3 Maccabees 2:16-18

New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised

¹⁶ But because you graciously bestowed your glory on your people Israel, you sanctified this place. ¹⁷ Do not punish us for the defilement committed by these men, or call us to account for this profanation, otherwise the transgressors will boast in their wrath and exult in the arrogance of their tongue, saying, ¹⁸ “We have trampled down the house of the sanctuary as the houses of the abominations are trampled down.”