4 After the meeting, the Romans wrote letters to the other nations where the messengers were going. In these letters they said, “Help these men return safely to Judea.”
5 Jonathan himself wrote a letter to the people of Sparta in which he said:
6 Jonathan the high priest, the other priests, the Jewish council, and the rest of our people send greetings to our dear friends in Sparta.
7 Some time ago, your king, Arius, sent a letter to Onias, our high priest. Arius said that Jews and Spartans are related, as you can see from the copy of the king's letter we have sent along with this letter.
8 When Onias read this, he welcomed your messenger with honors, because your letter clearly stated that Jews and Spartans should become friends and allies.
9 We Jews don't really need friends and allies, since our Scriptures give us hope and strength.
10 But we decided to write you anyway to renew our friendship and to make sure that we are still on good terms. After all, it has been a long time since you wrote us, and we don't want to become like strangers to each other.