Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a year podcast, where we

encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of scripture. The Bible in a year podcast is

brought to you by Ascension. Using the great adventure Bible timeline, we'll read all the way from

Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds. And how we fit into that

story today is day 287. We're reading from 1st Maccabees chapter 6, as well as Syrac 16, 17, and 18. We've been doing those three days, three chapters a day with Syrac for the last few days. We're also reading Proverbs chapter 22 versus 17 through 21. As always, the Bible translation that I'm reading from is the revised standard version, second Catholic edition. I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in a year reading plan, you can visit Ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a year. You can also subscribe to this podcast by clicking on subscribe and being subscribed. And you get to receive daily episodes, daily updates. This day is day 287. And gosh, also,

let's just it. This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad. Day 287,

we're reading first Maccabees, Chapter 6, Syrac 16, 17, and 18, and Proverbs 22, 17 through 21.

The first book of Maccabees, chapter 6.

The last days of Antiochus Epiphanes.

King Antiochus was going through the upper provinces when he heard that Elamais and Persia

was a city famed for its wealth in silver and gold.

Its temple was very rich, containing golden shields, breastplates, and weapons left

there by

Alexander, the son of Philip, the Macedonian king who first reigned over the Greeks.

So he came and tried to take the city and plunder it, but he could not, because his plan became

known to the men of the city, and they withstood him in battle.

So he fled, and in great grief departed from there to return to Babylon.

Then someone came to him in Persia and reported that the armies which had gone into the land of Judah had been routed, that Lysaeus had gone first with a strong force, but had turned and fled before the Jews, that the Jews had grown strong from the arms, supplies, and abundant spoils which they had taken from the armies they had cut down, that they had torn down

the abomination which he had erected upon the altar in Jerusalem, and that they had surrounded

the sanctuary with high walls as before, and also Betzer, his city. When the king heard this news,

he was astounded and badly shaken. He took to his bed and became sick from grief because things had not turned out

for him as he had planned. He lay there for many days, because deep grief continually gripped him,

...