1
King Ptolemy Philopator to the generals throughout Egypt and to all those put in charge of affairs. Greetings and good health.
2
We ourselves and our children also enjoy good health since the great God guides our affairs, as is our desire.
3
Certain of our friends, by frequently urging us out of spite, persuaded us to gather the Jews from throughout the kingdom together in one place and to torment them with unusual punishments as traitors.
4
They insisted that our government would never be stable until this was accomplished, due to the hostility that these people were said to have toward all the nations.
5
These friends also drove them along in chains, treating them harshly as slaves, or rather, as traitors. Without any investigation or trial they attempted to destroy them, displaying a cruelty more savage than the barbarians from Scythia.