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In fact, not to let the impious alone for long, but to punish them immediately, is a sign of great kindness.
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For in the case of the other nations the Lord waits patiently to punish them until they have reached the full measure of their sins; but he does not deal in this way with us,
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in order that he may not take vengeance on us afterward when our sins have reached their height.
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Therefore he never withdraws his mercy from us. Though he disciplines us with calamities, he does not forsake his own people.
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Let what we have said serve as a reminder; we must go on briefly with the story.
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Eleazar, one of the scribes in high position, a man now advanced in age and of noble presence, was being forced to open his mouth to eat swine's flesh.
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But he, welcoming death with honor rather than life with pollution, went up to the the rack of his own accord, spitting out the flesh,
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as men ought to go who have the courage to refuse things that it is not right to taste, even for the natural love of life.
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Those who were in charge of that unlawful sacrifice took the man aside, because of their long acquaintance with him, and privately urged him to bring meat of his own providing, proper for him to use, and pretend that he was eating the flesh of the sacrificial meal which had been commanded by the king,
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so that by doing this he might be saved from death, and be treated kindly on account of his old friendship with them.
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But making a high resolve, worthy of his years and the dignity of his old age and the gray hairs which he had reached with distinction and his excellent life even from childhood, and moreover according to the holy God-given law, he declared himself quickly, telling them to send him to Hades.