18 God was punishing Antiochus just as he deserved, and so none of these promises relieved his suffering. Then Antiochus wrote the following letter to our people:
19 King Antiochus, commander of the army, sends greetings to the Jews. You are some of my most important citizens, and I wish all of you good health and success.
20 I pray that you and your families are healthy and that all is going well for you. I have now placed my hope in God,
21 and I have pleasant memories of how you treated me with kindness and respect.On my way home from the country of Persia, I suddenly became very sick and started making plans to protect everyone in my kingdom.
22 I think I will get well, and so I am not depressed about being sick.
23 But I know that my father always named someone to take his place as king whenever he was at war in the northern part of the kingdom.
24 That way, if something unexpected happened, or if some bad news came, everyone in the kingdom remained calm, knowing that the government was in good hands.