8. On the advice of Ptolemy, the neighbouring Greek cities were also instructed to require Jews to eat the sacrifices;
9. they were told to put to death every Jew who refused to adopt the Greek way of life. It was easy to see that hard times were ahead.
10. For example, two women were arrested for having their babies circumcised. They were paraded round the city with their babies hung from their breasts; then they were thrown down from the city wall.
11. On another occasion, Philip was told that some Jews had gathered in a nearby cave to observe the Sabbath in secret. Philip attacked and burnt them all alive. They had such respect for the Sabbath that they would not fight to defend themselves.
12. I beg you not to become discouraged as you read about the terrible things that happened. Consider that this was the Lord's way of punishing his people, not of destroying them.
13. In fact, it is a sign of kindness to punish a person immediately for his sins, rather than to wait a long time.
14. The Lord does not treat us as he does other nations; he waits patiently until they have become deeply involved in sin before he punishes them,
15. but he punishes us before we have sinned too much.
16. So the Lord is always merciful to us, his own people. Although he punishes us with disasters, he never abandons us.
17. I have made these few observations by way of reminder. We will now get on with the story.
18. There was an elderly and highly respected teacher of the Law by the name of Eleazar, whose mouth was being forced open to make him eat pork.
19-20. But he preferred an honourable death rather than a life of disgrace. So he spat out the meat and went willingly to the place of torture, showing how people should have courage to refuse unclean food, even if it costs them their lives.
21-22. Those in charge of the sacrifice had been friends of Eleazar for a long time, and because of this friendship they told him privately to bring meat that was lawful for him to eat. He need only pretend to eat the pork, they said, and in this way he would not be put to death.
23. But Eleazar made a decision worthy of his grey hair and advanced age. All his life he had lived in perfect obedience to God's holy laws, so he replied, “Kill me, here and now.
24. Such deception is not worthy of a man of my years. Many young people would think that I had denied my faith after I was ninety years old.