The Koine Bible

And in the one hundred and seventy-second year Demetrius the king gathered his forces and went into Media to draw assistance to himself, so that he might fight Tryphon.

And Arsaces, the king of Persia and Media, heard that Demetrius had entered into his borders, and he sent one of his princes to seize him alive.

And he went and struck the camp of Demetrius, and he captured him and led him to Arsaces and put him in prison.

And the land of Juda was at peace all the days of Simon, and he sought good for his nation, and his authority and his glory pleased them all the days.

And with all his glory he took Joppa as a harbor and made an entrance for the islands of the sea.

And he enlarged the borders for his nation and took hold of the country.

And he gathered a great captivity and took Gazara and Bethsour and the Akra, and he removed the uncleannesses from it, and there was no one opposing him.

And they were cultivating their land in peace, and the land was giving its produce, and the trees of the plains their fruit.

The elders sat in the broad places; all were discussing good things, and the young men put on glory and garments of war.

He supplied food to the cities and placed them in vessels of fortification until the name of his glory was proclaimed to the end of the earth

He made peace upon the land, and Israel was glad with great gladness.

And each one sat under his vine and under his fig tree, and there was no one terrifying them

And he stopped warring against them in the land, and the kings were crushed in those days.

And he established all the humble of his people; he sought out the law and removed every lawless and evil thing.

He glorified the holy things and multiplied the vessels of the holy things.

And it was heard in Rome that Jonathan had died, and even as far as Sparta, and they were greatly grieved.

And when they heard that Simon his brother had become high priest in his place and that he himself had control of the country and of the cities in it

They wrote to him on bronze tablets to renew with him friendship and alliance, which they established with Judas and Jonathan, his brothers.

And they were read before the assembly in Jerusalem

And this is the copy of the letters which the Spartans sent, the rulers of the Spartans and the city, to Simon the great priest and to the elders and to the priests and to the rest of the people of the Jews, brothers, greeting.

The envoys who were sent to our people reported to us about your glory and honor, and we rejoiced at their coming.

And we wrote down the things spoken by them in the councils of the people thus: Numenius son of Antiochus and Antipater son of Jason, ambassadors of the Jews, came to us renewing the friendship toward us

And it pleased the people to receive the men honorably and to put the copy of their words among the decreed books for the people, so that the people might have a memorial of the Spartans; and they wrote a copy of these things to Simon the high priest.

After these things Simon sent Numenius to Rome, having a great golden shield, weighing a thousand minas, to establish the alliance with them

But when the people heard these words, they said, What thanks shall we give to Simon and to his sons?

For he himself and his brothers and his father’s house supported him, and he fought the enemies of Israel against them, and they established freedom for him and wrote it on bronze tablets and set them up on pillars on Mount Zion.

And this is a copy of the writing: on the eighteenth of Elul, in the one hundred and seventy-second year, this third year under Simon the high priest, at Asaeramel.

In a great assembly of priests and people and rulers of the nation and the elders of the country he made it known to us

Since wars had often arisen in the land, and Simon son of Mattathias, a priest of the sons of Joarib, and his brothers gave themselves to danger and opposed the adversaries of their nation, so that their holy places might stand and the law, and with great glory they glorified their nation.

And Jonathan gathered their nation, and he became for them high priest, and he was added to his people

And their enemies wished to invade their land and stretch out hands against their holy things

Then Simon opposed and fought for his nation and spent much money of his own and armed the men of the strength of his nation and gave them pay

And he fortified the cities of Judea and Beth-zur, which is on the borders of Judea, where the weapons of the enemies had previously been, and he placed there a garrison, Jewish men.

And Joppa, the one by the sea, he fortified, and Gazara, the one on the borders of Azotus, in which the enemies had formerly dwelt, and he settled Jews there, and whatever was suitable for the restoration of these things he placed among them.

And the people saw the faith of Simon and the glory which he had purposed to do for his nation, and they appointed him their leader and high priest because he had done all these things and the righteousness and the faith which he maintained for his nation and sought by every means to exalt his people

And in his days it prospered in his hands to remove the nations from their land and those in the city of David, those in Jerusalem, who had made for themselves a citadel, from which they used to go out and defile around the holy places and inflict a great blow on the purity

And he settled Jewish men in it and fortified it for the security of the country and of the city, and he raised up the walls of Jerusalem

And King Demetrius confirmed for him the high priesthood according to these things.

And he made him one of his friends and glorified him with great glory

For he heard that the Jews were called by the Romans friends and allies and brothers, and that they had received the envoys of Simon honorably

And that the Jews and the priests were pleased for Simon to be their leader and high priest forever, until a faithful prophet should arise

and for him to be their general, and that it should be a care to him concerning the holy things, to appoint through him over their works and over the land and over the weapons and over the fortresses

and that it should be his concern for the holy things and that he should be listened to by all and that all writings in the country should be written in his name and that he should be clothed in purple and wear gold

And it shall not be lawful for any one of the people and of the priests to set aside any of these things and to speak against the things that will be spoken by him, and to gather a gathering in the land without him, and to put on purple, and to wear a golden buckle.

And whoever shall do anything contrary to these things or nullify any of them shall be liable.

And all the people were pleased to appoint Simon to act according to these words.

And Simon accepted it and was pleased to be high priest and to be commander and ethnarch of the Jews and of the priests and to oversee all.

And they said to set this writing on bronze tablets and to place them in the enclosure of the holy things, in a conspicuous place

And to place their copies in the treasury, so that Simon and his sons may have them