1   And king Antiochus ^note the sonne of Demetrius sent epistles from the iles of the sea to Simon the priest, and prince of the nation of the Iewes, and to al the nation:

2   and they conteyned this tenure: King Antiochus to Simon the grand priest, and to the nation of the Iewes greeting.

3   Because certaine pestilent men haue obteyned the kingdom of our fathers, and I meane to chalenge the kingdom, and to restore it as it was before: and I haue chosen a great armie, & haue made shippes of warre.

4   And I wil march through the countrie, that I may take reuenge of them, that haue destroyed our countrie, and that haue made manie cities desolate in my realme.

5   Now therfore I establish vnto thee al the oblations, which al the kinges before me remitted vnto thee, and what other gifts soeuer they remitted thee:

6   and I permitte thee to make a coyne of thy owne money in thy countrie:

7   and Ierusalem to be holie and free, and al the armour that is made, and the fortresses which thou hast built, and which thou dost hold, let them remayne to thee.

8   And al that is dew to the king, and the thinges that are to be the kings hereafter, from this present and for al time, they are remitted to thee.

9   And when we shal haue obteyned our kingdom, we wil glorifie thee, and thy nation, and the temple with great glorie, so that your glorie shal be made manifest in al the earth.

10   In the yeare an hundreth

seuentie foure went forth Antiochus into the land of his fathers, and al the hosts assembled vnto him, so that there were few left with Tryphon.

11   And Antiochus the king pursewed him, and he came to Dora flying by the seacost.

12   For he knew that euils were heaped vpon him, and the armie forsooke him.

13   And Antiochus camped vpon Dora with an hundred twentie thousand men of warre, and eight thousand horsemen:

14   and he compassed the citie, and the shippes approched to the sea: and they vexed the citie by land, and by sea, and suffered none to come in, or to goe out.

15   And ^note Numenius came, and they that had bene with him, from the citie of Rome, hauing epistles written to kinges, and countries, wherein were conteyned these wordes:

16   Lvcivs the consul of the Romanes, to Ptolomee the king greeting.

17   The ambassadours of the Iewes our freindes came to vs, renewing the old amitie, and societie, being sent from Simon the prince of the priests, and the people of the Iewes.

18   And they brought also a buckler of gold of a thousand powndes.

19   It hath pleased vs therfore to write to the kinges, and countries, that they doe them no harme, nor impugne them, and their cities, and their countries: and that they geue no ayde to them that fight against them.

20   And it hath semed good vnto vs to take the buckler of them.

21   If therfore anie pestilent men are fled out of their countrie to you, deliuer them to Simon the prince of the priests, that he may punish them according to their law.

22   These self same thinges were written to Demetrius the king, & to Attalus, and to Ariarathes, and to Arsaces,

23   and into al countries: and to Lampsaces, and to the Spartiats, and to Delus, and to Myndus, and to Sicyon, and to Caria, and to Samus, & Pamphilia, and Lycia, and Alicarnassus, and Coo, and Siden, and Aradon, and Rhodes, & Phaselis, and Gortyna, and Gnidus, and Cypres, and Cyrenee.

24   And a copie therof they wrote to Simon the prince of the priests & people of the Iewes.

25   But king Antiochus moued his campe vnto Dora the second time, setting handes alwayes vpon it, & making engins: & he shut vp Tryphon, that he could not goe forth.

26   And Simon sent vnto him two thousand chosen men for ayde, and siluer, and gold, and abundance of furniture.

27   And he would not take them, but brake al thinges that he couenanted with him before, & alienated him self from him.

28   And he sent to him Athenobius one of his freinds, to treate with him, saying: You hold Ioppe, and Gazara, and

the castel, that is in Ierusalem, cities of my kingdom:

29   their borders you haue made desolate, and you haue made a great plague in the land, and haue ruled in manie places in my kingdom.

30   Now therfore deliuer the cities, that you haue taken, and the tributes of the places, wherin you haue ruled without the borders of Iurie.

31   But if not, geue you for them fiue hundred talents of siluer, and for the destruction, that you haue made, and the tributes of cities other fiue hundred talents: but if not, we wil come and expugne you.

32   And Athenobius the kings freind came into Ierusalem, & saw the glorie of Simon, and his magnificence in gold, & siluer, and furniture abundant, and he was astonied, and told him the kings wordes.

33   And Simon answered him, and sayd to him: Neither haue we taken other mens land, neither do we hold that is other mens: but the inheritance of our fathers, which was a certaine season vniustly possessed of our enemies.

34   But we hauing oportunitie challenge the inheritance of our fathers.

35   For concerning Ioppe, and Gazara, that thou complaynest ^note they made a great plague among the people, and in our countrie: for these ^note we geue an hundred talents. And Athenobius answered him not a word.

36   But with anger returning to the king, he reported vnto him these wordes, and the glorie of Simon, & al thinges that he saw, and the king was wrath with great anger.

37   And Tryphon fled by shippe to Orthosias.

38   And the king appointed Cendebaeus captaine by the sea cost, and gaue him an armie of foote men and horsemen.

39   And he commanded him to moue the campe against the face of Iurie: and he commanded him to build ^note Cedron, and to fortifie the gates of the citie, and to conquer the people. But the king pursewed Tryphon.

40   And Cendebaeus came to Iamnia, and began to prouoke the people, & to conculcate Iurie, and to take the people captiue, and to kil, and to build Cedron.

41   And he placed there horsemen, and an host: that going forth they might walke by the way of Iurie, as the king appointed him.

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