A Battle between Ptolemy and Alexander

1King Ptolemy the Sixth of Egypt got together more ships and soldiers than anyone could count. Then he made a secret plan to take over the kingdom of his son-in-law Alexander.

2Ptolemy led his forces toward Syria and told each town he came to that he was on a friendly visit. Everyone believed Ptolemy and welcomed him, just as his son-in-law Alexander had ordered them to do. 3But he stationed soldiers in their towns.

4The people of Azotus met Ptolemy and showed him all that was left of their town, of the nearby villages, and of the temple of Dagon that had been destroyed by fire. They also showed him the piles of dead and burned bodies they had heaped up beside the road after the battle with Jonathan. 5Everyone blamed Jonathan for all the damage, but Ptolemy said nothing.

6Jonathan met Ptolemy at the town of Joppa, and Jonathan honored him. The two men spent the night there, 7then the next day Jonathan rode with him to the Eleutherus River before heading back for Jerusalem.

8Soon Ptolemy had command of the towns on the coast as far as Seleucia. He kept plotting against Alexander, 9and one day he sent a message to Demetrius the king, which said:

Let's make an agreement. I will arrange for you to marry my daughter Cleopatra, the wife of Alexander. Then you can rule your father's kingdom. 10It was a big mistake to let Alexander marry her. He even tried to have me murdered!

11Ptolemy said other insulting things about Alexander because he wanted his kingdom. 12Then he ordered Cleopatra to leave Alexander, and he told Demetrius to marry her. Now Ptolemy and Alexander hated each other, and everyone knew it. 13Ptolemy went to the city of Antioch, where he crowned himself king--both of Syria and of Egypt.

Alexander and Ptolemy Die

14Meanwhile, Alexander had gone to the country of Cilicia because some towns there had rebelled against him. 15When Alexander heard what Ptolemy had done, he attacked him, but Ptolemy's large army defeated Alexander and forced him to retreat.

16After Ptolemy won this important victory, Alexander found a hiding place in Arabia, 17but Zabdiel the Arab chopped off Alexander's head and sent it to Ptolemy. 18Three days later, Ptolemy himself died, and the people in his fortresses killed the soldiers he had stationed there.

19In the year 167 of the Syrian Kingdom, Demetrius the Second became king.

Jonathan and King Demetrius the Second

20A little later, Jonathan gathered an army in Judea. He built a lot of weapons to break through city walls and then attacked the fortress in Jerusalem.

21King Demetrius the Second found out about the attack from some Jews who really hated the other Jews. 22Demetrius became furious, and right away he went to the city of Ptolemais. From there he wrote a letter to Jonathan and said, "Stop attacking the fortress in Jerusalem! Come to Ptolemais as soon as you can. We need to talk."

23After Jonathan read the letter, he ordered his soldiers to keep up the attack. Then he risked his own life by taking some of the priests and leaders 24to Ptolemais. He brought silver, gold, some clothing, and many other gifts for Demetrius, which made Demetrius friendly toward him.

25Some Jews who were unfaithful to their Law kept bringing charges against Jonathan. 26But Demetrius treated him well, just as the rulers before him had done. And one day, when all the trusted friends of Demetrius were there, he gave Jonathan an even higher honor 27by making him one of his most trusted friends. Demetrius also let Jonathan continue as high priest and keep all the honors he had already been given.

28Jonathan asked Demetrius to stop collecting taxes from Judea and the three districts of Samaria, and, in return, he promised to give him 300,000 pieces of silver. 29Demetrius agreed, then wrote the following letter:

30King Demetrius sends greetings to his good friend Jonathan and to the Jewish nation.

31I am sending you a copy of the letter I wrote about you to my friend Lasthenes, and here is what I said:

32"King Demetrius sends greetings to his dear friend Lasthenes.

33"The Jews are our friends, and I have decided to do them a big favor since they are loyal to us and can be trusted to keep their promises. 34 The three regions of Aphairema, Lydda, and Ramathaim, together with the land around them, used to belong to Samaria. Now they belong to Judea and are an official possession of the Jews.

"Those Jews who offer sacrifices in Jerusalem don't have to pay me my share of their grain and fruit each year. 35And they don't have to pay me a tenth of their crops, the fee on salt, the special royal tax, or any other taxes.

36"Lasthenes, no one may ever change even one of these orders. 37Make a copy of this letter and send it to Jonathan. He will put it on God's holy mountain where it can be seen by everyone."

Trypho Plots against Demetrius the Second

38No one opposed King Demetrius the Second, and his kingdom was at peace. So he sent his own soldiers back home and kept only the foreign troops he had hired from the Greek islands. But this made his own soldiers turn against him, because they had fought for many years, first in his father's army and then in his.

