Common English Bible

4 Maccabees 11:4-12 Common English Bible (CEB)

4. Enemy of moral character! Enemy of the human race! For what crime are you destroying us in this way?

5. For honoring the creator of all things and living according to his moral Law?

6. Such things deserve honor, not torture!"

9. While he was still speaking, the guards tied him up and dragged him to the catapult.

10. They forced him down onto his knees, bound him to the machine, and placed iron clamps on his thighs. They began to work the wheel, drawing him backward around a wedge until he was curled back all the way like a scorpion. With all his bones pulled out of joint,

11. gasping for air and racked by pain in his body,

12. he said: "Tyrant, you are doing us a huge favor without intending to, because you are giving us the chance to show our firm commitment to the Law through this honorable suffering."