1 But the aforementioned Simon, who was a betrayer of the money and of his nation, spoke evil about Onias, as if he had instigated Heliodorus to do these things and as if he had been the inciter of evils.
2 And he dared to say that he was a traitor to the kingdom, though he provided for the city, and defended his people, and was zealous for the law of God.
3 But when the hostilities had proceeded to such an extent that even murders were committed by certain close associates of Simon,
4 Onias, considering the peril of this contention, and Apollonius to be mad, though he was governor of Coelesyria and Phoenicia, which only augmented the malice of Simon, he brought himself before the king,
5 not so as to be an accuser of a citizen, but in view of his own consideration for the common good of the entire multitude.
6 For he saw that, without royal providence, it would be impossible to provide peace to events, nor would Simon ever cease from his foolishness.