I Maccabees 15

¹And kyng Antiok, the sone of Demetrie, sente epistlis fro ilis of the see to Symount, prest, and prince of folc of Jewis, and to al the folc;

²and tho weren conteynynge this maner. Kyng Antiok to Symount, greet prest, and to the folc of Jewis, helthe.

³For summen berynge pestilence weldiden the rewme of oure fadris, forsothe Y wole calenge the rewme, and restore it, as it was bifore; Y made a chosun multitude of oost, and Y made schippis of werre.

⁴Forsothe Y wole go forth bi cuntrees, that Y do veniaunce on hem that distrieden oure cuntre, and that maden many citees desolat in my rewme.

⁵Now therfor Y ordeyne to thee alle offryngis, that kyngis bifore me foryauen to thee, and `what euere other yiftis thei foryauen to thee;

⁶and Y suffre thee for to make prynte of thin owne monei, in thi regioun.

⁷Sotheli Y suffre Jerusalem for to be hooli and fre, and alle armeris that ben maad, and strengthis, that thou hast maad out, and that thou holdist, dwelle to thee;

⁸and al dette of the kyng, and tho that ben to comynge of kingis thingis, fro this and in to al tyme ben foryouun to thee.

⁹Sotheli whanne we schulen welde oure rewme, we schulen glorifie thee, and thi folc, and temple, with greet glorie, so that youre glorie be schewid in al erthe.

¹⁰In the hundrid yeer and foure and seuentithe yeer Antiok wente out in to the lond of his fadris, and alle oostis camen togidere to hym, so that fewe weren left with Trifon.

¹¹And king Antiok pursuede hym, and Trifon cam in to Doram, and fledde bi the see coost;

¹²for he wiste, that yuels weren gaderid on hym, and the oost forsook hym.

¹³And Antiok appliede on Doram, with sixe score thousynde of fiytynge men, and eiyte thousynde of horse men;

¹⁴and he cumpasside the citee, and schippis camen fro the see; and thei traueliden the citee bi lond and see, and suffriden no man for to entre, ether go out.

¹⁵Forsothe Numenyus cam, and thei that weren with hym, fro Rome, and hadden epistlis writun to kingis and cuntreis, in whiche these thingis weren conteyned.

¹⁶Lucius, `cheef gouernour of Romayns, to kyng Tolome, heelthe.

¹⁷Messangeris of Jewis camen to vs, oure frendis, renulinge the formere frendschip and felouschip, sent of Symoun, prince of prestis, and puple of Jewis.

¹⁸Sotheli thei brouyten also a goldun scheeld of a thousynde besauntis.

¹⁹Therfor it pleside to vs for to write to kyngis and cuntreis, that thei do not yuels to hem, nether impugne hem, and her citees, and her cuntreis, and thei bere not help to men fiytynge ayens hem.

²⁰Forsothe it is seyn to vs, for to resseyue of hem the scheeld.

²¹Therfor if ony men of pestilence schulen fle fro the cuntre of hem to you, bitake ye hem to Symount, prince of prestis, that he do veniaunce on hem bi his lawe.

²²These same thingis ben writun to kyng Demetrie, and Attalus, and Arabas,

²³and Arsaces, and in to alle cuntreis, and Sampsame, and Spartanyes, and Delo, and Mydo, and Sydone, and Carie, and Sanyum, and Pamfiliam, and Lisiam, and Alacarnasum, and Rodum, and Phaselida, and Choo, and Sidon, and Arodo, and Gortynam, and Gnydum, and Cipre, and Cirenen.

²⁴Forsothe thei han writun ensaumple of these to Symount, prince of prestis, and to the puple of Jewis.

²⁵Forsothe Antiok, the kyng, appliede tentis in Doram the secounde tyme, mouynge to it `euere more hondis, and makynge engynes; and he closide togidere Trifon, lest he wente out.

²⁶And Symount sente to hym twei thousynde of chosun men, in to help, and siluer, and gold, and plenteuouse vessels;

²⁷and he wolde not take tho. But he brak alle thingis that he couenauntide with hym bifore, and alienyde him silf fro hym.

