1 Maccabees 15:25-36

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

Antiochus VII Threatens Simon

²⁵ Anti′ochus the king besieged Dor anew,^[a] continually throwing his forces against it and making engines of war; and he shut Trypho up and kept him from going out or in. ²⁶ And Simon sent to Anti′ochus two thousand picked men, to fight for him, and silver and gold and much military equipment. ²⁷ But he refused to receive them, and he broke all the agreements he formerly had made with Simon,^[b] and became estranged from him. ²⁸ He sent to him Athenob′ius, one of his friends, to confer with him, saying, “You hold control of Joppa and Gazar′a and the citadel in Jerusalem; they are cities of my kingdom. ²⁹ You have devastated their territory, you have done great damage in the land, and you have taken possession of many places in my kingdom. ³⁰ Now then, hand over the cities which you have seized and the tribute money of the places which you have conquered outside the borders of Judea; ³¹ or else give me for them five hundred talents of silver, and for the destruction that you have caused and the tribute money of the cities, five hundred talents more. Otherwise we will come and conquer you.”

³² So Athenob′ius the friend of the king came to Jerusalem, and when he saw the splendor of Simon, and the sideboard with its gold and silver plate, and his great magnificence, he was amazed. He reported to him the words of the king, ³³ but Simon gave him this reply: “We have neither taken foreign land nor seized foreign property, but only the inheritance of our fathers, which at one time had been unjustly taken by our enemies. ³⁴ Now that we have the opportunity, we are firmly holding the inheritance of our fathers. ³⁵ As for Joppa and Gazar′a, which you demand, they were causing great damage among the people and to our land; for them we will give a hundred talents.” Athenob′ius^[c] did not answer him a word, ³⁶ but returned in wrath to the king and reported to him these words and the splendor of Simon and all that he had seen. And the king was greatly angered.