1 Maccabees 11
Kings Rose and Fell, and He Outlasted Them
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Ptolemy Marches into Syria
11:1The king of Egypt gathered many forces, like the sand beside the seashore, and many ships. He sought to gain control of Alexander’s kingdom by deceit and add it to his own kingdom.
11:2He went out to Syria with peaceful words. The people of the cities opened to him and met him, because King Alexander had commanded them to meet him, since he was his father-in-law.
11:3As Ptolemy entered the cities, he stationed forces as a garrison in each city.
11:4When they approached Azotus, they showed him the burned temple of Dagon, Azotus and its surrounding towns demolished, the bodies thrown out, and those whom Jonathan had burned in the war. They had piled them in heaps along his route.
11:5They recounted to the king what Jonathan had done, to bring blame upon him. But the king remained silent.
11:6Jonathan met the king at Joppa with honor. They greeted one another and lodged there.
11:7Jonathan accompanied the king as far as the river called Eleutherus, then returned to Jerusalem.
11:8King Ptolemy gained control of the coastal cities as far as Seleucia by the sea, and devised evil plans concerning Alexander.
Ptolemy Turns to Demetrius
11:9He sent envoys to King Demetrius, saying, “Come, let us make a covenant with one another, and I will give you my daughter whom Alexander had, and you shall reign over your father’s kingdom.
11:10For I regret giving him my daughter, because he sought to kill me.”
11:11He accused him because he desired his kingdom.
11:12He took his daughter away from him, gave her to Demetrius, and became estranged from Alexander; their hostility became evident.
11:13Ptolemy entered Antioch and put on the diadem of Asia. He placed two diadems on his head, that of Egypt and that of Asia.
The Death of Alexander and of Ptolemy
11:14King Alexander was in Cilicia at that time, because the people of those places were in revolt.
11:15Alexander heard and came against him in battle. Ptolemy led out his forces, met him with a strong force, and routed him.
11:16Alexander fled into Arabia to find shelter there, and King Ptolemy was exalted.
11:17Zabdiel the Arab cut off Alexander’s head and sent it to Ptolemy.
11:18King Ptolemy died on the third day, and his men in the strongholds were destroyed by those in the strongholds.
11:19Demetrius became king in the one hundred and sixty-seventh year.
Jonathan Besieges the Citadel
11:20In those days Jonathan gathered the men of Judea to make war on the citadel in Jerusalem, and he made many siege engines against it.
11:21Some lawless men who hated their own nation went to the king and reported to him that Jonathan was besieging the citadel.
11:22When he heard, he became angry. Immediately on hearing it he set out and came to Ptolemais. He wrote to Jonathan to stop the siege and to come as quickly as possible to confer with him at Ptolemais.
11:23When Jonathan heard, he ordered the siege to continue, selected some elders of Israel and priests, and exposed himself to danger.
11:24He took silver, gold, clothing, and many other gifts, went to the king at Ptolemais, and found favor before him.
11:25Some lawless men from the nation were petitioning against him.
11:26The king treated him as those before him had done and exalted him before all his Friends.
11:27He confirmed him in the high priesthood and all the other honors he had held before, and made him rank among the First Friends.
The Three Districts Granted
11:28Jonathan asked the king to make Judea, the three districts, and Samaria free from tribute, and promised him three hundred talents.
11:29The king consented and wrote letters to Jonathan concerning all these things in the following form:
11:30“King Demetrius to Jonathan his brother and to the nation of the Jews, greetings.
11:31We have also written to you a copy of the letter we wrote about you to Lasthenes our Kinsman, so that you may know it.
11:32‘King Demetrius to Lasthenes his father, greetings.
11:33We have judged it good to benefit the nation of the Jews, our friends who keep their obligations toward us, because of their goodwill toward us.
11:34We have confirmed to them the territory of Judea and the three districts of Aphairema, Lydda, and Rathamin, added to Judea from Samaria, with everything belonging to them, for all who sacrifice in Jerusalem, in place of the royal dues that the king formerly received from them each year from the produce of the land and the fruit trees.
11:35The other things belonging to us from now on—the tithes and dues belonging to us, the salt lakes, and the crown payments belonging to us—we grant all these to them.
11:36Not one of these provisions shall be annulled from now and for all time.
11:37Now, therefore, take care to make a copy of these things. Let it be given to Jonathan and placed on the holy mountain in a conspicuous place.’”
