1. But Simon (mentioned earlier as the one who informed Apollonius about the money and brought trouble on the nation) also lied about Onias, claiming that he was responsible for the attack on Heliodorus and for the difficulties that followed.
2. He dared to accuse Onias of plotting against the government — Onias who not only had made donations to Jerusalem and had protected the Temple, but who was eager to see that all our laws were obeyed.
3-4. Apollonius son of Menestheus, the governor of Greater Syria, encouraged Simon in every evil thing he did, and Simon's opposition finally grew so strong that one of his trusted followers committed several murders. Onias realized how dangerous the situation had become,
5. so he went to the king, not for the purpose of making accusations against his own people, but for the common good of all Jews, both in their private and public lives.
6. He realized that without the king's cooperation there was no hope for peace, and Simon would keep on with his foolishness.
7. Later, when King Seleucus died and Antiochus (known as Epiphanes) became king, Jason the brother of Onias became High Priest by corrupt means.
8. He went to see the king and offered him twelve tonnes of silver with 2.7 more tonnes to be paid later.
9. Jason also offered him an additional five tonnes of silver for the authority to establish a stadium where young men could train and to enrol the people of Jerusalem as citizens of Antioch.
10. The king gave his approval, and just as soon as Jason took over the office of High Priest, he made the people of Jerusalem change to the Greek way of life.
11. He began by abolishing the favours that John had secured for the Jews from previous Syrian kings. (John was the father of the Eupolemus who later went to Rome to make an alliance and to establish ties of friendship.) Jason also did away with our Jewish customs and introduced new customs that were contrary to our Law.
12. With great enthusiasm he built a stadium near the Temple hill and led our finest young men to adopt the Greek custom of participating in athletic events.
13. Because of the unrivalled wickedness of Jason, that ungodly and illegitimate High Priest, the craze for the Greek way of life and for foreign customs reached such a point
14. that even the priests lost all interest in their sacred duties. They lost interest in the Temple services and neglected the sacrifices. Just as soon as the signal was given, they would rush off to take part in the games that were forbidden by our Law.
15. They did not care about anything their ancestors had valued; they prized only Greek honours.
16. And this turned out to be the source of all their troubles, for the very people whose ways they admired and whose customs they tried to imitate became their enemies and oppressed them.