2 Maccabees 9:14-16

Good News Translation

¹⁴ 
I once intended to level Jerusalem to the ground and make that holy city a graveyard full of Jews, he said,
but now I declare it a free city. ¹⁵ I had planned to throw out the dead bodies of the Jews and their children for the wild animals and the birds to eat, for I did not consider them worth burying. But now I intend to grant them the same privileges as the citizens of Athens enjoy. ¹⁶ I once looted the Temple and took its sacred utensils, but I will fill it with splendid gifts and with better utensils than before, and I will pay the cost of the sacrifices from my own resources.