World English Bible

1 Then, indeed, vehemently swayed with passion, he commanded to bring others of the adult Hebrews, and if they would eat of the unclean thing, to let them go when they had eaten; but if they objected, to torment them more grievously.

2 The tyrant having given this charge, seven brethren were brought into his presence, along with their aged mother, handsome, and modest, and well-born, and altogether comely.

3 When the tyrant saw them encircling their mother as in a dance, he was pleased at them; and being struck with their becoming and ingenuous mien, smiled upon them, and calling them near, said:

4 O youths, with favourable feelings, I admire the beauty of each of you; and greatly honouring so numerous a band of brethren, I not only counsel you not to share the madness of the old man who has been tortured before,

5 but I do beg you to yield, and to enjoy my friendship; for I possess the power, not only of punishing those who disobey my commands, but of doing good to those who obey them.

6 Put confidence in me, then, and you shall receive places of authority in my government, if you forsake your national ordinance,

7 and, conforming to the Greek mode of life, alter your rule, and revel in youth’s delights.

8 For if you provoke me by your disobedience, you will compel me to destroy you, every one, with terrible punishments by tortures.

9 Have mercy, then, upon your own selves, whom I, although an enemy, compassionate for your age and comeliness.

10 Will you not reason upon this—that if you disobey, there will be nothing left for you but to die in tortures?

11 Thus speaking, he ordered the instruments of torture to be brought forward, that very fear might prevail upon them to eat unclean meat.

12 And when the spearman brought forward the wheels, and the racks, and the hooks, and catapults, and caldrons, pans, and finger-racks, and iron hands and wedges, and bellows, the tyrant continue:

13 Fear, young men, and the righteousness which you⌃ worship will be merciful to you if you err from compulsion.

14 Now they having listened to these words of persuasion, and seeing the fearful instruments, not only were not afraid, but even answered the arguments of the tyrant, and through their good reasoning destroyed his power.

15 Now let us consider the matter: had any of them been weak-spirited and cowardly among them, what reasonings would they have employed but these?

16 O wretched that we are, and exceeding senseless! when the king exhorts us, and calls us to his bounty, should we not obey him?

17 Why do we cheer ourselves with vain counsels, and venture upon a disobedience bringing death?

18 Shall we not fear, O brethren, the instruments of torture and weigh the threatenings of torment and shun this vain-glory and destructive pride?

19 Let us have compassion upon our age and relent over the years of our mother.

20 And let us bear in mind that we shall be dying as rebels.

21 And Divine Justice will pardon us if we fear the king through necessity.

22 Why withdraw ourselves from a most sweet life, and deprive ourselves of this pleasant world?

23 Let us not oppose necessity, nor seek vain-glory by our own excruciation.

24 The law itself is not forward to put us to death, if we dread torture.

25 Whence has such angry zeal taken root in us, and such fatal obstinacy approved itself to us, when we might live unmolested by the king?

26 But nothing of this kind did the young men say or think when about to be tortured.

27 For they were well aware of the sufferings, and masters of the pains. So that as soon as the tyrant had ceased counselling them to eat the unclean, they altogether with one voice, as from the same heart said:

1 King Ptolemy Philopator to the commanders throughout Egypt, and to all who are set over affairs, joy and strength.

2 We, too, and our children are well; and God has directed our affairs as we wish.

3 Certain of our friends did of malice vehemently urge us to punish the Jews of our realm in a body, with the infliction of a monstrous punishment.

4 They pretended that our affairs would never be in a good state till this took place. Such, they said, was the hatred borne by the Jews to all other people.

5 They brought them fettered in grievous chains as slaves, nay, as traitors. Without enquiry or examination they endeavoured to annihilate them. They buckled themselves with a savage cruelty, worse than Scythian custom.

6 For this cause we severely threatened them; yet, with the clemency which we are wont to extend to all men, we at length permitted them to live. Finding that the God of heaven cast a shield of protection over the Jews so as to preserve them, and that he fought for them as a father always fights for his sons;

7 and taking into consideration their constancy and fidelity towards us and towards our ancestors, we have, as we ought, acquitted them of every sort of charge.

8 And we have dismissed them to their several homes; bidding all men everywhere to do them no wrong, or unrighteously revile them about the past.

9 For know you⌃, that should we conceive any evil design, or in any way aggrieve them, we shall ever have as our opposite, not man, but the highest God, the ruler of all might. From Him there will be no escape, as the avenger of such deeds. Fare you⌃ well.

