1 Maccabees 10

1And in the one hundred sixtieth year, Alexander, the son of Antiochus Epiphanes, came up and took Ptolemais, and they received him, and he reigned there.

2And King Demetrius heard, and he gathered very many forces, and went out to meet him in battle.

3And Demetrius sent letters to Jonathan with peaceful words, so as to honor him.

4For he said, “Let us get ahead of him by making peace with him, before he makes common cause with Alexander against us.”

5For he will remember all the wrongs that we committed against him, and against his brothers, and against his nation.

6And he gave him authority to gather forces, and to make weapons, and for him to be his ally, and he said that the hostages in the citadel should be handed over to him.

7And Jonathan came to Jerusalem, and read the letters in the hearing of all the people and those in the citadel.

8And they were greatly afraid when they heard that the king had given them authority to gather forces.

9And those from the citadel handed over the hostages to Jonathan, and he returned them to their parents.

10And Jonathan lived in Jerusalem, and he began to build and renew the city.

11And he told those doing the work to build the walls and Mount Zion all around with squared stones for fortification, and they did so.

12And the foreigners who were in the strongholds that Bacchides had built fled.

13And each one left his place and went away to his own land.

14But in Bethsura some of those who had abandoned the law and the commandments were left behind, for it was a refuge for them.

15And King Alexander heard the promises that Demetrius had sent to Jonathan, and they told him about the wars and the brave deeds that he and his brothers had done, and the hardships they had endured.

16And he said, “Will we find one man like this? And now let us make him our friend and ally.”

17And he wrote letters and sent them to him,

18with these words, saying, “King Alexander to his brother

19Jonathan, greetings. We have heard about you, that you are a good man in strength and

20And now today we have appointed you high priest of your nation, and to be called the king’s Friend—and they sent him a purple robe and a crown of gold—and to take our side and maintain friendship with us.

21And Jonathan put on the holy robe in the seventh month, in the one hundred sixtieth year, at the feast of Booths, and he gathered forces and made many weapons.

22And Demetrius heard these words, and

23He was grieved and said, “What is this that we have done, that Alexander has gotten ahead of us in securing friendship with the Jews for support?”

24I too will write to them words of encouragement and honor and gifts,

25so that they may be with me as help. And King Demetrius sent to the nation of the Jews, according to these words: Greetings.

26Since you have kept faith with us in the treaties, and have remained in our friendship and have not joined our enemies, we have heard, and

27We rejoiced. And now continue still to keep faith with us,

28And we will repay you with good things for what you are doing with us.

29And we will grant you many remissions, and we will give you gifts. And now I release you and exempt all the Jews from the taxes, from the salt duty, and from the crown levies.

30And instead of the third of the seed-sowing, and instead of the half of the fruit of the trees that falls to me to receive, I release it from this day and onward, from being taken from the land of Judah and from the three districts added to it from Samaria and Galilee, from this day and for all time.

31And let Jerusalem be holy and set apart, along with its territory, its tithes, and its taxes.

32I also relinquish the authority over the citadel in Jerusalem, and I give it to the high priest, so that he may appoint in it men whom he himself chooses to guard it.

33And every Jewish person who has been taken captive from the land of Judah into any part of my kingdom I release as free, without payment; and let all also remit the taxes on them and on their livestock.

34And let all the festivals and the Sabbaths and the new moons and the appointed days, and the three days before a festival and the three days after a festival, all be days of tax exemption and release for all the Jews who are in all my kingdom.

35And no one will have authority to act against or harass any of them in any matter.

36And let up to thirty thousand men from the Jews be enrolled in the king’s forces, and provisions shall be given to them, as is fitting for all the king’s forces.

37And some of them shall be appointed in the king’s great strongholds, and from among them some shall be appointed over the needs of the kingdom, being trustworthy; and let those over them and the rulers be from among them, and let them live by their own laws, just as the king commanded in the land of Judah.

38And the three districts added to Judea from the territory of Samaria, let them be attached to Judea, so as to be reckoned as one, so as not to obey any other authority except that of the high priest.

39Ptolemais and the territory adjoining it I have given as a gift to the holy ones in Jerusalem, for the expenses that come first for the holy place.

40And I also give, year by year, fifteen thousand shekels of silver from the king’s account, from the places that belong to him.

41And all the surplus that they did not pay from the revenues, as in the former years, from now on they shall give for the works of the house.

42And in addition to these things, the five thousand shekels of silver that they used to take from the revenues, as in former years, from the sanctuary account each year, these also are remitted, because they belong to the priests who minister.

43And as for any who flee to the sanctuary in Jerusalem and in all its borders, owing royal taxes or any other obligation, let them be released, along with everything that belongs to them in my kingdom.

44And for the rebuilding and the renovation of the works of the sanctuary, the expense will be given by order of the king.

45and for the walls of Jerusalem to be rebuilt and fortified all around, the expense will be paid from the king’s treasury, and for the walls in Judea to be rebuilt.

