4. and it was done immediately. Then he told his men to cut off the tongue of the one who had spoken and to scalp him and chop off his hands and feet, while his mother and six brothers looked on.
5. After the young man had been reduced to a helpless mass of breathing flesh, the king gave orders for him to be carried over and thrown into one of the pans. As a cloud of smoke streamed up from the pan, the brothers and their mother encouraged one another to die bravely, saying,
6. “The Lord God is looking on and understands our suffering. Moses made this clear when he wrote a song condemning those who had abandoned the Lord. He said, ‘The Lord will have mercy on those who serve him.’ ”
7. After the first brother had died in this way, the soldiers started amusing themselves with the second one by tearing the hair and skin from his head. Then they asked him, “Now will you eat this pork, or do you want us to chop off your hands and feet one by one?”
8. He replied in his native language, “I will never eat it!” So the soldiers tortured him, just as they had the first one,
9. but with his dying breath he cried out to the king, “You butcher! You may kill us, but the King of the universe will raise us from the dead and give us eternal life, because we have obeyed his laws.”
32-33. It is true that our living Lord is angry with us and is making us suffer because of our sins, in order to correct and discipline us. But this will last only a short while, for we are still his servants, and he will forgive us.
34. But you are the cruellest and most disgusting thing that ever lived. So don't fool yourself with illusions of greatness while you punish God's people.
35. There is no way for you to escape punishment at the hands of the almighty and all-seeing God.
36. My brothers suffered briefly because of our faithfulness to God's covenant, but now they have entered eternal life. But you will fall under God's judgement and be punished as you deserve for your arrogance.