10 When they had received this letter, they were not forward to depart immediately. They petitioned the king to be allowed to inflict fitting punishment upon those of their race who had willingly transgressed the holy god, and the law of God.

11 They alleged that men who had for their bellies’ sake transgressed the ordinances of God, would never be faithful to the interests of the king.

12 The king admitted the truth of this reasoning, and commended them. Full power was given them, without warrant or special commission, to destroy those who had transgressed the law of God boldly in every part of the king’s dominions.

13 Their priests, then, as it was meet, saluted him with good wishes, and all the people echoed with the Hallelujah. They then joyfully departed.

14 Then they punished and destroyed with ignominy every polluted Jew that fell in their way;

15 slaying thus, in that day, above three hundred men, and esteeming this destruction of the wicked a season of joy.

16 They themselves having held fast their God to death, and having enjoyed a full deliverance, departed from the city garlanded with sweet-flowered wreaths of every kind. Uttering exclamations of joy, with songs of praise, and melodious hymns they thanked the God of their fathers, the eternal Saviour of Israel.

17 Having arrived at Ptolemais, called from the specialty of that district Rose-bearing, where the fleet, in accordance with the general wish, waited for them seven days,

18 they partook of a banquet of deliverance, for the king generously granted them severally the means of securing a return home.

19 They were accordingly brought back in peace, while they gave utterance to becoming thanks; and they determined to keep these days during their sojourn as days of joyfulness.

20 These they registered as sacred upon a pillar, when they had dedicated the place of their festivity to be one of prayer. They departed unharmed, free, abundant in joy, preserved by the king’s command, by land, by sea, and by river, each to his own home.

21 They had more weight than before among their enemies; and were honored and feared, and no one in any way robbed them of their goods.

22 Every man received back his own, according to inventory; those who had obtained their goods, giving them up with the greatest terror. For the greatest God wrought with perfectness wonders for their salvation.

23 Blessed be the Redeemer of Israel to everlasting. Amen.

1 Now after a space of three years tidings were brought to Judas and his company that Demetrius thesonof Seleucus, having sailed into the haven of Tripolis with a mighty host and a fleet,

2 had gotten possession of the country, having made away with Antiochus and Lysias his guardian.

3 But one Alcimus, who had formerly been high priest, and had wilfully polluted himself in the times when there was no minglingwith the Gentiles,considering that there was no deliverance for him in any way, nor any more access to the holy altar,

4 came to king Demetrius in about the hundred and one and fifties year, presenting to him a chaplet of gold and a palm, and beside thesesomeof the festal olive boughs of the temple. And for that day he held his peace;

5 but having gotten opportunity to further his own madness, being called by Demetrius into a meeting of his council, and asked how the Jews stood affected and what they purposed, he answered thereto.

6 Those of the Jews that he calledHasidaeans, whose leader is Judas Maccabaeus, keep up war, and are seditious, not suffering the kingdom to find tranquillity.

7 Wherefore, having laid aside mine ancestral glory, I mean the high priesthood, I am now comehither;

8 first for the unfeigned care I have for the things that concern the king, and secondly because I have regard also to mine own fellow-citizens: for, through the unadvised dealing of those of whom I spoke before, our whole race is in no small misfortune.

9 But do you, O king, having informed yourself of these things severally, take thought both for our country and for our race, whichis surroundedby foes,according to the gracious kindness with which you receive all.

10 For as long as Judas remains alive, it is impossible that the state should find peace.

11 And when he had spoken such words as these, at oncethe rest of theking’sFriends, having ill will against Judas, inflamed Demetrius yet more.

12 And forthwith appointing Nicanor, who had been master of the elephants, and making him governor of Judaea, he sent him forth,

13 giving him written instructions to make away with Judas himself and to scatter them that were with him, and to set up Alcimus as high priest of thegreat temple.

14 Andthose in Judaea thathadbeforedriven Judas into exile thronged to Nicanor in flocks, supposing that the misfortunes and calamities of the Jews would be successes to themselves.

15 But whenthe Jewsheard of Nicanor’s inroad and the assault of the heathen, they sprinkled earthupon their headsand made solemn supplication to him who had established his own people for evermore, and who always, making manifest his presence, upholdeththem that arehis own portion.

16 And when the leader had givenhiscommands, he straightway sets out from thence, and joineth battle with them at a villagecalledLessau.

