1Maccabées (NAB) 15
15 1 Antiochus, son of King Demetrius, sent a letter from the islands of the sea to Simon, the priest and ethnarch of the Jews, and to all the nation,
2 which read as follows: "King Antiochus sends greetings to Simon, the priest and ethnarch, and to the Jewish nation.3 Whereas certain villains have gained control of the kingdom of my ancestors, I intend to reclaim it, that I may restore it to its former state. I have recruited a large number of mercenary troops and equipped warships4 to make a landing in my country and take revenge on those who have ruined it and laid waste many cities in my realm.5 "Now, therefore, I confirm to you all the tax exemptions that the kings before me granted you and whatever other privileges they conferred on you.6 I authorize you to coin your own money, as legal tender in your country.7 Jerusalem and its temple shall be free. All the weapons you have prepared and all the strongholds you have built and now occupy shall remain in your possession.8 All debts, present or future, due to the royal treasury shall be canceled for you, now and for all time.9 When we recover our kingdom, we will greatly honor you and your nation and the temple, so that your glory will be manifest in all the earth."
10 In the year one hundred and seventy-four Antiochus invaded the land of his ancestors, and all the troops rallied to him, so that few were left with Trypho. 11 Pursued by Antiochus, Trypho fled to Dor, by the sea, 12 realizing what a mass of troubles had come upon him now that his soldiers had deserted him.13 Antiochus encamped before Dor with a hundred and twenty thousand infantry and eight thousand horsemen.14 While he invested the city, his ships closed in along the coast, so that he blockaded it by land and sea and let no one go in or out.
15 Meanwhile, Numenius and his companions left Rome with letters such as this addressed to various kings and countries:
16 "Lucius, Consul of the Romans, sends greetings to King Ptolemy. 17 Certain envoys of the Jews, our friends and allies, have come to us to renew their earlier alliance of friendship. They had been sent by Simon the high priest and the Jewish people,18 and they brought with them a gold shield worth a thousand minas.19 Therefore we have decided to write to various kings and countries, that they are not to harm them, or wage war against them or their cities or their country, and are not to assist those who fight against them.20 We have also decided to accept the shield from them.21 If, then, any troublemakers from their country take refuge with you, hand them over to Simon the high priest, so that he may punish them according to their law."
22 The consul sent similar letters to Kings Demetrius, Attalus, Ariarthes and Arsaces; 23 to all the countries-- Sampsames, Sparta, Delos, Myndos, Sicyon, Caria, Samos, Pamphylia, Lycia, Halicarnassus, Rhodes, Phaselis, Cos, Side, Aradus, Gortyna, Cnidus, Cyprus, and Cyrene.24 A copy of the letter was also sent to Simon the high priest.
25 When King Antiochus was encamped before Dor, he assaulted it continuously both with troops and with the siege machines he had made. He blockaded Trypho by preventing anyone from going in or out.26 Simon sent to Antiochus' support two thousand elite troops, together with gold and silver and much equipment.27 But he refused to accept the aid; in fact, he broke all the agreements he had previously made with Simon and became hostile toward him.28 He sent Athenobius, one of his Friends, to confer with Simon and say: "You are occupying Joppa and Gazara and the citadel of Jerusalem; these are cities of my kingdom.29 You have laid waste their territories, done great harm to the land, and taken possession of many districts in my realm.30 Therefore, give up the cities you have seized and the tribute money of the districts outside the territory of Judea of which you have taken possession;31 or instead, pay me five hundred talents of silver for the devastation you have caused and five hundred talents more for the tribute money of the cities. If you do not do this, we will come and make war on you."32 So Athenobius, the king's Friend, came to Jerusalem and on seeing the splendor of Simon's court, the gold and silver plate on the sideboard, and the rest of his rich display, he was amazed. When he gave him the king's message,33 Simon said to him in reply: "We have not seized any foreign land; what we took is not the property of others, but our ancestral heritage which for a time had been unjustly held by our enemies.34 Now that we have the opportunity, we are holding on to the heritage of our ancestors.35 As for Joppa and Gazara, which you demand, the men of these cities were doing great harm to our people and laying waste our country; however, we are willing to pay you a hundred talents for these cities."36 Athenobius made no reply, but returned to the king in anger. When he told him of Simon's words, of his splendor, and of all he had seen, the king fell into a violent rage.
