2 Maccabees 9:13-18

Common English Bible

¹³ This repulsive individual solemnly promised to the Lord (although God no longer had mercy on him), declaring that ¹⁴ the holy city, to which he was rushing to knock down to the ground and turn into a mass cemetery, was now free. ¹⁵ And he would make all Jews equal to the Athenians, even though previously he had considered them unworthy of burial but fit only for bird food, and their infants fit for animals to prey upon. ¹⁶ He would adorn the holy temple, which he had formerly looted, with the most beautiful offerings. He would restore the temple equipment many times over and would give liberally from his own revenues to the expenses for the sacrifices. ¹⁷ In addition, he would become a Jew and would visit every inhabited place, announcing publicly God’s power. ¹⁸ When his pains didn’t diminish in any way—for God’s judgment had come upon him justly—and he had given up hope, he wrote to the Jews a letter of appeal. This was the content: