Antiochus the Seventh Asks for Simon's Support

¹From the Greek islands Antiochus son of King Demetrius wrote the following letter to Simon the High Priest and governor of the Jews and to the whole nation:

²King Antiochus to Simon, the High Priest and governor, and to the Jewish nation, greetings.

³As you know, the kingdom of my ancestors has been seized by traitors. I have decided to reclaim it and restore its former greatness. I have raised a large army of mercenary troops and have fitted out warships.

⁴I plan to invade the land and to attack those who have destroyed many of the towns and ruined the country.

⁵Now therefore, I confirm all exemptions from taxes and payments granted you by former kings.

⁶I authorize you to mint your own coins as legal currency in your own country.

⁷Jerusalem and the Temple shall be free of taxation. All the weapons that you have manufactured and the defenses you have built and now occupy shall remain yours.

⁸In addition, all debts now owed to the royal treasury, or which may in the future fall due, are permanently canceled.

⁹As soon as I have regained control of my kingdom, I will confer upon you, your nation, and the Temple such great honors that the glory of your country will be evident to the whole world.

¹⁰In the year 174 Antiochus invaded the land of his ancestors. Most of the soldiers came over to his side, so that there were very few left with Trypho.

¹¹Trypho, pursued by Antiochus, fled to the coastal city of Dor,

¹²realizing that he was in a desperate situation, now that all his troops had deserted him.

¹³Then Antiochus laid siege to Dor with 120,000 well-trained soldiers and 8,000 cavalry.

¹⁴With his ships joining the attack, he completely surrounded the town and brought such pressure on it that no one was able to enter or leave.

Rome Supports the Jews

¹⁵Meanwhile, Numenius and those with him arrived in Jerusalem from Rome with the following letter addressed to various kings and countries:

¹⁶From Lucius, consul of the Romans, to King Ptolemy, greetings.

¹⁷A delegation from our friends and allies the Jews has come to us to renew the earlier treaty of friendship and alliance. They were sent by the High Priest Simon and the Jewish people,

¹⁸and they have brought as a gift a gold shield weighing half a ton.

¹⁹So we have decided to write to various kings and countries urging them not to harm the Jews, their towns, or their country in any way. They must not make war against the Jews or give support to those who attack them.

²⁰We have decided to accept the shield and grant them protection.

²¹Therefore if any traitors escape from Judea and seek refuge in your land, hand them over to Simon the High Priest, so that he may punish them according to Jewish law.

²²Lucius wrote the same letter to King Demetrius, to Attalus, Ariarathes, and Arsaces,

²³and to all the following countries: Sampsames, Sparta, Delos, Myndos, Sicyon, Caria, Samos, Pamphylia, Lycia, Halicarnassus, Rhodes, Phaselis, Cos, Side, Aradus, Gortyna, Cnidus, Cyprus, and Cyrene.

²⁴A copy of the letter was also sent to Simon the High Priest.

Antiochus the Seventh Breaks with Simon

²⁵King Antiochus laid siege to Dor for a second time, keeping it under constant attack. He built siege platforms, and his blockade kept Trypho and his men from going in or out.

²⁶Simon sent 2,000 well-trained soldiers to help Antiochus, as well as silver and gold and a great deal of equipment.

²⁷But Antiochus refused to accept them, canceled all the previous agreements that he had made with Simon, and became his enemy.

²⁸Then Antiochus sent his trusted official Athenobius to negotiate with Simon. He told Simon, You are occupying Joppa, Gezer, and the fort in Jerusalem, cities that belong to my kingdom.

²⁹You have devastated those regions and brought great trouble to the country. You have seized control of many places in my kingdom.

³⁰Now you must hand back these cities that you have captured, and you must give me the tax money that you have taken from places that you occupied outside the territory of Judea.

³¹If you are unwilling to do this, then you must pay me 30,000 pounds of silver, and 30,000 additional pounds of silver to compensate me for damages and for lost taxes. If you refuse to do either of these, we will go to war against you.

³²When Athenobius came to Jerusalem and saw the splendor of Simon's court, the gold and silver tableware in his banquet hall, and the rest of the display of great wealth, he was amazed. He delivered the king's message to Simon,

³³and Simon answered, We have never taken land away from other nations or confiscated anything that belonged to other people. On the contrary, we have simply taken back property that we inherited from our ancestors, land that had been unjustly taken away from us by our enemies at one time or another.

³⁴We are now only making use of this opportunity to recover our ancestral heritage.

³⁵As for Joppa and Gezer, which you claim, we will give you 6,000 pounds of silver, in spite of the fact that the people of those cities have done great harm to our nation. Athenobius made no reply,

³⁶but he returned to the king in a rage. When he told the king what Simon had said, and reported on the splendor of Simon's court and all that he had seen, the king became violently angry.

John's Victory over Cendebeus

³⁷In the meantime, Trypho had boarded a ship and escaped to the town of Orthosia.

³⁸King Antiochus appointed Cendebeus as commander of the coastal area, provided him with infantry and cavalry,

³⁹and gave him orders to move against Judea. He also ordered him to rebuild the town of Kedron and fortify its gates, so that he could fight against the Jewish people. The king himself continued to pursue Trypho.

⁴⁰Cendebeus then came to Jamnia and began to harass the Jews by invading Judea, capturing people, and murdering them.