17 But Simon, the brother of Judas, had encountered Nicanor,yet not till late, having received a check by reason of the sudden consternation caused by his adversaries.

18 Nevertheless Nicanor, hearing of the manliness of them that were with Judas, and their courage in fighting for their country, shrank from bringing the matter to the decision of the sword.

19 Wherefore he sent Posidonius and Theodotus and Mattathias to give and receive pledges of friendship.

20 So when these proposals had been long considered, and the leader had made thetroops acquainted therewith, and it appeared that they were all of like mind, they consented to the covenants.

21 And they appointed a day on which to meet together by themselves. And a litter was borne forward from eacharmy;they set chairs of state;

22 Judas stationed armed men ready in convenient places, lest haply there should suddenly be treachery on the part of the enemy; they held such conference as was meet.

23 Nicanor tarried in Jerusalem, and did nothing to cause disturbance, but dismissed the flocks of people that had gathered together.

24 And he kept Judas always in his presence; he had gained a hearty affection for the man;

25 he urged him to marry and beget children; he married, settled quietly, took part in common life.

26 But Alcimus, perceiving the good will that was between them,and having got possession of the covenants that had been made, came to Demetrius and told him that Nicanor was ill affected toward the state, for he had appointed that conspirator against his kingdom, Judas, to be his successor.

27 And the king, falling into a rage, and being exasperated by the calumnnies of that most wicked man, wrote to Nicanor, signifying that he was displeased at the covenants, and commanding him to send Maccabaeus prisoner to Antioch in all haste.

28 And when this message came to Nicanor, he was confounded, and was sore troubled at the thought of annulling the articles that had been agreed upon, the man having done no wrong;

29 but because there was no dealing against the king, he watched his time to execute this purpose by stratagem.

30 But Maccabaeus, when he perceived that Nicanor was behaving more harshly in his dealings with him, and that he had become ruler in his customary bearing, understanding that this harshness came not of good, gathered together not a few of his men, and concealed himself from Nicanor.

31 But the other,when he became aware that he had been bravely defeated by the stratagem ofJudas, came to thegreat and holy temple, while the priests were offering the usual sacrifices, and commanded them to deliver up the man.

32 And when they declared with oaths that they had no knowledge where the man was whom he sought,

33 he stretched forth his right hand toward the sanctuary, and sware this oath: If you⌃ will not deliver up to me Judas as a prisoner, I will lay thistemple of God even with the ground, and will break down the altar, and I will erect here a temple toBacchus for all to see.

34 And having said this, he departed. But the priests, stretching forth their hands toward heaven, called upon him that ever fights for our nation, in these words:

35 You,O Lord of the universe, who in yourself have need of nothing, was well pleased that a sanctuary of yourhabitation should be set among us;

36 so now, O holy Lord of all hallowing, keep undefiled for ever this house that has been lately cleansed.

37 Now information was given to Nicanor against one Razis, an elder of Jerusalem,as being a lover of his countrymen and a man of very good report, and one called Father of the Jews for his good willtoward them.

38 For in the former times when there was no minglingwith the Gentileshe had been accused ofcleaving tothe Jews’ religion, and had jeoparded body and life with all earnestness for the religion of the Jews.

39 And Nicanor, wishing to make evident the ill will that he bare to the Jews, sent above five hundred soldiers to take him;

40 for he thought by taking him to inflict a calamity upon them.

41 But when thetroops were on the point of taking the tower, and were forcing the door of the court, and bade bring fire and burn the doors, he being surrounded on every side fell upon his sword,

42 choosing rather to die nobly than to fall into the hands of the wicked wretches, and suffer outrage unworthy of his own nobleness:

43 but since he missed his stroke through the excitement of the struggle, and the crowds were now rushing within the door, he ran bravely up to the wall and cast himself down manfully among the crowds.

44 But as they quickly gave back, a space was made, and he fell on the middle ofhis side.

45 And having yet breath within him, and being inflamed with passion, he rose up, and though his blood gushed out in streams and his wounds were grievous, he ran through the crowds, and standing upon a steep rock,

46 when as his blood was now well near spent, he drew forth his bowelsthrough the wound,and taking them in both his hands he shook them at the crowds; and calling upon him who is Lord ofthe life and thespirit to restore himthese again, he thus died.

1 And Simon heard that Tryphon had gathered together a mighty host to come into the land of Judah, and destroy it utterly.

