4 Maccabees 9:28-30

Common English Bible

²⁸ they acted like wild leopards. They ripped out his muscles with their iron claws, tore his flesh all the way up to his chin, and tore his scalp off. He bore the pain with difficulty and said: ²⁹ “Any kind of death is sweet for the sake of the godly way of life of our ancestors!” Then he said to the tyrant, ³⁰ “You are the most barbaric tyrant of all. Don’t you think that you are being tortured worse than I am, since you are seeing the proud logic of tyranny defeated by our endurance for the sake of our godly way of life?