§6.22Καὶ μετεστράφη τοῦ βασιλέως ἡ ὀργὴ εἰς οἶκτον καὶ δάκρυα ὑπὲρ τῶν ἔμπροσθεν αὐτῷ μεμηχανευμένων. §6.23ἀκούσας γὰρ τῆς κραυγῆς, καὶ συνιδὼν πρηνεῖς ἅπαντας εἰς τὴν ἀπώλειαν, δακρύσας μετ᾿ ὀργῆς τοῖς φίλοις διηπειλεῖτο, λέγων §6.24Παραβασιλεύετε, καὶ τυράννους ὑπερβεβηκότες ὠμότητι· καὶ ἐμέ αὐτὸν τὸν ὑμῶν εὐεργέτην ἐπιχειρεῖτε τῆς ἀρχῆς ἤδη καὶ τοῦ πνεύματος μεθιστᾷν, λάθρα μηχανώμενοι τὰ μὴ συμφέροντα τῇ βασιλείᾳ. §6.25τίς τοὺς κρατήσαντας ἡμῶν ἐν πίστει τὰ τῆς χώρας ὀχυρώματα τῆς οἰκίας ἀποστήσας, ἕκαστον ἀλόγως ἤθροισεν ἐνθάδε; §6.26τίς τοὺς ἐξ ἀρχῆς εὐνοίᾳ πρὸς ἡμᾶς κατὰ πάντα διαφέροντας πάντων ἐθνῶν, καὶ τοὺς χειρίστους πλεονάκις ἀνθρώπων ἐπιδεδιγμένους κινδύνους, οὕτως ἀθέσμως περιέβαλεν αἰκίαις; §6.27λύσατε, ἐκλύσατε ἄδικα δεσμά· εἰς τὰ ἴδια μετ᾿ εἰρήνης ἐξαποστείλατε, τὰ προστεταγμένα παραιτησάμενοι. §6.28ἀπολύσατε τοὺς υἱοὺς τοῦ παντοκράτορος ἐπουρανίου θεοῦ ζῶντος, ὃς ἀφʼ ἡμετέρων μέχρι τοῦ νῦν προγόνων ἀπαραπόδιστον εὐστάθειαν μετὰ δόξης προφέρει τοῖς ἡμετέροις πράγμασιν. §6.29ὁ μἐν οὖν ταῦτα ἐξέλεξεν· οἱ δὲ ἐν ἀμερεῖ χρόνῳ λυθέντες, τὸν ἅγιον σωτῆρα θεὸν αὐτῶν ηὐλόγουν, ἄρτι τὸν θάνατον ἐκπεφυγότες. §6.30Εἶτα ὁ βασιλεὺς εἰς τὴν πόλιν τὸν ἐπὶ τῶν προσόδων προσκαλεσάμενος, ἐκέλευσεν οἴνους τε καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ πρὸς εὐωχίαν ἐπιτήδεια τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις χορηγεῖν ἐπὶ ἡμέρας ἑπτά, κρίνας αὐτούς, ἐν ᾧ τόπῳ ἔδοξαν τὸν ὄλεθρον ἀναλαμβάνειν, ἐν τούτῳ ἐν εὐφροσύνῃ πάσῃ σωτήρια ἀγαγεῖν. §6.31τότε οἱ τὸ πρὶν ἐπονείδιστοι καὶ πλησίον τοῦ ἄδου, μᾶλλον δὲ ἐπʼ αὐτῷ βεβηκότες, ἀντὶ πικροῦ καὶ δυσατάκτου μόρου κώθωνα σωτήριον συστησάμενοι, τὸν εἰς πτῶσιν αὐτοῖς καὶ τάφον ἡτοιμασμένον τόπον κλισίας κατεμερίσαντο πλήρεις χαρμονῆς. §6.32καταλήξαντες δέ θρήνων πανόδυρτον μέλος, ἀνέλαβον ᾠδὴν πάτριον, τὸν Ἰσραὴλ σωτῆρα καὶ τερατοποιὸν αἰνοῦντες θεόν· οἰμωγὴν δὲ πᾶσαν καὶ κωκυτὸν ἀπωσάμενοι, χοροὺς συνίσταντο εὐφροσύνης εἰρηνικῆς σημεῖον. §6.33ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς περὶ τούτων συμπόσιον βαρὺ συνάγων, ἀδιαλείπτως εἰς οὐρανὸν ἀνθωμολογεῖτο μεγαλομερῶς ἐπὶ τῇ παραδόξῳ γενηθείσῃ αὐτῶν σωτηρίᾳ. §6.34οἵ τε πρὶν εἰς ὄλεθρον καὶ οἰωνοβρώτους αὐτοὺς ἔσεσθαι τιθέμενοι καὶ μετὰ χαρᾶς ἀπογραψάμενοι, κατεστέναξαν αἰσχύνην ἐφʼ ἑαυτοῖς περιβαλόμενοι, καὶ πυρόπνουν τόλμαν ἀκμαίως ἐσβεσμένοι. §6.35οἴ τε Ἰουδαῖοι, καθὼς προειρήκαμεν, συστησάμενοι τὸν προειρημένον χορόν, μετ᾿ εὐωχίας ἐν ἐξομολογήσεσιν ἱλαραῖς καὶ ψαλμοῖς διῆγον. §6.36καὶ κοινὸν ὁρισάμενοι περὶ τούτων θεσμὸν, ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν παροικίαν αὐτῶν εἰς γενεάς, τὰς προειρημένας ἡμέρας ἅγειν ἔστησαν εὐφροσύνους, οὐ πότου χάριν καὶ λιχνείας, σωτηρίας δὲ τῆς διὰ θεὸν γενομένης αὐτοῖς. §6.37ἐνέτυχον δὲ τῷ βασιλεῖ, τὴν ἀπόλυσιν αὐτῶν εἰς τὰ ἴδια αἰτούμενοι. §6.38Ἀπογράφονται δὲ αὐτοὺς ἀπὸ πέμπτης καὶ εἰκάδος τοῦ Παχὼν ἕως τῆς τετάρτης τοῦ Ἐπιφί, ἐπὶ ἡμέρας τεσσαράκοντα· συνίστανται δὲ αὐτῶν τὴν ἀπώλειαν ἀπὸ πέμπτης τοῦ Ἐπιφὶ ἕως ἑβδόμης, ἡμέραις τρισίν. §6.39ἐν αἷς καὶ μεγαλοδόξως ἐπιφάνας τὸ ἔλεος αὐτοῦ ὁ τῶν πάντων δυνάστης ἀπταίστους αὐτοὺς ἐρρύσατο ὁμοθυμαδόν. §6.40Εὐωχοῦντο δὲ πάνθʼ ὑπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως χορηγούμενοι μέχρι τῆς τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτης, ἐν ἧ καὶ τὴν ἐντυχίαν ἐποιήσαντο περὶ τῆς ἀπολύσεως αὐτῶν. §6.41συναινέσας δὲ αὐτοῖς ὁ βασιλεὺς ἔγραψεν αὐτοῖς τὴν ὑπογεγραμμένην ἐπιστολὴν πρὸς τοὺς κατὰ πόλιν στρατηγοὺς μεγαλοψύχως τὴν ἐκτενίαν ἔχουσαν
