1 Machabees 11

¹And the king of Ægypt gathered an army, as the sand that is about the sea shore, and many ships: and he sought to win the kingdom of Alexander by guile, and to add it to his own kingdom.

²And he went out into Syria with peaceable words, & they opened to him the cities, and met him: because Alexander the king had commanded them to go forth to meet him, for that he was his father in law.

³But when Ptolomee entered the cities, he put garrisons of soldiers in every city.

⁴And as he approached to Azotus, they shewed him the temple of Dagon burnt with fire, and Azotus, & the rest thereof thrown down, and the bodies cast forth, & the graves of them that were slain in the battle, which they had made near the way.

⁵And they told the king that Jonathas did these things: to raise envy against him: and the king held his peace.

⁶And Jonathas came to meet the king into Joppe with glory, and they saluted one another, and they slept there.

⁷And Jonathas went with the king even to the river, that was called Eleutherus, and he returned into Jerusalem.

⁸And king Ptolomee obtained the dominion of the cities even to Seleucia by the sea side, and he purposed evil purposes against Alexander.

⁹And sent legates to Demetrius, saying: Come, let us make a league between us, and I will give thee my daughter that Alexander hath, and thou shalt reign in the kingdom of thy father.

¹⁰For it repenteth me that I have given him my daughter: for he hath sought to kill me.

¹¹And he dispraised him, for that he coveted his kingdom,

¹²and he took away his daughter, & gave her to Demetrius, and alienated himself from Alexander, and his enmities were made manifest.

¹³And Ptolomee entered into Antioch, & he put two crowns upon his head, of Ægypt, & of Asia.

¹⁴But Alexander the king was in Cilicia at that time: because they rebelled that were in those places.

¹⁵And Alexander heard it, and came to him into battle: and Ptolomee the king brought forth an army, and met him with a strong power, and put him to flight.

¹⁶And Alexander fled into Arabia, there to be protected: and king Ptolomee was exalted.

¹⁷And Zabdiel an Arabian took off Alexander's head, & sent it to Ptolomee.

¹⁸And king Ptolomee died the third day: & they that were in the fortresses, perished by them that were within the camp.

¹⁹And Demetrius reigned the year an hundreth sixty seven.

²⁰In those days Jonathas gathered together them, that were in Jurie, to win the castle in Jerusalem: and they made engines against it.

²¹And certain that hated their own nation wicked men, went to king Demetrius, and told him that Jonathas besieged the castle.

²²And as he heard it, he was wrath: and forthwith he came to Ptolemais, and wrote to Jonathas, that he should not besiege the castle, but should meet him to talk together in haste.

²³But as Jonathas heard it, he bade them besiege it: and he chose of the ancients of Israel, and of the Priests, and put himself in hazard.

²⁴And he took gold, & silver, and raiments, & many other presents, & went to the king to Ptolomais, and he found grace in his sight.

²⁵And certain wicked men of his nation solicited against him.

²⁶And the king did to him, as they had done to him which had been before him: and he exalted him in the sight of all his friends,

²⁷and he established to him the chief Priesthood, & whatsoever other things he had before precious, & he made him the chief of his friends.

²⁸And Jonathas requested of the king that he would make Jury free, & the three toparchies, and Samaria, & the confines thereof: and he promised him three hundred talents.

²⁹And the king consented: and he wrote to Jonathas epistles of all these things, containing this tenure.

³⁰King Demetrius to his brother Jonathas greeting, and to the nation of the Jews.

³¹A copy of the epistle, which we have written to Lasthenes our parent concerning you, we have sent to you that you might know it.

³²King Demetrius to Lasthenes his parent greeting.

³³We have determined to do good to the nation of the Jews our friends, & that keep the things that are just with us, for their gentleness which they bear towards us.

³⁴We have ordained therefore unto them all the coasts of Jurie, & the three cities, Apherema, Lyda, & Ramatha, which are added to Jurie of Samaria, & all their confines, to be sequestered to all them that sacrifice in Jerusalem, for these things, which the king received of them every year, and for the fruits of the land, and of the trees.

³⁵And other things, that pertained to us of the tithes, and of the tributes, from this time we remit to them: & the salt floors, and the crowns, that were presented to us,

³⁶we grant all to them, & nothing of these shall be broken from this time, and for ever.

³⁷Now therefore provide to make a copy of these, and let it be given to Jonathas, & let it be laid in the holy mount, and in a solemn place.

³⁸And Demetrius the king seeing that the land was quiet in his sight, & nothing resisted him, he dismissed all his army, every man to his place, except the foreign army, which he brought from the isles of the Gentiles: and all the bands of his fathers were enemies to him.

