1. And Antiochus son of Demetrius the king sent letters from the isles of the sea to Simon the priest and governor of the Jews, and to all the nation;
2. and the contents thereof were after this manner: King Antiochus to Simon the chief priest and governor, and to the nation of the Jews, greeting:
3. Forasmuch as certain pestilent fellows have made themselves masters of the kingdom of our fathers, but my purpose is to claim the kingdom, that I may restore it as it was before; and moreover I have raised a multitude of foreign soldiers, and have prepared ships of war;
4. moreover I am minded to land in the country, that I may punish them that have destroyed our country, and them that have made many cities in the kingdom desolate:
5. Now therefore I confirm to you all the exactions which the kings that were before me remitted to you, and whatever gifts besides they remitted to you:
6. and I give you leave to coin money for your country with your own stamp,
7. but that Jerusalem and the sanctuary should be free: and all the arms that you have prepared, and the strongholds that you have built, which you have in your possession, let them remain to you:
8. and everything owing to the king, and the things that shall be owing to the king from henceforth and for evermore, let them be remitted to you: