2 Maccabees 4:1-6
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Simon Accuses Onias
4 The previously mentioned Simon, who had informed about the money against[a] his own country, slandered Onias, saying that it was he who had incited Heliodorus and had been the real cause of the misfortune.(A) 2 He dared to designate as a plotter against the government the man who was the benefactor of the city, the protector of his compatriots, and a zealot for the laws.(B) 3 When his hatred progressed to such a degree that even murders were committed by one of Simon’s approved agents,(C) 4 Onias recognized that the rivalry was serious and that Apollonius son of Menestheus,[b] and governor of Coelesyria and Phoenicia, was intensifying the malice of Simon.(D) 5 So he appealed to the king, not accusing his compatriots but having in view the welfare, both public and private, of all the people.(E) 6 For he saw that, without the king’s attention, public affairs could not again reach a peaceful settlement and that Simon would not stop his folly.
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