Day 291: The Rise of King Alexander (2026)

Fr. Mike Schmitz (0:04)

Hi, my name is Fr. Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to The Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using The Great Adventure Bible Timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. It is day 291 Gosh, well done, you guys. We're reading 1 Maccabees, Chapter 10, Sirach, Chapter 26 and 27, as well as Proverbs, Chapter 23, Verses 5 through 8 As always, the Bible translation I'm reading from is the Revised Sander Version, Second Catholic Edition. I'm using The Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in a Year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com/bible in a Year. You can also subscribe to this podcast to receive daily episodes and daily updates. It's day 290 and we have not too far to go. Holy smokes! This is what a gift! We're reading 1 Maccabees 10, Sirach 26, 27, as well as Proverbs 23, 5-8.

1 Maccabees 10, Revolt of Alexander Epiphanes In the 160th year, Alexander Epiphanes, the son of Antiochus, landed and occupied Ptolemaeus. They welcomed him, and there he began to reign. When Demetrius, the king, heard of it, he assembled a very large army and marched out to meet him in battle. And Demetrius sent Jonathan a letter in peaceable words to honor him. For he said, Let us act first to make peace with him before he makes peace with Alexander against us, for he will remember all the wrongs which he did to him and to his brothers and his nation. So Demetrius gave him authority to recruit troops, to equip them with arms, and to become his ally. And he commanded that the hostages in the citadel should be released to him. Then Jonathan came to Jerusalem and read the letter in the hearing of all the people and of the men in the citadel. They were greatly alarmed when they heard that the king had given him authority to recruit troops, but the men in the citadel released the hostages to Jonathan and he returned them to their parents. And Jonathan dwelt in Jerusalem and began to rebuild and restore the city. He directed those who were doing the work to build the walls and encircle Mount Zion with squared stones for better fortification, and they did so. Then the foreigners, who were in the strongholds that Bacchides had built, fled, each left his place and departed to his own land. Only in Batzur did some remain who had forsaken the law and the commandments, for it served as a place of refuge. Now Alexander the king heard of all the promises which Demetrius had sent to Jonathan, and men told him of the battles that Jonathan and his brothers had fought, of the brave deeds that they had done, and of the troubles that they had endured. So he said, Shall we find another such man? Come now, we will make him our friend and ally. And he wrote a letter and sent it to him in the following words.

Jonathan Becomes High Priest King Alexander, to his brother Jonathan, greeting. We have heard about you, that you are a mighty warrior and worthy to be our friend. And so we have appointed you today to be the high priest of your nation. You are to be called the king's friend. And he sent to him a purple robe and a golden crown, and you are to take our side and keep friendship with us.

Demetrius writes to Jonathan. So Jonathan put on the holy garments in the seventh month of the one hundred and sixtieth year at the feast of Tabernacles, and he recruited troops and equipped them with arms in abundance. When Demetrius heard of these things, he was grieved and said, What is this that we have done? Alexander has gotten ahead of us in forming a friendship with the Jews to strengthen himself. I also will write them words of encouragement and promise them honor and gifts that I may have their help. So he sent a message to them in the following words, King Demetrius, to the nation of the Jews, greeting. Since you have kept your agreement with us and have continued your friendship with us and have not sided with our enemies, we have heard of it and rejoiced. And now, continue still to keep faith with us, and we will repay you with good for what you do for us. We will grant you many immunities and give you gifts. And now I free you and exempt all the Jews from payment of tribute and salt tax and crown levies, and instead of collecting the third of the grain and half of the fruit of the trees that I should receive, I release them from this day and henceforth. I will not collect them from the land of Judah or from the three districts added to it from Samaria and Galilee from this day and for all time. And let Jerusalem and her environs, her tithes and her revenues, be holy and free from tax. I release also my control of the citadel in Jerusalem and give it to the high priest, that he may station in it men of his own choice to guard it. And every one of the Jews taken as a captive from the land of Judah into any part of my kingdom I set free without payment. And let all officials cancel also the taxes on their cattle. And all the feasts and sabbaths and new moons and appointed days and the three days before a feast and the three after a feast, let them all be days of immunity and release for all the Jews who are in my kingdom. No one shall have authority to exact anything from them or annoy any of them about any matter. Let Jews be enrolled in the king's forces to the number of 30,000 men, and let the maintenance be given them that is due to all the forces of the king. Let some of them be stationed in the great strongholds of the king, and let some of them be put in positions of trust in the kingdom. Let their officers and leaders be of their own number and let them live by their own laws just as the king has commanded in the land of Judah. As for the three districts that have been added to Judea from the country of Samaria, let them be so annexed to Judea that they are considered to be under one ruler and obey no other authority but the high priest. Ptolemaeus and the land adjoining it I have given as a gift to the sanctuary in Jerusalem to meet the necessary expenses of the sanctuary. I also grant 15,000 shekels of silver yearly out of the king's revenues from appropriate places, and all the additional funds which the government officials have not paid as they did in the first years, they shall give from now on for the service of the temple. Moreover, the 5,000 shekels of silver which my officials have received every year from the income of the services of the temple, this too is cancelled, because it belongs to the priests who minister there. And whoever takes refuge at the temple in Jerusalem or in any of its precincts because he owes money to the king or has any debt, let him be released and receive back all his property in my kingdom. Let the cost of rebuilding and restoring the structures of the sanctuary be paid from the revenues of the king. And let the cost of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem and fortifying it round about, and the cost of rebuilding the walls in Judea also be paid from the revenues of the king.