Then came Ionathas to Ierusalem, and red the letters in the audience of all the people, and of them that were in þe; castell. And therfore were they sore afrayed, because they herde, that the kynge had geu&ebar; him licence to gather an hoost. Thus were the pledges delyuered vnto Ionathas, which restored them to their elders. B   Ionathas also dwelt at Ierusalem, and beg&abar;ne to buylde vp and to repayre the cite: commaundinge the worke men, to wall it, and the mount Sion rounde aboute with fre stone, to be a stronge holde, and so they dyd. As for the Heithen that were in þe; castels which Bachides had made vp, they fled: so that euery man left the place, and w&ebar;te in to his owne countre. Onely at Bethsura remayned certayne of the Iewes, which had forsaken the lawe and c&obar;maundementes of God, for Bethsura was their refuge.

Now when kynge Alexander herde of þe; promises þt; Demetrius had made vnto Ionathas, and when it was tolde him of þe; batels and noble actes, which he and his brethren had done, and of the greate trauayles that they had taken: he saide: where shal we fynde soch a man? wel, we will make him oure frende, ∧ be confederate with him. Vpon this he wrote a lettre vnto him, &wt; these wordes: kinge Alex&abar;der saluteth his brother Ionathas. We haue herde of the, þt; thou art a valeaunt man, ∧ mete to be o&highr; frende: wherfore this daye we ordene the to be the hye prest of thy people, and to be called the kynges frende. (Vpon this, he sente him a purple clothinge ∧ a crowne of golde) þt; thou mayest considre what is for oure profit, ∧ kepe frendshipe towarde vs.

C   So in the vij. moneth of the C.lx. yeare vpon the solempne feast daye of the tabernacles, Ionathas put the holy rayment vpon him. Then gathered he an hoost, ∧ made many weap&ebar;s. Which when Demetrius herde, he was maruelous sory, ∧ sayde: Alas, what haue we done, þt; Alexander hath preuented vs in gettinge the frendshipe of the Iewes, for his owne defence? Yet wil I wryte louingly vnto them also, yee ∧ promise them dignities ∧ rewardes, þt; they maye be of my syde. Whervpon he wrote vnto th&ebar; these wordes: Kinge Demetrius sendeth gretinge vnto þe; people of the Iewes. Where as ye haue kepte yo&highr; couenaunt towarde vs, ∧ c&obar;tinued in o&highr; frendshipe, not enclyninge to oure enemies we were glad, when we herde therof. Wherfore remayne still ∧ be faithfull to vs: ∧ we shal wel rec&obar;pense you for the thinges, þt; ye haue done on o&highr; partie: we shall release you

of many charges, and geue you rewardes.

And now I discharge you ∧ all þe; Iewes from tributes, I forgeue you the customes of salt, and release you of the crowne taxes, of the thirde parte of sede, and half of the frute of trees, which is myne owne dewty. These I leaue for you, from this daye forth: so that they shall not be taken of the londe of Iuda ner of the thre cities which are added thervnto out of Samaria and Galilee, from this daye forth for euermore. D   Ierusal&ebar; also with all thinges bel&obar;ginge therto, shalbe holy and fre, yee þe; tithes ∧ tributes shal pertayne vnto it. As for the power of þe; castell which is at Ierusalem, I remytte ∧ geue it vnto the hye prest, that he maye set in it soch men, as he shall chose to kepe it. I frely delyuer all the Iewes that are presoners thorow out all my realme: so that euery one of them shalbe fre from payenge eny tribute, yee euen of their catell.