²⁸And he sente to hym Athenobius, oon of his frendis, for to trete with hym, and seide, Ye holden Joppe, and Gasaram, and the hiy tour that is in Jerusalem, citees of my rewme;

²⁹ye han wastid the coostis of hem, and han do greet distriyng in the lond, and with out coostis of Judee ye ben lordis bi many places in my rewme.

³⁰Now therfor yyue ye the citees, which ye ocupieden, and tributis of places, of whiche ye ben lordis, out of endis of Judee.

³¹Ether ellis yyue ye for hem fyue hundrid talentis of siluer, and of distriyng that ye han distried, and of tributis of citees, othere fyue hundrid talentis; ether ellis we schulen come, and ouercome you.

³²And Athenobius, frend of the kyng, cam in to Jerusalem, and siy the glorie of Symount, and clerenesse, in gold, and siluer, and plenteuouse apparel, and was astonyed; and telde to him the wordis of the kyng.

³³And Symount answeride, and seide to hym, Nether we token alien lond, nether withholden other mennus thingis, but eritage of oure fadris, that was weldid some time vniustly of oure enemies.

³⁴Sotheli we han tyme, and calengen the eritage of oure fadris.

³⁵For whi of Joppe and Gasara that thou axist, thei diden greet veniaunce in oure puple, and cuntree; of these we yyuen an hundrid talentis.

³⁶And Athenobius answeride not a word. Sotheli he turnede ayen with wraththe to the kyng, and telde ayen to hym these wordis, and the glorie of Symount, and alle thingis that he siy. And the king was wroth with greet wraththe.

³⁷Forsothe Trifon flei bi schip `in to Ortosaida.

³⁸And the kyng ordeynede Cendebeus, duyk of the see coost, and yaf to him oost of foot men and horse men;

³⁹and comaundide him for to moue tentis ayens the face of Judee; and comaundide hym for to bilde Cedron, and stoppe the yatis of the cite, and ouercome the puple; forsothe the kyng pursuede Trifon.

⁴⁰And Cendebius cam to Jamnyam, and bigan for to terre the puple to wraththe, and for to defoule Judee, and make the puple caitif, and sle, and bilde Cedron.

⁴¹And he settide there horse men and oost, that thei schulden gon out, and schulden walke bi weie of Judee, as the kyng ordeynede to hym.

I Maccabees 15

¹Moreover Antiochus son of Demetrius the king sent letters from the isles of the sea unto Simon the priest and prince of the Jews, and to all the people;

²The contents whereof were these: King Antiochus to Simon the high priest and prince of his nation, and to the people of the Jews, greeting:

³Forasmuch as certain pestilent men have usurped the kingdom of our fathers, and my purpose is to challenge it again, that I may restore it to the old estate, and to that end have gathered a multitude of foreign soldiers together, and prepared ships of war;

⁴My meaning also being to go through the country, that I may be avenged of them that have destroyed it, and made many cities in the kingdom desolate:

⁵Now therefore I confirm unto thee all the oblations which the kings before me granted thee, and whatsoever gifts besides they granted.

⁶I give thee leave also to coin money for thy country with thine own stamp.

⁷And as concerning Jerusalem and the sanctuary, let them be free; and all the armour that thou hast made, and fortresses that thou hast built, and keepest in thine hands, let them remain unto thee.

⁸And if anything be, or shall be, owing to the king, let it be forgiven thee from this time forth for evermore.

⁹Furthermore, when we have obtained our kingdom, we will honour thee, and thy nation, and thy temple, with great honour, so that your honour shall be known throughout the world.

¹⁰In the hundred threescore and fourteenth year went Antiochus into the land of his fathers: at which time all the forces came together unto him, so that few were left with Tryphon.

¹¹Wherefore being pursued by king Antiochus, he fled unto Dora, which lieth by the sea side:

¹²For he saw that troubles came upon him all at once, and that his forces had forsaken him.

