XV. * Moreover Antiochus son of aDemetrius the king sent letters from bthe isles of the sea unto Simon the priest and cprince of the Jews, and to all the people; 2 dthe contents whereof were these: King Antiochus to Simon the high priest and cprince of his nation, and to the people of the Jews, greeting: 3 Forasmuch as ecertain pestilent men fhave 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; 4 my meaning also being to go through the country, that I may be avenged of gthem that have destroyed it, and made many cities in the kingdom desolate: 5 now therefore hI confirm unto thee all the oblations which the kings before me granted thee, and whatsoever gifts besides they granted. 6 I give thee leave also to coin money for thy country with thine own stamp. 7 And as concerning Jerusalem and the sanctuary, let them ibe free; and all the armour that thou hast made, and kfortresses that thou hast built, and keepest in thy hands, let them remain unto thee. 8 And if any thing be, or shall be, owing to the king, llet it be forgiven thee from this time forth for evermore. 9 Furthermore, when we have obtained our kingdom, we will honour thee, and thy nation, and thy temple, with great honour, so that your honour shall be known throughout the world.

10 In * 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 gTryphon. 11 Wherefore being pursued by king Antiochus, he fled unto mDora, which lieth by the sea side: 12 for he saw that troubles came upon him all at once, and that his forces had forsaken him. 13 Then camped Antiochus against mDora, having with him an hundred and twenty thousand men of war, and eight thousand horsemen. 14 And 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 nto go out or in.

15 In the mean season came oNumenius and his company from pRome, having letters qto the kings and countries; wherein were written these things: 16 rLucius, consul of the Romans unto king rrPtolemee, greeting: 17 The Jews’ ambassadors, sour friends and confederates, came unto us to renew tthe old friendship and league, obeing sent from Simon the high priest, and from the people of the Jews: 18 and othey brought a shield of gold of a thousand pound. 19 We thought it good therefore to write qunto 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. 20 It seemed also good to us to receive the shield of them. 21 If therefore there be eany 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. 22 The same things wrote he likewise unto uDemetrius the king, and Attalus, to * Ariarathes, and wArsaces, 23 and to all the countries, and to * Sampsames, and the xLacedemonians, and to Delus, and Myndus, and Sicyon, and Caria, and ySamos, and zPamphylia, and aLycia, and Halicarnassus, and bRhodus, and * Phaselis, and bCos, and Side, and Aradus, and Gortyna, and cCnidus, and dCyprus, and eCyrene. 24 And the copy hereof they wrote to Simon the high priest.

25 fSo Antiochus the king camped against Dora the second day, * assaulting it continually, and making engines, by which means he shut up Tryphon, that he could neither fgo out nor in. 26 At that time Simon sent him two thousand chosen men to aid him; silver also, and gold, and much armour. 27 Nevertheless he would not receive them, but gbrake hall the covenants which he had made with him afore, and became strange unto him. 28 Furthermore he sent unto him Athenobius, one of his friends, to commune with him, and say, You withhold iJoppe and kGazara, with lthe tower that is in Jerusalem, which are cities of my realm. 29 The borders thereof ye have wasted, and done great hurt in the land, and got the dominion of mmany places within my kingdom. 30 Now therefore deliver the cities which ye have taken, and mthe tributes of the places, whereof ye have gotten dominion * without the borders of Judea: 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: if not, we will come and * fight against you 32 So Athenobius nthe 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 oattendance, he was astonished, and told him the king’s message. 33 Then 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. 34 Wherefore we, having opportunity, hold the inheritance of our fathers. 35 And whereas thou demandest iJoppe and kGazara, albeit they did great harm unto the people in our country, yet will we give pan hundred talents for them. Hereunto Athenobius answered him not a word; 36 but 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. 37 In the mean time fled qTryphon by ship unto Orthosias.

38 Then the king made rCendebeus captain of the sea coast, and gave him a host of footmen and horsemen, 39 and commanded him to remove his host toward Judea: also he commanded him to build up * Cedron, and to fortify the gates, and to war against the people; but as for the king himself, he pursued qTryphon. 40 So rCendebeus came to sJamnia, and began to provoke the people, and to invade Judea, and to take the people prisoners, and slay them. 41 And when he had built up Cedron, 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.