3 Maccabees 5:4-6

Common English Bible

⁴ But Hermon the elephant keeper promptly began to carry out the orders. ⁵ The servants in charge of the Jews went out in the evening, bound the hands of those enduring this distress, and arranged for their continued custody through the night. They expected that the entire race would come to a ruinous end. ⁶ To the Gentiles it seemed that the Jews were entirely without refuge, since in their chains, distress surrounded them on every side.