3 Maccabees 7:10-12

Common English Bible

Punishment of Jewish lawbreakers

¹⁰ When the Jews received this letter, they didn’t rush to depart. Instead, they petitioned the king that they might carry out the punishment deserved by those Jews who had voluntarily turned aside from the holy God and God’s Law. ¹¹ They insisted that those who had broken divine laws for the sake of the belly would never be reliable subjects under the king’s government either. ¹² The king recognized and agreed that they were speaking the truth. So he gave them a free hand to utterly destroy those who had violated God’s Law in every place within his kingdom, and to do so with confidence and without needing royal approval or supervision.