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After he had died, the soldiers tortured the fourth one in the same cruel way,
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but his final words were, "I am glad to die at your hands, because we have the assurance that God will raise us from death. But there will be no resurrection to life for you, Antiochus!"
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When the soldiers took the fifth boy and began torturing him,
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he looked the king squarely in the eye and said, "You have the power to do whatever you want with us, even though you also are mortal. But do not think that God has abandoned our people.
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Just wait. God will use his great power to torture you and your descendants."
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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.
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But don't think for a minute that you will avoid being punished for fighting against God."
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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.
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She combined womanly emotion with manly courage and spoke words of encouragement to each of her sons in their native language.
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"I do not know how your life began in my womb," she would say, "I was not the one who gave you life and breath and put together each part of your body.
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It was God who did it, God who created the universe, the human race, and all that exists. He is merciful and he will give you back life and breath again, because you love his laws more than you love yourself."