1 Maccabees 10
Two Kings Bidding for One Man’s Friendship
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Alexander Epiphanes Claims the Throne
10:1In the one hundred and sixtieth year Alexander Epiphanes, son of Antiochus, came up and seized Ptolemais. They received him, and he reigned there.
10:2King Demetrius heard of it, gathered very large forces, and went out to meet him in battle.
The Letter of Demetrius to Jonathan
10:3Demetrius sent letters to Jonathan with peaceful words, intending to exalt him.
10:4For he said, “Let us be first to make peace with them before he makes an agreement with Alexander against us.
10:5He will remember all the evils we have committed against him, his brothers, and the nation.”
10:6He gave him authority to gather forces, prepare weapons, and be his ally. He ordered that the hostages in the citadel be handed over to him.
10:7Jonathan came to Jerusalem and read the letters in the hearing of all the people and those in the citadel.
10:8They were greatly afraid when they heard that the king had given him authority to gather a force.
10:9Those in the citadel handed over the hostages to Jonathan, and he returned them to their parents.
Jonathan Rebuilds Jerusalem
10:10Jonathan settled in Jerusalem and began rebuilding and renewing the city.
10:11He told the workers to build the walls and the enclosure around Mount Zion with four-foot stones for fortification, and they did so.
10:12The foreigners in the strongholds that Bacchides had built fled.
10:13Each abandoned his place and went to his own land.
10:14Only at Beth-zur did some who had abandoned the law and the decrees remain, for it was a place of refuge.
Alexander Makes Jonathan High Priest
10:15King Alexander heard all the promises Demetrius had sent Jonathan. They recounted to him the battles and brave deeds that he and his brothers had performed, and the hardships they had endured.
10:16He said, “Could we find another man like this? Now we will make him our friend and ally.”
10:17He wrote letters and sent them to him in these words:
10:18“King Alexander to his brother Jonathan, greetings.
10:19We have heard about you, that you are a man mighty in strength and suitable to be our friend.
10:20Now, therefore, today we have appointed you high priest of your nation and to be called the king’s Friend”—and he sent him a purple robe and a golden crown—“to be concerned for our interests and maintain friendship with us.”
10:21Jonathan put on the holy robe in the seventh month of the one hundred and sixtieth year, at the Festival of Booths. He gathered forces and prepared many weapons.
The Second Letter of Demetrius
10:22Demetrius heard these things and was grieved. He said,
10:23“What have we done, that Alexander has anticipated us in securing friendship with the Jews for support?
10:24I too will write them words of encouragement, honor, and gifts, so that they may be with me to help.”
10:25He sent to them in these words: “King Demetrius to the nation of the Jews, greetings.
10:26We have heard that you have kept your agreements with us, remained in our friendship, and not joined our enemies, and we rejoiced.
10:27Now continue to keep faith with us, and we will repay you with good things for what you do with us.
10:28We will grant you many remissions and give you gifts.
10:29Now I release you and exempt all the Jews from tribute, the salt charge, and crown payments.
10:30I relinquish from today onward the right to receive the third of the grain crop and the half of the fruit of the trees that fall to me, from the land of Judah and the three districts added to it from Samaria and Galilee, from this day and for all time.
10:31Let Jerusalem and its territory be holy and exempt, free of tithes and dues.
10:32I also relinquish authority over the citadel in Jerusalem and give it to the high priest, so that he may appoint in it men of his own choosing to guard it.
10:33Every Jewish person taken captive from the land of Judah into any part of my kingdom I release freely, without payment. Let all remit their taxes, including those upon their livestock.
10:34Let all festivals, sabbaths, new moons, and appointed days, and the three days before a festival and the three after it, all be days of exemption and release for all Jews in my kingdom.
10:35No one shall have authority to exact payment from or trouble any of them concerning any matter.
10:36Let up to thirty thousand men of the Jews be enrolled in the king’s forces, and let allowances be given to them, as is proper for all the king’s forces.
10:37Some of them shall be stationed in the king’s great strongholds, and some shall be appointed to positions of trust in the kingdom. Their supervisors and commanders shall be from among them, and they shall follow their own laws, as the king has also decreed in the land of Judah.
10:38Let the three districts added to Judea from the region of Samaria be attached to Judea, so that they may be reckoned under one authority and obey no other authority except the high priest.
10:39I have given Ptolemais and the territory belonging to it as a gift to the holy places in Jerusalem, for the expenses proper to the holy places.
10:40I myself give every year fifteen thousand shekels of silver from the king’s accounts, from the appropriate places.
10:41All the excess that they did not pay from the revenues as in former years they shall from now on give for the works of the house.
10:42Besides these, the five thousand shekels of silver that they used to take from the revenues of the holy place from its account each year are also remitted, because they belong to the priests who minister.
10:43All who flee to the temple in Jerusalem and anywhere within its precincts, owing royal dues or any other obligation, shall be released, together with all they possess in my kingdom.
10:44The cost of rebuilding and renewing the works of the holy places shall be given from the king’s account.
10:45The cost of rebuilding Jerusalem’s walls and fortifying it all around shall be given from the king’s account, and likewise for rebuilding walls in Judea.”
