27
Then Mattathias cried out in the city with a loud voice, saying: "Let every one who is zealous for the law and supports the covenant come out with me!"
28
And he and his sons fled to the hills and left all that they had in the city.
29
Then many who were seeking righteousness and justice went down to the wilderness to dwell there,
30
they, their sons, their wives, and their cattle, because evils pressed heavily upon them.
31
And it was reported to the king's officers, and to the troops in Jerusalem the city of David, that men who had rejected the king's command had gone down to the hiding places in the wilderness.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.