The Byble in Englyshe that is to saye, the content of all the holye scrypture, bothe of the olde and newe Testament, truly translated after the veryte of the Hebrue and Greke textes, by the diligent studye of dyuers excellent lerned [men e]xperte in the fore[saide] tongues.

¶ Demetrius desyreth to haue peace with Ionathas Alex¦ander moueth warre agaynste Demetrius. Demetrius is slayne. The frendshippe of Ptolomeus and Alexander.

CAPI. X.

IN the hundred and thre score yeare came [unspec A] Alexander the sonne of noble Antiochus* 1.1 and toke Ptolomays / whose cytezyns re∣ceaued hym / and there he rayghned.

When Kynge Demetrius herde therof, he gathered an exceadynge great hoost, and wente for the agaynste hym to fyght. Wher∣fore Demetrius sēt letters vnto Ionathas with louyng wordes / and praysed hym gre∣atly. For he sayd: we wil first make peace w^t him, before he binde hī selfe with Alexander against vs: els he shall remēbre y^• euyl y^t we haue done against hī, his brother & his peo∣ple. And so he gaue Ionathas leue to gather an host, to make weapens, and to be cōfede∣rate w^t him, & commaūded the pledges that were īthe castell, to be deliuered vnto hym.

Then came Ionathas to Ierusalem, and red the letters in the audience of al the peo∣ple, and of them that were in the castel. And therfore were they sore afraied, because they herde, that the kyng had geuen hym licence to gather an hoost. Thus were the pledges [unspec B] delyuered vnto Ionathas / whiche restored thē to their parētes. Ionathas also dwelt at Ierusalem, and beganne to buylde vp & to repayre the citie: commaunding the worck∣men, to wall it, and the mount Sion round aboute with fre stone / to be a stronge holde, and so they dyd. As for y^e Heathen that were

in y^t castels which Bachides had made vp / they fled: so that euery man lefte the place / & went into his owne coūtre. Only at Beth∣sura remayned certayne of y^e Iewes. which had forsakē the lawe and commaundemen∣tes of God, for Bethsura was their refuge.

Nowe when kyng Alexander herde of the promyses that Demetrius had made vnto Ionathas, and whē it was tolde him of the battels and noble actes / whiche he and hys brethren had done, and of the greate trauay¦les that they had taken, he saide: where shal we fynde suche a man? well / we wyll make him our frende, and be confederat with him. Upon this he wrote a lettre vnto him, with these wordes: kynge Alexander saluteth his brother Ionathas. We haue herd of y^e, that thou art a valeaūt man, and mete to be our frende: Wherfore thys daye we ordeyne the to be the hye preste of thy people / and to be called the kynges frende.) Upon this, he sēt hym a purple clothynge / and a crowne of golde) that thou mayeste consydre what is for oure profyt, and kepe frendshyppe to∣warde vs.

So in the seueth moneth of the hundred [unspec C] and thre score yeare vpō the solempne feaste day of y^e tabernacles, Ionathas put y^e holy raymente vpon hym. Then gathered he an hoost, and made many weapēs. Which whē Demetrius herde, he was maruelous sory, & sayde: Alas / what haue we done, that Alex∣ander hath preuēted vs in gettyng y^• frend∣shyppe of the Iewes / for hys owne defence? Yet wyll I wryte louyngly vnto them also / yee and promyse them dygnites and rewar∣des, that they maye be of my syde. Wherupō he wrote vnto thē these wordes. Kinge De? metrius sendeth greting vnto y^t people of y^e Iewes. Where as ye haue kepte your coue∣naūt towarde vs, & continued in our frend∣ship / not enclining to our enemies, we were glad, when we herde therof. Wherfore re∣mayne styll / & be faythfull to vs: & we shall wel recompense you for y^• thinges, y^t ye haue done on oure partye: we shall release you of many charges, & geue you rewardes. And now I dyscharge you & al y^e Iewes frō tri∣butes, I forgeue you the customes of salt, & release you of y^• crowne taxes / of the thyrde parte of sede, & half of y^e frute of trees, which is myne owne dewtye. These I leaue for you, frō this daye forth: so y^t they shal not be taken of the lande of Iuda nor of the thre ci∣ties which are added ther vnto out of Sa∣maria and Galylee / frome thys daye forthe [unspec D] for euermore. Ierusalē also with al thinges belongyng therto, shalbe holy and fre, yee y^e tythes and trybutes shall pertayne vnto it. As for the power of y^e castell which is at Ie¦rusalē I remyt & geue it vnto the hye prest, that he may set ī it such mē, as he shal chose to kepe it. I frely delyuer al the Iewes that are presonners thorow out al my realme: so that euery one of thē shalbe fre frō payinge any trybute / yee euen of their catell.

