2 Maccabees 1:1-7

1 The Jews in Jerusalem and those in the land of Judea, To their Jewish kindred in Egypt, Greetings and true peace.

2 May God do good to you, and may he remember his covenant with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, his faithful servants.

3 May he give you all a heart to worship him and to do his will with a strong heart and a willing spirit.

4 May he open your heart to his law and his commandments, and may he bring peace.

5 May he hear your prayers and be reconciled to you, and may he not forsake you in time of evil.

6 We are now praying for you here.

7 In the reign of Demetrius, in the one hundred sixty-ninth year, ^[a] we Jews wrote to you, in the critical distress that came upon us in those years after Jason and his company revolted from the holy land and the kingdom

Footnotes

• [a]. 143 b.c.