14
When the tyrant had finished pressuring Eleazar to eat forbidden food, Eleazar asked to say something.
15
Antiochus gave him permission, and Eleazar began to give the following speech:
16
“Antiochus, we are persuaded to live our lives in line with the divine Law! We think that nothing is more compelling than our obedience to the Law.
17
That's why we don't think it's right to disobey the Law under any circumstances.
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“Even if, as you assume, our Law were not truly divine and we were wrong to think it is divine, even then it would be wrong for us to ruin our reputation for our godly way of life.