So he sent a message to them in the following words: Good News Bible says simply “He wrote,” which is sufficient. Models that may be a little better are “This is what he wrote” and “And so Demetrius wrote the following letter.”

From this point through verse 45 we have the text of Demetrius’ letter. We recommend that translators indent the whole letter to help the reader (so Good News Bible, Contemporary English Version).

King Demetrius to the nation of the Jews, greeting: Compare verse 18. We may say “King Demetrius sends his greetings to the Jewish people.”

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on 1-2 Maccabees. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.