Anonymous (Septuagint) · a new plain-English translation from the original language
1| In the hundred and sixtieth year Alexander, son of Antiochus Epiphanes, went up and seized Ptolemais; and the people received him, and he became king there.
2| When King Demetrius heard of it, he gathered very great forces and marched out to meet him in battle.
3| Demetrius also sent Jonathan letters with words of peace, so as to exalt him.
4| For he said, "Let us move first to make peace with them, before he makes peace with Alexander against us.
5| For he will remember all the wrongs we have done him, and to his brothers, and to his nation."
6| So he gave him authority to gather forces, and to make weapons, and to be his ally, and he ordered that the hostages in the citadel be handed over to him.
7| Jonathan came to Jerusalem and read the letters aloud in the hearing of all the people and of those in the citadel.
8| They were struck with great fear upon learning of the authority the king had granted him to raise forces.
9| And those in the citadel handed over the hostages to Jonathan, and he gave them back to their parents.
10| Jonathan settled in Jerusalem and began to build and renew the city.
11| He directed the workmen to build the walls and to fortify Mount Zion all around with squared stones, and so they did.
12| Then the foreigners who were in the strongholds that Bacchides had built fled;
13| each one abandoned his post and went off to his own land.
14| Only in Bethsura did some of those who had forsaken the law and the commandments remain, for it was a refuge for them.
15| Now King Alexander heard of all the promises that Demetrius had sent to Jonathan, and men told him of the wars and the brave deeds that he and his brothers had done, and of the hardships they had endured.
16| And he said, "Shall we find another man like him? Let us now make him our friend and ally."
17| So he wrote a letter and sent it to him in these words, saying,
18| "King Alexander to his brother Jonathan, greetings.
19| We have heard of you, that you are a man mighty in strength and fit to be our friend.
20| And now we appoint you this day high priest of your nation, and you are to be called Friend of the King" — and along with this he dispatched to him a purple robe and a golden crown — "and to be of one mind with us and to keep friendship with us."
21| So Jonathan put on the holy robe in year one hundred sixty, in its seventh month, during the feast of Tabernacles, and he gathered forces and prepared many weapons.
22| When Demetrius heard of these things, he was grieved and said,
23| "What have we done, that Alexander has gotten ahead of us in securing the friendship of the Jews to strengthen himself?
24| I too will write them words of encouragement and honor, and gifts, so that they may be with me for help."
25| So he sent to them in these words: "King Demetrius to the nation of the Jews, greetings.
26| Since you have kept your covenants with us and remained in friendship with us, and have not gone over to our enemies, we have heard of it and rejoiced.
27| Now continue still to keep faith with us, and we will repay you good in return for what you do for us.
28| We will grant you many exemptions and give you gifts.
29| And now I release you, and free all the Jews from the taxes, and from the tax on salt, and from the crowns;
30| and instead of a third of the seed, and instead of half the fruit of the trees that falls to me, I release it from this day forward, so that nothing is 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.
31| And let Jerusalem be holy and exempt, with its borders, its tithes, and its tolls.
32| I also release my authority over the citadel in Jerusalem, and hand it over to the high priest, so that he may post in it men of his own choosing to guard it.
33| And every Jewish person carried captive from the land of Judah into any part of my kingdom I set free without ransom; and let all be released from their taxes, even on their livestock.
34| And let all the feasts, the sabbaths, the new moons, and the appointed days, and the three days before a feast and the three days after a feast, all be days of exemption and release for all the Jews in my kingdom.
35| And no one shall have authority to exact anything from them or to trouble any of them about any matter.
36| And let Jews be enrolled in the king's forces up to thirty thousand men, and let provisions be given them, as is due to all the king's forces.
37| And some of them shall be stationed in the great strongholds of the king, and from among them some shall be appointed to positions of trust in the kingdom; and let their officers and commanders be from among themselves, and let them walk by their own laws, just as the king has ordered in the land of Judah.
38| And as for the three districts added to Judea from the region of Samaria, let them be joined to Judea, to be reckoned as belonging to one authority, so that they obey no other power but that of the high priest.
39| Ptolemais and the land adjoining it I have given as a gift to the sanctuary in Jerusalem, for the expenses proper to the sanctuary.
40| And I myself give fifteen thousand shekels of silver yearly from the king's revenues, from the appropriate places.
41| And all the surplus that was not paid from the accounts, as in the former years, shall from now on be given for the work of the house.
42| And besides this, the five thousand shekels of silver that they used to take from the temple revenues, as in the former years, from the account each year — this too is released, because it belongs to the priests who minister there.
43| And whoever takes refuge in the temple at Jerusalem, or within any of its precincts, being in debt to the king or owing any other matter, let them be released, together with all that belongs to them in my kingdom.
44| And for the building and renewal of the works of the sanctuary, the expense shall be given from the king's account.
45| And for erecting the walls of Jerusalem and fortifying them all around, the expense shall be given from the king's account, as well as for building walls in Judea."
