3 Maccabees 4:18-20

Revised Standard Version

¹⁸ although most of them were still in the country, some still residing in their homes, and some at the place;^[a] the task was impossible for all the generals in Egypt. ¹⁹ After he had threatened them severely, charging that they had been bribed to contrive a means of escape, he was clearly convinced about the matter ²⁰ when they said and proved that both the paper^[b] and the pens they used for writing had already given out.