1. Therefore, when the holy city was inhabited with all peace, and also the laws were still being kept very well because of the piety of Onias, the high priest, and the hatred that his soul held for evil,
2. it happened that even the kings and princes themselves considered the place worthy of the highest honor, and so they glorified the temple with very great gifts,
3. so much so that Seleucus, king of Asia, furnished from his revenues all of the expenses for the ministry pertaining to the sacrifices.
4. But Simon, from the tribe of Benjamin, having been appointed as overseer of the temple, obstructed the chief priest, in order to undertake some kind of iniquity in the city.