4 Maccabees 12:16

16 "I do not desert the excellent example of my brothers,

4 Maccabees 12:16 In-Context

14 Surely they by dying nobly fulfilled their service to God, but you will wail bitterly for having slain without cause the contestants for virtue."

15 Then because he too was about to die, he said,

16 "I do not desert the excellent example of my brothers,

17 and I call on the God of our fathers to be merciful to our nation;

18 but on you he will take vengeance both in this present life and when you are dead."