The Death of Demetrius
10:46When Jonathan and the people heard these words, they neither believed nor accepted them, because they remembered the great evil he had committed in Israel and how severely he had oppressed them.
10:47They favored Alexander, because he had been the first to speak peaceful words to them, and they remained his allies all his days.
10:48King Alexander gathered great forces and encamped opposite Demetrius.
10:49The two kings joined battle. Demetrius’s army fled; Alexander pursued him and prevailed against them.
10:50He pressed the battle fiercely until the sun went down, and Demetrius fell that day.
Alexander and Ptolemy at Ptolemais
10:51Alexander sent envoys to Ptolemy king of Egypt in these words:
10:52“I have returned to my kingdom, sat upon the throne of my fathers, and taken control of the government. I have crushed Demetrius and gained control of our country.
10:53I joined battle with him, and he and his army were crushed by us. We have sat upon the throne of his kingdom.
10:54Now let us establish friendship with one another. Give me your daughter as wife, and I will become your son-in-law and give you and her gifts worthy of you.”
10:55King Ptolemy answered, saying, “Good is the day on which you returned to the land of your fathers and sat upon the throne of their kingdom.
10:56Now I will do for you what you have written. But meet me at Ptolemais, so that we may see one another, and I will form a marriage alliance with you as you have said.”
10:57Ptolemy left Egypt with Cleopatra his daughter and came to Ptolemais in the one hundred and sixty-second year.
10:58King Alexander met him, and he gave him Cleopatra his daughter in marriage and celebrated her wedding at Ptolemais with great glory, as kings do.
10:59King Alexander wrote to Jonathan to come and meet him.
10:60He went in honor to Ptolemais and met the two kings. He gave them and their Friends silver, gold, and many gifts, and found favor before them.
The Accusers Put to Shame
10:61Pestilent men from Israel, lawless men, gathered against him to petition against him, but the king paid no attention to them.
10:62The king ordered them to remove Jonathan’s garments and clothe him in purple, and they did so.
10:63The king seated him with himself and said to his commanders, “Go out with him into the midst of the city and proclaim that no one may petition against him concerning any matter, and that no one may trouble him concerning any charge.”
10:64When the accusers saw his honor as proclaimed and saw him clothed in purple, they all fled.
10:65The king honored him, enrolled him among the First Friends, and appointed him general and district governor.
10:66Jonathan returned to Jerusalem in peace and gladness.
Demetrius Son of Demetrius Returns
10:67In the one hundred and sixty-fifth year, Demetrius son of Demetrius came from Crete into the land of his fathers.
10:68King Alexander heard of it, was greatly distressed, and returned to Antioch.
10:69Demetrius appointed Apollonius, who was over Coele-Syria. He gathered a great force and encamped against Jamnia, and sent to Jonathan the high priest, saying,
10:70“You alone are raising yourself against us, and because of you I have become an object of ridicule and reproach. Why are you exercising power against us in the mountains?
10:71Now, if you trust in your forces, come down to us into the plain, and let us measure ourselves against one another there, for a force from the cities is with me.
10:72Ask and learn who I am and who the others helping us are. They say, ‘There is no foothold for you before us, because your fathers were routed twice in their own land.’
10:73Now you will not be able to stand against the cavalry and such a force in the plain, where there is neither stone nor pebble nor a place to flee.”
Jonathan Defeats Apollonius at Azotus
10:74When Jonathan heard Apollonius’s words, he was stirred in mind. He chose ten thousand men and went out from Jerusalem; Simon his brother met him to help him.
10:75He encamped against Joppa. The people of the city shut it against him, because Apollonius’s garrison was in Joppa, and they attacked it.
10:76The people of the city became afraid and opened it, and Jonathan gained control of Joppa.
10:77Apollonius heard and brought three thousand cavalry and a large force into camp. He went toward Azotus as though passing through, while drawing forward into the plain because he had many cavalry and trusted in them.
10:78Jonathan pursued him toward Azotus, and the armies joined battle.
10:79Apollonius had secretly left a thousand cavalry behind them.
10:80Jonathan realized there was an ambush behind him. They surrounded his army and hurled missiles at the people from morning until evening.
10:81But the people stood firm, as Jonathan had commanded, and their enemies’ horses grew weary.
10:82Simon drew out his force and engaged the phalanx, for the cavalry was exhausted. They were crushed by him and fled,
10:83and the cavalry scattered in the plain. They fled into Azotus and entered Beth-dagon, their idol shrine, for safety.
10:84Jonathan burned Azotus and its surrounding towns and took their spoils. He burned the temple of Dagon and those who had fled into it with fire.
10:85Those who had fallen by the sword, together with those burned, numbered about eight thousand men.
10:86Jonathan set out from there and encamped against Ascalon. The people of the city came out to meet him with great honor.
10:87Jonathan returned to Jerusalem with his men, carrying many spoils.
The Golden Clasp and Ekron
10:88When King Alexander heard these things, he honored Jonathan still more.
10:89He sent him a golden clasp, as is customarily given to the king’s Kinsmen, and gave him Ekron and all its territory as an inheritance.
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Saints Translation · Liturgical reading edition · V1 · working draft awaiting specialist review.