2 Maccabees 3:6-8

New Catholic Bible

⁶ and reported to him that the treasury in Jerusalem was so overflowing with untold riches that the total amount of the wealth was beyond reckoning and completely out of proportion to the cost of the sacrifices, and that it would be possible to have it all brought under the control of the king.

Mission of Heliodorus. ⁷ When Apollonius conferred with the king, he told him about the riches that had been reported to him. The king appointed Heliodorus, his chief minister, and sent him forth with orders to effect the confiscation of the reported wealth. ⁸ Heliodorus immediately set forth, ostensibly to make a tour of inspection of the cities of Coelesyria and Phoenicia, but in actuality to carry out the king’s command.