2 Maccabees 9:19

¹⁷yea, and that also he would become a Jew himself, and go through all the world that was inhabited, and declare the power of God.

¹⁸But for all this his pains would not cease: for the just judgment of God was come upon him: therefore despairing of his health, he wrote unto the Jews the letter underwritten, containing the form of a supplication, after this manner:

— 2 Maccabees 9:19 —

²⁰if ye and your children fare well, and your affairs be to your contentment, I give very great thanks to God, having my hope in heaven.

²¹As for me, I was weak, or else I would have remembered kindly your honor and good will. Returning out of Persia, and being taken with a grievous disease, I thought it necessary to care for the common safety of all: