Antiochus Writes to Simon

1Antiochus the Seventh, the son of Demetrius the Second, sent a letter from the Greek islands to the Jews and to Simon the high priest and ruler. 2It said:

King Antiochus sends greetings to the Jewish people and to Simon their high priest and ruler.

3Some rebels have taken control of my ancestors' kingdom. I want it back so I can make it a great kingdom again. I have hired a large army and navy, 4and I am ready to land on the coast. I am going to punish everyone who has destroyed my country and ruined so many of its towns.

5I will follow the example of other kings and excuse you from paying some taxes and fees. 6I will let you make your own coins 7and allow you to keep all of the weapons and fortresses you have built. As of today, I will remove all soldiers from Jerusalem and its temple, 8and you won't be required to repay money you owe the king.

9As soon as I get my kingdom back, I will make you and your temple prosperous and famous. Then the whole world will know how outstanding you are.

Antiochus the Seventh Attacks Trypho

10In the year 174 of the Syrian Kingdom, Antiochus the Seventh invaded the land of his ancestors. Soon most of Trypho's soldiers deserted and joined the army of Antiochus, leaving Trypho with only a few soldiers. 11He retreated to the town of Dor on the coast, and Antiochus got ready to attack him there. 12Trypho was in real trouble now, because he did not have enough troops to fight back.

13Antiochus led 120,000 soldiers and eight thousand cavalry to Dor 14and surrounded the town. At the same time, his ships attacked from the sea, and the people of Dor were trapped.

A Letter to Ptolemy the Eighth

15 Meanwhile, Numenius and the other messengers returned to Jerusalem from Rome with letters to different countries and rulers. One of the letters said:

16Lucius, a Roman official, sends greetings to King Ptolemy of Egypt.

17Simon the high priest and the Jewish people have sent messengers to Rome to make sure that Jews and Romans are still friends and allies. 18These messengers brought us a gold shield that weighs almost 570 kilograms.

19-20We are keeping this gift and writing letters to countries and kings, warning them not to cause any trouble for the Jews.

Please don't attack the towns or country of the Jews or help any enemies who do. 21If troublemakers escape from their country and come to you, they must be sent back to Simon the high priest, who will punish them according to the Law of Moses.

A Letter to Other Rulers

22Lucius sent the same letter to King Demetrius and to Attalus, Ariarathes, and Arsaces. 23It went to every country, including Sampsames and Sparta. And it went to Caria, Pamphylia, and Lycia, as well as to the islands of Delos, Samos, Rhodes, Cos, Aradus, and Cyprus and to the cities of Myndos, Sicyon, Halicarnassus, Cnidus, Gortyna, Cyrene, Phaselis, and Side.

24Simon the high priest also received a copy of the letter.

Antiochus the Seventh Quarrels with Simon

25Antiochus the Seventh made a second attack against the town of Dor. His soldiers set up weapons for breaking through the wall; they fought long and hard and kept Trypho from leaving.

26Simon wanted to help Antiochus. So he sent him 2,000 of his best soldiers, together with silver and gold and many supplies. 27Antiochus not only refused Simon's help, but he turned against him and broke every promise he had ever made.

28Antiochus told his trusted friend Athenobius to meet with Simon and tell him:

The towns of Joppa and Gazara and the fortress in Jerusalem are now under your control. But these places, 29along with others you have taken, belong to me, the king.

You have ruined the land around these towns and done a lot of other damage to my kingdom.

30Simon, give back these towns and return the tax money from the places you captured outside of Judea. 31If you don't want to do this, then pay 500,000 pieces of silver for damaging the towns you captured. And turn over to me 500,000 more to make up for the tax money you took from the towns.

If you don't do this, it's war!

32When Athenobius arrived in Jerusalem, he could not take his eyes off Simon's great wealth. Simon had a table with dishes made of gold and silver, and he owned many other valuable things. Then Athenobius told Simon what the king had said.

33Simon answered:

Our ancestors gave us this land and property. Later our enemies stole it from us. So how can you say we have taken things that belong to others? 34We intend to keep our land and property now that we have them back once again.

35-36The towns of Joppa and Gazara that you want have been a constant bother to us, and we will pay you 100,000 pieces of silver for them.

Athenobius was so furious that he could not speak. He returned to Antiochus and told him what Simon had said. He also let him know about Simon's great wealth and everything else he had seen. This report made Antiochus very angry.

King Antiochus Appoints Cendebeus

37Meanwhile, Trypho had escaped by ship from Dor and sailed to the town of Orthosia. 38-39Antiochus went after him, but left Cendebeus in command of the coastland. He gave him soldiers and cavalry and said, "Get ready to invade Judea and attack the Jews. Make the fortress at Kedron even stronger."

40Cendebeus led his army to Jamnia and started causing trouble in the town. He invaded Judea and killed everyone he captured. 41After he made the fortress at Kedron stronger, he stationed some soldiers and cavalry there. Then he told them, "The king has ordered us to patrol the roads in Judea."