1 Maccabees 15

NEW JERUSALEM	DOUAI-RHEIMS
1 Antiochus son of King Demetrius addressed a letter from the Mediterranean Isles to Simon, priest andethnarch of the Jews, and to the whole nation;	1 And king Antiochus the son of Demetrius sent letters from the isles of the sea to Simon the priest, and prince of the nation of the Jews, and to all the people:
2 this was how it read: 'King Antiochus to Simon, high priest and ethnarch, and to the Jewish nation,greetings.	2 And the contents were these: King Antiochus to Simon the high priest, and to the nation of the Jews, greeting.
3 'Whereas certain scoundrels have seized control of the kingdom of our fathers, and I propose to claimback the kingdom so that I may re-establish it as it was before, and whereas I have accordingly recruited verylarge forces and fitted out warships,	3 Forasmuch as certain pestilent men have usurped the kingdom of our fathers, and my purpose is to challenge the kingdom, and to restore it to its former estate: and I have chosen a great army, and have built ships of war.
4 intending to make a landing in the country and to hunt down the men who have ruined it and laidwaste many towns in my kingdom;	4 And I design to go through the country that I may take revenge of them that have destroyed our country, and that have made many cities desolate in my realm.
5 'I now, therefore, confirm in your favour al remissions of taxes granted to you by the kings mypredecessors, as wel as the waiving of whatever presents they may have conceded.	5 Now therefore I confirm unto thee all the oblations which all the kings before me remitted to thee, and what other gifts soever they remitted to thee:
6 I hereby authorise you to mint your own coinage as legal tender for your own country.	6 And I give thee leave to coin thy own money in thy country:
7 I declare Jerusalem and the sanctuary to be free; all the arms you have manufactured and thefortresses you have built and now occupy may remain yours.	7 And let Jerusalem be holy and free, and all the armour that hath been made, and the fortresses which thou hast built, and which thou keepest in thy hands, let them remain to thee.
8 Al debts to the royal treasury, present or future, are cancel ed henceforth in perpetuity.	8 And all that is due to the king, and what should be the king's hereafter, from this present and for ever, is forgiven thee.
9 Furthermore, when we have won back our kingdom, we shall bestow such great honour on yourself,your nation and the sanctuary as wil make your glory known throughout the world.'	9 And when we shall have recovered our kingdom, we will glorify thee, and thy nation, and the temple with great glory, so that your glory shall be made manifest in all the earth.
10 Antiochus invaded the land of his ancestors in the year 174 and, since the troops all rallied to him,Trypho was left with few supporters.	10 In the year one hundred and seventy-four Antiochus entered into the land of this fathers, and all the forces assembled to him, so that few were left with Tryphon.
11 Antiochus pursued the usurper, who took refuge in Dora on the coast,	11 And king Antiochus pursued after him, and he fled along by the sea coast and came to Dora.
12 knowing that misfortunes were piling up on him and that his troops had deserted him.	12 For he perceived that evils were gathered together upon him, and his troops had forsaken him.
13 Antiochus pitched camp outside Dora with a hundred and twenty thousand fighting men and eightthousand cavalry.	13 And Antiochus camped above Dora with a hundred and twenty thousand men of war, and eight thousand horsemen:
14 He laid siege to the city while the ships closed in from the sea, so that he had the city under attackfrom land and sea, and al owed no one to go in or come out.	14 And he invested the city, and the ships drew near by sea: and they annoyed the city by land, and by sea, and suffered none to come in, or to go out.
15 Numenius and his companions, meanwhile, arrived from Rome, bringing letters addressed to variouskings and states, in the fol owing terms:	15 And Numenius, and they that had been with him, came from the city of Rome, having letters written to the kings, and countries, the contents whereof were these:
16 'Lucius, consul of the Romans, to King Ptolemy, greetings.	16 Lucius the consul of the Romans, to king Ptolemee, greeting.
17 'The Jewish ambassadors have come to us as our friends and al ies to renew our original friendshipand alliance in the name of the high priest Simon and the Jewish people.	17 The ambassadors of the Jews our friends came to us, to renew the former friendship and alliance, being sent from Simon the high priest, and the people of the Jews.
18 They have brought a golden shield worth a thousand mina.	18 And they brought also a shield of gold of a thousand pounds.
19 Accordingly, we have seen fit to write to various kings and states, warning them neither to molest theJewish people nor to attack either them or their towns or their country, nor to al y themselves with any suchaggressors.	19 It hath seemed good therefore to us to write to the kings, and countries, that they should do them no harm, nor fight against them, their cities, or countries: and that they should give no aid to them that fight against them.
20 We have seen fit to accept the shield from them.	20 And it hath seemed good to us to received the shield of them.
21 If, therefore, any scoundrels have fled their country to take refuge with you, hand them over to Simonthe high priest, to be punished by him according to their law.'	21 If therefore any pestilent men are fled out of their country to you, deliver them to Simon the high priest, that he may punish them according to their law.
