15. since we do have the help of the Lord, who has defeated our enemies and rescued us from them.
16. So we have chosen Numenius son of Antiochus together with Antipater son of Jason and sent them as ambassadors to Rome to renew our ties of friendship and alliance with the Romans.
17. We have also ordered them to go to you with our greetings and deliver this letter about the renewal of our ties of brotherhood.
18. And now we request an answer to this letter.
19. “The following is a copy of the earlier letter:
20. “ ‘King Arius of Sparta to Onias the High Priest, greetings.
21. We have found a document about the Spartans and the Jews indicating that we are related and that both our nations are descended from Abraham.
22. Now that we have discovered this, please send us a report about your situation.
23. In reply, we will send you a letter indicating that we are willing to share our possessions, including livestock and property, if you will do the same. We have given orders to our ambassadors to give you a full report about these matters.’ ”
24. Jonathan learnt that the officers of Demetrius had returned to attack him with an even larger army than before.
25. Jonathan did not want to give them an opportunity to penetrate his own territory, so he left Jerusalem and went to meet them in the region of Hamath.