The Death of Antiochus the Fourth^(A)

6 As King Antiochus the Fourth was passing through Mesopotamia, he heard of a city in Persia, named Elymais, which was famous for its riches in silver and gold. ² The temple was very rich, containing gold shields, armor, and weapons left there by Alexander, son of King Philip of Macedonia, who was the first to rule the Greek Empire. ³ Antiochus came and tried to take the city and loot it, but he didn't succeed, because the citizens had learned what he was planning to do, ⁴ and they drew up their troops to resist him. In great frustration he withdrew to return to Babylonia.

The Lord Punishes Antiochus^(A)

9 About this time Antiochus was retreating in disorder from Persia, ² where he had entered the city of Persepolis and had attempted to rob a temple and take control of the city. The people took up arms and attacked Antiochus, forcing his army to retreat in disgrace. ³ When he reached Ecbatana, he was told what had happened to the forces of Nicanor and Timothy. ⁴ He became furious and decided to make the Jews pay for the defeat he had suffered. So he ordered his chariot driver not to stop until they reached Jerusalem. With great arrogance he said,

But he did not know that he was heading straight for God's judgment. ⁵ In fact, as soon as he had said these words, the all-seeing Lord, the God of Israel, struck him down with an invisible but fatal blow. He was seized with sharp intestinal pains for which there was no relief— ⁶ a fitting punishment for the man who had tortured others in so many terrible ways! ⁷ But this in no way caused him to give up his pride. Instead he became more arrogant than ever, and breathing out fiery threats against the Jews, he gave orders to drive even faster. As a result he fell out of his chariot with such a thud that it made every bone in his body ache. ⁸ His arrogant pride made him think he had the superhuman strength to make ocean waves obey him and to weigh high mountains on a pair of scales. But suddenly he fell flat on the ground and had to be carried off on a stretcher, a clear sign to everyone of God's power. ⁹ Even the eyes of this godless man were crawling with worms and he lived in terrible pain and agony. The stink was so bad that his entire army was sickened, ¹⁰ and no one was able to come close enough to carry him around. Yet only a short while before, he thought he could take hold of the stars.