38
"As for the three districts that have been added to Judea from the country of Samaria, let them be annexed to Judea so that they may be considered to be under one ruler and obey no other authority than the high priest.
39
Ptolemais and the land adjoining it I have given as a gift to the sanctuary in Jerusalem, to meet the necessary expenses of the sanctuary.
40
I also grant fifteen thousand shekels of silver yearly out of the king's revenues from appropriate places.
41
And all the additional funds that the government officials have not paid as they did in the first years, they shall give from now on for the service of the temple.
42
Moreover, the five thousand shekels of silver that my officials have received every year from the income of the services of the temple, this too is canceled, because it belongs to the priests who minister there.
43
And all who take refuge at the temple in Jerusalem, or in any of its precincts, because they owe money to the king or are in debt, let them be released and receive back all their property in my kingdom.
44
"Let the cost of rebuilding and restoring the structures of the sanctuary be paid from the revenues of the king.
45
And let the cost of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem and fortifying it all around, and the cost of rebuilding the walls in Judea, also be paid from the revenues of the king."
46
When Jonathan and the people heard these words, they did not believe or accept them, because they remembered the great wrongs that Demetrius had done in Israel and how much he had oppressed them.
47
They favored Alexander, because he had been the first to speak peaceable words to them, and they remained his allies all his days.
48
Now King Alexander assembled large forces and encamped opposite Demetrius.