And the king's anger was turned into pity and tears for the things which had been previously devised by him against them. For having heard the cry, and seeing them all prostrate for destruction, he wept, and with anger threatened his friends, saying: "You are usurping the royal power, and have exceeded tyrants in cruelty; and you are attempting to remove me myself, your benefactor, already from my dominion and my life, secretly plotting things that are not profitable to the kingdom. Who, having removed from their homes those who with fidelity held for us the strongholds of the country, has gathered each of them here without reason? Who has so lawlessly subjected to outrages those who from the beginning have excelled all nations in goodwill toward us in all things, and have often undergone the worst dangers for men? Loose, set free the unjust bonds; send them away in peace to their own homes, having cancelled what was commanded. Release the sons of the almighty, heavenly, living God, who from our ancestors until now has brought glorious and unimpeded stability to our affairs." He then spoke these words; and they, having been loosed in an instant of time, blessed their holy savior God, having just escaped death. Then the king, having summoned the officer of the revenues in the city, commanded him to supply wine and other things necessary for feasting to the Jews for seven days, deciding that in the very place where they had been expected to meet destruction, in that very place they should celebrate their deliverance with all gladness. Then those who before were reviled and near to Hades, or rather had set foot upon it, instead of a bitter and disordered fate, having organized a banquet of salvation, partitioned the place prepared for their fall and grave as a place of feasting, full of joy. And having ceased the mournful melody of lamentations, they took up a ancestral song, praising the savior and wonder-working God of Israel; and having cast away all wailing and weeping, they formed dances, a sign of peaceful gladness. Likewise, the king also, gathering a grand banquet for these things, continually and magnificently gave thanks to heaven for the unexpected salvation that had come to them. And those who before had assumed that they would go to destruction and become food for birds, and had registered them with joy, groaned deeply, being clothed with shame, and having their fiery boldness utterly quenched. And the Jews, as we said before, having organized the aforementioned dance, spent their time with feasting in cheerful thanksgivings and psalms. And having established a common decree concerning these things for all their settlements throughout generations, they ordained to keep the aforementioned days as joyful, not for the sake of drinking and gluttony, but for the salvation that came to them through God. And they petitioned the king, asking for their release to their own homes. Now they were registering them from the twenty-fifth of Pachon until the fourth of Epiphi, for forty days; and they determined their destruction from the fifth of Epiphi until the seventh, for three days. In which the Sovereign of all, having gloriously manifested his mercy, rescued them all together without any stumbling. And they feasted, being supplied with everything by the king, until the fourteenth, on which they also made their petition for their release. And the king, having consented to them, wrote for them the underwritten letter to the commanders in each city, magnificently expressing his earnest goodwill.