2 Maccabees, 7

1. It also happened that seven brothers were arrested with their mother. The king tried to force them to taste some pork, which the Law forbids, by torturing them with whips and scourges.

1. It happened also that seven brothers and their mother were arrested and were being compelled by the king, under torture with whips and cords, to partake of unlawful swine's flesh.

2. One of them, acting as spokesman for the others, said, 'What are you trying to find out from us? We are prepared to die rather than break the laws of our ancestors.'

2. One of them, acting as their spokesman, said, "What do you intend to ask and learn from us? For we are ready to die rather than transgress the laws of our fathers."

3. The king, in a fury, ordered pans and cauldrons to be heated over a fire.

3. The king fell into a rage, and gave orders that pans and caldrons be heated.

4. As soon as these were red-hot, he commanded that their spokesman should have his tongue cut out, his head scalped and his extremities cut off, while the other brothers and his mother looked on.

4. These were heated immediately, and he commanded that the tongue of their spokesman be cut out and that they scalp him and cut off his hands and feet, while the rest of the brothers and the mother looked on.

5. When he had been rendered completely helpless, the king gave orders for him to be brought, still breathing, to the fire and fried alive in a pan. As the smoke from the pan drifted about, his mother and the rest encouraged one another to die nobly, with such words as these,

5. When he was utterly helpless, the king ordered them to take him to the fire, still breathing, and to fry him in a pan. The smoke from the pan spread widely, but the brothers and their mother encouraged one another to die nobly, saying,

6. 'The Lord God is watching and certainly feels sorry for us, as Moses declared in his song, which clearly states that "he will take pity on his servants." '

6. "The Lord God is watching over us and in truth has compassion on us, as Moses declared in his song which bore witness against the people to their faces, when he said, `And he will have compassion on his servants.'"

7. When the first had left the world in this way, they brought the second forward to be tortured. After stripping the skin from his head, hair and all, they asked him, 'Will you eat some pork, before your body is tortured limb by limb?'

7. After the first brother had died in this way, they brought forward the second for their sport. They tore off the skin of his head with the hair, and asked him, "Will you eat rather than have your body punished limb by limb?"

8. Replying in his ancestral tongue, he said, 'No!' So he too was put to the torture in his turn.

8. He replied in the language of his fathers, and said to them, "No." Therefore he in turn underwent tortures as the first brother had done.

9. With his last breath he exclaimed, 'Cruel brute, you may discharge us from this present life, but the King of the world will raise us up, since we die for his laws, to live again for ever.'

9. And when he was at his last breath, he said, "You accursed wretch, you dismiss us from this present life, but the King of the universe will raise us up to an everlasting renewal of life, because we have died for his laws."

10. After him, they tortured the third, who on being asked for his tongue promptly thrust it out and boldly held out his hands,

10. After him, the third was the victim of their sport. When it was demanded, he quickly put out his tongue and courageously stretched forth his hands,

11. courageously saying, 'Heaven gave me these limbs; for the sake of his laws I have no concern for them; from him I hope to receive them again.'

11. and said nobly, "I got these from Heaven, and because of his laws I disdain them, and from him I hope to get them back again."

12. The king and his attendants were astounded at the young man's courage and his utter indifference to suffering.

12. As a result the king himself and those with him were astonished at the young man's spirit, for he regarded his sufferings as nothing.

13. When this one was dead they subjected the fourth to the same torments and tortures.

13. When he too had died, they maltreated and tortured the fourth in the same way.

14. When he neared his end he cried, 'Ours is the better choice, to meet death at men's hands, yet relying on God's promise that we shall be raised up by him; whereas for you there can be no resurrection to new life.'

14. And when he was near death, he said, "One cannot but choose to die at the hands of men and to cherish the hope that God gives of being raised again by him. But for you there will be no resurrection to life!"

15. Next they brought forward the fifth and began torturing him.

15. Next they brought forward the fifth and maltreated him.

16. But he looked at the king and said, 'You have power over human beings, mortal as you are, and can act as you please. But do not think that our race has been deserted by God.

16. But he looked at the king, and said, "Because you have authority among men, mortal though you are, you do what you please. But do not think that God has forsaken our people.

17. Only wait, and you will see in your turn how his mighty power will torment you and your descendants.'

17. Keep on, and see how his mighty power will torture you and your descendants!"

18. After him, they led out the sixth, and his dying words were these, 'Do not delude yourself: we are suffering like this through our own fault, having sinned against our own God; hence, appalling things have befallen us-

18. After him they brought forward the sixth. And when he was about to die, he said, "Do not deceive yourself in vain. For we are suffering these things on our own account, because of our sins against our own God. Therefore astounding things have happened.

19. but do not think you yourself will go unpunished for attempting to make war on God.'

19. But do not think that you will go unpunished for having tried to fight against God!"

20. But the mother was especially admirable and worthy of honourable remembrance, for she watched the death of seven sons in the course of a single day, and bravely endured it because of her hopes in the Lord.

20. The mother was especially admirable and worthy of honorable memory. Though she saw her seven sons perish within a single day, she bore it with good courage because of her hope in the Lord.

