2 Maccabees 5:18-20

New Catholic Bible

¹⁸ If it had not been the case that they were involved in many sinful acts, Antiochus would have been flogged and checked in his presumptuous act as soon as he approached, just as had been the case with Heliodorus, whom King Seleucus had sent to inspect the treasury.

¹⁹ However, the Lord had not chosen the people for the sake of the holy place, but the holy place for the sake of the people.^{[a] 20} Therefore, the holy place itself, having shared in the misfortunes that afflicted the people, afterward shared in their good fortune, and what had been abandoned by the Almighty in his anger was restored again in all its glory once the great Sovereign became reconciled.