1And the king of Egypt gathered many forces, like the sand on the seashore, and many ships. And he sought to seize control of Alexander’s kingdom by treachery and to add it to his own kingdom.
2He went into Syria with words of peace, and the cities opened their gates to him and came out to meet him, for King Alexander had commanded them to meet him, since he was his father-in-law.
3But as he was entering the cities of Ptolemais, he stationed forces as a garrison in each city.
4And when he approached Azotus, they showed him the temple of Dagon burned down, Azotus and its surrounding villages destroyed, the bodies cast about, and those who had been burned—whom he had burned in the war—for they had made heaps of them along his route.
5And they recounted to the king what Jonathan had done, in order to blame him, but the king was silent.
6And Jonathan met the king at Joppa with splendor, and they greeted one another and spent the night there.
7And Jonathan went with the king as far as the river called Eleutherus, and then he returned to Jerusalem.
8But King Ptolemy took control of the coastal cities as far as Seleucia-by-the-Sea, and he was devising evil plans concerning Alexander.
9And he sent envoys to King Demetrius, saying, “Come, let us make a covenant with each other, and I will give you my daughter whom Alexander has, and you will reign over your father’s kingdom.
10For I regret giving him my daughter, because he sought to kill me.”
11And he slandered him because he himself coveted his kingdom.
12So he took his daughter from him and gave her to Demetrius, and he became hostile toward Alexander, and their enmity became apparent.
13And Ptolemy entered Antioch and put on the diadem of Asia; so he wore two diadems on his head, that of Asia and that of Egypt.
14But King Alexander was in Cilicia at that time, because the people of that region were in rebellion.
15And Alexander heard of this and came against him in war. And Ptolemy led out his army and met him with a mighty force, and routed him.
16And Alexander fled to Arabia to find shelter there, but King Ptolemy was exalted.
17And Zabdiel the Arab cut off Alexander’s head and sent it to Ptolemy.
18And King Ptolemy died on the third day, and his garrisons in the fortresses were destroyed by the inhabitants of the fortresses.
19And Demetrius became king in the one hundred and sixty-seventh year.
20In those days Jonathan gathered the men of Judea to attack the citadel in Jerusalem, and they set up many siege engines against it.
21And some lawless men who hated their own nation went to the king and reported to him that Jonathan was besieging the citadel.
22When he heard this, he became angry, and immediately set out and came to Ptolemais. He wrote to Jonathan to stop the siege and to come meet him for a conference at Ptolemais as quickly as possible.
23But when Jonathan heard, he ordered the siege to continue. And he chose some of the elders of Israel and of the priests, and exposed himself to the danger.
24And taking silver and gold and clothing and many other gifts, he went to the king at Ptolemais and found favor in his sight.
25And some lawless men from the nation made accusations against him.
26But the king treated him just as his predecessors had treated him, and he exalted him in the presence of all his Friends.
27And he confirmed him in the high priesthood and in all the other honors he had previously held, and he made him one of the first Friends.
28And Jonathan asked the king to make Judea and the three toparchies and Samaria tax-exempt, and he promised him three hundred talents.
29And the king consented, and he wrote letters to Jonathan concerning all these things, which were as follows:
30King Demetrius to Jonathan his brother, and to the Jewish nation, greetings.
31We have also written to you a copy of the letter that we wrote to our kinsman Lasthenes concerning you, so that you may see it.
32King Demetrius to Lasthenes his father, greetings.
33We have decided to do good to the nation of the Jews, our friends who maintain their just obligations toward us, on account of their goodwill toward us.
34We have therefore confirmed for them the borders of Judea and the three districts of Aphairema, Lydda, and Rathamin, which were added to Judea from Samaria, along with all that pertains to them, for all who offer sacrifices in Jerusalem, in place of the royal payments that the king previously received annually from the produce of the land and of the fruit trees.
35And the other things belonging to us from now on—the tithes and the taxes due to us, the salt pits, and the crowns due to us—all these we will grant to them.
36And none of these things shall be set aside, from now on and for all time.
37Now therefore, take care to make a copy of this, and let it be given to Jonathan and be placed on the holy mountain in a suitable and conspicuous place.
38And King Demetrius saw that the land was at peace before him and that there was no opposition to him, so he dismissed all his forces, each to his own place, except for the foreign forces that he had recruited from the islands of the nations. And all the forces of his fathers became hostile to him.
