26. He and his brothers and his father’s house have stood firm and repulsed Israel’s enemies, and so have established its freedom.” So they made an inscription on bronze tablets, which they affixed to pillars on Mount Zion.
27. The following is a copy of the inscription: “On the eighteenth day of Elul, in the one hundred and seventy-second year, that is, the third year under Simon the great high priest in Asaramel,
28. in a great assembly of priests, people, rulers of the nation, and elders of the region, the following proclamation was made to us:
29. “‘Since there have often been wars in our country, Simon, son of the priest Mattathias, descendant of Joarib, and his brothers have put themselves in danger and resisted the enemies of their nation, so that their sanctuary and law might be maintained, and they have thus brought great glory to their nation.
30. Jonathan rallied the nation, became their high priest, and was gathered to his people.
31. When their enemies sought to invade and ravage their country and to violate their sanctuary,
32. Simon rose up and fought for his nation, spending large sums of his own money to equip his nation’s forces and give them their pay.
33. He fortified the cities of Judea, especially the border city of Beth-zur, formerly the site of the enemy’s weaponry, and he stationed there a garrison of Jewish soldiers.
34. He also fortified Joppa by the sea and Gazara on the border of Azotus, a place previously occupied by the enemy; these cities he settled with Jews and furnished them with all that was necessary for their restoration.
35. When the people saw Simon’s fidelity and the glory he planned to bring to his nation, they made him their leader and high priest because of all he had accomplished and the justice and fidelity he had shown his nation. In every way he sought to exalt his people.
36. “‘In his time and under his guidance they succeeded in driving the Gentiles out of their country and those in the City of David in Jerusalem, who had built for themselves a citadel from which they used to sally forth to defile the environs of the sanctuary and inflict grave injury on its purity.
37. In this citadel he stationed Jewish soldiers, and he strengthened its fortifications for the security of the land and the city, while he also built up the wall of Jerusalem to a greater height.
38. Consequently, King Demetrius confirmed him in the high priesthood,
39. made him one of his Friends, and conferred great honor on him.
40. This was because he had heard that the Romans had addressed the Jews as friends, allies, and brothers, that they had received Simon’s envoys with honor,
41. and that the Jewish people and their priests had decided the following: Simon shall be their leader and high priest forever until a trustworthy prophet arises.
42. He shall act as governor over them, and shall have charge of the sanctuary, to make regulations concerning its functions and concerning the country, its weapons and strongholds.