All the sol&ebar;pne feastes, Sabbathes, New mones, the dayes appoynted, the thre daies before and after the feast shall be fre for all the Iewes in my realme: so that in them no man shal haue power to do eny thinge, or to moue eny busynesse agaynst eny of them in eny maner of cause. There shal xxx.M. also of the Iewes be written vp in the kynges hoost, and haue their wages payed, as all other men of warre of the kynges shulde haue: and of them shalbe ordened certayne, to kepe the kynges stronge holdes: yee and some of them shalbe set ouer the kynges busynesse, that they maye faithfully deale with the same. The Iewes also shal haue prynces of their owne, ∧ walke in their owne lawes, as the kynge hath commaunded in the londe of Iuda.

And the thre cities that are fallen vnto Iewry from the countre of Samaria and Galilee: shalbe taken as Iewry, and be vnder one: nether be subiecte to eny straunge lorde, but to the hye prest. As for Ptolomais and the londe pertayninge therto, I geue it vnto the Sanctuary at Ierusalem, for the necessary exp&ebar;ces of the holy thinges. E   Morouer, I will geue euery yeare xv.M. Sycles of syluer out of þe; kynges checker (which pertayneth vnto me) to the worke of the temple: yee ∧ loke what remayneth (which they þt; had oure matters in honde in tymes past, haue not payed) that same shal they geue vnto them also. And besydes all this, the v.M. sycles which they toke yearly of the r&ebar;tes of the Sanctuary, shal belonge vnto the prestes that do seruyce.

Item, who so euer they be that fle vnto the temple at Ierusalem or within the liberties therof, where as they are fallen in to the kynges daunger for eny maner of busynes, they shall be pardoned, and all the goodes that they haue in my realme, shalbe fre. For the buyldinge also ∧ repayringe of the worke of the Sanctuary, expenses shalbe geuen out of the kynges Checker: Yee and for the makinge of the walles rounde aboute Ierusalem, for the breakinge downe of the olde, and for the settinge vp of the stronge holdes in Iewry, shal þe; costes and charges be geuen out of the kynges Checker.

^noteBut when Ionathas and the people herde these wordes, they gaue no credence vnto them, nether receaued them: for they remembred the greate wickednesse that he had done vnto Israel, and how sore he had vexed them. Wherfore they agreed vnto Alexander, for he was a prynce that had dealte frendly with them, and so they stode by him allwaye. Th&ebar; gathered kynge Alex&abar;der a greate hoost, and brought his armye agaynst Demetrius. So þe; two kynges stroke battayll together, ^note but Demetrius hoost fled, and Alexander folowed after and fell vpon them. A mightie sore felde was it, continuynge till the Sonne wente downe, and Demetrius was slayne the same daye.

F   And Alexander sente embassitours vnto Ptolomy the kynge of Egipte with these wordes, sayenge: For so moch as I am come agayne to my realme, and am set in the trone of my progenitours, and haue gotten the dominion, ouer come Demetrius, conquered the londe, and striken a felde with him, so that we haue discomfited both him and his hoost, and syt in the trone of his kyngdome: Let vs now make frendshipe together, geue me thy daughter to wife: so shall I be thy sonne in lawe, and both geue the rewardes, and hir greate dignite. Ptolomy the kynge gaue answere, sayenge: Happy be the daye wherin thou art come agayne to the londe of thy progenitours, and set in the trone of their kyngdome. And now will I fulfill thy writynge: but mete me at Ptolomais, þt; we maye se one another, and that I maye mary my doughter vnto the acordinge to thy desyre. So Ptolomy w&ebar;te out of Egipte with his doughter Cleopatra, ∧ came vnto Ptolomais in þe; Clxij. yeare: where kynge Alex&abar;der met him, ∧ he gaue Alexander his doughter Cleopatra, and maried them at Ptolomais with greate worshipe, like as the maner of kynges is to be.

Then wrote kynge Alexander vnto Ionathas, that he shulde come and mete him. So he wente honorably vnto Ptolomais, ∧ there he met the two kinges, and gaue them greate presentes of golde and syluer, ∧ founde fauoure in their sight. G   And there came together agaynst Ionathas certayne wicked men and vngracious personnes of Israel, makynge complayntes of him, but the kynge regarded them not. As for Ionathas, the kynge commaunded to take of his garmentes, and to clothe him in purple: and so they dyd. Then the kynge appoynted him to syt by him, and sayde vnto his prynces: Go with him in to the myddest of the cite, and make a proclamacion, that no man complayne agaynst him of eny matter, and that no man trouble him for eny maner of cause.

