1. This Simon, who had informed about the wealth of the temple and acted as an informer against his native land, slandered Onias.
2. He accused the latter of threatening Heliodorus and becoming a perpetrator of evil. He dared to label the benefactor of the city, the protector of his fellow citizens, and a passionate advocate for the laws, as a traitor against the government.
3. His hatred was so intense that one of Simon’s men had even attempted to commit murders.
4. Seeing the danger of the dispute—including how Menestheus’ son Apollonius, the governor of Coele-Syria and Phoenicia, encouraged Simon’s evil—
5. Onias went to the king not to accuse his fellow citizens but to safeguard the public and private welfare of the people.
6. He recognized that without royal attention pubic affairs would not return to a peaceful state, and Simon would not cease from his madness.
7. After Seleucus died and Antiochus (who was called Epiphanes) received the kingdom, Jason the brother of Onias gained the high priesthood by corruption.
8. He offered the king, in private communication, 20,520 pounds of silver, and an additional 4,560 pounds from another source of revenue.
9. He also promised to pay another 8,550 pounds of silver if he were permitted to set up, under his own authority, a gymnasium and a place for training the young people, and to enroll those living in Jerusalem as citizens of Antioch.