2 And he saw that the people trembled and was in great fear; and he went up to Jerusalem, and gathered the people together;

3 and he encouraged them, and said to them, You⌃ yourselves know all the things that I, and my brethren, and my father’s house, have done for the laws and the sanctuary, and the battles and the distresses which we have seen:

4 by reason hereof all my brethren have perished for Israel’s sake, and I am left alone.

5 And now be it far from me, that I should spare mine own life in any time of affliction; for I am not better than my brethren.

6 Howbeit I will take vengeance for my nation, and for the sanctuary, and for our wives and children; because all the Gentiles are gathered to destroy us of very hatred.

7 And the spirit of the people revived, as soon as they heard these words.

8 And they answered with a loud voice, saying, You are our leader instead of Judas and Jonathan your brother.

9 Fight you our battles, and all that you shall say to us, that will we do.

10 And he gathered together all the men of war, and made haste to finish the walls of Jerusalem, and he fortified it round about.

11 And he sent Jonathan the son of Absalom, and with him a great host, to Joppa: and he cast out them that were therein, and abode there in it

12 And Tryphon removed from Ptolemais with a mighty host to enter into the land of Judah, and Jonathan was with him in ward.

13 But Simon encamped at Adida, over against the plain.

14 And Tryphon knew that Simon was risen up instead of his brother Jonathan, and meant to join battle with him, and he sent ambassadors to him, saying,

15 It is for money which Jonathan your brother owed to the king’s treasure, by reason of the offices which he had, that we hold him fast.

16 And now send a hundred talents of silver, and two of his sons for hostages, that when he is set at liberty he may not revolt from us, and we will set him at liberty.

17 And Simon knew that they spoke to him deceitfully; and he sends the money and the children, lest perhaps he should procure to himself great hatred of the people,

18 and they should say, Because I sent him not the money and the children, he perished.

19 And he sent the children and the hundred talents. And he dealt falsely, and did not set Jonathan at liberty.

20 And after this Tryphon came to invade the land, and destroy it, and he went round about by the way that leads to Adora: and Simon and his army marched over against him to every place, wherever he went.

21 Now they of the citadel sent to Tryphon ambassadors, hastening him to come to them through the wilderness, and to send them food.

22 And Tryphon made ready all his horse to come: and on that night there fell a very great snow, and he came not by reason of the snow. And he removed, and came into the country of Gilead.

23 But when he came near to Bascama, he killed Jonathan, and he was buried there.

24 And Tryphon returned, and went away into his own land.

25 And Simon sent, and took the bones of Jonathan his brother, and buried him at Modin, the city of his fathers.

26 And all Israel made great lamentation over him, and mourned for him many days.

27 And Simon builta monumentupon the sepulchre of his father and his brethren, and raised it aloft to the sight, with polished stone behind and before.

28 And he set up seven pyramids, one over against another, for his father, and his mother, and his four brethren.

29 And for these he made cunning devices, setting about them great pillars, and upon the pillars he fashionedall manner of arms for a perpetual memory, and beside thearms ships carved, that they should be seen of all that sail on the sea.

30 This is the sepulchre which he made at Modin,and it is thereto this day.

31 Now Tryphon dealt deceitfully with the young king Antiochus, and killed him,

32 and reigned in his stead, and put on himself the diadem of Asia, and brought a great calamity upon the land.

33 And Simon built the strongholds of Judaea, and fenced them about with high towers, and great walls, and gates, and bars; and he laid up food in the strongholds.

34 And Simon chose men, and sent to king Demetrius, to the end he should give the country an immunity, because all that Tryphon did was to plunder.

35 And king Demetrius sent to him according to these words, and answered him, and wrote a letter to him, after this manner:

36 King Demetrius to Simon the high priest andFriend of kings, and to the elders and nation of the Jews, greeting:

37 The golden crown, and the palm branch, which you⌃ sent, we have received: and we are ready to make astedfast peace with you, yes, and to write to our officers, to grant immunities to you.

38 And whatever things we confirmed to you, they are confirmed; and the strongholds, which you⌃ have builded, let them be your own.

39 As for any oversights and faults committed to this day, we forgive them, and the crown which you⌃ owed us: and if there were any other toll exacted in Jerusalem, let it be exacted no longer.

40 And if there be any among you meet to be enrolled in our court, let them be enrolled, and let there be peace between us.

