36
Then Judas and his brothers said, "See, our enemies are crushed; let us go up to cleanse the sanctuary and dedicate it."
37
So all the army assembled and went up to Mount Zion.
38
There they saw the sanctuary desolate, the altar profaned, and the gates burned. In the courts they saw bushes sprung up as in a thicket, or as on one of the mountains. They saw also the chambers of the priests in ruins.
39
Then they tore their clothes and mourned with great lamentation; they sprinkled themselves with ashes
40
and fell face down on the ground. And when the signal was given with the trumpets, they cried out to Heaven.
41
Then Judas detailed men to fight against those in the citadel until he had cleansed the sanctuary.
42
He chose blameless priests devoted to the law,
43
and they cleansed the sanctuary and removed the defiled stones to an unclean place.
44
They deliberated what to do about the altar of burnt offering, which had been profaned.
45
And they thought it best to tear it down, so that it would not be a lasting shame to them that the Gentiles had defiled it. So they tore down the altar,
46
and stored the stones in a convenient place on the temple hill until a prophet should come to tell what to do with them.