Alliances with Rome and Sparta

¹When 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.

²He also sent letters with a similar message to Sparta and other places.

³The 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.

⁴The 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.

⁵Here is a copy of the letter Jonathan wrote to the Spartans:

⁶Jonathan the High Priest, the national council of leaders, the priests, and the rest of the people of Judea, to our brothers in Sparta, greetings.

⁷At 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.

⁸Onias received your ambassador with full honors and acknowledged receipt of your letter, which declared our alliance and friendship.

⁹And now, although we are not in need of such alliances, since we find our source of strength in the holy books we possess,

¹⁰we 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.

¹¹Throughout 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.

¹²We also are pleased that fame has come to you.

¹³But 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.

¹⁴During this time of war, we did not wish to trouble you or our other allies and friends,

¹⁵since we do have the help of the Lord, who has defeated our enemies and rescued us from them.

¹⁶So 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.

¹⁷We have also ordered them to go to you with our greetings and deliver this letter about the renewal of our ties of brotherhood.

¹⁸And now we request an answer to this letter.

¹⁹The following is a copy of the earlier letter:

²⁰King Arius of Sparta to Onias the High Priest, greetings.

²¹We 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.

²²Now that we have discovered this, please send us a report about your situation.

²³In 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

²⁴Jonathan learned that the officers of Demetrius had returned to attack him with an even larger army than before.

²⁵Jonathan 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.

²⁶Jonathan sent spies into the enemy camp, who reported to him that the enemy forces were making plans to attack the Jews by night.

²⁷At 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.

²⁸When the enemy soldiers learned that Jonathan and his men were ready for battle, they were panic-stricken and fled, leaving their campfires burning.

²⁹Jonathan and his men saw the campfires but did not realize what had happened until the next morning.

³⁰Jonathan then set out after them, but he could not overtake them because they had already crossed the Eleutherus River.

³¹Then Jonathan turned aside and attacked a tribe of Arabs called Zabadeans. He defeated them and plundered their possessions.

³²Then he broke camp and went to Damascus, inspecting the entire area along the way.

³³Meanwhile, Simon had also set out on a campaign and had advanced as far as Ascalon and the neighboring fortresses. Then he turned aside to Joppa

³⁴and 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.

³⁵When Jonathan returned, he called the council of the leaders together and made plans with them to build fortresses in Judea,

³⁶to 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.

³⁷The 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.

³⁸Simon also rebuilt the town of Adida in the foothills. He fortified it and constructed barred gates for it.

Trypho Captures Jonathan

³⁹Then Trypho plotted a rebellion against King Antiochus so that he could make himself king of Syria.

⁴⁰He 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.

⁴¹But Jonathan also came to Beth Shan with 40,000 well-trained soldiers.

⁴²When Trypho saw how large an army Jonathan had brought with him, he was afraid to take action.

⁴³So 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.

⁴⁴He asked Jonathan, Why have you put these soldiers to so much trouble when we are not at war?

⁴⁵Why 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.

⁴⁶Jonathan believed him, and following his advice, sent his soldiers back to Judea.

⁴⁷He 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.

⁴⁸But when Jonathan entered Ptolemais, the people of the city locked the gates, arrested him, and killed everyone who had come with him.

⁴⁹Trypho sent infantry and cavalry units to Galilee and Jezreel Valley to kill the rest of Jonathan's soldiers.

⁵⁰The 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.

⁵¹When the approaching enemy forces saw that the Jews were ready to fight for their lives, they turned back.

⁵²Then 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.

⁵³All 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.

Bringing up Children

¹A father who loves his son will whip him often, so that he can be proud of him later.

²If a son is disciplined, he will be of some use, and his father can boast of him to his friends.

³Anyone who gives good guidance to his son cannot only take pride in him among his friends, but he can make his enemies jealous.

^4-5While the father is alive, the sight of his son makes him happy, and when he dies, he has no regrets. He is not really dead, because his son is like him.

⁶He has left someone to take vengeance on his enemies and to return the favors he owes his friends.

⁷But anyone who spoils his son will have to bandage his wounds. His heart will stop every time he hears a shout.

⁸An untamed horse is going to be stubborn, and an undisciplined son is no different.

⁹If you pamper your child and play with him, he will be a disappointment and a source of grief.

¹⁰Laugh with him now, and one day you will have to cry over him, grinding your teeth in regret.

¹¹Don't give him freedom while he is young, and don't overlook what he does wrong.

