17
Just wait. God will use his great power to torture you and your descendants."
18
Then the soldiers took the sixth boy, and just before he died he said, "Make no mistake. We are suffering what we deserve, because we have sinned against our God. That's why all these terrible things are happening to us.
19
But don't think for a minute that you will avoid being punished for fighting against God."
20
The mother was the most amazing one of them all, and she deserves a special place in our memory. Although she saw her seven sons die in a single day, she endured it with great courage because she trusted in the Lord.
21
She combined womanly emotion with manly courage and spoke words of encouragement to each of her sons in their native language.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.