So it happened that when his accusers sawe the worshipe which was proclamed of him, ∧ þt; he was clothed in purple: they fled euerychone. And the kynge made moch of him, wrote him amonge his chefe frendes, made him a duke, and partaker of his dominion. Thus Ionathas wente agayne to Ierusalem with peace and gladnesse. ^noteIn the Clxv. yeare came Demetrius the sonne of Demetrius from Creta in to his fathers londe: wherof when Alexander herde tell, he was right sory, and returned vnto Antioche. ^noteAnd Demetrius chose Appollonius (which had the gouernaunce of Celosyria) to be his captayne.

So he gathered a greate hoost and came vnto Iamnia, and sende worde vnto Ionathas the hye prest, sayenge: Darrest thou &wt; stonde vs thy self alone? As for me, I am but laughed to scorne and shamed, because thou prouest thy strength agaynst vs in the mountaynes. H   Now therfore yf thou trustest in thyne owne strength, come downe to vs in to the playne felde, and there let vs proue oure strength together: thou shalt fynde, that I haue valeaunt men of warre with me: and shalt knowe who I am, ∧ the other that stonde by me.

Which saye, that youre fote is not able to stonde before oure face, for thy fathers haue bene twyse chaced in to their owne londe. And now, how wylt thou be able to abyde so greate an hoost of horsmen and fotemen in the felde, where as is nether rocke, stone ner place to fle vnto?

When Ionathas herde the wordes of Appollonius, he was moued in his mynde: wherfore he chose x. thousande men and wente out of Ierusalem, and Symon his brother met him for to helpe him: And they pitched their tentes at Ioppa, but the cite kepte him forth, for Ioppa was an holde of Appollonius. Then Ionathas layed sege to it, and they that were in the cite, for very feare let him in: and so Ionathas wanne Ioppa. Appollonius hearinge of this, toke thre thousande horsmen, with a greate hoost of fote, and wente as though he wolde go to Azotus, ∧ came Immediatly in to the playne felde: because he had so many horsm&ebar;, and put his trust in th&ebar;. So Ionathas folowed vpon him to Azotus, ∧ there they stroke the battayll. Now had Appollonius lefte a M. horsmen behynde them pryuely in the t&ebar;tes. And when Ionathas knewe that soch waite was layed behynde them, they w&ebar;te rounde aboute the enemies hoost, and shot dartes at the people from the mornynge to the euenynge. As for Ionathas people, they kepte their ordre as he had commaunded them, ∧ the enemies horses were euer labouringe.

I   Then brought Symon forth his hoost, and set them agaynst the fote men. For the horsm&ebar; were weery allready. So he discomfited them, and they fled. And they that were scatred in the felde, gat them to Azotus, and came in to the temple of Dagon their Idol, þt; they might there saue their lyues. But Ionathas set fyre vpon Azotus and all the cities rounde aboute it, ∧ toke their goodes, ^noteand br&ebar;t vp the temple of Dagon with all them that were fled in to it.

Thus were slayne and br&ebar;t well nye viij. thousande men. So Ionathas remoued the hoost from thence, and brought them to Ascalon: where þe; men of the cite came forth, and met him with greate worshipe. After this wente Ionathas and his hoost agayne to Ierusalem, with greate substaunce of good. And when kynge Alexander herde these thinges, he thought to do Ionathas more worshipe, ∧ sent him a colar of golde, as the vse is to be geuen vnto soch as are of the kynges nexte bloude. He gaue him also þe; cite of Accaron (with the londes belongynge therto) in possession.

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