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the contents of which were these: King Antiochus to Simon the high priest and prince of his nation, and to the people of the Jews, greeting:
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Inasmuch 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 state, and to that end have gathered a multitude of foreign soldiers together and prepared ships of war,
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my intent also being to go through the country, that I may be avenged on those who have destroyed it and made many cities in the kingdom desolate,
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now therefore I confirm unto thee all the tax remissions which the kings before me granted thee, and whatsoever gifts besides they granted.
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I give thee leave also to coin money for thy country with thine own stamp.
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And concerning Jerusalem and the sanctuary, let them be free; and all the armor that thou hast made and fortresses that thou hast built and keepest in thine hands, let them remain unto thee.
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And if anything be, or shall be, owed to the king, let it be forgiven thee from this time forth for evermore.
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Furthermore, when we have obtained our kingdom, we will honor thee and thy nation and thy temple with great honor, so that your honor shall be known throughout the world.
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In 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 Trypho.
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Therefore, being pursued by King Antiochus, he fled unto Dor, which lieth by the seaside;
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for he saw that troubles came upon him all at once and that his forces had forsaken him.