2
First they stripped the old man, though he remained adorned with the gracefulness of his piety.
3
After they had tied his arms on each side they flogged him,
4
while a herald who faced him cried out, "Obey the king's commands!"
5
But the courageous and noble man, like a true Eleazar, was unmoved, as though being tortured in a dream;
6
yet while the old man's eyes were raised to heaven, his flesh was being torn by scourges, his blood flowing, and his sides were being cut to pieces.
7
Although he fell to the ground because his body could not endure the agonies, he kept his reason upright and unswerving.
8
One of the cruel guards rushed at him and began to kick him in the side to make him get up again after he fell.
9
But he bore the pains and scorned the punishment and endured the tortures.
10
Like a noble athlete the old man, while being beaten, was victorious over his torturers;
11
in fact, with his face bathed in sweat, and gasping heavily for breath, he amazed even his torturers by his courageous spirit.
12
At that point, partly out of pity for his old age,