22 The consul sent the same letter to King Demetrius, to Attalus, Ariarathes and Arsaces,	22 These same things were written to king Demetrius, and to Attalus, and to Ariarathes, and to Arsaces,
23 and to all states, including Sampsames, the Spartans, Delos, Myndos, Sicyon, Caria, Samos,Pamphylia, Lycia, Halicarnassus, Rhodes, Phaselis, Cos, Side, Arados, Gortyn, Cyprus and Cyrene.	23 And to all the countries; and to Lampsacus, and to the Spartans, and to Delus, and Myndus, and Sicyon, and Caria, and Samus, and Pamphylia, and Lycia, and Alicarnassus, and Cos, and Side, and Aradus, and Rhodes, and Phaselis, and Gortyna, and Gnidus, and Cyprus, and Cyrene.
24 They also drew up a copy for Simon the high priest.	24 And they wrote a copy thereof to Simon the high priest, and to the people of the Jews.
25 Antiochus, meanwhile, from his positions on the outskirts of Dora, was continual y throwingdetachments against the town. He constructed siege-engines, and blockaded Trypho, preventing movement inor out.	25 But king Antiochus moved his camp to Dora the second time, assaulting it continually, and making engines: and shut up Tryphon, that he could not go out.
26 Simon sent him two thousand picked men to support him in the fight, with silver and gold and plentyof equipment.	26 And Simon sent to him two thousand chosen men to aid him, silver also, and gold, and abundance of furniture.
27 But Antiochus would not accept them; instead, he repudiated al his previous agreements with Simonand completely changed his attitude to him.	27 And he would not receive them, but broke all the covenant that he had made with him before, and alienated himself from him.
28 He sent him Athenobius, one of his Friends, to confer with him and say, 'You are now occupyingJoppa and Gezer and the Citadel in Jerusalem, which are towns in my kingdom.	28 And he sent to him Athenobius one of his friends, to treat with him, saying: You hold Joppe, and Gazara, and the castle that is in Jerusalem, which are cities of my kingdom:
29 You have laid waste their territory and done immense harm to the country; and you have seizedcontrol of many places properly in my kingdom.	29 Their borders you have wasted, and you have made great havock in the land, and have got the dominion of many places in my kingdom.
30 Either now surrender the towns you have taken and the taxes from the places you have seizedoutside the frontiers of Judaea,	30 Now therefore deliver up the cities that you have taken, and the tributes of the places whereof you have gotten the dominion without the borders of Judea.
31 or else pay me five hundred talents of silver in compensation for them and for the destruction youhave done, and another five hundred talents for the taxes from the towns; otherwise we shall come and makewar on you.'	31 But if not, give me for them five hundred talents of silver, and for the havock that you have made, and the tributes of the cities other five hundred talents: or else we will come and fight against you.
32 When the King's Friend, Athenobius, reached Jerusalem and saw Simon's magnificence, his cabinetof gold and silver plate and the state he kept, he was dumbfounded. He delivered the king's message,	32 So Athenobius the king's friend came to Jerusalem, and saw the glory of Simon and his magnificence in gold, and silver, and his great equipage, and he was astonished, and told him the king's words.
33 but Simon gave him this answer, 'We have not taken foreign territory or any alien property but haveoccupied our ancestral heritage, for some time unjustly wrested from us by our enemies;	33 And Simon answered him, and said to him: We have neither taken other men's land, neither do we hold that which is other men's: but the inheritance of our fathers, which was for some time unjustly possessed by our enemies.
34 now that we have a favourable opportunity, we are merely recovering our ancestral heritage.	34 But we having opportunity claim the inheritance of our fathers.
35 As regards Joppa and Gezer, which you claim, these were towns that did great harm to our peopleand laid waste our country; we are prepared to give a hundred talents for them.' Without so much as a word inanswer,	35 And as to thy complaints concerning Joppe and Gazara, they did great harm to the people, and to our country: yet for these we will give a hundred talents. And Athenobius answered him not a word:
36 the envoy went back to the king in a rage and reported on Simon's answer and his magnificence,and on everything he had seen, at which the king fel into a fury.	36 But returning in a rage to the king, made report to him of these words, and of the glory of Simon, and of all that he had seen, and the king was exceeding angry.
37 Trypho now boarded a ship and escaped to Orthosia.	37 And Tryphon fled away by ship to Orthosias.
38 The king appointed Cendebaeus military governor of the coastal region and al otted him a force ofinfantry and cavalry.	38 And the king appointed Cendebeus captain of the sea coast, and gave him an army of footmen and horsemen.
39 He ordered him to deploy his men facing Judaea, and instructed him to rebuild Kedron and fortify itsgates, and to make war on our people, while the king himself went in pursuit of Trypho.	39 And he commanded him to march with his army towards Judea: and he commanded him to build up Gedor, and to fortify the gates of the city, and to war against the people. But the king himself pursued after Tryphon.
40 Cendebaeus arrived at Jamnia and began to provoke our people forthwith, invading Judaea, takingprisoners, and massacring.	40 And Cendebeus came to Jamnia, and began to provoke the people, and to ravage Judea, and to take the people prisoners, and to kill, and to build Gedor.
41 Having rebuilt Kedron, he stationed cavalry and troops there to make sorties and patrol the roads ofJudaea, as the king had ordered.	41 And he placed there horsemen, and an army: that they might issue forth, and make incursions upon the ways of Judea, as the king had commanded him.