4
No city besieged with many ingenious war machines has ever held out as did that most holy man. Although his sacred life was consumed by tortures and racks, he conquered the besiegers with the shield of his devout reason.
2
and though buffeted by the stormings of the tyrant and overwhelmed by the mighty waves of tortures,
3
in no way did he turn the rudder of religion until he sailed into the haven of immortal victory.
4
No city besieged with many ingenious war machines has ever held out as did that most holy man. Although his sacred life was consumed by tortures and racks, he conquered the besiegers with the shield of his devout reason.
5
For in setting his mind firm like a jutting cliff, our father Eleazar broke the maddening waves of the emotions.
6
O priest, worthy of the priesthood, you neither defiled your sacred teeth nor profaned your stomach, which had room only for reverence and purity, by eating defiling foods.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.