3 Maccabees 5:38

³⁶Now the king arranged another banquet after the same manner, and proclaimed an invitation to mirth.

³⁷And he summoned Hermon to his presence, and said, with threats, How often, O wretch, must I repeat my orders to thee about these same persons?

— 3 Maccabees 5:38 —

³⁹His kinsmen, who were reclining with him, wondered at his instability, and thus expressed themselves:

⁴⁰O king, how long dost thou make trial of us, as of men bereft of reason? This is the third time that thou hast ordered their destruction. When the thing is to be done, thou changest thy mind, and recallest thy instructions.