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The Maccabean revolt and the Temple's rededication, chapter by chapter.

First Maccabees recounts the revolt led by the priest Mattathias and his sons, especially Judas Maccabeus, against the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who had outlawed Jewish worship and desecrated the Temple. Written in the late 2nd century BC, it reads as historical narrative much like Joshua, chronicling battles and leadership through crisis. Begin at I Maccabees chapter 1 to follow the revolt from its start.

First Maccabees is one of the Deuterocanonical books accepted by the Catholic Church as part of the Old Testament canon. Written in the late 2nd century BC, it gives a historical account of the Maccabean revolt, in which the priest Mattathias and his sons - especially Judas Maccabeus - led Jewish resistance against the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who had outlawed Jewish religious practice and desecrated the Temple. The book culminates in the Temple's rededication, the origin of the feast of Hanukkah, and the establishment of the Hasmonean dynasty. Read First Maccabees online here, verse by verse.

The narrative culminates in the Temple's rededication — the historical origin of the feast of Hanukkah — and the rise of the Hasmonean dynasty, a shift in leadership not unlike Israel's earlier transition to kingship in <a href="/bible/drc/1-samuel">1 Samuel</a>.