1 Maccabees 12

1 When Jonathan saw that the times were working in his favor, he chose men and sent them to Rome, to confirm and renew the friendship with the Romans; 2 and he sent letters to the same effect to the Spartans, and to other places. 3 So the men went to Rome, entered the senate house, and said, “Jonathan the chief priest and the nation of the Jews have sent us to renew for them the friendship and the alliance with you, as before.” 4 And the Romans gave them letters to the authorities in every place, directing that they be escorted to the land of Judah in peace.

5 This is a copy of the letter Jonathan wrote to the Spartans: 6 “Jonathan the chief priest, and the council of elders of the nation, and the priests, and the rest of the people of the Jews, to their brothers the Spartans, greetings. 7 Long ago a letter was sent to Onias the chief priest from Arius, who was then king among you, saying that you are our brothers, as the copy written below shows. [a] 8 Onias received the envoy with honor, and accepted the letter, in which alliance and friendship were plainly set out.

9 We, then — though we have no need of these things, since we have for our encouragement the holy books in our hands — 10 have undertaken to send and renew the brotherhood and friendship between us, so that we do not become strangers to you; for a long time has passed since you last sent to us. 11 We, for our part, at all times and without fail, remember you at our feasts and on the other fitting days — in the sacrifices we offer, and in our prayers — as it is right and proper to remember brothers; 12 and we rejoice in your renown.

13 As for us, many afflictions and many wars have hemmed us in, and the kings around us have made war on us. 14 But we did not want to burden you, or the rest of our allies and friends, with these wars; 15 for we have the help that comes from Heaven to help us, and we have been rescued from our enemies, and our enemies have been brought low.

16 We have therefore chosen Numenius son of Antiochus and Antipater son of Jason, and sent them to the Romans to renew our former friendship and alliance with them; 17 and we have directed them to go to you as well, to greet you, and to deliver you this letter of ours about the renewing of our brotherhood. 18 And now you will do well to send us an answer to it.”

19 And this is the copy of the letter they had sent to Onias: 20 “Arius king of the Spartans, to Onias the great priest, greetings. [b] 21 It has been found in writing, concerning the Spartans and the Jews, that they are brothers, and that they are of the family of Abraham. 22 Now that we have learned this, you will do well to write to us about your welfare; 23 and we write to you in return: your livestock and your goods are ours, and ours are yours. We have therefore commanded our envoys to report to you accordingly.”

24 Now Jonathan heard that Demetrius’s officers had come back with a larger army than before, to make war on him. 25 He set out from Jerusalem and met them in the region of Hamath, for he gave them no chance to set foot in his own country. 26 He sent spies into their camp, and they came back and reported that the enemy were forming up to fall on them by night. 27 So at sunset Jonathan ordered his men to stay awake and stand to arms all night, ready for battle, and he posted sentries around the camp.

28 But when the adversaries heard that Jonathan and his men stood ready for battle, fear took them and their hearts shrank — and they kindled fires in their camp. 29 Jonathan and his men knew nothing of it until morning, for they saw the fires burning. 30 Jonathan pursued them but did not overtake them, for they had crossed the river Eleutherus. 31 So Jonathan turned aside against the Arabs called Zabadeans, struck them, and took their plunder; 32 then he broke camp, went to Damascus, and marched through all that country.

33 Simon also went out, and marched as far as Ascalon and the strongholds near it. Then he turned aside to Joppa and seized it first, 34 for he had heard that its people meant to hand the stronghold over to Demetrius’s men; and he stationed a garrison there to guard it.

35 When Jonathan returned, he called the elders of the people together and took counsel with them about building strongholds in Judea, 36 about raising the walls of Jerusalem higher, and about raising a great barrier between the citadel and the city, to cut it off from the city and leave it isolated, so that its men could neither buy nor sell. 37 So they came together to build up the city. Part of the wall above the ravine on the east side had fallen, and he repaired the stretch called Chaphenatha. 38 Simon meanwhile built Adida in the Shephelah; he fortified it, and fitted it with gates and bars.

39 Now Trypho was aiming to become king of Asia — to put on the crown, and to raise his hand against King Antiochus; 40 but he was afraid that Jonathan would not allow it and would make war on him. So he began looking for a way to seize Jonathan and destroy him. And he broke camp and came to Beth-shan. 41 Jonathan came out to meet him with forty thousand men picked for battle, and arrived at Beth-shan. 42 When Trypho saw that he had come with a large army, he was afraid to raise a hand against him.

43 So he received him with honor, presented him to all his friends, gave him gifts, and ordered his friends and his troops to obey him as they would himself. 44 And he said to Jonathan, “Why have you put all these people to such trouble, when there is no war between us? 45 Send them home now. Choose a few men to stay with you, and come with me to Ptolemais, and I will hand the city over to you, with the rest of the strongholds and the rest of the forces and all the officials; then I will turn around and go home. That is what I came for.”

46 Jonathan trusted him and did as he said: he sent off his forces, and they went back to the land of Judah. 47 He kept with himself three thousand men, of whom he left two thousand in Galilee, while one thousand went on with him. 48 But the moment Jonathan entered Ptolemais, the people of Ptolemais shut the gates and seized him, and everyone who had come in with him they put to the sword.

49 Then Trypho sent troops and cavalry into Galilee and the Great Plain to destroy all Jonathan’s men. 50 But when they learned that Jonathan had been seized and had perished with those who were with him, they rallied one another and marched in close order, ready to fight; 51 and their pursuers, seeing that they would fight for their lives, turned back. 52 So they all came safely to the land of Judah. And they mourned Jonathan and those who were with him, and they were very afraid; and all Israel mourned with a great mourning. 53 Then all the nations around them sought to crush them, for they said, “They have no leader, and no one to help them. Now is the time — let us make war on them, and wipe out their memory from among mankind.”