34
We have confirmed, as their possession, the territory of Judea and the three districts of Aphairema, Lydda, and Rathamin. The latter districts, with the entire region bordering them, were added to Judea from Samaria. To all those who offer sacrifice in Jerusalem, we have granted release from the royal taxes the king formerly received from them each year, from the crops of the land and the fruit of the trees.
35
Furthermore, we grant them release from all other payments due to us from the tenth-part gifts, the taxes, the salt pits, and the crown taxes from now on.
36
These exemptions are never to be canceled.
37
Therefore, be sure to make a copy of this letter. Give it to Jonathan and display it in a prominent place on the holy mountain.
38
King Demetrius saw that the land was quiet and that there was no opposition to him. So he dismissed his troops and sent them back to their homes. He kept only the foreign troops that he had recruited from the island nations. All the troops who had served under his predecessors hated him.