39Now Trypho was one of Alexander’s former supporters, and when he saw that all the forces were grumbling against Demetrius, he went to Simalcue the Arab, who was raising Antiochus, the young son of Alexander.
40And he persistently urged him to hand over the boy to him, so that he might reign in his father’s place. And they reported to him all that Demetrius had done and the hostility his forces felt toward him. And Trypho remained there for many days.
41Then Jonathan sent to King Demetrius, asking that he expel the men from the citadel in Jerusalem and from the strongholds, for they were constantly making war on Israel.
42And Demetrius sent to Jonathan, saying, “Not only will I do this for you and for your nation, but I will honor you and your nation with great honor, if I get an opportunity.”
43“Now therefore, you will do well to send men to me who will fight as my allies, because all my forces have revolted.”
44So Jonathan sent three thousand mighty warriors to Antioch. They came to the king, and the king rejoiced at their arrival.
45And the citizens gathered in the middle of the city, to the number of 120,000 men, and they wanted to kill the king.
46The king fled into the palace, and the citizens seized the main streets of the city and began to fight.
47And the king called the Jews for help, and they all gathered to him at once. Then they spread out through the city and on that day killed up to 100,000 in the city.
48They set the city on fire, took much plunder that day, and saved the king.
49And when the citizens saw that the Jews had overpowered the city as they wished, they lost heart and cried out to the king with a plea, saying,
50“Give us a pledge of peace, and let the Jews stop fighting against us and the city.”
51And they threw down their weapons and made peace. And the Jews were honored in the sight of the king and of all who were in his kingdom. And they returned to Jerusalem with much plunder.
52And King Demetrius sat on the throne of his kingdom, and the land was at peace before him.
53But he broke all his promises and became estranged from Jonathan. He did not repay the favors Jonathan had shown him, but afflicted him greatly.
54After this, Trypho returned, and with him Antiochus, who was a very young boy. And Antiochus became king and put on the diadem.
55And all the forces that Demetrius had dismissed gathered to Antiochus, and they fought against Demetrius, who fled and was routed.
56And Trypho captured the war elephants and took control of Antioch.
57And Antiochus the younger wrote to Jonathan, saying, “I confirm you in the high priesthood and appoint you over the four districts, and declare you to be one of the Friends of the King.”
58And he sent him golden vessels and a service of plate, and gave him authority to drink from golden vessels, to be clothed in purple, and to wear a golden buckle.
59And he appointed his brother Simon as general from the Ladder of Tyre to the borders of Egypt.
60Then Jonathan went out and traveled through the region beyond the River and through the cities, and all the forces of Syria gathered to him as allies. And he came to Ashkelon, and the people of the city met him with honor.
61And he went from there to Gaza, and the people of Gaza shut him out. So he laid siege around it, burned its suburbs with fire, and plundered them.
62Then the people of Gaza pleaded with Jonathan, and he granted them terms. He took the sons of their leaders as hostages and sent them to Jerusalem, and he passed through the country as far as Damascus.
63And Jonathan heard that the commanders of Demetrius had come to Kadesh in Galilee with a large force, intending to remove him from his office.
64So he went to meet them, but he left his brother Simon in the country.
65And Simon encamped at Beth-zur and made war against it for many days, and he blockaded it.
66And they pleaded with him to accept terms of peace, and he granted it to them. Then he expelled them from there, took possession of the city, and placed a garrison in it.
67Meanwhile, Jonathan and his army encamped by the water of Gennesar, and they rose early in the morning and went to the plain of Nasor.
68And behold, an army of foreigners met him in the plain. They had set an ambush for him in the mountains, while they themselves confronted him.
69Then the men in ambush rose up from their positions and joined the battle, and all of Jonathan’s men fled.
70Not one of them was left, except Mattathias son of Absalom and Judas son of Chalphi, commanders of the armed forces.
71Then Jonathan tore his clothes, put earth on his head, and prayed.
72Then he turned back to the battle against them and routed them, and they fled.
73And when his men who had fled saw this, they returned to him and joined him in the pursuit as far as Kadesh, to their enemy’s camp, and they encamped there.
74About three thousand men from the foreign army fell on that day. And Jonathan returned to Jerusalem.
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