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Simon the High Priest Prays
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1 Simon the high priest turned toward the temple and kneeled down. Then he raised his arms to heaven and calmly prayed:
2 Our Lord God All-Powerful, you alone are the holy King of heaven and the ruler of all creation. We are in misery and are suffering because of an evil and arrogant man, so hear our prayers.
3 You created all things and rule over them with fairness, and you punish those who depend on their own power.
4 In the past, you destroyed everyone who did what was wrong, including the mighty giants that you wiped out with a raging flood.
5 You sent burning sulphur to kill the proud people of the town of Sodom, making those wicked people an example for anyone who would dare follow their evil ways.
6 Your fearsome power was seen when you punished the king of Egypt for making slaves of your holy people Israel. You punished that arrogant king in terrible ways,
7 and when he chased your people with his troops and chariots, you drowned them in the deep waters of the Red Sea,  j 2.7 Red Sea: This name comes from the Bible of the early Christians, a translation made into Greek about 200 B.C. It refers to the body of water that the Israelites crossed and was one of the marshes or fresh water lakes near the eastern part of the Nile Delta, where they lived and where the towns of Exodus 13.17—14.9 were located. and you rescued those who trusted you. The whole earth is under your control.
8 After the Israelites saw your amazing victory, they praised you, God All-Powerful.
9 Our King, you created this entire world, and it is too large to measure. You have everything, yet you chose this city of Jerusalem as your own, and you blessed this temple where you are worshiped. You came here in the brightness of your glory and made this temple the one place where you would be praised and honored forever.
10 Your love for Israel is strong, and you promised that if trouble causes any of us to sin, you would listen when we come here to pray.
11 You have always been faithful to keep that promise.
12 Many times in the past you rescued our ancestors when they were being mistreated by wicked enemies.
13 So now, our holy King, look how we are suffering because we have sinned against you! We can do nothing; our enemies are in control.
14 This evil man is taking advantage of our distress and is now on his way into the holy temple built to honor only you.
15 We know that your home is in the highest heavens and that no person can ever go there.
16 Yet you have kindly chosen the people of Israel as your own and have made this temple the place where your glory will stay.
17 Please do not punish us for the wicked things that King Philopator and his men are doing. If you do, then our enemies will brag and claim
18 that their strength destroyed our temple as if it were nothing but a pagan place of worship.
19 Forgive us for sinning against you and show us your mercy
20 right now, so that those who are depressed and hopeless can sing praises to you. Help us to have peace.
God Punishes Philopator
21-22 The Holy God, who created all things and watches over them, heard Simon's prayer and knocked Philopator down, as easily as wind blows down tall grass. Philopator was paralyzed and unable to speak, because God had punished him for being arrogant and boastful.
23 Philopator's officers and bodyguards were terrified. They panicked and thought he was dying, so they dragged him away from the crowd.
24 Philopator recovered, yet he would not apologize to the Jews, even though he had been severely punished. He left Jerusalem, shouting angry threats at them.
Philopator Mistreats the Jews in Alexandria
25 King Philopator went home to Alexandria, where he immediately started mistreating all the Jews. The friends who drank with him encouraged this, because they didn't know what it meant to do right.
26 Philopator did more terrible things than could be counted, but he still wasn't satisfied. He also spread horrible rumors about the Jews living in the surrounding towns and villages. Many of his closest friends agreed to do whatever they could to help him cause trouble for the Jews
27 and completely disgrace them.
In fact, he set up a memorial stone on the tall tower in the courtyard of the Jewish place of worship, with a sign that read:
28 Jews must offer sacrifices to the Greek god Dionysus before they will be allowed to enter this place of worship. The name of every Jew must also be written in a record book to make sure that all taxes are paid and that the Jews remain as slaves. Anyone who refuses to do these things will be arrested and put to death.
29 The ivy-leaf symbol of the god Dionysus must be tattooed on the skin of all Jews, and their few remaining privileges will be completely stripped away.
30 Philopator did not want people to think he hated everyone, and so he had the following words written on the same sign:
If any of the Jews decide to start worshiping the god Dionysus, they will be given the full rights of native Alexandrians.
The Jews Respond to Philopator's Threat
31 Some of the Jews in Alexandria did not want to pay the price of remaining faithful to their own religion. k 2.31 to pay ... religion: One possible meaning for the difficult Greek text. So they pledged their loyalty to Philopator and hoped that things would now go better for them.
32 However, most of the Jews would not abandon their religion and instead bribed the officials in charge of the record books to avoid being killed.
33 These faithful Jews firmly believed that someone would soon rescue them. They hated the group of rebellious Jews that had chosen to be loyal to Philopator and considered them enemies, refusing to have anything to do with them.
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