1 Maccabees 15
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1MOreouer King Antiochus the sonne of Demetrius sent lettres from the yles of the sea vnto Simon the Priest, and prince of the Iewes, and to all the nacion, 2Conteining these wordes, ANTIOCHVS the King vnto Simon the great Priest, & to the nacion of the Iewes sendeth greting. 3For so muche as certeine pestilent men haue vsurped the kingdome of our fathers, I am purposed to chalenge the realme againe, and to restore it to the olde estate: wherefore I haue gathered a great hoste, and prepared shippes of warre, 4That I may go thorowe the countrey, & be aduenged of them, which haue destroied our countrey, and wasted manie cities in the realme. 5Now therefore I do confirme vnto thee all the liberties, whereof all the Kings my progenitours haue discharged thee, and all the paiments, whereof they haue released thee. 6And I giue thee leaue to coyne money of thine owne stampe within thy countrey, 7And that Ierusalem, and the Sanctuarie be fre, and that all the weapons, that thou hast prepared, and the forteresses, which thou hast buylded, & kepest in thine hands, shalbe thine. 8And all that is due vnto the King, and all that shalbe due vnto the King, I forgiue it thee, from this time forthe for euermore. 9And when we haue obteined our kingdome, we wil giue thee, & thy nacion & the Temple great honour, so that your honor shalbe knowen thorowe out the worlde. 10¶In the hundreth, seuentie & foure yere, went Antiochus into his fathers land, and all the bandes came together vnto him, so that fewe were left with Tryphon. 11So the King Antiochus pursued him, but he fled and came to Dora, which lyeth by the sea side. 12For he sawe that troubles were towarde him, and that the armie had forsaken him. 13Then camped Antiochus against Dora with an hundreth and twentie thousand fighting men, and eight thousand horsemen. 14So he compassed the citie about, and the shippes came by the sea. Thus they pressed the citie by land, & by sea, in so muche that thei suffered no man to go in nor out. 15In the meane season came Numenius, and his companie from Rome, hauing lettres writen vnto the Kings and countreis, wherein were conteined these wordes, 16LVCIVS THE Consul of Rome vnto King Ptolemeus sendeth greting. 17The ambassadours of the Iewes are come vnto vs as our friends and confederates from Simon the hie Priest, and from the people of the Iewes to renue friendship, and the bonde of loue, 18Who haue broght a shield of golde weying a thousand pounde. 19Wherefore we thoght it good to write vnto the Kings and countreis, that they shulde not go about to hurt them, nor to fight against them, nor their cities, nor their countreie, nether to mainteine their enemies against them. 20And we were content to receiue of them the shield. 21If therefore there be anie pestilent felowes fled from their countrey vnto you, deliuer them vnto Simon the hie Priest, that he maye punish them according to their owne Law. 22The same things were writen to Demetrius the King, and to Attalus, and to Arathes and to Arsaces, 23And to all countreis, as"Sampsames, and to them of Sparta, and to Delus, and to Mindus and to Sicion, and to Caria, and to Samos, and to Pamphylia, and to Lycia, and to Halicarnassus, and to Rhodus, and to Phaselis, and to Cos, and to Siden, and to Cortyna, and to Gnidon, and to Cyprus, and to Cyrene. 24And they sent a copie of them to Simon the hie Priest. 25¶So Antiochus the King camped against Dora the seconde time euer readie to take it, and made diuers engins of warre, and kept Tryphon in, that he colde nether go in nor out. 26Then Simon sent him two thousand chosen men to helpe him with siluer & golde, and muche furniture. 27Neuertheles, he wolde not receiue them, but brake all the couenant, which he had made with him afore, and withdrewe him self from him, 28And sent vnto him Athenobius one of his friends to commune with him, saying, Ye withholde Ioppe, and Gazara with the castle that is at Ierusalem, the citie of my realme, 29Whose borders ye haue destroyed and done great hurt in the land, and haue the gouernement of manie places of my kingdome. 30Wherefore now deliuer the cities, which ye haue taken, with the tributes of the places, that ye haue rule ouer without the borders of Iudea, 31Or els giue me for them fiue hundreth talents of siluer, and for the harme that ye haue done, and for the tributes of the places other fiue hundreth talents: if not, we wil come, and fight against you. 32So Athenobius the Kings friend came to Ierusalem, & when he sawe the honour of Simon, and the cubbert of golde and siluer plate, and so great preparacion, he was astonished, and tolde him the Kings message. 33Then answered Simon, and said vnto him, We haue nether taken other mens lands, nor withholden that which apperteineth to others: but our fathers heritage, which our enemies had vnrighteously in possession a certeine time. 34But when we had occasion, we recouered the inheritance of our fathers. 35And whereas thou ″requirest Ioppe and Gazara, they did great harme to our people, and through our countrey, yet wil we giue an hundreth talents for them. But Athenobius answered him not one worde, 36But turned againe angrie vnto the King, and tolde him all these wordes, and the dignitie of Simon, with all that he had sene: and the King was verie angrie. 37¶ In the meane time fled Tryphon by shippe vnto Orthosias. 38Then the King made Cendebeus captaine of the sea coast, and gaue him bandes of fotemen and horsemen, 39And commanded him to remoue the hoste towarde Iudea, and to buylde vp Cedron, & to fortifie the gates, & to warre against the people: but the King pursued Tryphon. 40So Cendebeus came vnto Iamnia, and began to vexe the people, and to inuade Iudea, and to take the people prisoners, & to slay them. 41And he buylte vp Cedron, where he set horsemen and garisons, that they might make outrodes by the waies of Iudea, as the King had commanded him.