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, lest it bring reproach upon them, for 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 there should come a prophet to tell what to do with them.
47
Then they took unhewn stones, as the law directs, and built a new altar like the former one.
48
They also rebuilt the sanctuary and the interior of the temple, and consecrated the courts.
49
They made new holy vessels, and brought the lampstand, the altar of incense, and the table into the temple.
50
Then they burned incense on the altar and lighted the lamps on the lampstand, and these gave light in the temple.
51
They placed the bread on the table and hung up the curtains. Thus they finished all the work they had undertaken.
52
Early in the morning on the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month, which is the month of Chislev, in the one hundred and forty-eighth year,
53
they rose and offered sacrifice, as the law directs, on the new altar of burnt offering which they had built.