3 Maccabees 4:2-4

Common English Bible

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? ⁴ They were being sent off together by the generals in every city in a merciless and cruel manner. At the sight of these unusual punishments, even some of the Jews’ enemies wept over their most miserable expulsion, for they saw their pitiable state and reflected on the uncertain outcome of life.