The Koine Bible

For this reason indeed also the young men, philosophizing with the reasoning of piety, prevailed over more grievous tortures

For when by the first trial the tyrant was plainly defeated, not being able to force the old man to defile himself by eating, then indeed very passionately he ordered others to be brought from the plunder of the Hebrews, and if indeed they should defile themselves by eating, to release them after they had eaten, but if they should resist, to torture them more bitterly.

When the tyrant had arranged these things, there came forward seven brothers, handsome and reverent and noble and gracious in every way, being led with their aged mother

When the tyrant saw them, as if in a chorus, surrounding their mother in the middle, he was pleased at them, and, struck with amazement at their goodly appearance and nobility, he smiled upon them and, calling them near, said:

O young men, with good will I marvel at the beauty of each one of you and highly esteem the multitude of so many brothers; I not only advise you not to be mad with the same madness as the old man who was tortured before, but I also beseech you, yielding to me, to enjoy my friendship.

But I could be able, just as to punish those who disobey my commands, so also to do good to those who obey me.

Believe, then, and you will receive princely offices over my affairs, if you deny the ancestral ordinance of your polity

And having partaken of Greek life and having changed your manner of living, you have indulged in your youth.

For if you deal with me in anger through disobedience, you will compel me, by terrible punishments, to destroy each one of you through tortures

Have pity on yourselves, whom I myself also, the enemy, pity on account of both youth and beauty.

Do you not consider this, that nothing is laid up for you if you disobey except to die by tortures?

But saying these things, he ordered the tortures to be set in front, so that through fear also he might persuade them to defile themselves by eating unclean food.

But when the guards set before him wheels and joint-stretchers and rack-instruments and wheel-tortures and catapults and cauldrons and frying-pans and thimbles and iron hands and wedges and the firebrands of the fire, the tyrant, taking up, said:

Young men, fear, and the justice which you revere will be gracious to you, though you have transgressed through necessity.

But those who heard of the inducements and saw the terrible things not only did not fear, but also philosophized in opposition to the tyrant, and through reasoned speech they brought his tyranny to an end

And yet let us consider whether some among them were fainthearted and unmanly; with what words would they have used? Would they not have used these?

O wretches, we too are very foolish, if, when the king is calling us and urging us on account of beneficence, we should be persuaded by him.

Why do we delight ourselves in empty plans and dare deadly disobedience?

We shall not fear, brothers, the torments, and we shall reckon the threats of the tortures, and we shall flee this vain-glory and destructive arrogance.

Let us pity our own age and have compassion on our mother’s old age.

And let us consider that, if we disobey, we will die.

And the divine justice will pardon us also, because under necessity we feared the king.

Why are we leading ourselves out of the sweetest life and depriving ourselves of the pleasant world?

Let us not force necessity, nor let us vaunt ourselves over our own torture.

Nor does the law itself voluntarily put us to death, since we feared the torments.

From where has such great contentiousness bitten into us, and the deadly endurance is pleasing, while it is possible to live with tranquility, having been persuaded by the king?

But those things the young men, about to be tortured, said nothing, nor did they reflect on it.

For they were superior to the passions and masters of the pains

so that at the same time the tyrant ceased counseling them to eat defiled food, all together with one voice, as if from the same soul, said