46But when Jonathan and the people heard these words, they did not believe them or accept them, because they remembered the great evil that he had done in Israel, and how he had oppressed them severely.

47And they were pleased with Alexander, because he had become for them the initiator of peaceful terms, and they fought alongside him all the days.

48And Alexander the king gathered great forces and encamped opposite Demetrius.

49And the two kings joined battle, and Demetrius's camp fled, and Alexander pursued him and prevailed over them.

50And the battle raged fiercely until the sun set, and Demetrius fell on that day.

51And Alexander sent ambassadors to Ptolemy king of Egypt with these words, saying,

52After I returned to my kingdom and sat on the throne of my fathers, and took control of the rule, and crushed Demetrius and gained control of our land,

53And I joined battle with him, and he and his camp were crushed by us, and we sat on the throne of his kingdom;

54and let us establish friendship with him. And now, give me your daughter as a wife, and I will become related by marriage to you, and I will give gifts to you and to her worthy of you.

55And King Ptolemy answered, saying, “A good day is this, on which you returned to the land of your fathers and sat on the throne of their kingdom.”

56And now I will do for you what you wrote; but meet me at Ptolemais, so that we may see one another, and I will become related by marriage to you, just as you said.

57And Ptolemy went out from Egypt, he and Cleopatra his daughter, and came to Ptolemais in the one hundred sixty-second year.

58And King Alexander met him and gave him Cleopatra his daughter, and he held her wedding in Ptolemais, as kings do, with great splendor.

59And King Alexander wrote to Jonathan to come and meet him.

60And he went with splendor to Ptolemais, and met the two kings; and he gave them silver and gold, and many gifts to their friends, and found favor before them.

61And pestilent men from Israel gathered against him, lawless men, to bring charges against him; but the king paid no attention to them.

62And the king gave orders to them, and they stripped Jonathan of his garments and clothed him in purple; and they did so.

63And the king seated him with himself, and said to his officials, “Go out with him into the middle of the city, and proclaim that no one is to bring a complaint against him about any matter, and let no one trouble him for any reason.”

64And it happened that, when those who met him saw his splendor, as it had been proclaimed, and that he was clothed in linen, they all fled.

65And the king honored him, and enrolled him among the first friends, and appointed him general and governor of a district.

66And Jonathan returned to Jerusalem with peace and gladness.

67And in the one hundred sixty-fifth year, Demetrius the son of Demetrius came from Crete into the land of his fathers.

68And Alexander the king heard, and he was greatly grieved, and he returned to Antioch.

69And Demetrius appointed Apollonius, who was over Coele-Syria, and he gathered a great force and encamped in Jamnia;

70And he sent to Jonathan the high priest, saying, “You alone are lifting yourself up against us, while I have become an object of ridicule and reproach because of you; and why do you exercise authority over us in the mountains?”

71Now then, if you trust in your forces, come down to us in the plain, and let us meet there, because with me is the strength of the cities.

72Ask and learn who I am and who the rest are who are helping us; and they say, ‘You have no place to stand before us, because your fathers were routed twice in their own land.’

73And now you will not be able to withstand the cavalry and so great a force in the plain, where there is neither stone nor pebble nor a place to flee.

74But when Jonathan heard the words of Apollonius, he was stirred in his mind, and he chose ten thousand men and went out from Jerusalem, and Simon his brother met him to help him.

75And he encamped against Joppa, and those from the city shut him out, because a garrison of Apollonius was in Joppa; and they fought against it.

76And those in the city, being afraid, opened the gates, and Jonathan took control of Joppa.

77And Apollonius heard, and he encamped with three thousand cavalry and a large force, and went to Azotus as though passing through, and at the same time advanced into the plain, because he had a multitude of cavalry and trusted in it.

78And he pursued him to Azotus, and the camps joined battle behind him.

79And Apollonius left a thousand horsemen hidden behind them.

80And Jonathan realized that there was an ambush behind him.

81But the people stood as Jonathan had commanded, and their horses grew weary.

82And Simon deployed his force and joined battle with the phalanx, for the cavalry had been thrown into disorder; and they were crushed by him and fled.

83And the cavalry was scattered in the plain, and they fled to Azotus and entered Beth-dagon, their idol temple, to save themselves.

84And Jonathan set Azotus and the cities around it on fire, and he took their spoil; and he burned the temple of Dagon and its shrines with fire.

85And those who fell by the sword, together with those who were burned, came to eight thousand men.

86And Jonathan departed from there and encamped at Ashkelon, and the people of the city came out to meet him with great honor.

87And Jonathan returned with those who were with him, carrying much plunder.

88And it happened that when Alexander the king heard these words, he added to honoring Jonathan.

89And he sent him a gold clasp, as is the custom to give to the king’s kinsmen; and he gave him Accaron and all its territory as an inheritance.