3 Maccabees 3:6-8

Common English Bible

⁶ Now even though the Jews’ good deeds on behalf of the nation were commonly talked about by everyone, those of other races didn’t take these into account. ⁷ Instead, they kept harping on the differences in worship and diet, and claimed that the Jewish people were loyal neither to the king nor to the authorities, but were hostile and strongly opposed to the royal administration. And so they placed significant blame on the Jews.

⁸ But the Greeks in the city, who hadn’t been injured in any way, saw the unexpected turmoil surrounding these people and the purposeless mobs that were forming. Although they didn’t have the power to offer assistance, for they lived under tyranny, they tried to encourage the Jews. They were grieved and assumed that these circumstances would change for the better,