Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
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Alliances with Rome and Sparta
1 When Jonathan saw that
things were working out to
his advantage, he chose ambassadors
and sent them to Rome to confirm
and renew friendship with the
Romans.
2 He also sent letters with a
similar message to Sparta and other
places.
3 The ambassadors went to
Rome, where they were admitted to
the Senate chamber, and reported
that the High Priest Jonathan and
the Jewish nation had sent them to
renew the earlier ties of friendship
and alliance with Rome.
4 The Romans
provided them with letters to
the authorities in each country
through which they would pass,
guaranteeing them safe conduct in
their return to the land of Judea.
5 Here is a copy of the letter Jonathan
wrote to the Spartans:
6 “Jonathan the High Priest,
the national council of leaders,
the priests, and the rest of the
people of Judea, to our brothers
in Sparta, greetings.
7 At an earlier
time, your King Arius sent a
letter to our High Priest Onias,
stating that our two nations are
related, as the attached copy
shows.
8 Onias received your
ambassador with full honors
and acknowledged receipt of
your letter, which declared our
alliance and friendship.
9 And
now, although we are not in
need of such alliances, since we
find our source of strength in the
holy books we possess,
10 we
have written to renew our ties of
brotherhood and friendship with
you. We do not wish to become
total strangers, and it has now
been many years since your last
communication.
11 Throughout
the years we have taken every
opportunity, on our festival days
and other suitable days, to remember
you when we have offered
our sacrifices and made
our prayers, as it is fitting and
proper for brothers to do.
12 We
also are pleased that fame has
come to you.
13 But we have had
one series of troubles after another
and have had to fight
-- --
many wars, because we have
been under constant attack by
surrounding nations.
14 During
this time of war, we did not wish
to trouble you or our other allies
and friends.
15 since we do have
the help of the Lord, who has defeated
our enemies and rescued
us from them.
16 So we have chosen
Numenius son of Antiochus
together with Antipater son of
Jason and sent them as ambassadors
to Rome to renew our
ties of friendship and alliance
with the Romans.
17 We have
also ordered them to go to you
with our greetings and deliver
this letter about the renewal of
our ties of brotherhood.
18 And
now we request an answer to
this letter.
19 “The following is a copy of
the earlier letter:
20 “‘King Arius of Sparta to
Onias the High Priest, greetings.
21 We have found a document
about the Spartans and the Jews
indicating that we are related
and that both of our nations are
descended from Abraham.
22 Now that we have discovered
this, please send us a report
about your situation.
23 In reply,
we will send you a letter indicating
that we are willing to share
our possessions, including cattle
and property, if you will do the
same. We have given orders to
our ambassadors to give you a
full report about these matters.’”
Campaigns of Jonathan and Simon
24 Jonathan learned that the officers
of Demetrius had returned to attack
him with an even larger army
than before.
25 Jonathan did not
want to give them an opportunity to
penetrate his own territory, so he
left Jerusalem and went to meet
them in the region of Hamath.
26 Jonathan sent spies into the enemy
camp, who reported to him that
the enemy forces were making plans
to attack the Jews by night.
27 At
sunset Jonathan ordered all his soldiers
to be on the alert and to have
their weapons ready for a surprise
attack any time during the night. He
also stationed guards all around the
camp.
28 When the enemy soldiers
learned that Jonathan and his men
were ready for battle, they were
panic-stricken and fled, leaving their
campfires burning.
29 Jonathan and
his men saw the campfires but did
not realize what had happened until
the next morning.
30 Jonathan then
set out after them, but he could not
overtake them because they had already
crossed the Eleutherus River.
31 Then Jonathan turned aside and
attacked a tribe of Arabs called Zabadeans.
He defeated them and plundered
their possessions.
32 Then he
broke camp and went to Damascus,
inspecting the entire area along the
way.
33 Meanwhile, Simon had also set
out on a campaign and had advanced
as far as Ashkelon and the
neighboring fortresses. Then he
turned aside to Joppa
34 and stationed
a detachment of soldiers
there because he had heard that the
people were planning to hand over
the fortress of Joppa to the soldiers
of Demetrius.
35 When Jonathan returned, he
called the council of the leaders together
and made plans with them to
build fortresses in Judea,
36 to increase
the height of the walls of Jerusalem,
and to build a high wall to
-- --
separate the fort from the city. This
would isolate the fort, making it impossible
for the enemy to buy or sell
anything.
37 The people worked together
to strengthen the city's defenses
because a part of the east
wall along the Kidron Valley had
collapsed and the Chaphenatha section
was in need of repair.
38 Simon
also rebuilt the town of Adida in the
foothills. He fortified it and constructed
barred gates for it.
Trypho Captures Jonathan
39 Then Trypho plotted a rebellion
against King Antiochus so that he
could make himself king of Syria.
40 He was afraid, however, that Jonathan
would not agree to this and
would go to war against him to prevent
it. So Trypho got his army
ready and went to Beth Shan in the
hope of capturing Jonathan and putting
him to death.
41 But Jonathan
also came to Beth Shan with 40,000
well-trained soldiers.
42 When
Trypho saw how large an army
Jonathan had brought with him, he
was afraid to take action.
43 So he received
Jonathan with all honors,
presented him to all his advisers,
gave him gifts, and ordered his advisers
and soldiers to obey Jonathan
as they would him.
44 He asked Jonathan,
“Why have you put these soldiers
to so much trouble when we
are not at war?
45 Why don't you
send them home? Choose a few men
to stay with you, and then accompany
me to Ptolemais. I will hand
the city over to you, as well as the
rest of the fortresses, the troops, and
all the officials. Then I will turn
around and leave. In fact, that's why
I am here.”
46 Jonathan believed him,
and following his advice, sent his
soldiers back to Judea.
47 He took
3,000 men with him, but left 2,000 of
them in Galilee, while only 1,000 accompanied
him the rest of the way.
48 But when Jonathan entered Ptolemais,
the people of the city locked
the gates, arrested him, and killed
everyone who had come with him.
49 Trypho sent infantry and cavalry
units to Galilee and Jezreel Valley
to kill the rest of Jonathan's soldiers.
50 The Jewish troops thought
that Jonathan had been captured
and killed, along with all those who
had accompanied him, so they encouraged
one another and marched
out in battle formation.
51 When the
approaching enemy forces saw that
the Jews were ready to fight for their
lives, they turned back.
52 Then the
Jewish soldiers returned to Judea
safely, but terribly afraid. The whole
nation was in deep mourning, assuming
that Jonathan and all his
men had been killed.
53 All the surrounding
nations now tried to destroy
them. They thought that the
Jews had no leaders or allies and
that the time was ripe to annihilate
them and put an end to their history.
Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
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