1 Maccabees 10:27–45

²⁷Wherefore now continue ye still to be faithful unto us, and we will well recompense you for the things you do in our behalf, ²⁸and will grant you many ^yimmunities, and give you rewards. ²⁹And now I do free you, and for your sake I release all the Jews, from ^ztributes, and from ^zthe customs of salt, and from ^zacrown taxes, ³⁰and from ^bthat which appertaineth unto me to receive for the third part of the seed, and the half of the fruit of the trees, I release it from this day forth, so that they shall not be taken of the land of Judea, nor of ^cthe three governments which are added thereunto out of the country of ^dSamaria and Galilee, from this day forth for evermore. ³¹Let Jerusalem also be ^eholy and free, with the ^qborders thereof, both from ^ftenths and ^fgtributes. ³²And as for ^hthe tower which is at Jerusalem, I yield up my authority over it, and give it to ⁱthe high priest, that he may set in it such men as he shall choose to keep it. ³³Moreover I freely set at liberty every one of the Jews, ^jthat were carried captives out of the land of Judea into any part of my kingdom, and I will that all my officers remit the tributes even of their cattle. ³⁴Furthermore I will that all the feasts, and ^ksabbaths, and ^knew moons, and solemn days, and the three days before the feast, and the three days after the feast, shall be all days of ^limmunity and freedom for all the Jews in my realm. ³⁵Also no man shall have authority to meddle with them, or to ^mmolest any of them in any matter. ³⁶I will further, ^mmthat there be enrolled amongst the king’s forces about thirty thousand men of the Jews, unto whom pay shall be given, as belongeth to all the king’s forces. ³⁷And of them some shall be placed in the king’s strong holds, of whom also some shall be set over the ⁿaffairs of the kingdom, which are of trust: and I will that their overseers and governors be of themselves, and that they live after their own laws, even as the king hath commanded in the land of Judea. ³⁸And concerning ^cthe three governments that are added to Judea from the country of ^dSamaria, let them be joined with Judea, that they may be reckoned to be under one, nor bound to obey other authority than ⁱthe high priest’s. ³⁹As for ^oPtolemais, and the land pertaining thereto, I give it as a free gift to the sanctuary at Jerusalem for the necessary expences of the sanctuary. ⁴⁰Moreover I give every year fifteen thousand shekels of silver out of the king’s accounts from the places appertaining. ⁴¹And all the overplus, which ^pthe officers payed not in, as in former time, from henceforth shall be given towards the works of the temple. ⁴²And besides this, ^ppthe five thousand shekels of silver, which they took from the ⁿuses of the temple out of the accounts year by year, even those things shall be released, because they appertain to the priests that minister. ⁴³And whosoever they be that flee unto the temple at Jerusalem, or be within the ^qliberties thereof, being indebted unto the king, or for any other matter, let them be at liberty, and all that they have in my realm. ⁴⁴For the building also and ^rrepairing of the works of the sanctuary expences shall be given of the king’s accounts. ⁴⁵Yea, and for ^sthe building of the walls of Jerusalem, and the fortifying thereof round about, expences shall be given out of the king’s accounts, as also for building of the walls in Judea.