3 Maccabees 5:21-23

Common English Bible

²¹ So the king spoke, and when all those present gave their unanimous approval readily and joyfully, they all departed for their own homes. ²² But they didn’t spend their night sleeping so much as devising all kinds of insults for those who seemed to be doomed.

Forgetfulness foils the king’s plan

²³ By dawn, when the roosters began to crow, Hermon had outfitted the beasts and started them moving along in the great colonnade.