4 Maccabees 18:6

The mother’s moral principles

6 The mother of the seven sons also shared these moral principles with her children:

4 Maccabees 18:6 In-Context

4 The nation was at peace again because of them. Once obedience to the Law had been revived across the nation, they slaughtered their enemies.

5 The tyrant Antiochus was punished on earth, and he continues to be punished after death. By no means could he force the Israelites to adopt a foreign way of life and to change the customs of their ancestors in any way, and so he left Jerusalem and marched out against Persia.

6 The mother of the seven sons also shared these moral principles with her children:

7 "I was a virgin who was sexually pure: I didn't go outside of my father's house, but I carefully took care of the body that was formed from a rib.

8 No man who takes advantage of women ever tempted me to have sex in an isolated field. The destructive, lying snake didn't ruin my innocence either.