7
“Look at how I gave birth seven times all for nothing! Seven pregnancies, without anything to show for it! Years of fruitless childcare and years of miserable nursing!
8
My sons, I bore the long pains of labor for you and even more stress in raising you for no reason!
9
"Look at my children! Some aren't married, others are married, but none of them have children! Now I will never see your children or have the pleasure of being a grandmother.
10
I had so many and such beautiful children, and now I'm a widow and left all alone in my many sorrows.
11
When I die, I won't have any of my sons to bury me."
12
But this holy and devout mother didn't cry for any of her sons with funeral songs. She didn't try to talk any of them out of dying, and she didn't grieve for those who were already dying.
13
Instead, she had a mind that was as tough as nails. She gave all of her sons a second birth into a life without end. She encouraged them, urging them on to death for the sake of respect for God.
14
Mother, you were a soldier for God in the cause of the godly way of life, though you were old and a woman! You even conquered a tyrant with your resolution. You have proved to be stronger than a man in both speech and action!
15
When you and your sons had been arrested and you were watching Eleazar being tortured, you began to say to your children in the Hebrew language:
16
"My sons, you have been summoned to an honorable contest, in which you will give evidence that will prove your nation's worth. Compete willingly for the Law of our ancestors.
17
It would really be a disgrace if you young men lost your nerve in the face of this torture after an old man endured so much suffering out of respect for God.