27
But Antiochus refused to accept them, canceled all the previous agreements that he had made with Simon, and became his enemy.
28
Then 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.
29
You have devastated those regions and brought great trouble to the country. You have seized control of many places in my kingdom.
30
Now 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.
31
If 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."
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.