40
And all said to their neighbors: "If we all do as our kindred have done and refuse to fight with the Gentiles for our lives and for our ordinances, they will quickly destroy us from the earth."
38
So they attacked them on the sabbath, and they died, with their wives and children and livestock, to the number of a thousand persons.
39
When Mattathias and his friends learned of it, they mourned for them deeply.
40
And all said to their neighbors: "If we all do as our kindred have done and refuse to fight with the Gentiles for our lives and for our ordinances, they will quickly destroy us from the earth."
41
So they made this decision that day: "Let us fight against anyone who comes to attack us on the sabbath day; let us not all die as our kindred died in their hiding places."
42
Then there united with them a company of Hasideans, mighty warriors of Israel, all who offered themselves willingly for the law.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.