened. Consider that this was the Lord's way of punishing his people, not of destroying them. 13 In fact, it is a sign of kindness to punish a person immediately for his sins, rather than to wait a long time. 14 The Lord does not treat us as he does other nations: he waits patiently until they have become deeply involved in sin before he punishes them, 15 but he punishes us before we have sinned too much. 16 So the Lord is always merciful to us, his own people. Although he punishes us with disasters, he never abandons us. 17 I have made these few observations by way of reminder. We will now get on with the story.
Eleazar Dies for His Faith
18 There was an elderly and highly respected teacher of the Law by the name of Eleazar, whose mouth was being forced open to make him eat pork. 19-20 But he preferred an honorable death rather than a life of disgrace. So he spit out the meat and went willingly to the place of torture, showing how people should have courage to refuse unclean food, even if it costs them their lives. 21-22 Those in charge of the sacrifice had been friends of Eleazar for a long time, and because of this friendship they told him privately to bring meat that was lawful for him to eat. He need only pretend to eat the pork, they said, and in this way he would not be put to death.
23 But Eleazar made a decision worthy of his gray hair and advanced age. All his life he had lived in perfect obedience to God's holy laws, so he replied, “Kill me, here and now. 24 Such deception is not worthy of a man of my years. Many young people would think that I had denied my faith after I was ninety years old. 25 If I pretended to eat this meat, just to live a little while longer, it would bring shame and disgrace on me and lead many young people astray. 26 For the present I might be able to escape what you could do to me, but whether I live or die, I cannot escape Almighty God. 27 If I die bravely now, it will show that I deserved my long life. 28 It will also set a good example of the way young people should be willing and glad to die for our sacred and respected laws.”
As soon as he said these things, he went off to be tortured, 29 and the very people who had treated him kindly a few minutes before, now turned against him, because they thought he had spoken like a madman. 30 When they had beaten him almost to the point of death, he groaned and said, “The Lord possesses all holy knowledge. He knows I could have escaped these terrible sufferings and death, yet he also knows that I gladly suffer these things, because I fear him.”
31 So Eleazar died. But his courageous death was remembered as a glorious example, not only by young people, but by the entire nation as well.
