The Koine Bible

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

And king Demetrius heard, and he gathered very many forces, and he went out to meet him for war.

And Demetrius sent letters to Jonathan with peaceful words, so as to magnify him

For he said, Let us anticipate to make peace with them before he makes it with Alexander against us.

For he will remember all the evils which we brought to completion against him and against his brothers and against the nation

And he gave him authority to gather forces and to prepare weapons and to be his ally, and he said to hand over to him the hostages that were in the citadel.

And Jonathan came to Jerusalem and read the letters in the ears of all the people and of those from the citadel.

And they feared a great fear when they heard that the king had given him authority to gather a force

And those from the Akra handed over the hostages to Jonathan, and he gave them back to their parents

And Jonathan dwelt in Jerusalem and began to build and renew the city.

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

And the foreigners who were in the strongholds fled, those which Bacchides had built.

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

Only in Beth-zur were some left of those who had abandoned the law and the ordinances, for it was a place of refuge

And King Alexander heard the promises which Demetrius sent to Jonathan, and they told him the wars and the deeds of valour which he himself and his brothers had done and the labors which they had endured.

And he said, Will we not find such a man? and now we will make him our friend and ally.

And he wrote letters and sent them to him according to these words, saying

King Alexander to his brother Jonathan, greetings.

We have heard about you that you are a strong man in power and suitable to be our friend

And now we have appointed you today high priest of your nation and to be called the king’s friend, and he sent him purple and a golden crown, and to think our things and to maintain friendship with us

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

And Demetrius heard these words and was grieved and said

Why have we done this, that Alexander has preempted us to obtain friendship with the Jews for support?

I will write to them also words of encouragement and of promotion and of gifts, so that they may be with me for help

And King Demetrius sent to them according to these words, to the nation of the Jews, greeting.

Since you have kept the treaties with us and have remained in our friendship and have not gone over to our enemies, we have heard and rejoiced

And now continue still to keep faith with us, and we will repay you good things in return for what you do with us.

and we will grant you many remissions and we will give you gifts

And now I release you and I remit all the Jews from the taxes and from the price of the salt and from the crowns

and instead of the third part of the seed and instead of the half of the fruit of the trees that fell to me to receive, I release from this day and beyond the receiving from the land of Judea and from the three districts being added to it from Samaria and Galilee, from this day and for all time

And Jerusalem shall be holy and free, and its borders, the tithes, and the taxes.

And I release the authority of the citadel that is in Jerusalem, and I give to the high priest, that he may station in it men whom he himself may choose, to guard it.

And every soul of the Jews that has been taken captive from the land of Judea into all my kingdom I release free of charge, and let all remit the taxes and of their cattle

And all the feasts and the sabbaths and new moons and appointed days and three days before the feast and three after the feast shall all be days of exemption and release for all the Jews who are in my kingdom

And no one shall have authority to act and to harass any of them concerning any matter at all.

And let three thousand men of the Jews be enrolled in the forces of the king, and let hospitality be given to them as is fitting for all the forces of the king.

And let there be appointed from them in the great strongholds of the king, and from these let there be appointed for the needs of the kingdom, the ones being in trust, and those over them and the rulers shall be from them, and let them walk by their laws, just as also the king commanded in the land of Judea.

And the three districts that have been added to Judea from the land of Samaria, let them be added to Judea, so as to be accounted as one, so as not to obey any other authority except that of the high priest.

I have given Ptolemais and the territories adjoining it as a gift to the holy ones in Jerusalem, for the necessary expense of the holy ones

And I give every year fifteen thousand shekels of silver from the royal revenues, from the places belonging to the king

And all the excess which they did not give from the necessities, as in the former years, from now on they shall give for the works of the house

and besides these five thousand shekels of silver, which they were taking from the needs of the holy place, from the account year by year, and these are remitted because they belong to the priests who minister

And as many as may flee to the sanctuary in Jerusalem and in all its borders, owing royal dues, let them be released, and all that is theirs in my kingdom.