46| Now when Jonathan and his people heard this message, they neither believed it nor accepted it, because they remembered the great wrong that Demetrius had done in Israel, and how greatly he had oppressed them.
47| So they favored Alexander instead, because he had been the first to speak peaceful words to them, and they remained his allies all their days.
48| Then King Alexander gathered great forces and encamped opposite Demetrius.
49| The two kings joined battle, and the army of Demetrius fled, and Alexander pursued them and prevailed over them.
50| He pressed the battle hard until the sun went down, and Demetrius fell that day.
51| Then Alexander sent envoys to Ptolemy, king of Egypt, with this message, saying,
52| "Since I have returned to my kingdom and sat upon the throne of my fathers and taken hold of the rule, and have crushed Demetrius and gained mastery of our country —
53| for I joined battle with him, and he and his army were crushed by us, and we have sat upon the throne of his kingdom —
54| now let us establish friendship with each other; give me now your daughter as wife, and I will become your son-in-law, and I will give both you and her gifts worthy of you."
55| King Ptolemy answered, saying, "Happy is the day on which you returned to the land of your fathers and sat upon the throne of their kingdom.
56| And now I will do for you as you have written; but meet me at Ptolemais, so that we may see one another, and I will become your father-in-law, as you have said."
57| So Ptolemy set out from Egypt, he and his daughter Cleopatra, and came to Ptolemais in the hundred and sixty-second year.
58| King Alexander met him there, and Ptolemy gave him his daughter Cleopatra, and celebrated her wedding at Ptolemais with great splendor, as kings do.
59| Then King Alexander wrote to Jonathan to come and meet him.
60| So he went with splendor to Ptolemais and met the two kings, and gave them silver and gold, and gifts to their friends besides, and won favor in their eyes.
61| But certain pestilent men from Israel, lawless men, gathered against him to bring charges against him; yet the king paid them no heed.
62| Rather the king commanded that Jonathan's own garments be taken off him and that he be clothed in purple; and so they did.
63| And the king seated him beside himself, and said to his officers, "Go out with him into the middle of the city, and proclaim that no one is to bring any charge against him about any matter, and no one is to trouble him about anything."
64| And when his accusers saw his splendor as it was proclaimed, and saw him clothed in fine linen, they all fled.
65| So the king honored him, numbered him among his chief friends, and appointed him general and governor of a province.
66| And Jonathan returned to Jerusalem in peace and gladness.
67| In the hundred and sixty-fifth year Demetrius, son of Demetrius, came from Crete to the land of his fathers.
68| When King Alexander heard of it, he was greatly grieved and returned to Antioch.
69| And Demetrius appointed Apollonius, who was governor of Coele-Syria, and he gathered a great army and encamped at Jamnia, and sent to Jonathan the high priest, saying,
70| "You alone lift yourself up against us, while I have become an object of mockery and reproach because of you. Why do you set yourself up as ruler over us in the hills?
71| Now then, if you trust in your forces, come down to us into the plain, and let us test ourselves there, for the strength of the cities is with me.
72| Ask and learn who I am, and who the rest are who help us; and men say, 'You have no footing to stand against us, for your fathers were twice routed in their own land.'
73| And now you will not be able to withstand such cavalry and such an army in the plain, where there is no stone nor pebble nor place to flee."
74| When Jonathan heard the words of Apollonius, he was stirred in his mind, and chose ten thousand men and set out from Jerusalem, and Simon his brother met him to help him.
75| He encamped against Joppa, and the people of the city shut him out, because Apollonius had a garrison in Joppa, and he made war against it.
76| Then the people of the city were afraid and opened the gates, and Jonathan gained possession of Joppa.
77| When Apollonius heard of it, he drew up three thousand cavalry and a large army, and marched to Azotus as though passing through, but at the same time pushed forward onto the open plain, since his cavalry was numerous and he relied on it.
78| Jonathan pursued after him to Azotus, and the armies joined battle there.
79| Now Apollonius had left a thousand cavalry hidden behind them;
80| and Jonathan learned that there was an ambush behind him. His men surrounded his army and shot their arrows at the people from morning until evening.
81| But the people stood firm as Jonathan had commanded them, while the enemy's horses grew weary.
82| Then Simon brought up his force and engaged the infantry line — for the cavalry had spent itself — and they were crushed before him and fled.
83| The cavalry scattered across the plain, and they escaped to Azotus and took refuge in Beth-dagon, the shrine of their idol, to save their lives.
84| But Jonathan set fire to Azotus and the surrounding towns, and seized their plunder; and the shrine of Dagon, together with those who had taken refuge in it, he burned to the ground.
85| And those who fell by the sword, together with those burned to death, numbered about eight thousand men.
86| From there Jonathan withdrew and encamped at Ashkelon, and the people of the city came out to meet him with great splendor.
87| Then Jonathan returned to Jerusalem with those who were with him, carrying much spoil.
88| Now when King Alexander learned of these things, he resolved to honor Jonathan still further.
89| And he sent him a golden buckle, such as is customarily given to the king's kinsmen, and gave him Ekron and all its territory as a possession.