All the solempne feastes. Sabbathes, new moones, the dayes appoynted, the thre dayes before & after the feast, shall be fre for all the Iewes in my realme: so that in them no man shall haue power to do any thynge, or to moue any busynesse against any of thē in any maner of cause. There shall thyrtye thousande also of the Iewes be wrytten vp in the kynges hoost / and haue their wages payed, as all other men of warre of the kin∣ges shulde haue: and of them shalbe ordey∣ned certayne, to kepe the kynges strong hol¦des: yee and some of them shalbe set ouer the kinges busynesse, that they maye faithfully deale with the same. The Iewes also shall haue prynces of theyr owne / and walcke in theyr owne lawes / as the kynge hath com∣maunded in the lande of Iuda.

And the; thre cyties that are fallen vnto [unspec E] Iewry from the countre of Samarya & Ga¦ltiee: shalbe taken as Iewry / and be vnder one: nether be subtecte to any straunge lord, but to the hye preste. As for Prolomais and the lande perteynynge therto / I geue it vn∣to the Sanctuary at Ierusalem / for the ne∣cessary expences of the holy thinges. More∣ouer, I wyll geue euery yeare fyftene thou∣sand Sycles of syluer out of the kīges che∣ker (which pertayneth vnto me) to y^• worcke of the temple: yee and loke what remayneth (which they y^t had oure matters in hande in tymes past, haue not pated) y^• same shal they geue vnto them also. And besydes al thys / the fyue thousand Sycles which they toke yearly of the rentes of the Sanctuary, shall belong vnto the prestes that do seruyce.

Item whosoeuer they be that fle vnto the temple at Ierusalem or within the liber¦ties therof, where as they are fallen into the kynges daunger for any maner of busynes, they shall be pardoned & all y^e goodes that they haue in my reaime / shalbe fre. For the buyldyng also and repayring of the worcke of the Sanctuary / expenses shall be geuen out of the kynges Checker: Yee and for the makynge of the walles rounde aboute Ie∣rusalem, for the breaking downe of the olde and for the settinge vp of the strong holdes

in Iewry, shal the costes and charges bege¦uen out of the kynges Checker.

* 1.2 But when Ionathas and the people hearde these wordes / they gaue no credence vnto them / neyther receaued them: for they remembred the greate wyckednesse that he had done vnto Israell, and how sore he had vexed them. Wherfore / they agreed vnto Alexander, for he was a prynce that had de∣alte frendly wyth them / and so they stode by hym alwaye. * 1.3 Then gathered kynge Alexander a greate hoost / and brought hys armye agaynste Demetrius. So the two kynges stroke bataylle together / but De∣metrius hoost iled / and Alexander folowed after and fell vpon them. A myghtye sore felde was it / contynuynge tyll the Sonne wente downe, and Demetrius was slayne the same daye.

And Alexandre sente ambassitoures vn∣to [unspec F] Ptolomy the kyng of Egypte wyth these wordes / sayenge: For so muche as I am come agayne to my reaime / and am let in the trone of my progenytours / and haue gotten the domynyon / ouercomed Deme∣trius / conquered the lande / and stryken a felde with hym, so that we haue dysconfyted both him and his hoost, and syt in the trone of hys Kyngdome. Let vs nowe make frēoshippe together / geue me thy daughter to wyfe: so shall I be thy sonne in lawe / and both geue the rewardes / and her great dyg∣nyte. Ptolomy the kyng gaue answere, say∣enge: Happy be the daye wherin thou arte come agayne to the lande of thy Progeny∣tours, and set in the trone of theyr kyngdo∣me. As nowe wyll I fulfyll thy wrytynge: but mete me at Ptolomais, that we maye se one another, & that I may mary my daugh¦ter vnto the accordinge to thy desyre. So Ptolomy wente out of Egypte wyth hys daughter Cleopatra, and came vnto Ptolo¦mays in the. Clxij. yeare: where kinge Alex∣ander met hym / and he gaue Alexander his daughter Cleopatra, & maried the at Pto∣lomais with greate worshyppe / lyke as the maner of kynges is to be. Thē wrote kyng Alexander vnto Ionathas / that he shulde [unspec G] come and mete hym. So he wente honora∣bly vnto Ptolomais / and there he mete the two kynges, and gaue them greate presen∣tes of golde and siluer / and founde fauoure in their syght. And there came together a∣gaist Ionathas certayne wycked men & vn gracyous persones of Israel, makyng com playntes of him, but the kyng regarded thē not. As for Ionathas, the kynge commaun¦ded to take of hys garmentes and to clothe him purple: and so they dyd. Then y^t kinge appoynted hym to syt by hym / and sayde vnto hys princes: Go with hym into y^e mid∣dest of the cytye, and make a proclamacion, that no man complayne against him of any matter / and that no mā trouble hym for eny maner of cause.