And for the works of the holy ones to be built and renewed, and the expense shall be given from the king’s revenue.

and for the walls of Jerusalem to be built and to fortify them all around, and the expense shall be given from the word of the king, and for the walls in Judea to be built

But when Jonathan and the people heard these words, they did not believe them nor accept them, because they remembered the great evil which he had done in Israel, and he oppressed them exceedingly.

And they were pleased with Alexander because he himself became to them a leader of peaceful words, and they were fighting together with him all the days.

And King Alexander gathered great forces and encamped opposite Demetrius.

And the two kings joined battle, and the camp of Demetrius fled, and Alexander pursued him, and he prevailed over them

And he strengthened the battle very much until the sun went down, and Demetrius fell on that day.

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

Since I returned to my kingdom and sat on the throne of my fathers and seized the rule and shattered Demetrius and gained control of our land

And I joined battle with him, and he was shattered, and his camp by us, and we sat on the throne of his kingdom

And now let us establish friendship with them, and now give me your daughter as a wife, and I will make a marriage alliance with you and I will give you gifts and to her worthy of you.

And Ptolemy the king answered, saying, Good is the day in which you returned to the land of your fathers and sat on the throne of their kingdom.

And now I will do for you what you have written, but meet me in Ptolemais, so that we may see one another, and I will give you a daughter-in-law, as you have said.

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

And King Alexander met him and gave to him Cleopatra his daughter, and he arranged her marriage in Ptolemais, as the kings do, in great glory.

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

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

And there were gathered against him pestilent men from Israel, lawless men, to make petition against him, and the king did not give heed to them.

And the king commanded, and they stripped Jonathan of his garments and clothed him with purple, and they did thus.

And the king seated him with him and said to his rulers, Go out with him into the midst of the city and proclaim that no one is to meet against him concerning any matter, and let no one annoy him concerning any word.

And it happened, when those who were meeting him saw his glory, as he had proclaimed, and him clothed with purple, that all fled away.

And the king glorified him and enrolled him among the first friends and appointed him general and district governor

And Jonathan returned to Jerusalem with peace and gladness

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

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

And Demetrius appointed Apollonius, who was over Coele-Syria, and he gathered a great force and encamped against Jamnia and sent to Jonathan the high priest, saying

You alone are exalted over us, and I have become a laughingstock and a reproach because of you; and why do you exercise authority over us in the mountains?

Now therefore, if you have confidence in your forces, come down to us into the plain, and let us be matched with one another there, because with me is the power of the cities.

Ask and learn who I am and the rest who help us and who say, There is no standing of foot before us, because your fathers were routed twice in their land

And now you will not be able to withstand such horsemen and such force in the plain, where there is no stone nor pebble nor place to flee to

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

And he encamped against Joppa, and those from the city shut it up, because the garrison of Apollonius was in Joppa, and they fought against it.

And those from the city, having been afraid, opened, and Jonathan took possession of Joppa.

And Apollonius heard, and he camped three thousand horse and a great force, and he went to Azotus as passing through, and at the same time he advanced into the plain because he had a multitude of horse and was relying on it

And he pursued after him to Azotus, and the camps joined together for battle.

And Apollonius left a thousand horsemen secretly behind them.

And Jonathan knew that there was an ambush behind him, and they surrounded his camp and cast the darts against the people from morning until evening.

And the people had taken their stand as Jonathan had commanded, and their horses grew weary.

And Simon drew back his force and joined with the phalanx, for the horsemen were given out and were broken under him, and they fled

And the horse was scattered in the plain, and they fled to Azotus and entered into Beth-dagon, their idol, to be saved

And Jonathan burned Azotus and the cities around it, and took their spoils and the sanctuary of Dagon, and those who had fled together into it he burned with fire

And those who had fallen by the sword, together with those who had been burned, came to eight thousand men.

And Jonathan departed from there and encamped against Ascalon, and those from the city went out to meet him in great honor

And Jonathan returned to Jerusalem with those with him, having many spoils.

And it happened, when Alexander the king heard these words, he still added to glorify Jonathan

And he sent him a golden brooch, as it is customary to be given to the relatives of the kings, and he gave him Accaron and all its borders as an inheritance.