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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 And the contents were these: King Antiochus
to Simon the high priest, and to the nation of the Jews, greeting.
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 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 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 And I give thee leave to coin thy own
money in thy country:
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 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 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 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 And king Antiochus pursued after him, and
he fled along by the sea coast and came to Dora.
12 For he perceived that evils were gathered
together upon him, and his troops had forsaken him.
13 And Antiochus camped above Dora with a
hundred and twenty thousand men of war, and eight thousand horsemen:
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 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 the consul of the Romans, to king Ptolemee, greeting.
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 And they brought also a shield of gold of a
thousand pounds.
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 And it hath seemed good to us to received
the shield of them.
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 These same things were written to king
Demetrius, and to Attalus, and to Ariarathes, and to Arsaces,
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 And they wrote a copy thereof to Simon the
high priest, and to the people of the Jews.
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 And Simon sent to him two thousand chosen
men to aid him, silver also, and gold, and abundance of furniture.
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 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 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 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 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 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 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 But we having opportunity claim the
inheritance of our fathers.
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 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 And Tryphon fled
away by ship to Orthosias.
38 And the king appointed Cendebeus
captain of the sea coast, and gave him an army of footmen and horsemen.
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 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 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.
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1- و انفذ انطيوكس بن ديمتريوس
الملك كتبا من جزائر البحر الى سمعان الكاهن رئيس امة اليهود و الى الشعب اجمع.
2- و هذه فحواها من انطيوكس الملك
الى سمعان الكاهن الاعظم رئيس الامة و الى شعب اليهود سلام.
3- انه اذ كان قوم من ذوي الفساد قد تسلطوا
على مملكة ابائنا كان من همي الان ان استخلص المملكة حتى اعيدها الى ما كانت
عليه من قبل و قد حشدت جيوشا كثيرة و جهزت اسطولا للحرب.
4- و انا عازم ان اتقدم على
البلاد لانتقم من الذين افسدوا في بلادنا و خربوا مدنا كثيرة في المملكة.
5- فالان اقرر لك كل حطيطة حطها
عنك الملوك من قبلي و كل ما اعفوك منه من التقادم.
6- و قد ابحت لك ان تضرب في بلادك سكة خاصة.
7- و ان تكون اورشليم و الاقداس حرة و كل ما
جهزته من الاسلحة و بنيته من الحصون التي في يدك فليبق لك.
8- و كل ضريبة ملكية كانت فيما
سلف او تكون فيما ياتي تفعى منها من الان على طول الزمان.
9- و اذا فزنا بمملكتنا اعززناك
انت و امتك و الهيكل اعزازا عظيما حتى يتلالا مجدكم في الارض كلها.
10- و في السنة المئة و الرابعة و السبعين خرج انطيوكس الى ارض ابائه
فاجتمع اليه جميع الجيوش حتى لم يبق مع تريفون الا نفر يسير.
11- فتعقبه انطيوكس الملك فانطلق هاربا الى
دورا التي على البحر.
12- اذ ايقن ان قد تراكم عليه
الشر و خذلته الجيوش.
13- فنزل انطيوكس على دورا و معه
مئة و عشرون الفا من رجال الحرب و ثمانية الاف فارس.
14- و احاط بالمدينة و تقدم
الاسطول من البحر فضايق المدينة برا و بحرا و لم يدع احدا يدخل او يخرج.
15- و قدم نومانيوس و الذين معه
من رومية كتبا الى الملوك و البلاد كتب فيها هكذا.
16- من لوكيوس وزير الرومانيين
الى بطلماوس الملك سلام.
17- لقد اتانا رسل اليهود
اوليائنا و مناصرينا يجددون قديم الموالاة و المناصرة مرسلين من قبل سمعان
الكاهن و شعب اليهود.
18- و معهم ترس من ذهب وزنه الف
منا.
19- فلذلك راينا ان نكتب الى
الملوك و البلاد ان لا يطلبوهم بسوء و لا يقيموا عليهم حربا و لا على شيء من
مدنهم و بلادهم و لا يناصروا من يحاربهم.
20- و حسن لدينا ان نقبل منهم
الترس.
21- فان فر اليكم من بلادهم بعض
من رجال الفساد فاسلموهم الى سمعان الكاهن الاعظم لينتقم منهم على مقتضى
شريعتهم.
22- و كتب مثل ذلك الى
ديمتريوس الملك و اتالس و ارياراطيس و ارساكيس.
23- و الى جميع البلاد الى
لمساكس و اسبرطة و ديلس و مندس و سيكيون و كارية و سامس و بمفيلية و ليكية و
اليكرنسس و رودس و فسيليس و كوس و سيدن و ارادس و جرتينة و كنيدس و قبرس و
القيروان.
24- و كتبوا بنسخة تلك الكتب
الى سمعان الكاهن الاعظم.
25- و عاد انطيوكس الملك فحاصر
دورا و لم يزل يضايقها و ينصب عليها المجانيق و احاط بالتريفون لئلا يدخل و
يخرج.
26- فارسل اليه سمعان الفي رجل
منتخبين نصرة له و فضة و ذهبا و انية كثيرة.
27- فابى انطيوكس ان يقبلها و
نقض كل ما كان عاهده به من قبل و تغير عليه.
28- و ارسل اليه اتينوبيوس احد
اصحابه ليفاوضه قائلا انكم مستولون على يافا و جازر و القلعة التي باورشليم و هي
من مدن مملكتي.
29- و قد خربتم تخومها و ضربتم
الارض ضربة عظيمة و تسلطتم على اماكن كثيرة في مملكتي.
30- فالان اسلموا المدن التي استحوذتم عليها و
ادوا خراج الاماكن التي تسلطتم عليها في خارج تخوم اليهودية.
31- و الا فادوا عنها خمس مئة
قنطار فضة و عن الاتلاف الذي اتلفتموه و عن خراج المدن خمس مئة قنطار اخرى و الا
وفدنا عليكم مقاتلين.
32- فجاء اتينوبيوس صاحب الملك
الى اورشليم و شاهد مجد سمعان و خزانة انيته الفضية و الذهبية و اثاثا وافرا
فبهت و اخبره بكلام الملك.
33- فاجاب سمعان و قال له انا لم ناخذ ارضا
لغريب و لم نستول على شيء لاجنبي و لكنه ميراث ابائنا الذي كان اعداؤنا قد
استولوا عليه ظلما حينا من الدهر.
34- فلما اصبنا الفرصة استرددنا ميراث ابائنا.
35- فاما يافا و جازر اللتان تطالب بهما
فانهما كانتا تجلبان على الشعب في بلادنا نكبات شديدة غير انا نؤدي عنهما مئة
قنطار فلم يجبه اتينوبيوس بكلمة.
36- و رجع الى الملك مغضبا و
اخبره بهذا الكلام و بمجد سمعان و كل ما شاهده فغضب الملك غضبا شديدا.
37- و ركب تريفون في سفينة و فر
الى ارطوسياس.
38- ففوض الملك قيادة الساحل الى كندباوس و
جعل تحت يده جنودا من الرجالة و فرسانا.
39- و امره ان يزحف على اليهودية و اوعز اليه
ان يبني قدرون و يحصن الابواب و يقاتل الشعب ثم ان الملك تعقب تريفون.
40- فبلغ كندباوس الى يمنيا و
جعل يرغم الشعب و يغير على اليهودية و يسبي في الشعب و يقتل و بني قدرون.
41- و جعل فيها فرسانا و جنودا
ليخرجوا و ينتشروا في طرق اليهودية كما رسم له الملك
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