2 Maccabees 5:15-17

New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition

Pillage of the Temple

¹⁵ Not content with this, Antiochus^[a] dared to enter the most holy temple in all the world, guided by Menelaus, who had become a traitor both to the laws and to his country. ¹⁶ He took the holy vessels with his polluted hands, and swept away with profane hands the votive offerings that other kings had made to enhance the glory and honour of the place. ¹⁷ Antiochus was elated in spirit, and did not perceive that the Lord was angered for a little while because of the sins of those who lived in the city, and that this was the reason he was disregarding the holy place.