1 Esdras 4:5-7

Revised Standard Version

⁵ They kill and are killed, and do not disobey the king’s command; if they win the victory, they bring everything to the king—whatever spoil they take and everything else. ⁶ Likewise those who do not serve in the army or make war but till the soil, whenever they sow, reap the harvest and bring some to the king; and they compel one another to pay taxes to the king. ⁷ And yet he is only one man! If he tells them to kill, they kill; if he tells them to release, they release;