2 Meqabyan 6:1-24

¹The enemy of God, Tseerutsaydan, who was arrogant, appointed priests of falsehood and vanity for his idols.

²He would offer sacrifices to them and pour out wine for them.

³And it seemed to him as if the idols were actually eating and drinking.

⁴When dawn broke, he would give them cows, donkeys, and heifers; he offered sacrifices morning and evening, and he himself would eat from those defiled sacrifices.

⁵Furthermore, he would harass and force other people to sacrifice to his idols; it was not only he and his followers who did so.

⁶When they saw that the children of Meqabees were handsome and that they worshipped their Creator, the Lord, the idol priests desired to mislead them into offering sacrifices and eating from those hated offerings; but these honored children of Meqabees refused them.

⁷Because they kept their father's command, remained firm in doing good works, and totally feared the Lord, they refused to agree.

⁸Consequently, the priests bound them, insulted them, and robbed them.

⁹They told King Tseerutsaydan that the children refused to sacrifice or bow down to his idols.

¹⁰Because of this, the king was provoked to anger; he was grieved and commanded that they be brought before him. When they stood before him, the king said to them regarding his idols, Offer a sacrifice to my idols.

¹¹But they spoke and told him, We will not answer you in this matter, and we will not offer sacrifices to your defiled idols.

¹²He tried to terrify them with many threats, yet he was unable to overcome them, for they had disciplined their minds through faith in the Lord.

¹³He lit a fire and cast them into it, and they gave up their bodies for the Lord.

¹⁴After they died, they arose and appeared to him at night, drawing their swords while he reclined on his royal throne; and he was struck with total fear.

¹⁵He said, My lords - tell me truly - what should I do for you? Do not take my life in death, and I will do all that you command me.

¹⁶They told him all that was required of him, saying, Remember that the Lord was your Creator. It is the Lord who shall remove you from this kingdom where you are arrogant, and who shall cast you down into the Gehenna of Fire with your father, the Devil. Since we worshipped our Creator, the Lord, without iniquity and did you no wrong, yet we bowed to Him in fear of His Divinity - just as you burned us in the fire, you will also meet your end through that same fire.

¹⁷For He is the one who created all things: the Earth, the Heaven, the sea, and everything within them.

¹⁸And He is the one who created the moon, the sun, and the stars; the Lord is the author of all creation.

¹⁹For there is no other creator besides Him in Earth or Heaven; He is capable of all things, and nothing is impossible for Him. Since He is the one who kills and saves, who strikes with tribulation and who forgives - because we bowed to Him in fear of the Lord, yet you burned us in fire - you will finish your hardship in that same way.

²⁰As He is the one who rules Earth and Heaven, there is no one who can escape from His authority.

²¹None of the creation He made has departed from His command, except for you, who are a criminal; and criminals like you, whose reasoning has been hidden by your father Satan. You, your priests, and your idols will descend together into Gehenna, where there is no exit for all eternity.

²²Your teacher is Satan, who taught you this evil work so that you might do evil against us; yet since it is not only you who does this, you will all descend into Gehenna together.

²³For you make your own self like your Creator, the Lord, yet you did not know the Lord who created you.

²⁴You are arrogant in your idols and the work of your hands, until the Lord makes you wretched. He shall convict you of all your sin and iniquity that you worked in this world.