151 And Antiochus, son of Demetrius the king, sent letters from the isles of the sea unto Simon the priesta and governor of the Jews, 2 and to all the nationb; cand the contents thereof were after this mannerc:

‘King Antiochus to Simon the high-priest and governor, and to the nation of the Jews, greeting: 3 Forasmuch as pestilent fellows have made themselves masters of the kingdom of our dfathers, and my purpose is to claim the kingdom, that I may restore it cas before,—I have, moreover, raised a multitude of foreign soldiers, 4 and have prepared ships of warc, and I have determined to land in the country, that I may punish them that have devastated our country, and them that have made many cities in thee kingdom desolate,—5 I therefore (herewith) confirm funto theef (the release from) all the exactions which the kings that were before me remitted unto thee, 6 cand whatsoever giftsg besides they remitted unto theec; hand I give thee leaveh ito coin money kfor thy countryk with thine own stampi. 7 And Jerusalem and the sanctuary shall be free; cand all the arms which thou hast preparedc, and the strongholds cwhich thou hast built, which thou hast in thy possessionc, let them remain unto thee. 8 And everything owing to the king, land the things that shall be owing to the king, let them be remitted unto thee from now and unto all timel. 9 Moreover, when we shall have establishedm our kingdom, we will glorify thee and thy nation and nthe Temple with great glory n, so that your glory shall be made manifest in all the earth.’

15:10–14. Antiochus VIII besieges Tryphon in Dor.

10 In the one hundred and seventy-fourth year Antiochus went forth into the land of his fathers; and all the forces came together unto him, so that there were (but) few meno with Tryphon. 11 And king Antiochus pursued him, 12 and in fleeing hep came to Dor, which is by the sea; for he perceived thatq troubles were come upon him, 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, rand the ships joined in the attack from the sea; and he pressed the city sorer by land sand seas, and suffered no man to go out or in.

15:15–24. The return of the Jewish envoys from Rome.

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, unto king Ptolemy, greeting: 17 The Jews’ ambassadors came unto us (as) our friends and confederates, to renew the old friendship and confederacy, being sent from Simon the high-priest, 18 tand from the people of the Jewst; moreover, they brought a shield of gold of a thousandu poundv. 19 It pleased us, therefore, to write unto the kings and unto the countries, wthat they should not seek their hurt, nor fight against themw, xand their cities, and their countryy, nor be confederates with such as fight against themx. 20 And it seemed good to us to accept the shield from them. 21 If, therefore, any pestilent fellows should have fled from their country unto you, deliver them unto 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 Ariarathesz, and to Arsaces, 23 and unto all the countries, and to Sampsamesa, and to the Spartans, and unto Delos, and unto Myndos, and unto Sicyon, and unto Carlab, and unto Samos, and unto Pamphylia, and unto Lycia, and unto Halicarnassus, and unto Rhodes, and unto Phaselis, and unto Cos, and unto Side, and unto Aradus, and Gortyna, and Cnidus, and Cyprus and Cyrenec. 24 And a copy hereof they wrote to Simon the high-priest.

15:25–41. Antiochus VIII breaks his covenant with Simon.

25 And Antiochus the king encamped against Dor the second (day)d, bringing his forces up to it continually, and making engines (of war); and he shut up Tryphone from going in or out. 26 And Simon sent him two thousand chosen men to fight for him, and silver and gold, and instruments (of war) in abundance. 27 But he would not receive them, fbut set at nought everything that he had previously covenanted gwith himg f; hand he was estranged from himh. 28 And he sent unto him Athenobius, one of his Friends, to commune with him, saying; ‘Ye hold possession of Joppa and Gazara, and the citadel that is in Jerusalem, fcities of my kingdom. 29 The borders thereof have ye wasted, and done great hurt in the landf, and have got the dominion of many places in my kingdom. 30 Now, therefore, deliver up the cities which ye have taken, fand the tributes of the places whereof ye have gotten dominion outside of the borders of Judaeaf; 31 or 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; otherwise wei will come and make war upon you.’ 32 And (when) Athenobius, the king’s Friend, came to Jerusalem, and saw the glory of Simon, and thek cabinet with gold and silver vessels, and his great attendance, lhe was amazedl, and reported to himm the king’s words. 33 And Simon nanswered, andn said unto him: ‘We have neither taken other men’s land, nor have we possession of that which appertaineth to others, but of the inheritance of our fathers; nhowbeit, it was had in possession of our enemies wrongfully for a certain timen. 34 But we, having (taken) the opportunity, hold fast othe inheritanceoof our fathers. 35 Nevertheless, as touching Joppa and Gazara which thou demandest,—(though it was) they that did great harm among the people nand in our landn—we will give a hundred talents for them.’ 36 And hep answered him not a word, but returned in a rage to the king, and reported unto him these words, nand the glory of Simon, and all things whatsoever he had seenn; and the king was exceeding wroth.

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 qand horseq; 39 and he commanded him to encamp before Judaea; also rhe commanded himr to build up Kedron, rand to fortifys the gatest r, and that he should fight against the people; but the king pursued Tryphon. 40 And Cendebaeus came to Jamnia, rand began to provoke the peopler, and to invade Judaea, and to take rthe peopler captive and to slay them. 41 And heu built Kedron, and set horsemen there, and forces of foot, to the end that, vissuing out, they might make outroads upon the ways of Judaeav, according as the king had commanded him.

16:1–10. Judas and John, the sons of Simon, defeat Cendebaeus.