1 Maccabees 10:27–45

And now continue ye still to keep faith with us, and we will recompense unto you good thingsin return for what ye do in our behalf; and we will grant you many immunities, and will give you gifts. And now I ⁽herewith⁽ free you, and release all the Jews from the tributes, and from the custom on salt, and from ⁽the presenting of⁽ the crowns; and instead of the third part of the seed, and instead of the half of the fruit of the trees, which falleth to me to receive, I release ⁽them⁽ from this day and henceforth, so that I will not take ⁽them⁽ from the land of Judah, and from the three governments which are added thereunto from the country of Samaria and Galilee, from this day forth and for all time. And let Jerusalem be holy and free, together with the outlying districts, ⁽regarding⁽ the tenths and the tolls. I yield up also my authority over the citadel which is at Jerusalem, and give ⁽it⁽ to the high-priest, that he may appoint in it ⁽such⁽ men as he shall choose, to keep it. And every soul of the Jews that hath been carried away captive from the land of Judah into any part of my kingdom, I set at liberty without price; and let all remit the tributes of their cattle also. And all the feasts, and the Sabbaths, and new moons, and appointed days, and three days before a feast, and three days after a feast, let them all be days of immunity and release for all the Jews that are in my kingdom; and no man shall have authority to exact ⁽anything⁽ from any of them, or to trouble them concerning any matter. And let there be enrolled among the king’s forces about thirty thousand men of the Jews, and pay shall be given unto them, as belongeth to all the king’s forces. And of them some shall be placed in the king’s great strongholds, and some of them shall be placed over the affairs of the kingdom, which are of trust; and let those that are over them, and their rulers, be from among themselves, and let them walk after their own laws, even as the king hath commanded in the land of Judah. And the three governments that have been added to Judaea from the country of Samarialet them be added to Judaea, that they may be reckoned to be under one ⁽man⁽, that they obey not any other authority than that of the high-priest. As for Ptolemais, and the land pertaining thereto, I have given ⁽it as⁽ a gift to the sanctuary that is at Jerusalem, for the expenses that befit the sanctuary. And I ⁽undertake to⁽ give every year fifteen thousand shekels of silver from the king’s revenues, from the places which are ⁽most⁽ convenient. And all the overplus which the officials paid not in—as ⁽has been done⁽ in former years—they shall from henceforth give towards the works of the house. And beside this, the five thousand shekels of silver, which they used to take from the dues of the sanctuaryout of the income year by year, this also is released, because it appertaineth to the priests that minister. And whosoever shall flee unto the temple that is in Jerusalem, and in all the precincts thereof, ⁽because⁽ he oweth money to the king, or for any other reason, let ⁽such⁽ go free, together with all, whatsoever they possess, in my kingdom. And for the building and renewing of the works of the sanctuary the expense shall be given also out of the king’s revenue. And for the building of the walls of Jerusalem, and the fortifying thereof round about, shall the expense be given also out of the king’s revenue , and for the building of the walls ⁽of other cities⁽ in Judaea .’