21. Indeed she encouraged each of them in their ancestral tongue; filled with noble conviction, she reinforced her womanly argument with manly courage, saying to them,

21. She encouraged each of them in the language of their fathers. Filled with a noble spirit, she fired her woman's reasoning with a man's courage, and said to them,

22. 'I do not know how you appeared in my womb; it was not I who endowed you with breath and life, I had not the shaping of your every part.

22. "I do not know how you came into being in my womb. It was not I who gave you life and breath, nor I who set in order the elements within each of you.

23. And hence, the Creator of the world, who made everyone and ordained the origin of all things, will in his mercy give you back breath and life, since for the sake of his laws you have no concern for yourselves.'

23. Therefore the Creator of the world, who shaped the beginning of man and devised the origin of all things, will in his mercy give life and breath back to you again, since you now forget yourselves for the sake of his laws."

24. Antiochus thought he was being ridiculed, suspecting insult in the tone of her voice; and as the youngest was still alive he appealed to him not with mere words but with promises on oath to make him both rich and happy if he would abandon the traditions of his ancestors; he would make him his Friend and entrust him with public office.

24. Antiochus felt that he was being treated with contempt, and he was suspicious of her reproachful tone. The youngest brother being still alive, Antiochus not only appealed to him in words, but promised with oaths that he would make him rich and enviable if he would turn from the ways of his fathers, and that he would take him for his friend and entrust him with public affairs.

25. The young man took no notice at all, and so the king then appealed to the mother, urging her to advise the youth to save his life.

25. Since the young man would not listen to him at all, the king called the mother to him and urged her to advise the youth to save himself.

26. After a great deal of urging on his part she agreed to try persuasion on her son.

26. After much urging on his part, she undertook to persuade her son.

27. Bending over him, she fooled the cruel tyrant with these words, uttered in their ancestral tongue, 'My son, have pity on me; I carried you nine months in my womb and suckled you three years, fed you and reared you to the age you are now, and provided for you.

27. But, leaning close to him, she spoke in their native tongue as follows, deriding the cruel tyrant: "My son, have pity on me. I carried you nine months in my womb, and nursed you for three years, and have reared you and brought you up to this point in your life, and have taken care of you.

28. I implore you, my child, look at the earth and sky and everything in them, and consider how God made them out of what did not exist, and that human beings come into being in the same way.

28. I beseech you, my child, to look at the heaven and the earth and see everything that is in them, and recognize that God did not make them out of things that existed. Thus also mankind comes into being.

29. Do not fear this executioner, but prove yourself worthy of your brothers and accept death, so that I may receive you back with them in the day of mercy.'

29. Do not fear this butcher, but prove worthy of your brothers. Accept death, so that in God's mercy I may get you back again with your brothers."

30. She had hardly finished, when the young man said, 'What are you all waiting for? I will not comply with the king's ordinance; I obey the ordinance of the Law given to our ancestors through Moses.

30. While she was still speaking, the young man said, "What are you waiting for? I will not obey the king's command, but I obey the command of the law that was given to our fathers through Moses.

31. As for you, who have contrived every kind of evil against the Hebrews, you will certainly not escape the hands of God.

31. But you, who have contrived all sorts of evil against the Hebrews, will certainly not escape the hands of God.

32. We are suffering for our own sins;

32. For we are suffering because of our own sins.

33. and if, to punish and discipline us, our living Lord is briefly angry with us, he will be reconciled with us in due course.

33. And if our living Lord is angry for a little while, to rebuke and discipline us, he will again be reconciled with his own servants.

34. But you, unholy wretch and wickedest of villains, what cause have you for pride, nourishing vain hopes and raising your hand against his servants? -

34. But you, unholy wretch, you most defiled of all men, do not be elated in vain and puffed up by uncertain hopes, when you raise your hand against the children of heaven.

35. for you have not yet escaped the judgement of God the almighty, the all-seeing.

35. You have not yet escaped the judgment of the almighty, all-seeing God.

36. Our brothers, having endured brief pain, for the sake of ever-flowing life have died for the covenant of God, while you, by God's judgement, will have to pay the just penalty for your arrogance.

36. For our brothers after enduring a brief suffering have drunk of everflowing life under God's covenant; but you, by the judgment of God, will receive just punishment for your arrogance.

37. I too, like my brothers, surrender my body and life for the laws of my ancestors, begging God quickly to take pity on our nation, and by trials and afflictions to bring you to confess that he alone is God,

37. I, like my brothers, give up body and life for the laws of our fathers, appealing to God to show mercy soon to our nation and by afflictions and plagues to make you confess that he alone is God,

38. so that with my brothers and myself there may be an end to the wrath of the Almighty, rightly let loose on our whole nation.'

38. and through me and my brothers to bring to an end the wrath of the Almighty which has justly fallen on our whole nation."

39. The king fell into a rage and treated this one more cruelly than the others, for he was himself smarting from the young man's scorn.

39. The king fell into a rage, and handled him worse than the others, being exasperated at his scorn.

40. And so the last brother met his end undefiled and with perfect trust in the Lord.

40. So he died in his integrity, putting his whole trust in the Lord.

41. The mother was the last to die, after her sons.

41. Last of all, the mother died, after her sons.

42. But let this be sufficient account of the ritual meals and monstrous tortures.

42. Let this be enough, then, about the eating of sacrifices and the extreme tortures.