2
When King Demetrius heard of it, he gathered a large army and went out to meet him in battle.
3
At that time Demetrius sent Jonathan a friendly letter full of flattery,
4
in the hope of winning Jonathan over to his side and making peace with the Jews before Alexander made a treaty with them against him.
5
Demetrius thought that Jonathan would certainly remember all the wrongs he had done to him, his brothers, and the entire Jewish nation.
6
And so Demetrius made Jonathan his ally and gave him authority to raise an army and equip it. He also ordered that the hostages held in the fort at Jerusalem should be handed over to Jonathan.
7
So Jonathan went to Jerusalem and read the letter to all the people and to the men in the fort.
8
These men were terrified when they learned that the king had given Jonathan authority to raise an army.
9
They handed the hostages over to him, and he returned them to their parents.
10
Jonathan set up headquarters in Jerusalem and began to rebuild and restore the city.
11
He ordered the builders to use squared stones for the city walls and for the protecting wall around Mount Zion. This was done.
12
The foreigners deserted the fortresses that Bacchides had built;