40
O king, how long dost thou make trial of us, as of men bereft of reason? This is the third time that thou hast ordered their destruction. When the thing is to be done, thou changest thy mind, and recallest thy instructions.
38
Once more, arm the elephants against the morrow for the extermination of the Jews.
39
His kinsmen, who were reclining with him, wondered at his instability, and thus expressed themselves:
40
O king, how long dost thou make trial of us, as of men bereft of reason? This is the third time that thou hast ordered their destruction. When the thing is to be done, thou changest thy mind, and recallest thy instructions.
41
For this cause the feeling of expectation causes tumult in the city: it swarms with factions; and is continually on the point of being plundered.
42
The king, just like another Phalaris, a prey to thoughtlessness, made no account of the changes which his own mind had undergone, issuing in the deliverance of the Jews. He swore a fruitless oath, and determined forthwith to send them to hades, crushed by the knees and feet of the elephants.
The Brenton translation of the Septuagint is in the public domain.