3 Maccabees 5:20-22

New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised

²⁰ the king,^[a] possessed by a savagery worse than that of Phalaris, said that the Jews^[b] had benefited by today’s sleep, ‘but’, he added, ‘tomorrow without delay prepare the elephants in the same way for the destruction of the lawless Jews!’ ²¹ When the king had spoken, all those present readily and joyfully with one accord gave their approval, and all went to their own homes. ²² But they did not so much employ the duration of the night in sleep as in devising all sorts of insults for those they thought to be doomed.