4 Maccabees 9:16

16 And when the guards said, "Agree to eat so that you may be released from the tortures,"

4 Maccabees 9:16 In-Context

14 and though broken in every member he denounced the tyrant, saying,

15 "Most abominable tyrant, enemy of heavenly justice, savage of mind, you are mangling me in this manner, not because I am a murderer, or as one who acts impiously, but because I protect the divine law."

16 And when the guards said, "Agree to eat so that you may be released from the tortures,"

17 he replied, "You abominable lackeys, your wheel is not so powerful as to strangle my reason. Cut my limbs, burn my flesh, and twist my joints.

18 Through all these tortures I will convince you that sons of the Hebrews alone are invincible where virtue is concerned."