34
He sent ambassadors to King Demetrius the Second to ask for tax relief for the land, since Trypho was doing nothing but robbing them.
35
King Demetrius sent the following letter in reply:
36
"King Demetrius to the High Priest Simon, the friend of kings, to the Jewish nation, and to their leaders, greetings.
37
I have received the gold crown and the gold palm branch which you sent, and I am prepared to make a peace treaty with you and to instruct our tax officials to grant you exemptions.
38
Our previous agreements with you are confirmed, and the fortresses which you have built are to remain yours.
39
I grant you pardon for treaty violations committed up to the present date, and I release you from payment of the special tax still due and any other taxes that have been collected up to this time in Jerusalem.
40
All Jews who are qualified may enroll in the royal service. Let us have peace."
41
So in the year 170 the yoke of the Gentile oppressors was removed from the Jews.
42
People began to date their documents and contracts with these words: "In the first year of Simon, the great High Priest, commander and leader of the Jews."
43
At that time Simon laid siege to Gezer and surrounded it with his army. He built a movable siege platform, brought it up to the town wall, attacked one of the towers, and captured it.
1
44
The men who had been on the siege platform then moved rapidly into the town, and this created great confusion.
45
The men of the town, their wives, and their children tore their clothes in distress and climbed up on the top of the town wall. They pleaded loudly with Simon for a truce.
46
"Have mercy on us," they begged. "Don't punish us as we deserve!"
47
So Simon came to terms with them and ended the fighting. He made the people leave the town; then he purified the houses in which there had been idols. When that was done, he and his men entered the town singing hymns and songs of praise.
48
He eliminated everything that would make the town ritually unclean and settled it with people who would obey every command contained in the Law of Moses. He strengthened the defenses of the town and built himself a palace there.
49
Those in the fort in Jerusalem were now prevented from leaving to buy or sell anything. They were suffering from severe hunger and many of them had died of starvation.
50
Finally they appealed to Simon for a truce. He agreed, removed them from the fort, and purified it.
51
On the twenty-third day of the second month, in the year 171, there was a great celebration in the city because this terrible threat to the security of Israel had come to an end. Simon and his men entered the fort singing hymns of praise and thanksgiving, while carrying palm branches and playing harps, cymbals, and lyres.
52
Simon issued a decree that the day should be joyfully celebrated every year. He strengthened the defenses of the Temple hill on the side facing the fort, and he and his men made their headquarters there.
53
Simon's son John was now a grown man, so Simon made him commander of the whole army, and John set up headquarters at Gezer.