Tryphon Raises Up Antiochus
11:38King Demetrius saw that the land was quiet before him and that nothing resisted him. He dismissed all his forces, each to his own place, except the foreign forces he had recruited from the islands of the nations. All the forces inherited from his fathers became hostile to him.
11:39Tryphon had formerly been one of Alexander’s men. He saw that all the forces were grumbling against Demetrius and went to Imalcue the Arab, who was bringing up Alexander’s young son Antiochus.
11:40He stayed with him, urging him to hand the boy over so that he might reign in his father’s place. He reported everything Demetrius had done and the hostility his forces felt toward him, and remained there many days.
The Jews Rescue Demetrius in Antioch
11:41Jonathan sent to King Demetrius, asking him to remove the men of the citadel from Jerusalem and those in the strongholds, because they were fighting Israel.
11:42Demetrius sent to Jonathan, saying, “I will do not only these things for you and your nation, but I will greatly honor you and your nation if I find an opportunity.
11:43Now, therefore, you will do well to send me men who will fight alongside me, because all my forces have revolted.”
11:44Jonathan sent three thousand men mighty in strength to him at Antioch. They came to the king, and the king rejoiced at their arrival.
11:45The people of the city gathered in its midst, about a hundred and twenty thousand men, intending to kill the king.
11:46The king fled into the palace. The people of the city seized its passageways and began fighting.
11:47The king called the Jews to help. They all gathered to him together, spread through the city, and killed about a hundred thousand that day.
11:48They burned the city, took many spoils that day, and saved the king.
11:49The people of the city saw that the Jews controlled the city as they wished. They lost courage and cried to the king with a plea, saying,
11:50“Give us your right hand, and let the Jews stop fighting us and the city.”
11:51They threw down their weapons and made peace. The Jews were honored before the king and before everyone in his kingdom, and returned to Jerusalem with many spoils.
Demetrius Proves False
11:52King Demetrius sat upon the throne of his kingdom, and the land was quiet before him.
11:53He proved false in everything he had said, became estranged from Jonathan, did not repay the goodwill shown to him, and oppressed him greatly.
Antiochus Confirms Jonathan
11:54After this Tryphon returned, and with him Antiochus, a young boy. Antiochus became king and put on a diadem.
11:55All the forces Demetrius had dismissed gathered to him. They fought Demetrius, and he fled and was routed.
11:56Tryphon took the elephants and gained control of Antioch.
11:57The young Antiochus wrote to Jonathan, saying, “I confirm you in the high priesthood, appoint you over the four districts, and make you one of the king’s Friends.”
11:58He sent him gold vessels and a table service, and granted him authority to drink from gold vessels, wear purple, and have a golden clasp.
11:59He appointed Simon his brother general from the Ladder of Tyre to the borders of Egypt.
Campaigns Beyond the River
11:60Jonathan went out and traveled through Beyond the River and its cities. All the Syrian forces gathered to him as allies. He came to Ascalon, and the people of the city met him with honor.
11:61He went from there to Gaza, but the people of Gaza shut him out. He besieged it, burned its surrounding towns with fire, and plundered them.
11:62The people of Gaza appealed to Jonathan. He gave them his right hand, took their rulers’ sons as hostages, and sent them to Jerusalem. He passed through the country as far as Damascus.
The Battle at the Water of Gennesar
11:63Jonathan heard that Demetrius’s commanders had arrived at Kedesh in Galilee with a large force, intending to remove him from his office.
11:64He went to meet them, leaving Simon his brother in the country.
11:65Simon encamped against Beth-zur, attacked it for many days, and blockaded it.
11:66They asked him to receive a pledge of peace, and he gave it to them. He expelled them from there, seized the city, and placed a garrison over it.
11:67Jonathan and his army encamped by the water of Gennesar. Early in the morning they went to the plain of Hazor.
11:68The army of foreigners met him in the plain, having sent out an ambush against him in the mountains, while they themselves met him from the front.
11:69The men in ambush rose from their positions and joined battle.
11:70All Jonathan’s men fled. Not one remained except Mattathias son of Absalom and Judas son of Chalphi, commanders of the army’s forces.
11:71Jonathan tore his garments, put earth on his head, and prayed.
11:72He turned back against them in battle and routed them, and they fled.
11:73Those who had fled from him saw it and returned to him. They pursued with him as far as Kedesh, to their camp, and encamped there.
11:74About three thousand men of the foreigners fell that day. Jonathan returned to Jerusalem.
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Saints Translation · Liturgical reading edition · V1 · working draft awaiting specialist review.