And so observe, from generation to generation: Here it is not clear whether Mattathias is addressing his sons to notice what is true in every generation, or whether he is addressing his sons and all their descendants to come to notice what is true. The easiest course is to take it to be the former sense. So we may translate “So, my sons, take each of these ancestors of ours as an example.”

That none who put their trust in him will lack strength: The pronoun him refers to God, who is never mentioned by name in the book. Translators trying to follow the author in avoiding direct references to God have a problem here (others may use Good News Bible as a model). Although a simple literal translation would be clear enough to many people, who would assume God is meant, it does need to be clarified. New English Bible, which is sensitive to this, renders none who put their trust in him as “no one who trusts in Heaven.” This is because “Heaven” is the author’s own way of referring to God. Will lack strength may be rendered “will never lose strength” or “will always have a source of strength.”

An alternative translation for this verse is:

• And so you see [or, So take note of this / So learn this lesson], people in every generation who rely on help from Heaven [or, from above] will never lose strength [or, always have a source of strength].

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.