11 and some of it belongs to Hyrcanus, a very important man. At the most, you will find only 400,000 silver coins and 200,000 pieces of gold. That devil Simon lied to you.
12 Anyway, I can't possibly let you rob our people of their silver and gold. They trust this sacred temple and think their money is safe. After all, everyone in the world respects this holy place.
13 Heliodorus answered, “King Seleucus has ordered me to collect the money for the royal treasury, and I'm going to do just that.”
14 After Heliodorus had set a day to collect the money, he went into the temple to take charge of the workers who were counting the silver and gold.Meanwhile, everyone in Jerusalem was in terrible agony.
15 The priests in their sacred robes were lying face down on the ground in front of the altar and praying, “Our God, please protect this silver and gold! You yourself made the law that keeps our money safe while it is stored in the temple.”
16 It was heartbreaking just to look at Onias the high priest. His face was pale because of his suffering,
17 and his trembling body showed that he was terrified and tormented.