thynges y• the Iewes had set vp of loue, by Iohn y• father of Eupolemtus, which was sent ambassytour vnto Rome, for to make y• bōde of frē••shippe & loue. He put downe all the Iewes & Liberties of y• Iewes, & set vp the wycked statutes. He durst make a figh∣ting scole vnder y• castel, & set fayre yōge mē to lerne the maners of whores & brothels.
This was now the beginning of the Hea¦thenysh [unspec C] & straunge cōuersacion, brought in thorow the vngracious & vnhearde wicked¦nesse of Iason, which shulde not be called a Prest, but an vngodly persōne. In so much that the prestes were now no more occupied about the seruyse of the aulter, but despised y• tēple, regarded not the offriges: yee gaue their dilig••ce to lerne to fight, to wrastle, to lepe, to daūce, & to put at y• stone not setting by the honour of the fathers, but lyked the glory of the Grekes best of al: for the which they stroue perlously, & were gredy to folow their statutes, yee, theyr lust was in al thin∣ges to be lyke them, which afore were theyr enemies & destroyers. Howbeit to do wicked¦ly agaist the law of god, shal not escape vn∣punished: but of this we shal speke here af∣ter. [unspec D] What time as the Olimpiades sportes were played at Tirus (the king him self be∣being present (this vngracious Iason sent wycked men, bearing from them of Ierusa¦lem (which nowe were called Antiochians) iij. C. drachmas of syluer for an offeryng to Hercules. These had they that caried them desyred vnder such a fashiō, as though they shulde not haue bene offred but bestowed to other vses. Neuertheles he yt sent them, sent them to the intent that they shulde be offred vnto Hercules. But because of those yt were present, they were geuen as to the makynge of shippes. And Appollonius y• sōne of Ne∣steus was sēt into Egipt, because of the no∣ble mē of king Ptolomy Phylometor. Now when Antiochus perceued, that he was put out from medlyng in the realme, he sought his owne profite, departed from thēce, came to Ioppa, & then to Ierusalē: where he was honorably receued of Iasō, & the cite & was brought in wt torche lyght and with greate prayse: & so he turned his host vnto Pheny∣ces. After. iij. yere Iason sent Menelaus / y• [unspec E] foresayde Simōs brother, to beare the mo¦ney vnto y• kyng. & to brynge hym answere of other necessary matters. But he (when he was praysed of the kyng for magnifying of his power) turned y• presthod vnto him self, layinge vp. iij. C. talentes of syluer for Ia∣son. So whē he had gotten cōmanndemetes frō the king (he came hauing nothing that becōmeth a prest, but bearyng the stomacke of a cruel tyraūt & y• wrath of a wylde brute beest. Thē Iason (which had disceued his owne brother) seynge that he him selfe was begyled also was fayne to fle into the lande of the Amnionites, & Menelaus gat the do∣miniō. But as for the money that he had {pro}∣mysed vnto ye kyng, he dyd nothing therin / when Sostratus the ruler of the castell re∣quyred it of him. For Sostratus was y• mā that gathered the customes: wherfore they were both called before y• kinge. Thus was Menelaus put out of the presthode, & Lysi∣machus his brother came in his steade. So∣stratus also was made lord of the Cypr••••s. It happened in the meane season, that the [unspec F] Tharsians & Mallaciās made insurreceiō, because they were geuen for a present vnto kyng Antiochus cōcubyne. Then came the kyng in all the haste, to styll them againe, & to pacifye the matter, leauyng Andronicus there to be his debyte, as one mete therfore. Now Menelaus supposing that he had got∣ten a ryght couenyent tyme / stole certayne vessels of golde out of the temple, and gaue them to Andronicus for a present: & some he solde at Tirus & in the cities therby. Which when Onias knew of a suerty, he reproued him: but he kepte him in a Santuary beside Daphenis, that lyeth by Antioche wherfore Menelaus gat hi to Andronicus & prayed him y• he woldslay Onias. So whā he came to Onias, he counceled hi craftely to come out of the Sanctuary, geuyng him his hāde with an othe (how be it he suspect hym) and then he slew Onias, without any regarde of ryghtuousnesse. For the whiche cause not only the Iewes, but other nacyōs also toke indignacyon / & were displeased for the vn∣ryghtuous death of so godly a man. [unspec G]
And when the kynge was come agayne from Cilicia, the Iewes and certaine of the Grekes wente vnto him, complayninge for y• vnryghtuous death of Onias. Yee Antio chus hym selfe was sory in hys mynde for Onias, so that it pitied him, & he wepte / re∣membrynge hys sobernesse & manerly beha¦uoure. Wherfore he was so kyndled in hys minde, that he cōmaūded Andronicus to be striped out of his purple clothing, & so to be led thorow out the cite, yee: & y• vngracious man to be slayne in the same place / where he cōmitted his wickednes vpō Onias. Thus the Lorde rewarded hym his punishmēt, as he had deserued. Now when Lysymachus had done many wycked dedes in the temple