1 Maccabees 15 — UBES
15Verse 1Moreover Antiochus son of Demetrius the king sent letters from the isles of the sea unto Simon the priest and prince of the Jews, and to all the people;Verse 2the contents whereof were these: King Antiochus to Simon the high priest and prince of his nation, and to the people of the Jews, greeting:Verse 3Forasmuch as certain pestilent men have usurped the kingdom of our fathers, and my purpose is to challenge it again, that I may restore it to the old estate, and to that end have gathered a multitude of foreign soldiers together, and prepared ships of war;Verse 4my meaning also being to go through the country, that I may be avenged of them that have destroyed it, and made many cities in the kingdom desolate:Verse 5now therefore I confirm unto thee all the oblations which the kings before me granted thee, and whatsoever gifts besides they granted.Verse 6I give thee leave also to coin money for thy country with thine own stamp.Verse 7And as concerning Jerusalem and the sanctuary, let them be free; and all the armor that thou hast made, and fortresses that thou hast built, and keepest in thy hands, let them remain unto thee.Verse 8And if anything be, or shall be, owing to the king, let it be forgiven thee from this time forth for evermore.Verse 9Furthermore, when we have obtained our kingdom, we will honor thee, and thy nation, and thy temple, with great honor, so that your honor shall be known throughout the world.Verse 10In the hundred threescore and fourteenth year went Antiochus into the land of his fathers: at which time all the forces came together unto him, so that few were left with Trypho.Verse 11Wherefore being pursued by King Antiochus, he fled unto Dor, which lieth by the sea side:Verse 12for he saw that troubles came upon him all at once, and that his forces had forsaken him.Verse 13Then camped Antiochus against Dor, having with him a hundred and twenty thousand men of war, and eight thousand horsemen.Verse 14And when he had compassed the city round about, and joined ships close to the town on the sea side, he vexed the city by land and by sea, neither suffered he any to go out or in.Verse 15In the mean season came Numenius and his company from Rome, having letters to the kings and countries; wherein were written these things:Verse 16Lucius, consul of the Romans unto King Ptolemy, greeting:Verse 17The Jews’ ambassadors, our friends and confederates, came unto us to renew the old friendship and league, being sent from Simon the high priest, and from the people of the Jews:Verse 18and they brought a shield of gold of a thousand pound.Verse 19We thought it good therefore to write unto the kings and countries, that they should do them no harm, nor fight against them, their cities, or countries, nor yet aid their enemies against them.Verse 20It seemed also good to us to receive the shield of them.Verse 21If therefore there be any pestilent fellows, that have fled from their country unto you, deliver them unto Simon the high priest, that he may punish them according to their own law.Verse 22The same things wrote he likewise unto Demetrius the king, and Attalus, to Ariarathes, and Arsaces,Verse 23and to all the countries, and to Sampsames, and the Lacedaemonians, and to Delos, and Myndos, and Sicyon, and Caria, and Samos, and Pamphylia, and Lycia, and Halicarnassus, and Rhodes, and Phaselis, and Cos, and Side, and Aradus, and Gortyna, and Cnidus, and Cyprus, and Cyrene.Verse 24And the copy hereof they wrote to Simon the high priest.Verse 25So Antiochus the king camped against Dor the second day, assaulting it continually, and making engines, by which means he shut up Trypho, that he could neither go out nor in.Verse 26At that time Simon sent him two thousand chosen men to aid him; silver also, and gold, and much armor.Verse 27Nevertheless he would not receive them, but broke all the covenants which he had made with him afore, and became strange unto him.Verse 28Furthermore he sent unto him Athenobius, one of his friends, to commune with him, and say, Ye withhold Joppa and Gazara, with the tower that is in Jerusalem, which are cities of my realm.Verse 29The borders thereof ye have wasted, and done great hurt in the land, and got the dominion of many places within my kingdom.Verse 30Now therefore deliver the cities which ye have taken, and the tributes of the places, whereof ye have gotten dominion without the borders of Judea:Verse 31or else give me for them five hundred talents of silver; and for the harm that ye have done, and the tributes of the cities, other five hundred talents: if not, we will come and fight against you.Verse 32So Athenobius the king’s friend came to Jerusalem: and when he saw the glory of Simon, and the cupboard of gold and silver plate, and his great attendance, he was astonished, and told him the king’s message.Verse 33Then answered Simon, and said unto him, We have neither taken other men’s land, nor holden that which appertaineth to others, but the inheritance of our fathers, which our enemies had wrongfully in possession a certain time.Verse 34Wherefore we, having opportunity, hold the inheritance of our fathers.Verse 35And whereas thou demandest Joppa and Gazara, albeit they did great harm unto the people in our country, yet will we give a hundred talents for them. Hereunto Athenobius answered him not a word;Verse 36but returned in a rage to the king, and made report unto him of these speeches, and of the glory of Simon, and of all that he had seen: whereupon the king was exceeding wroth.Verse 37In the mean time fled Trypho by ship unto Orthosia.Verse 38Then the king made Cendebeus captain of the sea coast, and gave him a host of footmen and horsemen,Verse 39and commanded him to remove his host toward Judea: also he commanded him to build up Kedron, and to fortify the gates, and to war against the people; but as for the king himself, he pursued Trypho.Verse 40So Cendebeus came to Jamnia, and began to provoke the people, and to invade Judea, and to take the people prisoners, and slay them.Verse 41And when he had built up Kedron, he set horsemen there, and a host of footmen, to the end that issuing out they might make outroads upon the ways of Judea, as the king had commanded him.