41 Inthe hundred and seventies year was the yoke of the heathen taken away from Israel.

42 And the people began to write in their instruments and contracts, In the first year of Simon, the great high priest and captain and leader of the Jews.

43 In those days he encamped againstGazara, and compassed it round about with armies; and he made an engine of siege, and brought it up to the city, and struck a tower, and took it.

44 And they that were in the engine leaped forth into the city; and there was a great uproar in the city:

45 and they of the city tore their clothes, and went up on the walls with their wives and children, and cried with a loud voice, making request to Simon to give themhis right hand.

46 And they said, Deal not with us according to our wickednesses, but according to your mercy.

47 And Simon was reconciled to them, and did not fight against them: and he put them out of the city, and cleansed the houses wherein the idols were, and so entered into it with singing and giving praise.

48 And he put all uncleanness out of it, and placed in it such men as would keep the law, and made it stronger than it was before, and built therein a dwelling place for himself.

49 But they of the citadel in Jerusalem were hindered from going forth, and from going into the country, and from buying and selling; and they hungered exceedingly, and a great number of them perished through famine.

50 And they cried out to Simon, that he should give them his right hand; and he gave it to them: and he put them out from thence, and he cleansed the citadel from its pollutions.

51 And he entered into it on the three and twentieth day of the second month, inthe hundred and seventy and first year, with praise and palm branches, and with harps, and with cymbals, and with viols, and with hymns, and with songs: because a great enemy was destroyed out of Israel.

52 And he ordained that they should keep that day every year with gladness. And the hill of the temple that was by the citadel he made stronger than before, and there he lived, himself and his men.

53 And Simon saw that John his son was avaliantman, and he made him leader of all his forces: and he lived in Gazara.

1 And inthe hundred and seventy and second year king Demetrius gathered his forces together, and went into Media, to get him help, that he might fight against Tryphon.

2 And Arsaces, the king of Persia and Media, heard that Demetrius was come into his borders, and he sent one of his princes to take him alive:

3 and he went and struck the army of Demetrius, and took him, and brought him to Arsaces; and he put him in ward.

4 And the land had rest all the days of Simon: and he sought the good of his nation; and and his authority and his glory was well-pleasing to them all his days.

5 And amid all his glory he took Joppa for a haven, and made it an entrance for the isles of the sea;

6 and he enlarged the borders of his nation, and got possession of the country;

7 and he gathered together a great number of captives, and got the dominion of Gazara, and Bethsura, and the citadel, and he took away from it its uncleannesses; and there was none that resisted him.

8 And they tilled their land in peace, and the land gave her increase, and the trees of the plains their fruit.

9 The ancient men sat in the streets, they communed all of them together of good things, and the young men put on glorious and warlike apparel.

10 He provided food for the cities, and furnished them withall manner of munition, until the name of his glory was named to the end of the earth.

11 He made peace in the land, and Israel rejoiced with great joy:

12 and they sat each man under his vine and his fig tree, and there was none to make them afraid:

13 and there ceased in the land any that fought against them: and the kings were discomfited in those days.

14 And he strengthened all those of his people that were brought low: the law he searched out, and every lawless and wicked person he took away.

15 He glorified the sanctuary, and the vessels of the temple he multiplied.

16 And it was heard at Rome that Jonathan was dead, and even to Sparta, and they were exceeding sorry.

17 But as soon as they heard that his brother Simon was made high priest in his stead, and ruled the country, and the cities therein,

18 they wrote to him on tables of brass, to renew with him the friendship and the confederacy which they had confirmed with Judas and Jonathan his brethren;

19 and they were read before the congregation at Jerusalem.

20 And this is the copy of the letters which the Spartans sent:

The rulers of the Spartans, and the city, to Simon the high priest, and to the elders, and the priests, and the residue of the people of the Jews, our brethren, greeting:

21 The ambassadors that were sent to our people made report to us of your glory and honor: and we were glad for their coming,

22 and we did register the things that were spoken by them in thepublic records after this manner: Numenius son of Antiochus, and Antipater son of Jason, the Jews’ ambassadors, came to us to renew the friendship they had with us.

23 And it pleased the people to entertain the men honorably, and to put the copy of their words in thepublic records, to the end that the people of the Spartans might have a memorial thereof: moreover they wrote a copy of these things to Simon the high priest.

24 After this Simon sent Numenius to Rome with a great shield of gold of a thousand pound weight, in order to confirm the confederacy with them.