So it happened, that when hys accusers sawe the worshyppe which was proclamed of hym, and that he was clothed in purple: they sled euerychone. And the Kynge made much of hym, wrote hym amonge hys chefe frendes, made hym a duke, and partaker of hys domynyon. * 1.4 Thus Ionathas wente agayne to Ierusalē with peace & gladnes. In the. Clxv. yeare came Demetri{us} the sōne of Demetrius from Creta into hys fathers lande: wherof when Alexander herde tel, he was ryght sory, and retourned vnto Antio∣che. And Demetrius chose * 1.5 Appollonyus, (which had the gouernaunce of Celosyrya) to be hys captayne.

So he gathered a greate hoost and came vnto Iamnta / and sente word vnto Iona∣thas the hye prest, sayeng: Darteste y^u with∣stand vs thy self alone? As for me, I am but laughed to scorne and shamed, because thou prouedst thy strēgth agaynst vs in the moū¦taynes. Nowe therfore / yf thou trust este in [unspec H] thine owe strēght, come downe to vs into y^e plaine felde, & there let vs proue our strēgth together: thou shalt fynde, that I haue vale aunt men of warre with me, & shalt knowe whom I am, & the other that stande by me.

Which saye, that your fote is not able to stande before oure face, for thy fathers haue bene twise chased into theyr owne lāde. And nowe / how wylt y^u be able to abyde so great an hoost of horssinē & fotemē in y^• feld, where as is nether rocke, stone nor place to fle vn∣to? When Ionathas herd the wordes of Ap∣polloni{us}, he was moued i hys mynde: wher∣fore he chose tenne thousande mē, and went oute of Ierusalem / and Symon hys bro∣ther met him for to helpe him: And they pit∣ched their tentes at Ioppa, but y^e cytie kepte hym forth / for Ioppa was an holde of Ap∣pollonius. Then Ionathas laied sege to it, and they that were in the cyte, for very feare let hym in: and so Ionathas wanne Iop∣pa. Appollonius hearinge of this, toke thre thousande horssmen / with a greate hoost of fote, and wente as though he wold go to A∣zotus, and came immediatly into the plaine felde: because he had so many horssmen, and put hys trust in thē. So Ionathas folowed

vpon him to Azotus, & there they strocke the battayll. Now had Appolloni{us} left a thou∣sande horsmē behynde thē priuely in y^• tētes. And when Ionathas knewe y^e suche wayte was layed behynde them, they went rounde aboute the enemyes hoost / and shot dartes at y^e people frō the morninge to y^e euenynge. As for Ionathas people, they kepte theyr ordre as he had commaunded them, and the enemyes horses were euer labourynge.

Then brought Symon forth hys hoost, [unspec I] and set them agaynste the fote men. For the horsmen were weery all ready. So he dys∣comfited them / and they fled. And they that were scatred in the felde / gat thē to Azotus, and came into the temple of Dagon theyr Idoll, y^t they myght there saue theyr lyues. But Ionathas set fyre vpon Azotus and al the cyties rounde aboute it, and toke theyr goodes, and * 1.6 brent vp the temple of Da∣gon, with all them that were fled into it.

Thus were slayne & brent well nye. viij. M. men. So Ionathas remoued the hoost frō thence, & brought thē to Ascalon: where the men of the cytie came forth / & met hym with great worshyp. After this went Iona∣thas & his hoost a gayne to Ierusalem, with great substaunce of good. And when kynge Alexander herde these thynges / he thought to do Ionathas more worshype, & sent hym a colar of golde, as y^e vse is to be geuē vnto suche as are of the kynges nexte bloude. He gaue him also the cytie of Accaron (with the landes belongynge therto) in possessyon.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Iosep••▪ ii. i〈…〉〈…〉
• * 1.2

  ••. Mat, 7. d
• * 1.3

  Ioseph. ••a. v. lib. xiii.
• * 1.4

  Iosep••▪ c••. 〈…〉〈…〉.
• * 1.5

  〈…〉〈…〉
• * 1.6

  ••▪ M••t. xi. a.