Good News Bible does not begin a new paragraph again until verse 65, but translators would not be wrong to follow Revised Standard Version by placing paragraph breaks at verses 51 and 61.

Now the days drew near for Mattathias to die, and he said to his sons may be rendered “When the time came for Mattathias to die…” (Good News Bible) or “Right before Mattathias died…” (Contemporary English Version).

Arrogance and reproach have now become strong: Arrogance and reproach are personified here. The figure of speech means, of course, that those who control things—in this case the Syrians—are arrogant and have no respect for those whom they rule. Good News Bible places this clause at the end of the verse, saying “Arrogant people are in control and have made us an object of ridicule.” This is good, but a better model is “Arrogant men are in control and have no respect for our traditions [or, religion].”

It is a time of ruin and furious anger: Mattathias is describing the days in which he ends his life as catastrophically bad. Good News Bible has “These are times of violence and distress.” Another possible model is “These are vicious, disastrous days [or, times]” or “… days of violence and ruin.” A fuller form rendering might be “These are violent times, and we are threatened with catastrophe [or, disaster]” or “… and our enemies are threatening us with….”

An alternative model for the verse is:

• Before Mattathias died, he said to his sons, “Arrogant men are in control and have no respect for our traditions [or, religion]. These are violent times, and we are threatened with catastrophe [or, disaster].

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on 1-2 Maccabees. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.