1 Now King Philopator was more furious than ever, and he sent for Hermon, the man who took care of the elephants that were used in battle. 2 Philopator gave him the following orders: “Tomorrow, give all 500 elephants large handfuls of frankincense and all the undiluted wine they will drink. Then after the elephants are angry and confused, release them in the stadium so that the Jews will be trampled to death!”

3 After that, the king returned to the feast, where he and his trusted friends*trusted friends: This was a title that Greek kings gave to special advisors and officials. These friends received gifts, honors, and other privileges. and army commanders celebrated the coming death of the Jews. 4 Meanwhile, Hermon left to do what he had been told.

5 3 Macc 3.25; 4.9. The servants at the stadium believed the whole Jewish nation would be wiped out, and they wanted to make sure that none of their prisoners could escape. So that same evening the servants went to the stadium and tied the Jews' hands. 6 All the Gentiles were convinced that nothing could save the Jews now 7 that they couldn't move.

The Jews cried bitterly and prayed together in loud voices to the Lord God All-Powerful, who rules everything. They called on his mercy, 8 asking him to take revenge on the wicked foreigners and stop their evil plan, and begging him to rescue them from death. 9 God heard their prayers.

10 Meanwhile, Hermon gave the unsuspecting elephants frankincense and wine until they would eat and drink no more. Then he went to the palace courtyard to tell King Philopator that everything had been done according to plan. 11 But the Lord had caused Philopator to fall into a deep sleep—this was the Lord's way of rescuing the Jews. 12 In fact, Philopator was so sleepy that he wasn't able to give Hermon the orders to carry out the evil plan! 13 The time set aside to kill the Jews had now passed, so they celebrated and praised their holy God for his kindness, then asked him to show the arrogant foreigners his mighty power.

14 By now it was the middle of the afternoon, and the official in charge of the celebration at the palace saw that the guests had started arriving. So he tried to wake Philopator. 15 When he was finally awake, the official told him what had happened and that the feast was ready to begin. 16 Philopator was still confused, and he immediately invited his guests to sit down, then started eating and drinking. 17 He asked everyone there to enjoy themselves and forget about what was going on elsewhere.

18 Some time later, Philopator called for Hermon and demanded to know why the Jews were still alive. 19 Hermon and his officials explained that everything had been done the night before just as the king had ordered. 20 Philopator was angrier than a crazy man†a crazy man: Greek “the cruel Phalaris,” a man who was well-known for his anger and violence. He ruled the Greek city of Acragas on the island of Sicily 570–554 b.c. and said to Hermon, “The Jews may have been saved today because I overslept, but the first thing tomorrow, make sure the elephants are ready to wipe out those worthless people!”

21 The guests at the feast cheered and approved of the king's plan, then went home. 22 None of them slept well that night; they all lay awake thinking of insults to shout at the doomed Jews.

23 Early the next morning, just after the roosters started crowing, Hermon finished giving the elephants frankincense and wine, and he began leading them down the long passageway that led into the stadium. 24 Along the way, crowds of people were already gathering to see what horrible thing would happen to the Jews at daybreak.

25 3 Macc 1.9. The Jews, meanwhile, had lost all hope. They knew they had little time left alive, so they raised their hands to heaven and with loud moaning they cried out to God Most High, begging him to rescue them again.

26 The sun was just coming up as Philopator welcomed his trusted friends‡trusted friends: See the note at 5.3. to the palace. Hermon finally arrived and told them everything was now ready, and he invited them to go to the stadium. 27 But Philopator suddenly became very confused and had no idea what Hermon was talking about. The king even had to ask Hermon what he was inviting him to do. 28 Pr 21.1. God, who rules over all things, had made Philopator forget his own plan.

29 Hermon and the king's friends told Philopator that the elephants and the soldiers were ready to kill the Jews, just as the king had ordered. 30 This made the king furious, because God had made him forget everything. Philopator stared at Hermon and the others 31 3 Macc 3.21. and said, “I swear that if your parents or children were here, I would let the elephants eat them, instead of eating the Jews. They have done nothing to me and have always been loyal to my ancestors. 32 If it weren't for your usefulness to me and my devotion to you, your lives would have ended long ago.”

33 Hermon couldn't believe what he was hearing, and he suddenly became nervous and afraid. 34 The king's friends quietly slipped out one by one and told the crowd of people to go on about their own business.

35 1 Ti 6.15; Rev 17.14. When the Jews heard what the king had said, they knew at once that God had rescued them again. So they praised their Lord God, the king of all rulers.

36 King Philopator called his guests back to the celebration and begged them to drink some more. 37 He called for Hermon and shouted in anger, “You worthless fool! How many times do I need to tell you 38 to get those elephants ready? I want the Jews trampled tomorrow!”

39 The officials sitting near Philopator thought he had gone crazy and asked, 40 “Your Majesty, how long do you think we will wait for that to happen? We're not fools! You've said the same thing twice already, and you'll probably change your mind again. 41 The city of Alexandria is crowded with people, and they are getting impatient and angry. We are afraid they might start a riot.”

42 In a violent rage, Philopator forgot he had just praised the Jews for their loyalty. He yelled, “I swear by my own life that the elephants will trample the Jews to death immediately! 43 I will attack the cities of Judea with torches and spears, so that their cities are nothing but ruins and the temple in Jerusalem is burned to the ground. Since I wasn't allowed to enter that place, then no one will ever offer sacrifices there again.”

44 The king's trusted friends§trusted friends: See the note at 5.3. and army commanders were very excited as they left and ordered their troops to stand guard at key places around the city.

45 Hermon made sure the elephants had drunk plenty of wine and eaten lots of frankincense so that they were very angry and confused. He also tied small swords and knives to the sides and stomachs of the elephants. 46 Then he went to the palace courtyard around dawn and told Philopator everything was ready. The city was filled with people crowding their way into the stadium to watch. 47 Philopator stormed out of his palace to see the elephants and to watch the cruel and painful death of the Jews.

48 The Jews in the stadium saw the dust that the elephants stirred up as they came closer to the gate, and they watched as soldiers and other people ran behind the elephants. And when the Jews heard the noisy crowd, 49 they were convinced their terrible wait was over and that they would soon die. They wept and groaned in sorrow as they kissed and hugged each other. But all of them—the parents and the children, the mothers with babies who were still nursing— 50 all of them remembered that God had helped them before, so they bowed down on the ground to pray. Mothers laid aside their babies, 51 while everyone cried out to God in loud voices, asking him to have mercy on them as they faced death and for him to show the world that he is the ruler over everything.