39Trypho had been a follower of Alexander Epiphanes, and when he found out how angry all of Demetrius' troops were, he went to Imalkue the Arab, who was taking care of Antiochus the Sixth, the young son of King Alexander.

40Trypho stayed with Imalkue a long time and kept begging him to hand over the young boy. He said, "Antiochus should take his father's place as king, because Demetrius has let all of his own soldiers go, and they hate him for it."

41Meanwhile, Jonathan sent the following message to Demetrius:

Please take your soldiers out of the fortresses around here, especially the one in Jerusalem. They keep attacking us.

42Demetrius wrote back:

Jonathan, of course I will do what you and your people have asked. And I will show great honors to you and your people as soon as I can.

43For now, please do me a favor and send some troops to help me, because my own soldiers have rebelled.

44Jonathan sent a heavily armed force of 3,000 soldiers to the city of Antioch, and Demetrius was very glad to see them.

45Not long after this, a mob of about 120,000 people tried to kill Demetrius. 46They took over the streets and started rioting. So Demetrius ran away to his palace 47and ordered the Jewish soldiers to protect him.

They came and made sure Demetrius was safe. Then they went through the entire city, killing almost 100,000 people. 48They not only rescued Demetrius that day, but they also set the city on fire and took everything of value.

49When the people of Antioch saw that the Jews had taken over their city, they were terrified and begged Demetrius for help. They shouted, 50"Please make peace with us! Order the Jews to stop attacking us and our city."

51Demetrius made peace with the people as soon as they had put down their weapons. The Jewish soldiers had earned the respect of everyone in his kingdom, and they returned to Jerusalem with all the things they had captured.

52Demetrius was now in complete control of his kingdom again, and there was no more trouble. 53Before long, he forgot how much Jonathan had helped him, and he broke his promises to Jonathan by treating him like an enemy and causing him a lot of trouble.

Jonathan and Antiochus Become Friends

54When Trypho came back from his visit to Imalkue the Arab, he brought young Antiochus the Sixth with him, and the boy began to rule as king.

55The soldiers that King Demetrius the Second had sent home now sided with Antiochus and Trypho. They attacked Demetrius, forcing him to run for his life. 56Trypho captured Demetrius' elephants as well as the city of Antioch.

57Young King Antiochus wrote a letter to Jonathan, in which he said:

I will let you continue as high priest. I have also made you one of my trusted friends and the ruler of the four regions.

58I am sending you some gold plates and dishes, and I am giving you permission to drink from a gold cup and to wear royal robes and a gold buckle.

59Your brother Simon is now the ruler of the land from Phoenicia to the Egyptian border.

The Wars of Jonathan and Simon

60Jonathan left Judea and led his army across the Jordan River. They were going from town to town, when the entire Syrian army arrived and offered to help them fight. So Jonathan took his forces to the town of Askalon, where the people welcomed and honored them.

61He led his troops to the town of Gaza, but its people refused to let them enter. Then they surrounded the town and took everything of value from the villages nearby.

When Jonathan's forces burned down these villages, 62the people of Gaza begged him not to destroy their town. He agreed, but he sent the sons of Gaza's rulers as hostages to Jerusalem. After this, Jonathan led his army as far as Damascus.

63Someone told Jonathan:

King Demetrius the Second has sent a large force under the command of royal officers to the town of Kadesh in Galilee. The officers have orders to make you give up your position as high priest.

64Simon stayed behind in Judea while his brother Jonathan set out to attack the army of Demetrius. 65Simon attacked the town of Beth-Zur and kept it surrounded for a long time 66before it surrendered to him. He took command of Beth-Zur and told its people to leave. Then he stationed his own troops there.

67Meanwhile, Jonathan and his soldiers had set up camp near Lake Galilee. And early one morning, he led them to Hazor Valley.

68Demetrius' army of foreign troops was waiting for them in the valleys. Some of them attacked immediately, while others waited behind some hills, ready to make a surprise attack.

69When the enemy soldiers came out of their hiding places and attacked, 70almost all the Jewish troops ran away, except two officers by the names of Mattathias and Judas.

71Jonathan ripped his clothes and put dirt on his head to show his sorrow. Then he prayed 72and returned to the battle. His army defeated their enemies and made them run for their lives.

73When the Jewish troops that had deserted saw their enemies trying to escape, they returned and helped chase them as far as the enemy camp at Kadesh. The Jews set up camp there, 74and Jonathan went back to Jerusalem. About 3,000 foreign soldiers were killed that day.