A   And the kynge of Egypte gathered an hoost (lyke the sande that lyeth vp&obar; þe; see shore) and many shipes: ^note ∧ w&ebar;t aboute thorow disceate to optayne þe; kingdome of Alex&abar;der, ∧ to ioyne it vnto hys awne realme. Up&obar; thys he toke hys iourney into Siria, ∧ was lett&ebar; into the cyties, and m&ebar; came forth to mete hym: for kyng Alexander had commaunded them so to do, because he was hys father in lawe. Now wh&ebar; Ptolomy entred into eny cytie, he lefte men of warre to kepe it, and this he dyd thorow out all the cities. And when he came to Azotus, ^note they shewed hym the temple of Dag&obar; and Azotus that was brent vp, with the other thynges whych were destroyed, the deed bodyes cast abrode, ∧ þe; graues that they had made by þe; waye syde, for soch as were slayne in þe; felde. And tolde þe; kyng that Ionathas had done all these thynges, to þe; int&ebar;t they might get hys euell wyll. But the kynge sayde not a worde therto. And Ionathas met the kynge wyth greate honour at Ioppa, where they saluted one another, and toke theyr rest. So wh&ebar; Ionathas had gone &wt; þe; kyng vnto the water that was called Eleutherus he turned agayne to Ierusalem.

Nowe Ptolomye had gotten the domynion of the cyties vnto Seleucia vpon þe; see coast, ymaginynge wycked councels agaynst Alex&abar;der, and sent ambassitours vnto Demetrius, saying. Come, let vs make a bond betwyxte vs, B   so shall I geue the my daughter that Alexander hath, and thou shalt raygne in thy fathers kyngdome. I repente that I gaue Alexander my daughter, for the goeth aboute to sley me. And thus he sclaundred Alexander, because he wolde haue had hys realme.

Thus he toke hys daughter from hym, gaue her vnto Demetrius, and forsoke Alexander, so that his malyce was openly knowne. And Ptolomy cam to Antioche, where he set two crownes vp&obar; hys awne head: the crowne of Egypt and of Asia. In the meane season was kynge Alexander in Cilicia, for they that dwelt in those places, had rebelled agaynst him. But when Alex&abar;der herde of thys, he came to warre agaynst hym. So kynge Ptolomy brought forth hys hoost ∧ met hym with a myghty power, and chased him awaye. Then fled Alexander into Araby, there to be defended, and kynge Ptolomyes honoure increased. And Zabdiel þe; Arabian smote of Alexanders head, and sent it vnto Ptolomy. But the thyrde daye after, dyed kynge Ptolomy hym selfe: and whom he had sett in the str&obar;ge holdes, were slayne of those that were wythin the cyties. C   And Demetrius raygned in the hundred and seuen and syxtie yeare.

At the same tyme gathered Ionathas th&ebar; that were in Iewry, to laye sege vnto the castell whych was at Ierusalem, and so they made many instrumentes of warre agaynst it. Then wente there certayne vngodly personnes (whych hated their awne people) vnto kynge Demetrius, and tolde hym that Ionathas beseged the castell. So wh&ebar; he heard it, he was angrie, and immediatly came vnto Ptolomais, and wrote vnto Ionathas, that he shulde not laye sege to the castell, but come and speake wyth him in all the haste. Neuertheles, when Ionathas herde this, he commaunded to besege it. He chose also certayne of the elders and prestes of Israel, and put him selfe in the parell, and toke with him golde, syluer, clothynge, and diuerse presentes: ∧ wente to Ptolomais vnto the kynge, and founde hym gracyous.

And though certayne vngodly men of hys awne people made c&obar;plaintes vpon him, yet þe; kynge intreated hym, ^note lyke as hys predecessours had done before: and promoted hym in the syght of all his frendes, c&obar;fyrmed hym in the hye presthode with all þe; worshyp þt; he had afore, and made him hys chefe fr&ebar;de. Ionathas also desyred the kyng, that he wolde make Iewry fre, ^note &wt; the thre head cyties of Samaria and the landes pertaynynge therto: vpon thys dyd Ionathas promyse hym thre. C talentes. Where vnto þe; kynge c&obar;sented, ∧ gaue Ionathas wrytinge of the same, conteyning these wordes: Kinge Demetrius sendeth gretyng vnto his brother Ionathas ∧ to the people of the Iewes. We sende you here a copy of the lettre which we dyd wryte vnto oure elder Lasthenus, concernynge you that ye shulde knowe it.

D   Kynge Demetrius sendeth gretynge vnto Lasthenus hys elder. For the faythfulnesse þt; oure frendes the people of the Iewes kepe vnto vs, and for the louyng kyndnes which they beare towarde vs: we are determyned to do th&ebar; good. Wherfore we ordeyne all the coastes of Iewry with thre cyties, Lydda ∧ Ramatha (whych are added vnto Iewrye from Samaria) and all the landes pertaynynge there vnto, to be frely separated for soche as do sacrifyce in Ierusal&ebar;: both concernynge the paymentes which the kynge toke yearly afore tyme, and the frutes also of the earth and trees. As for other tythes and tributes that belonged vnto vs, we discharge them therof from thys tyme forth. In lyke maner we graunte vnto them all the customes of salt and crowne taxes, whych were brought vnto vs. And this fredome shall they haue fyrme and stedfast, from thys tyme forth for euermore. Therfore se that ye make a copy of these our lettres, and delyuer it vnto Ionathas: that it maye be kepte vp&obar; the holy mount in a conuenient place.

