4 Maccabees 5:33-38

33 I do not so pity my old age as to break the ancestral law by my own act.
34 I will not play false to you, O law that trained me, nor will I renounce you, beloved self-control.
35 I will not put you to shame, philosophical reason, nor will I reject you, honored priesthood and knowledge of the law.
36 You, O king, shall not stain the honorable mouth of my old age, nor my long life lived lawfully.
37 The fathers will receive me as pure, as one who does not fear your violence even to death.
38 You may tyrannize the ungodly, but you shall not dominate my religious principles either by word or by deed."
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the 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.