22 Divine justice will not blame us because we were afraid of the king and his power over us.
23 So why should we deprive ourselves of this pleasant life and cheat ourselves out of this sweet world?
24 Let’s not fight against fate or take hollow pride in being tortured.
25 The Law itself would have difficulty giving us the death penalty since we sin out of fear of these instruments.
26 Why are we eager to fight a losing battle or so interested in being stubborn when we know it will kill us? We can enjoy a trouble-free life if we just obey the king!"
27 Even though these young men were about to be tortured, they didn’t say or even think about such things.
28 They held their emotions in check and had full control over their pain.