1Maccabees:15

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* Moreover 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 ; * The contents whereof were these : King Antiochus to Simon the high priest and prince of his nation , and to the people of the Jews , greeting : * Forasmuch 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 ; * My 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 : * Now therefore I confirm unto thee all the oblations which the kings before me granted thee , and whatsoever gifts besides they granted . * I give thee leave also to coin money for thy country with thine own stamp . * And as concerning Jerusalem and the sanctuary , let them be free ; and all the armour that thou hast made , and fortresses that thou hast built , and keepest in thine hands , let them remain unto thee . * And if anything be , or shall be , owing to the king , let it be forgiven thee from this time forth for evermore . * 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 . * 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 Tryphon . * Wherefore being pursued by king Antiochus , he fled unto Dora , which lieth by the sea side : * For he saw that troubles came upon him all at once , and that his forces had forsaken him . * Then camped Antiochus against Dora , having with him an hundred and twenty thousand men of war , and eight thousand horsemen . * 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 to go out or in . * In the mean season came Numenius and his company from Rome , having letters to the kings and countries ; wherein were written these things : * Lucius , consul of the Romans unto king Ptolemee , greeting : * The 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 : * And they brought a shield of gold of a thousand pound . * We 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 . * It seemed also good to us to receive the shield of them . * If 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 . * The same things wrote he likewise unto Demetrius the king , and Attalus , to Ariarathes , and Arsaces , * And to all the countries and to Sampsames , and the Lacedemonians , and to Delus , and Myndus , and Sicyon , and Caria , and Samos , and Pamphylia , and Lycia , and Halicarnassus , and Rhodus , and Aradus , and Cos , and Side , and Aradus , and Gortyna , and Cnidus , and Cyprus , and Cyrene . * And the copy hereof they wrote to Simon the high priest . * So 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 go out nor in . * At that time Simon sent him two thousand chosen men to aid him ; silver also , and gold , and much armour . * Nevertheless he would not receive them , but brake all the covenants which he had made with him afore , and became strange unto him . * Furthermore he sent unto him Athenobius , one of his friends , to commune with him , and say , Ye withhold Joppa and Gazera ; with the tower that is in Jerusalem , which are cities of my realm . * The borders thereof ye have wasted , and done great hurt in the land , and got the dominion of many places within my kingdom . * Now therefore deliver the cities which ye have taken , and the tributes of the places , whereof ye have gotten dominion without the borders of Judea : * 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 : if not , we will come and fight against you * So 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 . * 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 . * Wherefore we , having opportunity , hold the inheritance of our fathers . * And whereas thou demandest Joppa and Gazera , albeit they did great harm unto the people in our country , yet will we give thee an hundred talents for them . Hereunto Athenobius answered him not a word ; * 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 . * In the mean time fled Tryphon by ship unto Orthosias . * Then the king made Cendebeus captain of the sea coast , and gave him an host of footmen and horsemen , * 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 Tryphon . * So Cendebeus came to Jamnia and began to provoke the people and to invade Judea , and to take the people prisoners , and slay them . * And when he had built up Cedrou , he set horsemen there , and an host of footmen , to the end that issuing out they might make outroads upon the ways of Judea , as the king had commanded him .

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