And through my pretense may be translated “If I pretended to eat this meat” (Good News Bible).

For the sake of living a brief moment longer may be rendered “I might live a little longer” (Contemporary English Version).

They should be led astray because of me: The pronoun they refers to the young people, so this clause may be rendered “but I would lead the young people astray” or “but I would cause our young people to deny their faith” (Contemporary English Version).

While I defile and disgrace my old age: Defile and disgrace do not mean exactly the same thing. Defile means to render someone or something unclean (unfit to worship God). Disgrace means to ruin an otherwise clean reputation. These two terms can be combined without losing much, but it is best to preserve the two meanings by rendering this clause as “I would make myself unclean [or, unfit to worship God] and destroy my reputation in my old age.”

We can divide this verse into two or even three sentences as follows:

• I would lead [our] young people astray if I pretended to eat this meat [or, pork], just so I could live a little while longer. I would make myself unclean [or, a disgusting person]. In my old age I would be destroying [or, ruining] my reputation.

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.