1 Maccabees 12:1–23

¹Now when Jonathan saw that the time was favorable for him, he chose men and sent them to Rome to confirm and renew the friendship with them. ²He also sent letters to the same effect to the Spartans and to other places. ³So they went to Rome and entered the senate chamber and said, “Jonathan the high priest and the Jewish nation have sent us to renew the former friendship and alliance with them.” ⁴And the Romans^u gave them letters to the people in every place, asking them to provide for the envoys^v safe conduct to the land of Judah.

⁵This is a copy of the letter which Jonathan wrote to the Spartans: ⁶“Jonathan the high priest, the senate of the nation, the priests, and the rest of the Jewish people to their brethren the Spartans, greeting. ⁷Already in time past a letter was sent to Onias the high priest from Arius, who was king among you, stating that you are our brethren, as the appended copy shows. ⁸Onias welcomed the envoy with honor, and received the letter, which contained a clear declaration of alliance and friendship. ⁹Therefore, though we have no need of these things, since we have as encouragement the holy books which are in our hands, ¹⁰we have undertaken to send to renew our brotherhood and friendship with you, so that we may not become estranged from you, for considerable time has passed since you sent your letter to us. ¹¹We therefore remember you constantly on every occasion, both in our feasts and on other appropriate days, at the sacrifices which we offer and in our prayers, as it is right and proper to remember brethren. ¹²And we rejoice in your glory. ¹³But as for ourselves, many afflictions and many wars have encircled us; the kings round about us have waged war against us. ¹⁴We were unwilling to annoy you and our other allies and friends with these wars, ¹⁵for we have the help which comes from Heaven for our aid; and we were delivered from our enemies and our enemies were humbled. ¹⁶We therefore have chosen Numenius the son of Antiochus and Antipater the son of Jason, and have sent them to Rome to renew our former friendship and alliance with them. ¹⁷We have commanded them to go also to you and greet you and deliver to you this letter from us concerning the renewal of our brotherhood. ¹⁸And now please send us a reply to this.”

¹⁹This is a copy of the letter which they sent to Onias: ²⁰“Arius, king of the Spartans, to Onias the high priest, greeting. ²¹It has been found in writing concerning the Spartans and the Jews that they are brethren and are of the family of Abraham. ²²And now that we have learned this, please write us concerning your welfare; ²³we on our part write to you that your cattle and your property belong to us, and ours belong to you. We therefore command that our envoys^x report to you accordingly.”