3 Maccabees 6:31-33

Common English Bible

³¹ So the people who previously had been disgraced and stood near death—at its very brink!—prepared for a festival of deliverance instead of a bitter and most mournful fate. The place that had been prepared for their ruin and burial was joyfully divided up among people in celebration. ³² They stopped singing their sad songs of lament and took up an ancient hymn in praise of their rescuer, the wonder-working God.^[a] They threw aside all weeping and wailing and instead sang songs in organized groups as a sign of peaceful joy. ³³ The king also assembled a huge banquet because of these events. He kept giving generous praise to heaven for the remarkable rescue that he^[b] had experienced.