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chapter 15
1
And
king Antiochus the son of Demetrius sent letters from the isles of the sea to
Simon the priest, and prince of the nation of the Jews, and to all the people:
2 And the contents were these: King Antiochus to Simon
the high priest, and to the nation of the Jews, greeting.
3 Forasmuch as certain pestilent men have usurped the
kingdom of our fathers, and my purpose is to challenge the kingdom, and to
restore it to its former estate: and I have chosen a great army, and have built
ships of war.
4 And I design to go through the country that I may
take revenge of them that have destroyed our country, and that have made many
cities desolate in my realm.
5 Now therefore I confirm unto thee all the oblations
which all the kings before me remitted to thee, and what other gifts soever
they remitted to thee:
6 And I give thee leave to coin thy own money in thy
country:
7 And let Jerusalem be holy and free, and all the
armour that hath been made, and the fortresses which thou hast built, and which
thou keepest in thy hands, let them remain to thee.
8 And all that is due to the king, and what should be
the king's hereafter, from this present and for ever, is forgiven thee.
9 And when we shall have recovered our kingdom, we will
glorify thee, and thy nation, and the temple with great glory, so that your
glory shall be made manifest in all the earth.
10 In the year one hundred and seventy-four Antiochus
entered into the land of this fathers, and all the forces assembled to him, so
that few were left with Tryphon.
11 And king Antiochus pursued after him, and he fled
along by the sea coast and came to Dora.
12 For he perceived that evils were gathered together
upon him, and his troops had forsaken him.
13 And Antiochus camped above Dora with a hundred and
twenty thousand men of war, and eight thousand horsemen:
14 And he invested the city, and the ships drew near by
sea: and they annoyed the city by land, and by sea, and suffered none to come
in, or to go out.
15 And Numenius, and they that had been with him, came
from the city of Rome, having letters written to the kings, and countries, the
contents whereof were these:
16 Lucius the consul of the Romans, to king Ptolemee,
greeting.
17 The ambassadors of the Jews our friends came to us,
to renew the former friendship and alliance, being sent from Simon the high
priest, and the people of the Jews.
18 And they brought also a shield of gold of a thousand
pounds.
19 It hath seemed good therefore to us to write to the
kings, and countries, that they should do them no harm, nor fight against them,
their cities, or countries: and that they should give no aid to them that fight
against them.
20 And it hath seemed good to us to received the shield
of them.
21 If therefore any pestilent men are fled out of their
country to you, deliver them to Simon the high priest, that he may punish them
according to their law.
22 These same things were written to king Demetrius,
and to Attalus, and to Ariarathes, and to Arsaces,
23 And to all the countries; and to Lampsacus, and to
the Spartans, and to Delus, and Myndus, and Sicyon, and Caria, and Samus, and
Pamphylia, and Lycia, and Alicarnassus, and Cos, and Side, and Aradus, and
Rhodes, and Phaselis, and Gortyna, and Gnidus, and Cyprus, and Cyrene.
24 And they wrote a copy thereof to Simon the high
priest, and to the people of the Jews.
25 But king Antiochus moved his camp to Dora the second
time, assaulting it continually, and making engines: and shut up Tryphon, that
he could not go out.
26 And Simon sent to him two thousand chosen men to aid
him, silver also, and gold, and abundance of furniture.
27 And he would not receive them, but broke all the
covenant that he had made with him before, and alienated himself from him.
28 And he sent to him Athenobius one of his friends, to
treat with him, saying: You hold Joppe, and Gazara, and the castle that is in
Jerusalem, which are cities of my kingdom:
29 Their borders you have wasted, and you have made
great havock in the land, and have got the dominion of many places in my
kingdom.
30 Now therefore deliver up the cities that you have
taken, and the tributes of the places whereof you have gotten the dominion
without the borders of Judea.
31 But if not, give me for them five hundred talents of
silver, and for the havock that you have made, and the tributes of the cities
other five hundred talents: or else we will come and fight against you.
32 So Athenobius the king's friend came to Jerusalem,
and saw the glory of Simon and his magnificence in gold, and silver, and his
great equipage, and he was astonished, and told him the king's words.
33 And Simon answered him, and said to him: We have
neither taken other men's land, neither do we hold that which is other men's:
but the inheritance of our fathers, which was for some time unjustly possessed
by our enemies.
34 But we having opportunity claim the inheritance of
our fathers.
35 And as to thy complaints concerning Joppe and
Gazara, they did great harm to the people, and to our country: yet for these we
will give a hundred talents. And Athenobius answered him not a word:
36 But returning in a rage to the king, made report to
him of these words, and of the glory of Simon, and of all that he had seen, and
the king was exceeding angry.
37 And Tryphon fled away by ship to Orthosias.
38 And the king appointed Cendebeus captain of the sea
coast, and gave him an army of footmen and horsemen.
39 And he commanded him to march with his army towards
Judea: and he commanded him to build up Gedor, and to fortify the gates of the
city, and to war against the people. But the king himself pursued after
Tryphon.
40 And Cendebeus came to Jamnia, and began to provoke
the people, and to ravage Judea, and to take the people prisoners, and to kill,
and to build Gedor.
41 And he placed there horsemen, and an army: that they
might issue forth, and make incursions upon the ways of Judea, as the king had
commanded him.
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