King Antiochus Is Punished

1-2Meanwhile, King Antiochus and his army had invaded Persia, where they attempted to capture the city of Persepolis and to rob its temples. But the citizens of Persepolis fought back, until Antiochus and his army were forced to retreat in shame and confusion.

3When Antiochus reached the city of Ecbatana, he was told what Judas had done to the armies of Nicanor and Timothy. 4 This made him furious, and he decided to take revenge on our people for the defeat he had just suffered at Persepolis. So he told his chariot driver to take him straight to Jerusalem. In his arrogance he thought, "I'll turn Jerusalem into a pile of Jewish bones!"

Antiochus did not realize that the Lord God of Israel was about to punish him. 5And at that very moment the Lord who sees everything struck him with a mysterious and deadly disease that made him double up with endless pain. 6This was the perfect punishment for someone who had tortured others so often and with such cruelty.

7-8But the pain just made Antiochus more arrogant than ever. He shouted terrible curses against our people and ordered his chariot driver to go even faster.

Not long before this, he had felt so proud and powerful that he had said to himself, "Ocean waves obey me, and mountains move at my command!" But as his chariot was speeding along, he suddenly fell to the ground with such a thud that every part of his body ached. Then he was carried away on a stretcher, and everyone saw the power of God.

9This godless Antiochus was still alive, but his body was tormented by throbbing pain. His skin began rotting, and worms started crawling out of his eyes. He was stinking so badly that his entire army felt like vomiting, 10and so no one was willing to carry this man who once thought he could reach up and touch the stars.

11God punished King Antiochus with unending pain and depression, until the king began to lose his pride and started thinking clearly. 12And when he could no longer stand his own smell, he said, "We humans are nothing compared to the Lord God, and we should obey him."

Antiochus Makes a Promise to God

13The Lord refused to be merciful to Antiochus any longer, even though this disgusting man made the following promises to the Lord:

14Recently, I planned to trample down the holy city of Jerusalem and to turn it into a pile of Jewish bones. But now I give you my word that Jerusalem will be a free city. 15 I also intended to let the birds and the wild animals eat the bodies of the Jews and their children that I had thrown outside. After all, I did not consider them worth burying. But instead I'll give them the same legal rights as the people of Athens.

16Some time ago, I robbed the holy temple in Jerusalem of its sacred dishes. But now I'm going to fill the temple with expensive gifts and return those sacred dishes, so there will be more of them than ever before. And I'll pay for all the sacrifices with my own money.

17Finally, I'll become a Jew and travel to every village, town, and city, telling people about the power of God.

Antiochus Writes to the Jews

18God was punishing Antiochus just as he deserved, and so none of these promises relieved his suffering. Then Antiochus wrote the following letter to our people:

19King Antiochus, commander of the army, sends greetings to the Jews. You are some of my most important citizens, and I wish all of you good health and success.

20I pray that you and your families are healthy and that all is going well for you. I have now placed my hope in God, 21and I have pleasant memories of how you treated me with kindness and respect.

On my way home from the country of Persia, I suddenly became very sick and started making plans to protect everyone in my kingdom. 22I think I will get well, and so I am not depressed about being sick. 23But I know that my father always named someone to take his place as king whenever he was at war in the northern part of the kingdom. 24That way, if something unexpected happened, or if some bad news came, everyone in the kingdom remained calm, knowing that the government was in good hands.

25Moreover, in the countries along our borders, certain rulers are watching and waiting for a chance to take over our kingdom.

For these reasons, I have appointed my son Antiochus the next king. I have already told you about him, and some of you even looked after him when I had to hurry off to the northern part of my kingdom.

I have sent Antiochus a copy of this letter. 26Please remember the favors I did for you, both publicly and privately, and keep on being good to me and my son. 27I am sure he will follow my example and treat you kindly and fairly.

The Death of King Antiochus

28King Antiochus murdered people and insulted God. So after he had suffered the same horrible pains that he had caused others, he died a pitiful death in the mountains of a foreign country. 29Philip, who had been brought up with him, took the king's body home. But Philip did not trust the son of Antiochus, and so he went over to King Ptolemy Philometor of Egypt.