1 Maccabees 15

1 Antiochus son of King Demetrius sent letters from the islands of the sea to Simon, priest and ruler of the nation of the Jews, and to all the nation. [a] 2 This is what they said: “King Antiochus, to Simon the great priest and ruler of the nation, and to the nation of the Jews: greetings. [b]

3 Since certain scoundrels have seized the kingdom of our fathers, and I mean to claim the kingdom back and restore it to what it was before, I have raised a great body of foreign troops and fitted out ships of war. 4 I mean to land in the country, to punish the men who have ruined our land and left many cities in my kingdom desolate.

5 Now therefore I confirm to you all the exemptions that the kings before me granted you, and every other gift they granted you. 6 I permit you to strike your own coinage, money for your own country, 7 and Jerusalem and the holy place are to be free. All the weapons you have made, and the fortresses you have built and now hold, shall stay yours. 8 And every debt to the crown, now owing or yet to come, is canceled for you from this day and for all time.

9 And when we have won back our kingdom, we will honor you and your nation and the temple with such great honor that your glory will be plain in all the earth.”

10 In the 174th year Antiochus went into the land of his fathers, and all the forces came over to him, so that few men were left with Trypho. [c] 11 Antiochus pursued him, and he fled to Dor, on the coast, [d] 12 for he knew that his troubles had gathered on him all at once, and that his forces had deserted him.

13 Antiochus camped against Dor with a hundred and twenty thousand fighting men and eight thousand horsemen. 14 He ringed the city, and the ships closed in from the sea; he pressed the city hard by land and by sea, and let no one go out or in.

15 Then Numenius and his companions arrived from Rome, carrying letters to the kings and the countries. This is what was written in them: 16 “Lucius, consul of the Romans, to King Ptolemy: greetings.

17 The ambassadors of the Jews came to us as our friends and allies, sent by Simon the chief priest and the people of the Jews, to renew the friendship and alliance made with us from the beginning, 18 and they brought a gold shield weighing about 1,250 pounds. [e]

19 So it pleased us to write to the kings and the countries that they are not to seek their harm, not to make war on them or their cities or their country, and not to take the side of any who fight against them. 20 And we have decided to accept the shield from them. 21 If, then, any scoundrels have fled from their country to you, hand them over to Simon the chief priest, so that he may punish them by their own law.”

22 He wrote the same to King Demetrius, and to Attalus, to Ariarathes, and to Arsaces, 23 and to all the countries — to Sampsames, to the Spartans, to Delos, Myndos, Sicyon, Caria, Samos, Pamphylia, Lycia, Halicarnassus, Rhodes, Phaselis, Cos, Side, Aradus, Gortyna, Cnidus, Cyprus, and Cyrene. [f] 24 And they wrote a copy of all this to Simon the chief priest.

25 Meanwhile King Antiochus camped against Dor a second day, throwing his forces at the city without pause and building siege engines, and he shut Trypho in, so that he could not go out or in. 26 And Simon sent him two thousand picked men to fight at his side, with silver and gold and plenty of equipment. 27 But he refused to take them. Instead he went back on everything he had agreed with Simon before, and turned cold toward him.

28 He sent Athenobius, one of his friends, to confer with him and say, “You are holding Joppa and Gazara and the citadel in Jerusalem — cities of my kingdom. 29 You have laid waste their territory and struck a heavy blow on the land, and you have made yourselves masters of many places in my kingdom. 30 Now hand over the cities you have taken and the tribute of the places you have mastered beyond the borders of Judea — 31 or else pay five hundred talents of silver in their place, and, for the destruction you have caused and for the tribute of the cities, another five hundred talents. If you do not, we will come and make war on you.” [g]

32 So Athenobius, the king’s friend, came to Jerusalem. And when he saw Simon’s splendor — a sideboard set with gold and silver plate, and a great array of attendants — he was astounded. He delivered the king’s message, 33 and Simon answered him: “We have not taken anyone else’s land, and we hold nothing that belongs to others, but only the inheritance of our fathers — for a time our enemies held it unjustly. 34 Now that our moment has come, we hold fast to the inheritance of our fathers. 35 As for Joppa and Gazara, which you demand — those cities were doing great harm among our people and in our land. For them we will give a hundred talents.”

36 Athenobius did not answer him a word, but went back to the king in a fury and reported to him Simon’s words, and Simon’s splendor, and everything he had seen. And the king flew into a great rage.

37 Meanwhile Trypho boarded a ship and escaped to Orthosia. 38 Then the king appointed Cendebeus commander-in-chief of the coastland and gave him forces of infantry and cavalry. 39 He ordered him to camp facing Judea, and he ordered him to build up Kedron and fortify its gates, and to make war on the people; the king himself went on pursuing Trypho.

40 Cendebeus came to Jamnia and began to harass the people, to raid into Judea, and to take the people captive and kill them. 41 He built up Kedron and stationed horsemen and troops there, to sally out and raid the roads of Judea, as the king had ordered him.