E   After thys, when Demetrius the kynge sawe that his lande was in rest, and that no resysta&ubar;ce was made him: he sent awaye all his hoost, euery man to hys awne place, excepte an army of stra&ubar;gers, wh&obar;he brought from the Iles of the Heathen, wherfore all hys fathers hoost had euell wyll at hym. ^note Nowe was there one Triphon (that had bene of Alexanders parte afore) whych when he sawe that all þe; hoost murmured agaynst Demetrius: he wente to Emalcuel the Arabian (that brought vp Antiochus the sonne of Alex&abar;der) and laye sore vpon hym, to delyuer hym this y&obar;ge Antiochus: þt; he myght raygne in hys fathers steade. He tolde hym also, what great euell Demetrius had done, and howe his men of warre loued him not: ∧ so remayned there a longe season.

And Ionathas sent vnto kynge Demetrius, to dryue them out whych were in the castell at Ierusalem, and in the other refugyes, for they dyd Israel greate harme. So Demetrius sent worde vnto Ionathas, sayeng: I wyll not only do thes thynges for þe; and thy people, but at tyme conueni&ebar;t I wil do both the and thy people great worshippe. F   But nowe thou shalt do me a pleasure, yf þu; wylt sende me men to helpe me: for all myne

armye is gone fro me. So Ionathas set him thre thousand stronge men vnto Antioche, ∧ they came vnto þe; kynge, wherfore the kyng was very glad at their comming. But they that were of the cytie (euen an hundred and twenty thousande men) gathered th&ebar; together, and wold haue slayne the kynge, which fled into his court, and the cytesins kepte the stretes of the cytie, and beganne to fyght.

Then the kynge called for the Iewes helpe, whych came vnto hym all together, and wente abrode thorowe the cytie, and slewe the same daye an h&ubar;dred thousande men: set fyre vp&obar; the cytie, gat many spoyles in that daye and delyuered the kynge. So wh&ebar; the cytesyns sawe that the Iewes had gotten their wyll of the cytie, ∧ they them selues disapoynted of their purpose, they made theyr supplicacion vnto the kynge, sayenge: Gra&ubar;t vs peace, and let the Iewes ceasse fr&obar; troublynge vs and the cytie, and vpon this they cast awaye theyr weap&ebar;s. Thus they made peace, and the Iewes gatt great worshyp in the syght of the kinge, and in the syght of all that were in hys realme, and were spoken of thorowe out the kyngdome: and so they came agayne to Ierusal&ebar; wyth great goodes.

G   So the kynge Demetrius sat in the trone of hys kyngdome, and had peace in his l&abar;de. Neuerthelesse, he dyssembled in all that euer he spake, and wyth drewe hym selfe fr&obar; Ionathas, nether rewarded hym accordyng to the benefites which he had done for him, but troubled hym very sore. After thys came Tryphon agayne wyth yonge Antiochus, whych raygned and was crowned kynge. Then there gathered vnto hym all the men of warre, wh&obar; Demetrius had put awaye: these fought against Demetrius, which fled and turned his backe. So Triphon toke the Eleph&abar;tes, ∧ w&abar;ne Antioche. And y&obar;g Antiochus wrote vnto Ionathas, say&ebar;ge: I confyrme the in thy prestode, and make the ruler of .iiij. countres, þt; thou mayest be a fr&ebar;de of the kynges.

Upon thys he sent hym golden vessels to be serued in, and gaue hym leue to drynke in golde, to be clothed in purple, and to were a colar of golde, He made hys brother Sym&obar; also captayne, fr&obar; the coastes of Tyrus vnto the borders of Egypt. Then Ionathas toke his iourney, and w&ebar;te thorowe the cyties beyonde the water of Iordane, ∧ all the m&ebar; of warre of Syria gathered them vnto him for to helpe him. So he came vnto Ascalon, and they of the cytie receaued hym honorably, and from thence wente he vnto Gaza, but they wolde not lett hym in: wherfore he layed sege vnto it, burnynge vp and spoylynge the places that were aboute the cytie.

H   And the cytesyns of Gaza submytted th&ebar; selues vnto Ionathas, which made peace &wt; th&ebar;, but toke of theyr sonnes to pledge, sent them to Ierusalem, and wente thorowe the countre vnto Damascus. Nowe wh&ebar; Ionathas herde that Demetrius princes were come into Cabes (which is in Galilee) wyth a greate hoost, purposynge to put Demetrius out from medlynge in the realme: he came agaynst them, and lefte Symon hys brother in the lande: whych came to Bethsura, and layed sege to it a longe season, and discomfited th&ebar;. So they desyred to haue peace with hym, whych he graunted them, and afterwarde put them out from th&ebar;ce, toke the cytie, and sett men to kepe it. And Ionathas &wt; his hoost came to the water of Genesar, and by tymes in the mornynge gatt them to the playne felde of Azor.

And beholde, the hoostes of the Heathen met them in the felde, and layed watch for them in the mountaynes: so that when Ionathas came against them, the other (which were layed to watch) rose out of theyr places, and fought, and they that were of Ionathas syde, fled euery man: and there was not one of them left, except Mathathias the sonne of Absalomus, ∧ Iudas the sonne of Calyhi the captayne of the hoost. Then Ionathas rente his clothes, layed earth vpon hys head, made hys prayer, and turned agayne to th&ebar; in the felde: where they fought together, ∧ he put them to flyght. Nowe wh&ebar; his awne m&ebar;, that were fled, sawe thys: they turned agayne vnto hym and helped him to folowe vpon all their enemyes vnto their tentes at Cades. So there were slayne of the Heathen the same daye thre thousande men, and Ionathas turned agayne to Ierusalem.

Previous section

Next section