⁴¹He rebuilt Kedron and stationed some cavalry and infantry units there, so that they could make attacks and patrol the roads of Judea, as the king had ordered.

A Prayer for Israel

¹O Lord God of the universe, look upon us and have mercy.

²Make every nation stand in fear of you.

³Take action against the foreign nations, and let them witness your power!

⁴You have used us to show them how holy you are; now use them to show us how great you are.

⁵Let them learn, as we have learned, that there is no God, O Lord, but you.

⁶Give new signs, perform new miracles; show us your glorious strength!

^7-9Bring on that appointed time when everyone can talk about the great things you do. Pour out your furious, flaming anger, and let none of our enemies survive. Destroy those who have oppressed your people.

¹⁰Crush all those enemy rulers who think they are the only people in the world who matter!

¹¹Gather the tribes of Israel together again, and give them back their land as you gave it to them long ago.

¹²Lord, have mercy on Israel, the people who are known by your name, whom you called your first-born son.

¹³Take pity on Jerusalem, your holy city, where you chose to stay.

¹⁴Fill your Temple on Mount Zion with your glory and with hymns of praise.

¹⁵Testify for your people, whom you created in the beginning; fulfill the prophecies that have been spoken in your name.

¹⁶Reward those who have put their faith in you, and vindicate your prophets.

¹⁷You have always been gracious to your people; listen to your servants as we pray. Then everyone on earth will recognize that you are the Lord, the God of the ages.

Choosing a Wife

¹⁸Any kind of food can be eaten, but some foods are better than others.

¹⁹And just as the tongue can distinguish the flavors of different kinds of meat, so a sharp mind can detect lies.

²⁰A person with a warped mind causes trouble, but an experienced person knows how to pay it back.

²¹A woman has to take any man as a husband, but a man must choose his wife carefully.

²²A woman's beauty makes a man happy; there is no fairer sight for the human eye to see.

²³If the woman is kind and gentle in her speech, her husband is the most fortunate of men.

²⁴When a man marries, he gets the finest thing he will ever have—a wife to help and encourage him.

²⁵If property is not fenced in, thieves will wander in and help themselves. And if a man has no wife, he is a sighing wanderer;

²⁶people have no more trust in a homeless person who sleeps in a different place every night than they have in a wandering thief who goes from town to town.

False Friends

¹Anyone can claim to be your friend, but some people are friends in name only.

²The grief caused when a close friendship turns sour is as bad as death.

³This evil impulse we have! Why was it ever formed? How did it manage to cover the earth with deceit?

⁴Some people will be your friend as long as things are going well, but they will turn against you when trouble comes.

⁵A real friend will help you against your enemies and protect you in the fight.

⁶Never forget such companions in battle; share the results of your victory with them.

Caution in Taking Advice

⁷Anyone can give advice, but some people do so only in their own interest.

⁸Be careful when somebody offers you advice. Find out first what his interest in the matter is, because you can be sure that he is thinking primarily of himself. Why should he come out on top instead of you?

⁹He will assure you that things look good, and then stand back to watch what happens to you.

¹⁰Don't ask advice of anyone who doesn't trust you, and don't give advice to anyone who is jealous of you.

¹¹Don't ask a woman for advice about a rival of hers, a coward about war, a merchant about a bargain, a buyer about selling, a stingy person about gratitude, a cruel person about kindness, a lazy person about work, a casual worker about finishing a job, a lazy slave about a difficult task.

¹²Pay no attention to any advice they may give. Instead, rely on someone who is religious and known to keep the Lord's commands, someone who is sympathetic with you, who will be sorry to see you fail.

¹³And trust your own judgment; no one's advice is more reliable.

¹⁴Sometimes your own intuition can tell you more than seven watchmen on a high tower.

¹⁵Above all, pray to the Most High that he will show you the right thing to do.

Wisdom and Confidence

¹⁶Planning and thought lie behind everything that is done.

^17-18The mind concerns itself with four things: these are good and evil, life and death. They all begin in the mind, but the tongue is their absolute ruler.

¹⁹Someone may have the ability to teach, but still not be of much use to himself.

²⁰He may be clever with words, but end up starving because people hate him.

²¹This may happen if he doesn't have good sense, if the Lord has not given him tact.

²²Someone may consider himself wise and let you know that he is certain about what he knows.

²³Anyone who really is wise will be the teacher of his people, and they can be certain that what he teaches is the truth.

²⁴Everyone will praise such a person and speak of him as fortunate.

²⁵A person's life has only a limited number of days, but the life of Israel cannot be measured in days at all.

²⁶The wise will win the confidence of others, and will be remembered forever.

Controlling the Appetite

²⁷My child, as you go through life, keep your appetite under control, and don't eat anything that you know is bad for you.

²⁸All food doesn't agree with everyone, and everyone doesn't like the same kinds of food.

²⁹Don't feel that you just have to have all sorts of fancy food, and don't be a glutton over any food.

³⁰If you eat too much, you'll get sick; if you do it all the time, you'll always have stomach trouble.

³¹Gluttony has been the death of many people. Avoid it and live longer.

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²⁶Pay close attention, son, and let my life be your example.

²⁷Prostitutes and immoral women are a deadly trap.

²⁸They wait for you like robbers and cause many men to be unfaithful.