³⁹And there was one Tryphon of Alexander's part before: and he saw that all the army murmured against Demetrius, & he went to Emalchuel the Arabian, that brought up Antiochus the son of Alexander:

⁴⁰And he lay upon him, to deliver this Antiochus unto him, to reign in his father's place: and he declared unto him what great things Demetrius did, and the enmities of his hosts against him. And he tarried there many days.

⁴¹And Jonathas sent to Demetrius the king, that he would cast out them, that were in the castle in Jerusalem, and that were in the holds: because they impugned Israel.

⁴²And Demetrius sent to Jonathas, saying: I will not only do these things for thee, & for thy nation, but with glory I will honour thee, & thy nation, when it shall be time convenient.

⁴³Now therefore thou shalt do well if thou wilt send men to help me: because all mine army is departed.

⁴⁴And Jonathas sent him three thousand valiant men to Antioch: and they came to the king, & the king was delighted at their coming.

⁴⁵And there assembled they that were of the city, an hundred twenty thousand men, and they would have slain the king.

⁴⁶And the king fled into the court: & they that were of the city kept the ways of the city, and began to fight.

⁴⁷And the king called the Jews for aid: & they came together to him all at once, & they were all dispersed through the city.

⁴⁸And they slew in that day an hundred thousand men, & they burnt the city, & took many spoils in that day, & delivered the king.

⁴⁹And they that were of the city saw, that the Jews had obtained the city as they would: and they were discomfited in their mind, and cried to the king with petitions, saying:

⁵⁰Give us the right hand, and let the Jews cease to oppugn us & the city.

⁵¹And they threw away their weapons, & made peace, & the Jews were glorified in the king's sight, & were renowned in the sight of all that were in his kingdom, & returned into Jerusalem with many spoils.

⁵²And king Demetrius sat in the seat of his kingdom: and the land was at rest in his sight.

⁵³And he feigned all things whatsoever he said, & alienated himself from Jonathas, and he requited him not according to the benefits, that he had given him, and he vexed him exceedingly.

⁵⁴And after these things Tryphon returned, & with him Antiochus the young boy, who reigned, and put the crown upon him.

⁵⁵And there gathered unto him all the bands, which Demetrius had dispersed, and they fought against him: & he fled, and turned the back.

⁵⁶And Tryphon took the beasts, and won Antioch.

⁵⁷And Antiochus the young man wrote to Jonathas, saying: I appoint to thee the priesthood, & I place thee over the four cities, that thou mayst be of the king's friends.

⁵⁸And he sent him vessels of gold for his service, and he gave him leave to drink in gold, and to be in purple, & to have a chain of gold:

⁵⁹And he appointed Simon his brother governor from the borders of Tyre even to the coasts of Ægypt.

⁶⁰And Jonathas went forth, & walked through the cities beyond the river: and all the band of Syria gathered unto him to help him, and he came to Ascalon, & they met him honourably out of the city.

⁶¹And he went from thence to Gaza: and they that were in Gaza shut in themselves: and he besieged it, & burnt the things that were round about the city, and he spoiled it.

⁶²And the men of Gaza besought Jonathas, and he gave them the right hand: and he took their sons for hostages, & sent them into Jerusalem: and he walked through the country even to Damascus.

⁶³And Jonathas heard that the princes of Demetrius prevaricated in Cades, which is in Galilee, with a great army meaning to remove him from the affairs of the kingdom:

⁶⁴and he went against them: but his brother Simon he left within the Province.

⁶⁵And Simon approached to Bethsura, and expugned it many days, and inclosed them.

⁶⁶And they requested of him to take the right hands, and he gave it them: and he cast them out from thence, and took the city, & placed therein a garrison.

⁶⁷And Jonathas and his camp approached to the water of Genesar, and before it was light they watched in the plain Asor.

⁶⁸And lo the camp of the aliens met him in the plain, and they laid embushments for him in the mountains: but he went against them.

⁶⁹And the embushments rose out of their places, & they joined battle.

⁷⁰And all fled that were on Jonathas' part, and none was left of them, but Mathathias the son of Absolom, and Judas the son of Calphi, chief captain of the chivalry of the host.

⁷¹And Jonathas rent his garments, and put earth upon his head, and prayed.

⁷²And Jonathas returned to them into battle, and he put them to flight, and they fought.

⁷³And they of his part that fled saw, and returned to him, and pursued with him even to Cades to their camp, and they came even thither.

⁷⁴And there fell of the aliens in that day three thousand men: and Jonathas returned into Jerusalem.