65 The king gave him honour, and enrolled him amongst his chief friends,§ and made him a captain and governor of a province. 66 Then Jonathan returned to Jerusalem with peace and gladness.
67 In the one hundred and sixty-fifth year,† Demetrius, son of Demetrius, came out of Crete into the land of his ancestors. 68 When King Alexander heard of it, he grieved exceedingly and returned to Antioch. 69 Demetrius appointed Apollonius, who was over Coelesyria, and he gathered together a great army, and encamped against Jamnia, and sent to Jonathan the high priest, saying,
70 “You alone lift up yourself against us, but I am ridiculed and in reproach because of you. Why do you assume authority against us in the mountains? 71 Now therefore, if you trust in your forces, come down to us into the plain, and let’s match strength with each other there; for the power of the cities is with me. 72 Ask and learn who I am, and the rest who help us. They say, ‘Your foot can’t stand before our face; for your ancestors have been put to flight twice in their own land.’ 73 Now you won’t be able to withstand the cavalry and such an army as this in the plain, where is there is no stone or pebble, or place to flee.”
74 Now when Jonathan heard the words of Apollonius, he was moved in his mind, and he chose ten thousand men, and went out from Jerusalem; and Simon his brother met him to help him. 75 Then he encamped against Joppa. The people of the city shut him out, because Apollonius had a garrison in Joppa. 76 So they fought against it. The people of the city were afraid, and opened to him; and Jonathan became master of Joppa.
77 Apollonius heard about that, and he gathered an army of three thousand cavalry, and a great army, and went to Azotus as though he were on a journey, and at the same time advanced onward into the plain, because he had a multitude of cavalry which he trusted. 78 He pursued him to Azotus, and the armies joined battle.‡ 79 Apollonius had secretly left a thousand cavalry behind them. 80 Jonathan learnt that there was an ambush behind him. They surrounded his army, and shot their arrows at the people, from morning until evening; 81 but the people stood fast, as Jonathan commanded them; and the enemy’s horses grew tired.
82 Then Simon brought forward his army and joined battle with the phalanx (for the cavalry were exhausted), and they were defeated by him and fled. 83 The cavalry were scattered in the plain. They fled to Azotus and entered into Beth-dagon, their idol’s temple, to save themselves. 84 Jonathan burnt Azotus and the cities around it and took their spoils. He burnt the temple of Dagon and those who fled into it with fire. 85 Those who had fallen by the sword plus those who were burnt were about eight thousand men.
86 From there, Jonathan left and encamped against Ascalon. The people of the city came out to meet him with great pomp. 87 Jonathan, with those who were on his side, returned to Jerusalem, having many spoils. 88 It came to pass, when King Alexander heard these things, he honoured Jonathan even more. 89 He sent him a gold buckle, as the custom is to give to the king’s kindred. He gave him Ekron and all its land for a possession.
11
1 Then the king of Egypt gathered together great forces, as the sand which is by the sea shore, and many ships, and sought to make himself master of Alexander’s kingdom by deceit, and to add it to his own kingdom. 2 He went out into Syria with words of peace, and the people of the cities opened their gates to him and met him; for King Alexander’s command was that they should meet him, because he was his father-in-law. 3 Now as he entered into the cities of Ptolemais, he set his forces for a garrison in each city.
4 But when he came near to Azotus, they showed him the temple of Dagon burnt with fire, and Azotus and its pasture lands destroyed, and the bodies cast out, and those who had been burnt, whom he burnt in the war, for they had made heaps of them in his way. 5 They told the king what Jonathan had done, that they might cast blame on him; but the king kept silent. 6 Jonathan met the king with pomp at Joppa, and they greeted one another, and they slept there. 7 Jonathan went with the king as far as the river that is called Eleutherus, then returned to Jerusalem.
8 But King Ptolemy took control of the cities along the sea coast, to Selucia which is by the sea, and he devised evil plans concerning Alexander. 9 He sent ambassadors to King Demetrius, saying, “Come! Let’s make a covenant with one another, and I will give you my daughter whom Alexander has, and you shall reign over your father’s kingdom; 10 for I regret that I gave my daughter to him, for he tried to kill me. 11 He accused him, because he coveted his kingdom. 12 Taking his daughter from him, he gave her to Demetrius, and was estranged from Alexander, and their enmity was openly seen.
13 Ptolemy entered into Antioch, and put on himself the crown of Asia. He put two crowns upon his head, the crown of Egypt and that of Asia. 14 But King Alexander was in Cilicia at that time, because the people of that region were in revolt. 15 When Alexander heard of it, he came against him in war. Ptolemy marched out and met him with a strong force, and put him to flight. 16 Alexander fled into Arabia, that he might be sheltered there; but King Ptolemy was triumphant. 17 Zabdiel the Arabian took off Alexander’s head, and sent it to Ptolemy. 18 King Ptolemy died the third day after, and those who were in his strongholds were slain by the inhabitants of the strongholds. 19 Demetrius became king in the one hundred and sixty-seventh year.†
20 In those days Jonathan gathered together the Judeans to take the citadel that was at Jerusalem. He made many engines of war to use against it. 21 Some lawless men who hated their own nation went to the king and reported to him that Jonathan was besieging the citadel. 22 He heard, and was angry, but when he heard it, he set out immediately, and came to Ptolemais, and wrote to Jonathan, that he should not besiege it, and that he should meet him and speak with him at Ptolemais with all speed.
23 But when Jonathan heard this, he gave orders to continue the siege. He chose some of the elders of Israel and of the priests, and put himself in peril 24 by taking silver, gold, clothing, and various other presents, and went to Ptolemais to the king. Then he found favour in his sight. 25 Some lawless men of those who were of the nation made complaints against him, 26 and the king did to him even as his predecessors had done to him, and exalted him in the sight of all his‡ friends, 27 and confirmed to him the high priesthood, and all the other honours that he had before, and gave him preeminence amongst his§ chief friends. 28 And Jonathan requested of the king that he would make Judea free from tribute, along with the three† provinces and the country of Samaria, and promised him three hundred talents. 29 The king consented, and wrote letters to Jonathan concerning all these things as follows:
30 “King Demetrius to his brother Jonathan, and to the nation of the Jews, greetings. 31 The copy of the letter which we wrote to Lasthenes our kinsman concerning you, we have written also to you, that you may see it. 32 ‘King Demetrius to Lasthenes his father, greetings. 33 We have determined to do good to the nation of the Jews, who are our friends, and observe what is just towards us, because of their good will towards us. 34 We have confirmed therefore to them the borders of Judea, and also the three governments of Aphaerema, Lydda, and Ramathaim (these were added to Judea from the country of Samaria), and all their territory to them, for all who do sacrifice in Jerusalem, instead of the king’s dues which the king received of them yearly before from the produce of the earth and the fruits of trees. 35 As for the other payments to us from henceforth, of the tithes and the taxes that pertain to us, and the salt pits, and the crown taxes due to us, all these we will give back to them. 36 Not one of these grants shall be annulled from this time forth and forever. 37 Now therefore be careful to make a copy of these things, and let it be given to Jonathan, and let it be set up on the holy mountain in a suitable and conspicuous place.’ ”
38 When King Demetrius saw that the land was quiet before him, and that no resistance was made to him, he sent away all his troops, each man to his own place, except the foreign troops, which he had raised from the islands of the Gentiles. So all the troops of his fathers hated him. 39 Now Tryphon was one of those who previously had been on Alexander’s side, and he saw that all