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Arius kynge of the Sparcians sendeth gre¦tynge vnto Omas the hye prest. It is foūde [unspec C] in wrytynge, that the Sparcians & Iewes are brethren, and come out of the generacyō of Abraham. And nowe for so much as this is come to oure knowledge, ye shall do well, to wryte vnto vs of youre prosperite. As for vs, we haue wrytten oure mynde vnto you: Oure catell and goodes are yours, & yours ours. These thynges haue we commaūded to be shewed vnto you.
When Ionathas herde, that Demetrius prynces were come forth to fyght agaynste hym wt a greater hoost then afore, he wente from Ierusalem, & met them in the lande of Hemath, for he gaue them not space to come into his owne coūtre. And he sent spyes vn∣to theyr tentes, whiche came agayne & tolde hym, y• they were appoynted to come vpon him in the nyght season. Wherfore whē the sunne was gone downe, Ionathas cōmaun¦ded his men to watch all the nyght, & to be ready wt weapens for to fyght: & set watch∣men [unspec D] rounde aboute the hoost. But when the aduersaryes herde y• Ionathas was ready with his men to the battayll, they feared, & were afrayed in theyr hertes, and kyndled fyres in theyr tentes, brake vp, and gat thē awaye. Neuerthelesse Ionathas and hys company knewe it not tyl the mornynge, for they sawe the fyres burnynge.
Then Ionathas folowed vpon them, but he myght not ouertake them, for they were gone ouer the water Eleutherus. So Iona¦thas departed vnto the Arabians (whiche were called Zabadei) slewe thē, & toke theyr goodes. He proceaded further also, & came vnto Damascus, & went thorowe al yt coun¦tre. But Simō his brother toke his iourney and came to Ascalon and to the next strong holdes: departynge vnto Ioppa, & wanne it. For he herde y• they wolde stande of De∣metrius partye: wherfore he set mē of warre in the cytie, to kepe it. After this came Iona thas home agayne / and called the elders of the people together: & deuysed with thē for to buylde vp the stronge holdes in Iewry & the walles of Ierusalē, to set vp an hye wal betwixte the castell & the cytie / for to sepa∣rate it frō the cytie yt it myght be alone / and that men shulde neyther bye nor sell in it.
Upon thys they came together for to buylde vp the cytie / and for so muche as the wall vpō the broke of the westsyde (called Caphecah) was fallen downe, they repaired it. And Simō set vp Adiadath i Sephelah, and made it strōge settynge portes & lockes vpō it. Nowe when Tryphon purposed to raygne in Asya / to be crowned / and to sleye the kynge Antiochus: he was afrayed that Ionathas wolde not suffre hym / but fyght agaynst him. Wherfore he went aboute to take Ionathas / and to kyll hym.
So he departed / & came vnto Bethsan. Then went Ionathas forth agaynste hym [unspec E] to the battayll with fourtye thousande cho∣sen men / and came vnto Bethsan also. But when Triphon sawe that Ionathas came with so greate an Hoost to destroye him / he was afrayed: and therfore he receaued hym honorably / commended hym vnto all hys frendes, and gaue him rewardes / and com∣maunded his men of warre to be as obediēt vnto hym as to him selfe.
And sayde vnto Ionathas: why haste thou caused this people to take suche tra∣uayle / seynge there is no warre betwixt vs▪ Therfore sende them home agayne / & chose certayne men to wayte vpon the / and come thou with me to Ptolomais: for I wyl geue it the / with the other stronge holdes / men of warre and theyr offycers: As for me I must departe, this is onely the cause of my com∣mynge. [unspec F] Sonathas beleued him / and dyd as he sayde / puttynge awaye his hoost / whiche went in to the lāde of Iuda: He kept but. iij. M. by hym, wher of the sene. ij. M. into Ga∣lilee, and one. M. went with hym selfe.
Nowe as soone as Ionathas entred in to Ptolamais, the cytesyns sparred the ga∣tes of the cytie / and toke hym, and slewe all them with the swearde / that came in with hym. Then sent Triphon an Hoost of fote men and horsmen into Galilee and into the greate playne felde / to destroye all Iona∣thas company. But when they knewe that Ionathas was taken, and all they slayne that wayted vpon hym: they toke councell together / and came forth ready to the bat∣tayll. So when they whiche folowed vpon them / sawe that it was a matter of lyfe, they turned backe agayne. As for the other, they went in to the lande of Iuda peaceably, and bewayled Ionathas, and them that were with hym ryght sore. And Israell made greate lamentacyon. Then all the Heathen that were rounde aboute thē, sought to de∣stroye them. For they sayde: nowe haue they no captayne, nor any man to helpe them. Therfore let vs ouercome them, and rote out theyr name from amonge men.