25 But when the people heard these things, they said, What thanks shall we give to Simon and his sons?

26 for he and his brethren and the house of his father have made themselves strong, and have chased away in fight the enemies of Israel from them, and confirmed liberty toIsrael.

27 And they wrote on tables of brass, and set them upon pillars in mount Sion: and this is the copy of the writing:

On the eighteenth day of Elul, inthe hundred and seventy and second year, and this is the third year of Simon the high priest,

28 in Asaramel, in a great congregation of priests and people and princes of the nation, and of the elders of the country,was it notified to us:

29 Forasmuch as oftentimes there have been wars in the country, but Simon the son of Mattathias, the son of the sons of Joarib, and his brethren, put themselves in jeopardy, and withstood the enemies of their nation, that their sanctuary and the law might be established, and glorified their nation with great glory:

30 and Jonathan assembled their nation together, and became their high priest, and was gathered to his people:

31 and their enemies purposed to invade their country, that they might destroy their country utterly, and stretch forth their hands against their sanctuary:

32 then rose up Simon, and fought for his nation, and spent much of his own substance, and armed the valiant men of his nation, and gave them wages:

33 and he fortified the cities of Judaea, and Bethsura that lies upon the borders of Judaea, where the arms of the enemies were aforetime, and set there a garrison of Jews:

34 and he fortified Joppa which is upon the sea, and Gazara which is upon the borders of Azotus, wherein the enemies lived aforetime, and placed Jews there, and set therein all things convenient for the reparation thereof:

35 and the people saw thefaith of Simon, and the glory which he thought to bring to his nation, and they made him their leader and high priest, because he had done all these things, and for the justice and the faith which he kept to his nation, and for that he sought by all means to exalt his people:

36 and in his days things prospered in his hands, so that the Gentiles were taken away out of their country, and they also that were in the city of David, they that were in Jerusalem, who had made themselves a citadel, out of which they issued, and polluted all things round about the sanctuary, and did great hurt to its purity;

37 and he placed Jews therein, and fortified it for the safety of the country and the city, and made high the walls of Jerusalem:

38 and king Demetrius confirmed to him the high priesthood according to these things,

39 and made him one of hisFriends, and honored him with great honor;

40 for he had heard say, that the Jews had been called by the Romans friends and confederates and brethren, and that they had met the ambassadors of Simon honorably;

41 and that the Jews and the priests were well pleased that Simon should be their leader and high priest for ever, until there should arise a faithful prophet;

42 and that he should be captain over them, and should take charge of the sanctuary, to set them over their works, and over the country, and over the arms, and over the strongholds; and that he should take charge of the sanctuary,

43 and that he should be obeyed by all, and that all instruments in the country should be written in his name, and that he should be clothed in purple, and wear gold;

44 and that it should not be lawful for any of the people or of the priests to set at nothing any of these things, or to gainsay the words that he should speak, or to gather an assembly in the country without him, or to be clothed in purple, or wear a buckle of gold;

45 but whoever should do otherwise, or set at nothing any of these things, he should be liable to punishment.

46 All the people consented to ordain for Simon that he should do according to these words;

47 and Simon accepted hereof, and consented to be high priest, and to be captain andgovernor of the Jews and of the priests, and to be protector of all.

48 And they commanded to put this writing on tables of brass, and to set them up within the precinct of the sanctuary in a conspicuous place;

49 and moreover to put the copies thereof in the treasury, to the end that Simon and his sons might have them.

1 And Antiochus son of Demetrius the king sent letters from the isles of the sea to Simon the priest andgovernor of the Jews, and to all the nation;

2 and the contents thereof were after this manner:

King Antiochus to Simon the chief priest andgovernor, and to the nation of the Jews, greeting:

3 Forasmuch as certain pestilent fellows have made themselves masters of the kingdom of our fathers, but my purpose is to claim the kingdom, that I may restore it as it was before; and moreover I have raised a multitude of foreign soldiers, and have prepared ships of war;

4 moreover I am minded to land in the country, that I may punish them that have destroyed our country, and them that have made many cities in the kingdom desolate:

5 Now therefore I confirm to you all the exactions which the kings that were before me remitted to you, and whatever gifts besides they remitted to you:

6 and I give you leave to coin money for your country with your own stamp,

7 but that Jerusalem and the sanctuary should be free: and all the arms that you have prepared, and the strongholds that you have built, which you have in your possession, let them remain to you:

8 and everything owing to the king, and the things that shall be owing to the king from henceforth and for evermore, let them be remitted to you:

9 moreover, when we shall have established our kingdom, we will glorify you and your nation and the temple with great glory, so that your glory shall be made manifest in all the earth.

