4 Maccabees 11:4-14

4 Hater of virtue, hater of mankind, for what act of ours are you destroying us in this way?
5 Is it because we revere the Creator of all things and live according to his virtuous law?
6 But these deeds deserve honors, not tortures."
9 While he was saying these things, the guards bound him and dragged him to the catapult;
10 they tied him to it on his knees, and fitting iron clamps on them, they twisted his back around the wedge on the wheel, so that he was completely curled back like a scorpion, and all his members were disjointed.
11 In this condition, gasping for breath and in anguish of body,
12 he said, "Tyrant, they are splendid favors that you grant us against your will, because through these noble sufferings you give us an opportunity to show our endurance for the law."
13 After he too had died, the sixth, a mere boy, was led in. When the tyrant inquired whether he was willing to eat and be released, he said,
14 "I am younger in age than my brothers, but I am their equal in mind.
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.