A   Ionathas seynge that the time was mete for hym, chose certayne men and sent them vnto Rome for too stablyshe and to

renue the frendship wyth them. ^noteHe sent letters also vnto Sparta, ∧ to other places in lyke maner. So they wente vnto Rome. ∧ entred into the co&ubar;sel and sayde: Ionathas the hie prest and the people of the Iewes sent vs vnto you, for to renue the old freudship and bond of loue. Vp&obar; this the Romaynes gane them fre pasportes, that men should lede th&ebar; home into the lande of Iuda peaceably. And thys is the copy of the letters that Ionathas wrote vnto the Spartians:

Ionathas the hie prest with the elders, prestes, ∧ the other people of the Iewes, sende greting vnto the Spatryans their brethren.
There were letters sente longe agoo vnto Onias the hye prest, fr&obar; Arius, whyche than raigned among you: þt; ye are oure brethren, as the wrytynge made ther vpon, specifieth. And Onias entreated the embassitoure that was s&ebar;t, honorably, and receaued the letters wherein there was mency&obar; made of þe; bonde of loue ∧ frendship. But as for vs, we nede no such wrytinges: for why, we haue þe; holy B   bokes of scripture in oure handes to our c&obar;forte. Neuertheles, we had rather send vnto you, for the renuyng of the brotherhode and frendshippe: lest we should be straunge vnto you, for it is longe, sens the tyme that ye sent wordes vnto vs. Wherfore in þe; sacryfices þt; we offer ∧ other ceremonyes vp&obar; the hye solempne dayes and other, we alwaye remember you wythout ceassyng (like as reason is, ∧ as it bec&obar;meth vs to thincke vp&obar; oure brethren) yea and are ryght glad of your prosperous honour.

And thoughe, we haue had great troubles and warres, so that the kynges aboute vs haue foughten agaynste vs: yet woulde we not be greuous vnto you ner to other of our louers and frendes in these warres. For we haue had helpe from heauen, so that we are delyuered, and our enemies subdued. Wherfore we chose Numenius the sonne of Antiochus aud Antipater the sonne of Iason, and sent them vnto the Romaynes, for to renue the olde bond of frendshippe and loue wyth them. We commaunded them also to come vnto you, to salute you, and to delyuer you oure letters, concernyng the renouacyon of our brotherhode. And now ye shal do ryghte wel, C   to geue vs an answer thervnto.

And thys is the copye of the wryttynge, whych Arius the kynge of Sparta sente vnto Onias: Arius king of the Spartians sendeth gretynge vnto Onias the hye preste. It is founde in wrytynge, that the Spartyans and Iewes are brethr&ebar;, and come oute of the generacion of Abrah&abar;. And now for so much as this is come to our knowledge, ye shal do wel, to write vnto vs of youre prosperytye. As for vs, we haue wrytt&ebar; our mynde vnto you: Oure catell and goodes are yours, and yours, ours. These thinges haue we c&obar;ma&ubar;ded to shewed vnto you.

When Ionathas herde, that Demetryus prynces were come forth to fyght agaynste hym, wyth a greter hoost then afore, he w&ebar;t from Ierusalem, ∧ met them in the lande of Hemath, for he gaue them not space to come into his owne co&ubar;tre. And he sente spyes vnto their tentes, which came agayne and tolde hym, that they were appoynted to come vp&obar; hym in the night season. Wherfore when the sunne was gone downe, Ionathas c&obar;maunded his men to watch all the nyght, and to be ready &wt; weapens for to fyghte: ∧ set watchmen rounde aboute the hoost. D   But when the aduersaries hearde that Ionathas was ready wyth his men to the battayll, they feared, ∧ were afrayed in theyr hertes, and kindled fyres in their tentes, brake vp, and gat them awaye. Neuertheles Ionathas and hys company knew it not tyl the mornynge, for they saw the fires burning.

Then Ionathas folowed vpon them, but he myght not ouertake them, for they were gone ouer the water Eleutherus. So Ionathas departed vnto the Arabi&abar;s (which were called Zabadei) slew th&ebar;, ∧ toke their goods. He proceded further also, and came vnto Damascus, and went thorowe all that countre. But Symon hys brother toke hys iourneye and came to Ascalon and to the nexte strong holdes: departyng vnto Ioppa, and wanne it. For he herde that they wold stande of Demetrius partye: wherfore he sente men of war inot the cyte, to kepe it. After this came Ionathas home agayne, ∧ called the elders of the people together: and deuysed with th&ebar; for to buylde vp&obar; the str&obar;g holdes in Iewry, and the walles of Ierusalem, to sette vp an hye wall betwixt the castell and the citye, for to separate it from the citye, that it myght be alone, and that men shoulde neyther bye nor sell in it.

Vpon this thei came together for to builde vp the citie: ∧ for asmuch as the wal vpon the broke of the west side (called Caphethetah) was fall&ebar; doune, they repaired it. And Sim&obar; set vp Adiadah in Sephelah, E   ∧ made it str&obar;g, settynge portes ∧ lockes vpon it. ^noteNow when Tryphon purposed to raygne in Asya, to be crowned, ∧ to slaye the kynge Antiochus: he was afrayed that Ionathas wolde not suffer him, but fight against him. Wherfore he w&ebar;t about to take Ionathas: and to kyl hym.

So he departed, and came vnto Bethsan. Then wente Ionathas forth agaynst him to the battayll with fourtye thousande chosen men, and came vnto Bethsan also. But when Tryphon sawe that Ionathas came wyth so greate an Hoste to destroye hym, he was afrayed: and therfore he receaued him honorably, c&obar;mended hym vnto al his frendes, ∧ gaue hym rewardes, and commaunded hys men of warre to be as obedyent vnto him, as to hym selfe.

And sayde vnto Ionathas: why hast thou caused thys people to take suche trauayle, seyng there is no warre betwyxte vs? Therfore

sende them home againe, and chose certayne men to wayte, vp&obar; the, ∧ come thou &wt; me to Ptolomais: for I wil geue it the, wyth the other str&obar;g holdes, men of warre ∧ their officers: As for me, I muste departe, thys is only the cause of my c&obar;myng. F   Ionathas beleued him, and dyd as he sayde, puttynge awaye his host, which wente into the land of of Iuda. He kepte but .iij.M. by hym, wherof he sente .ij.M. into Galyle, and one. M. wente with him selfe.

Nowe as soone as Ionathas entred into Ptolomias, the cytesens spared the gates of the citye, and toke him, and slewe al them wyth the swerde, þt; came in wyth him. Then sent Triphon an Host of fote men and horsmen into Galile and into the greate playne felde, to destroie al Ionathas company. But when they knew that Ionathas was taken, ∧ all they slayne that wayted vpon him: they toke councell together, ∧ came forth readye to þe; battayll. So when they which folowed vpon th&ebar;, sawe that it was a matter of lyfe, they turned backe agayne. As for the other, they went into the land of Iuda peaceably, and bewayled Ionathas, and them that were with him ryghtsore. And Israel made great lamentacyon. Then all the Heathen þt; were rounde aboute them, sought to destroy them For they sayde: now haue they no captayne, nor any man to helpe them. Therfore lett vs ouercome them, and rote out their name fr&obar; among men.

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