1   And Iudas heard of ^note the name of the Romanes, that they are mightie of power, and agree vnto al thinges that are requested of them: and whosoeuer haue come vnto them, they haue made amitie with them, and that they are mightie of powre. ^note

2   And they heard of their battels, & goodlie acts, which they did in Galatia, that they ouercame them, and brought them vnder tribute:

3   & how great thinges they did in the countrie of Spaine, & that they brought into their powre the metalles of siluer and gold, that are there, and possessed euerie place by their counsel, & patience:

4   and destroyed ^note the places that were very far of from them, & the kings that came vpon them from the ends of the earth, and stroke them with a greate plague: and the rest geue them tribute euerie yeare.

5   And Philip and Perses the king of the Ceteans, and the rest that had borne weapon against them, they discomfited in battel, and ouercame them:

6   and that Antiochus the great king of Asia, who made battel against them, hauing ^note an hundred and twentie elephants, & horsemen, & chariottes an armie exceding great was discomfited by them:

7   & that they tooke him aliue, and appointed him, that himself and they that should reigne after him, should geue a great tribute, and he should geue hostages, and the thing appointed him.

8   and the region of the Indes, & the Medes, & the Lydiains of their best countries: and the same being taken of them, they gaue to Eumenes the king.

9   And that they which were in Hellada, would haue gone to dispatch them: and the word was knowen to them,

10   and they sent vnto them one captayne, and they fought against them, & manie of them were slaine, and they led away their wiues captiue, and their children, and spoiled them, and possessed their land, and destroyed their walles, and brought them into bondage euen vntil this day:

11   and the residue of kingdoms, and iles that some time had resisted them, they spoyled,

and brought vnder their powre.

12   But with their freinds, and those that rested in them, they kept amitie, and obteyned the kingdoms, that were next, and that were far of: that whosoeuer heard their name, feared them.

13   But such as they would helpe to reigne, those reigned: and whom they would, they deposed from the kingdom: and they were exalted excedingly.

14   And in al these none bare a crowne, nor was clothed with purple, to be magnified therin.

15   And that they made them selues a court, and consulted dayly three hundred and twentie, that sate in counsel alwayes for the multitude, that they might doe the thinges that were conuenient:

16   and they committe their gouerment ^note to one man euerie yeare to rule ouer al their land, & al they obey one, & there is no enuie, nor emulation amongst them.

17   And Iudas chose Eupolemus the sonne of Iohn, the sonne of Iacob, and Iason the sonne of Eleazar, & he sent them to Rome to make amitie and societie with them:

18   and that they should take from them the yoke of the Greeks, because they saw that they pressed the kingdom of Israel vnto bondage.

19   And they went to Rome, a way exceding great, and they entered into the court, and sayd:

20   Iudas Machabeus, and his bretheren, and the people of the Iewes haue sent vs vnto you to make societie and peace with you, and to write vs your felowes and freindes.

21   And the word was liked in their sight.

22   And this is the rescript, that they wrote againe in tables of brasse, and sent into Ierusalem, that it might be with them there a memorial of peace, & societie.

23   Be it wel to the Romanes, and to the nation of the Iewes by sea, & by land for euer: and sword and enemie be far from them.

24   But and if warre be toward the Romanes first, or al their felowes in al their dominion:

25   the nation of the Iewes shal geue ayde, according as the time shal appoint, with ful hart:

26   and to them fighting, they shal not geue nor allow wheate, armour, money, shippes, as it hath pleased the Romanes: and they shal keepe their charge, taking nothing of them.

27   In like maner also and if warre shal happen first to the nation of the Iewes, the Romanes shal helpe with al their hart, according as the time shal permitte them:

28   and to them helping shal not be geuen wheate, armour, money, shippes, as it hath pleased the Romanes: and they shal keepe their charge without guile.

29   According to these wordes did the Romanes agree to the people of the Iewes.

30   And if after these wordes these or they

wil adde to these, or take away any thing, they shal doe it at their pleasure: and whatsoeuer they shal adde, or take away, shal be ratified.

31   Yea and concerning the euils, that Demetrius the king hath done against them, we haue writen to him, saying: Why hast thou aggrauated thy yoke vpon our freinds, and felowes the Iewes?

32   If therfore they come againe vnto vs against thee, we wil doe iudgement for them, and wil fight with thee by sea and land.

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