¹²Whip him while he is still a child, and make him respect your authority. If you don't, he will be stubborn and disobedient and cause you nothing but sorrow.

¹³So discipline your son and give him work to do, or else he will be an embarrassment to you.

Health

¹⁴It is better to be poor, but strong and healthy, than to be rich, but in poor health.

¹⁵A sound, healthy body and a cheerful attitude are more valuable than gold and jewels.

¹⁶Nothing can make you richer or give you greater happiness than those two things.

¹⁷It would be better to be dead, asleep forever, than to live in the misery of chronic illness.

¹⁸The finest food means nothing if you are too sick to eat it; it might as well be offered to an idol.

¹⁹But there is no point in offering food to an idol; it can't eat it or smell it. It is just the same with someone whom the Lord has afflicted.

²⁰He looks at his food and sighs, like a castrated man hugging a young woman.

Cheerfulness and Sadness

²¹Don't deliberately torture yourself by giving in to depression.

²²Happiness makes for a long life and makes it worth living.

²³Enjoy yourself and be happy; don't worry all the time. Worry never did anybody any good, and it has destroyed many people.

²⁴It will make you old before your time. Jealousy and anger will shorten your life.

²⁵A cheerful person with a good attitude will have a good appetite and enjoy his food.

Problems Caused by Money

¹Worrying about money will make you lose weight and lose sleep.

²Worrying about business will keep you from sleeping just as surely as a serious illness does.

³Rich people work hard to make a lot of money; then they can sit back and live in luxury.

⁴Poor people work hard and have nothing to show for it, and when they rest, they are still poor.

⁵No one who loves money can be judged innocent; his efforts to get rich have led him into sin.

⁶Many people have been ruined because of money, brought face-to-face with disaster.

⁷Money is a trap for those who are fascinated by it, a trap that every fool falls into.

⁸A person who gets rich without sinfully chasing after money is fortunate.

⁹Do you know anyone like that? If so, we will congratulate him for performing a miracle that no one else has ever been able to do.

¹⁰If anyone has ever passed this test, he can well be proud. Has anyone ever known that he could get away with cheating someone, and not taken advantage of it?

¹¹If so, he deserves his wealth, and everyone will praise him for his generosity.

Behavior at Dinner Parties

¹²When you sit down at a fancy banquet, don't let your mouth hang open, and don't say, Look at all that food!

¹³It is impolite to have a greedy eye; remember that. Nothing in creation is greedier than the eye; that is why it sheds tears so often.

¹⁴Don't reach out for everything you see, and don't elbow people out of the way to get at the food.

¹⁵Be considerate of the other people at the table and treat them the way you want to be treated.

¹⁶When you get your food, eat it like a human being. Don't smack and slurp; nobody can stand that.

¹⁷It's good manners to be the first to stop eating; stuffing yourself is offensive.

¹⁸If there are many people present, don't try to be the first to be served.

¹⁹A little bit is plenty for anyone with good manners. Besides, you won't be short of breath when you go to bed.

²⁰People who eat too much get stomach aches and cannot sleep. If you don't overeat, you can get a good night's sleep and wake up early the next morning feeling fine.

²¹But if you do get a stomach ache from eating too much, go off and vomit and you will feel better.

²²My child, if you listen to what I am saying and put it into practice, one of these days you will thank me for it. Be moderate in everything you do, and you will never get sick.

²³People appreciate a generous host, and he deserves their praise.

²⁴But everybody in town will complain about a host who is stingy with food, and their complaints are justified.

²⁵Don't try to prove your manhood by how much you can drink. Wine has been the ruin of many.

²⁶An arrogant person's character shows through when he is in a drunken argument, in the same way that iron is tested when it is heated red-hot and then dipped in water.

²⁷Wine can put new life into you if you drink it in moderation. What would life be like without it? Wine was created to make us happy.

²⁸If you drink it in moderation and at the right time, it can lift your spirits and make you cheerful,

²⁹but if you drink when you are angry and upset, it leads to headaches, embarrassment, and disgrace.

³⁰A drunken fool can lose his temper and hurt himself. His drinking makes him weak and an easy target for angry blows.

³¹Never rebuke a person when you have both been drinking. Don't hurt his feelings while he is having a good time. It's not the time to criticize anyone, or to ask him to pay back a debt.

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¹³Don't hesitate to discipline children. A good spanking won't kill them.

¹⁴As a matter of fact, it may save their lives.

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¹⁵My child, if you become wise, I will be very happy.

¹⁶I will be proud when I hear you speaking words of wisdom.