37 Trypho had gotten aboard a ship and escaped to Orthosia. 38 Then the king appointed Cendebeus commander-in-chief of the seacoast, and gave him infantry and cavalry forces.39 He ordered him to move his troops against Judea and to fortify Kedron and strengthen its gates, so that he could launch attacks against the Jewish people. Meanwhile the king went in pursuit of Trypho. 40 When Cendebeus came to Jamnia, he began to harass the people and to make incursions into Judea, where he took people captive or massacred them.41 As the king ordered, he fortified Kedron and stationed horsemen and infantry there, so that they could go out and patrol the roads of Judea.
16 1 John then went up from Gazara and told his father Simon what Cendebeus was doing.2 Simon called his two oldest sons, Judas and John, and said to them: "I and my brothers and my father's house have fought the battles of Israel from our youth until today, and many times we succeeded in saving Israel.3 I have now grown old, but you, by the mercy of Heaven, have come to man's estate. Take my place and my brother's, and go out and fight for our nation; and may the help of Heaven be with you!"4 John then mustered in the land twenty thousand warriors and horsemen. Setting out against Cendebeus, they spent the night at Modein,5 rose early, and marched into the plain. There, facing them, was an immense army of foot soldiers and horsemen, and between the two armies was a stream.6 John and his men took their position against the enemy. Seeing that his men were afraid to cross the stream, John crossed first. When his men saw this, they crossed over after him.7 Then he divided his infantry into two corps and put his cavalry between them, for the enemy's horsemen were very numerous.8 They blew the trumpets, and Cendebeus and his army were put to flight; many of them fell wounded, and the rest fled toward the stronghold.9 It was then that John's brother Judas fell wounded; but John pursued them until Cendebeus reached Kedron, which he had fortified.10 Some took refuge in the towers on the plain of Azotus, but John set fire to these, and about two thousand of the enemy perished. He then returned to Judea in peace.
11 Ptolemy, son of Abubus, had been appointed governor of the plain of Jericho, and he had much silver and gold,12 being the son-in-law of the high priest.13 But he became ambitious and sought to get control of the country. So he made treacherous plans to do away with Simon and his sons.14 As Simon was inspecting the cities of the country and providing for their needs, he and his sons Mattathias and Judas went down to Jericho in the year one hundred and seventy-seven, in the eleventh month (that is, the month Shebat). 15 The son of Abubus gave them a deceitful welcome in the little stronghold called Dok which he had built. While serving them a sumptuous banquet, he had his men hidden there. 16 Then, when Simon and his sons had drunk freely, Ptolemy and his men sprang up, weapons in hand, rushed upon Simon in the banquet hall, and killed him, his two sons, and some of his servants.17 By this vicious act of treason he repaid good with evil.
18 Then Ptolemy wrote an account of this and sent it to the king, asking that troops be sent to help him and that the country be turned over to him.19 He sent other men to Gazara to do away with John. To the army officers he sent letters inviting them to come to him so that he might present them with silver, gold, and gifts.20 He also sent others to seize Jerusalem and the mount of the temple.21 But someone ran ahead and brought word to John at Gazara that his father and his brothers had perished, and that Ptolemy had sent men to kill him also.22 On hearing this, John was utterly astounded. When the men came to kill him, he had them arrested and put to death, for he knew what they meant to do.
23 Now the rest of the history of John, his wars and the brave deeds he performed, his rebuilding of the walls, and his other achievements-
24 these things are recorded in the chronicle of his pontificate, from the time that he succeeded his father as high priest.
1Maccabées (NAB) 15