10 Inthe hundred and seventy and fourth year went Antiochus forth into the land of his fathers; and all the forces came together to him, so that there were few men with Tryphon.

11 And king Antiochus pursued him, andhe came, as he fled, to Dor, which is by the sea:

12 for he knew that troubles were come upon him all at once, and that his forces had forsaken him.

13 And Antiochus encamped against Dor, and with him a hundred and twenty thousand men of war, and eight thousand horse.

14 And he compassed the city round about, and the ships joined in the attack from the sea; and he vexed the city by land and sea, and suffered no man to go out or in.

15 And Numenius and his company came from Rome, having letters to the kings and to the countries, wherein were written these things:

16 Lucius, consul of the Romans, to king Ptolemy, greeting:

17 The Jews’ ambassadors came to us as our friends and confederates, to renew the old friendship and confederacy, being sent from Simon the high priest, and from the people of the Jews:

18 moreover they brought a shield of gold of a thousand pound.

19 It pleased us therefore to write to the kings and to the countries, that they should not seek their hurt, nor fight against them, and their cities, and their country, nor be confederates with such as fight against them.

20 Moreover it seemed good to us to receive the shield of them.

21 If therefore any pestilent fellows have fled from their country to you, deliver them to Simon the high priest, that he may take vengeance on them according to their law.

22 And the same things wrote he to Demetrius the king, and to Attalus, and to Arathes, and to Arsaces,

23 and to all the countries, and toSampsames, and to the Spartans, and to Delos, and to Myndos, and to Sicyon, and to Caria, and to Samos, and to Pamphylia, and to Lycia, and to Halicarnassus, and to Rhodes, and to Phaselis, and to Cos, and to Side, and to Aradus, and Gortyna, and Cnidus, and Cyprus, and Cyrene.

24 But the copy hereof they wrote to Simon the high priest.

25 But Antiochus the king encamped against Dor the second day, bringing his forces up to it continually, and making engines of war, and he shut up Tryphon from going in or out.

26 And Simon sent him two thousand chosen men to fight on his side; and silver, and gold, and instruments of war in abundance.

27 And he would not receive them, but set at nothing all the covenants which he had made with him aforetime, and was estranged from him.

28 And he sent to him Athenobius, one of hisFriends, to commune with him, saying,

You⌃ hold possession of Joppa and Gazara, and the citadel that is in Jerusalem, cities of my kingdom.

29 The borders thereof you⌃ have wasted, and done great hurt in the land, and got the dominion of many places in my kingdom.

30 Now therefore deliver up the cities which you⌃ have taken, and the tributes of the places whereof you⌃ have gotten dominion without the borders of Judaea:

31 or else give me for them five hundred talents of silver; and for the harm that you⌃ have done, and the tributes of the cities, other five hundred talents: or else we will come and subdue you.

32 And Athenobius the king’sFriend came to Jerusalem; and he saw the glory of Simon, and the cupboard of gold and silver vessels, and his great attendance, and he was amazed; and he reported to him the king’s words.

33 And Simon answered, and said to him,

We have neither taken other men’s land, nor have we possession of that which appertains to others, but of the inheritance of our fathers; howbeit, it was had in possession of our enemies wrongfully for a certain time.

34 But we, having opportunity, hold fast the inheritance of our fathers.

35 But as touching Joppa and Gazara, which you demand, they did great harm among the people throughout our country, we will give a hundred talents for them.

And he answered him not a word,

36 but returned in a rage to the king, and reported to him these words, and the glory of Simon, and all that he had seen: and the king was exceeding angry.

37 But Tryphon embarked on board a ship, and fled to Orthosia.

38 And the king appointed Cendebaeus chief captain of the sea coast, and gave him forces of foot and horse:

39 and he commanded him to encamp before Judaea, and he commanded him to build up Kidron, and to fortify the gates, and that he should fight against the people: but the king pursued Tryphon.

40 And Cendebaeus came to Jamnia, and began to provoke the people, and to invade Judaea, and to take the people captive, and to kill them.

41 And he built Kidron, and set horsemen there, and forces of foot, to the end that issuing out they might make outroads upon the ways of Judaea, according as the king commanded him.