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.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.