3 Maccabees 4:1-3

Common English Bible

Rounding up the Jews

4 Wherever this decree was read, a feast was arranged for the Gentiles at public expense with shouts of joy. Their deep, long-standing hatred was now openly being revealed. ² But among the Jews, there were constant grief, lament, and crying. Everywhere their hearts were on fire as they groaned and bewailed the unexpected destruction that the king had suddenly inflicted on them. ³ What district or city, or what inhabited place of any kind, or what streets weren’t filled with grieving and weeping for them?