2 Maccabees 7

1It also happened that seven brothers, along with their mother, having been arrested, were being forced by the king to taste the unlawful flesh of swine, while being tortured with whips and cords.

2But one of them, becoming their spokesman, said, “What do you intend to ask and learn from us? For we are ready to die rather than transgress the ancestral laws.”

3Then the king became furious and ordered frying pans and cauldrons to be heated.

4And when they were immediately heated, he ordered them to cut out the tongue of the one who had been their spokesman, and after scalping him, to cut off his extremities, while the rest of the brothers and the mother looked on.

5And when he had become useless to the others, he ordered him to be brought to the fire while still breathing and to be fried in the pan. And when the vapor from the pan had spread considerably, they encouraged one another, together with their mother, to die nobly, saying this:

6The Lord God is watching, and in truth he is being moved to compassion for us, just as Moses made clear in the song that testifies openly, saying, “And he will be moved to compassion for his servants.”

7When the first had died in this way, they brought the second to the mockery; and after tearing off the skin of his head with the hair, they asked, “Will you eat before your body is punished limb by limb?”

8But he answered in the language of his fathers and said, “No.” Therefore this one also received the next torture, like the first.

9And as he was at his last breath, he said, “You, accursed wretch, release us from this present life, but the King of the world will raise us up, who have died for his laws, into an everlasting renewal of life.”

10After him, the third was mocked, and when his tongue was demanded, he quickly held it out and courageously stretched out his hands.

11And he said bravely, “From heaven I received these, and for his laws I disregard them, and from him I hope to receive them back again.”

12so that the king himself and those with him were astonished at the young man's spirit, because he regarded the sufferings as nothing.

13And when this one also had died, they were torturing the fourth in the same way, abusing him.

14And when he was about to die, he said this: “It is preferable, when dying at the hands of men, to await the hopes given by God—that one will be raised again by him. But for you there will be no resurrection to life.”

15Next they brought forward the fifth and tortured him.

16But looking at him, he said, “Though you have authority among men, being mortal, you do what you want;

17But do not think that our nation has been abandoned by God. But as for you, endure and see his great power, how it will torture you and your offspring.

18After him they brought the sixth, and as he was about to die he said, “Do not be deceived; for we are suffering these things because of ourselves, having sinned against our own God. Astonishing things have happened.”

19But as for you, do not suppose that you will be innocent, having attempted to fight against God.

20But the mother was especially admirable and worthy of honorable memory; seeing her seven sons perish in a single day, she bore it courageously because of her hopes in the Lord.

21And she encouraged each one of them in the language of their fathers, filled with a noble spirit, and, stirring her womanly reasoning with manly courage, she said to them,

22I do not know how you appeared in my womb, nor was it I who granted you spirit and life, and it was not I who arranged the formation of each of you.

23Therefore the Creator of the world, who formed the origin of man and devised the origin of all things, will in mercy give back to you both breath and life, since you now disregard yourselves for the sake of his laws.

24But Antiochus, thinking that he was being despised and taking note of the reproachful tone, while the youngest was still alive, not only urged him with words, but also assured him with oaths that he would both make him rich and make him blessed, if he turned away from the traditions of his fathers, and that he would have him as a friend and entrust him with offices.

25But since the young man was paying no attention at all, the king called the mother to him and urged her to become an adviser to the youth for his preservation.

26And after he had urged her much, she agreed to persuade her son.

27But bending down to him, and mocking the cruel tyrant, she spoke in her native tongue as follows: “My son, have mercy on me, who carried you in the womb for nine months, nursed you for three years, raised you, brought you to this age, and cared for you.”

28I beg you, child, look at heaven and earth and see everything in them, and know that God made them not out of existing things, and that the human race comes to be in the same way.

29Do not fear this executioner, but, becoming worthy of your brothers, accept death, so that in mercy I may receive you back together with your brothers.

30And while she was still finishing, the young man said, “What are you waiting for? I do not obey the king’s command, but I obey the command of the law that was given to our fathers through Moses.”

31But you, having become the inventor of every evil against the Hebrews, will certainly not escape the hands of God.

32For we are suffering because of our own sins;

33But if our living Lord has become angry for a little while for the sake of rebuke and discipline, he will again be reconciled with his own servants.

34But you, O unholy one, most defiled of all men, do not be vainly puffed up, inflamed with uncertain hopes, having raised your hands against the children of heaven.

35For in this way you have not escaped the judgment of God, the all-powerful overseer.

36For our brothers, having now endured a brief pain, have fallen under God's covenant into everlasting life; but you, by the judgment of God, will justly bear the penalties of your arrogance.

37But I, like my brothers, give up both body and life for the laws of our fathers, calling on God quickly to become merciful to the nation, and for you, through torments and whippings, to confess that he alone is God.

38and in me and my brothers bring to an end the wrath of the Almighty that has justly been kindled against our whole nation.

39But the king became furious and treated this one more cruelly than the others, taking the mockery bitterly.

40And so this one also passed away in purity, having placed his full confidence in the Lord.

41And last of the sons, the mother died.

42So then, let this be enough about the mother’s compassion and the extraordinary tortures.