3 Maccabees 5:24-26

New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised

²⁴ The crowds of the city had been assembled for this most pitiful spectacle and they were eagerly waiting for daybreak. ²⁵ But the Jews, at their last gasp—since the time had run out—stretched their hands towards heaven and with most tearful supplication and mournful dirges implored the supreme God^[a] to help them again at once. ²⁶ The rays of the sun were not yet shed abroad, and while the king was receiving his Friends, Hermon arrived and invited him to come out, indicating that what the king desired was ready for action.