November 22, 2013, Reading

4:36 Then Judas and his brothers said: “Behold, our enemies have been crushed. Let us go up now to cleanse and renew the holy places.”

4:37 And all the army gathered together, and they ascended to Mount Zion.

:52 And they arose before the morning, on the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month, (which is the month of Kislev) in the one hundred and forty-eighth year.

4:53 And they offered sacrifice, according to the law, on the new altar of holocausts that they made.

4:54 According to the time and according to the day, on which the Gentiles had contaminated it, on the same day, it was renewed with canticles, and lutes, and lyres, and cymbals.

4:55 And all the people fell upon their faces, and they adored, and they blessed, toward heaven, him that had prospered them.

4:56 And they kept the dedication of the altar for eight days, and they offered holocausts with joy, and sacrifices of salvation and praise.

4:57 And they adorned the face of the temple with crowns of gold and small shields. And they dedicated the gates and the adjoining chambers, and they set up doors on them.

4:58 And there was very great rejoicing among the people, and the disgrace of the Gentiles was averted.

4:59 And Judas, and his brothers, and all the assembly of Israel decreed that the day of the dedication of the altar must be kept in its time, from year to year, for eight days, from the twenty-fifth day of the month of Kislev, with joy and gladness