3 Maccabees 1:8-10

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Philopator Attempts to Enter the Temple

⁸ Since the Jews had sent some of their council and elders to greet him, to bring him gifts of welcome, and to congratulate him on what had happened, he was all the more eager to visit them as soon as possible.^{(A) 9} After he had arrived in Jerusalem, he offered sacrifice to the supreme God and made thank offerings and did what was fitting for the place. Then, upon entering the place and being impressed by its excellence and its beauty,^{(B) 10} he marveled at the good order of the temple and conceived a desire to enter the sanctuary.