¹³Then camped Antiochus against Dora, having with him an hundred and twenty thousand men of war, and eight thousand horsemen.

¹⁴And when he had compassed the city round about, and joined ships close to the town on the sea side, he vexed the city by land and by sea, neither suffered he any to go out or in.

¹⁵In the mean season came Numenius and his company from Rome, having letters to the kings and countries; wherein were written these things:

¹⁶Lucius, consul of the Romans unto king Ptolemee, greeting:

¹⁷The Jews’ ambassadors, our friends and confederates, came unto us to renew the old friendship and league, being sent from Simon the high priest, and from the people of the Jews:

¹⁸And they brought a shield of gold of a thousand pound.

¹⁹We thought it good therefore to write unto the kings and countries, that they should do them no harm, nor fight against them, their cities, or countries, nor yet aid their enemies against them.

²⁰It seemed also good to us to receive the shield of them.

²¹If therefore there be any pestilent fellows, that have fled from their country unto you, deliver them unto Simon the high priest, that he may punish them according to their own law.

²²The same things wrote he likewise unto Demetrius the king, and Attalus, to Ariarathes, and Arsaces,

²³And to all the countries and to Sampsames, and the Lacedemonians, and to Delus, and Myndus, and Sicyon, and Caria, and Samos, and Pamphylia, and Lycia, and Halicarnassus, and Rhodus, and Aradus, and Cos, and Side, and Aradus, and Gortyna, and Cnidus, and Cyprus, and Cyrene.

²⁴And the copy hereof they wrote to Simon the high priest.

²⁵So Antiochus the king camped against Dora the second day, assaulting it continually, and making engines, by which means he shut up Tryphon, that he could neither go out nor in.

²⁶At that time Simon sent him two thousand chosen men to aid him; silver also, and gold, and much armour.

²⁷Nevertheless he would not receive them, but brake all the covenants which he had made with him afore, and became strange unto him.

²⁸Furthermore he sent unto him Athenobius, one of his friends, to commune with him, and say, Ye withhold Joppa and Gazera; with the tower that is in Jerusalem, which are cities of my realm.

²⁹The borders thereof ye have wasted, and done great hurt in the land, and got the dominion of many places within my kingdom.

³⁰Now therefore deliver the cities which ye have taken, and the tributes of the places, whereof ye have gotten dominion without the borders of Judea:

³¹Or else give me for them five hundred talents of silver; and for the harm that ye have done, and the tributes of the cities, other five hundred talents: if not, we will come and fight against you

³²So Athenobius the king’s friend came to Jerusalem: and when he saw the glory of Simon, and the cupboard of gold and silver plate, and his great attendance, he was astonished, and told him the king’s message.

³³Then answered Simon, and said unto him, We have neither taken other men’s land, nor holden that which appertaineth to others, but the inheritance of our fathers, which our enemies had wrongfully in possession a certain time.

³⁴Wherefore we, having opportunity, hold the inheritance of our fathers.

³⁵And whereas thou demandest Joppa and Gazera, albeit they did great harm unto the people in our country, yet will we give thee an hundred talents for them. Hereunto Athenobius answered him not a word;

³⁶But returned in a rage to the king, and made report unto him of these speeches, and of the glory of Simon, and of all that he had seen: whereupon the king was exceeding wroth.

³⁷In the mean time fled Tryphon by ship unto Orthosias.

³⁸Then the king made Cendebeus captain of the sea coast, and gave him an host of footmen and horsemen,

³⁹And commanded him to remove his host toward Judea; also he commanded him to build up Cedron, and to fortify the gates, and to war against the people; but as for the king himself, he pursued Tryphon.

⁴⁰So Cendebeus came to Jamnia and began to provoke the people and to invade Judea, and to take the people prisoners, and slay them.

⁴¹And when he had built up Cedrou, he set horsemen there, and an host of footmen, to the end that issuing out they might make outroads upon the ways of Judea, as the king had commanded him.