1
O Israelitish children, descendants of the seed of Abraham, obey this law, and in every way be religious.
2
Knowing that religious reasoning is lord of the passions, and those not only inward but outward.
3
When those persons giving up their bodies to pains for the sake of religion, were not only admired by men, but were deemed worthy of a divine portion.
4
And the nation through them obtained peace, and having renewed the observance of the law in their country, drove the enemy out of the land.
5
And the tyrant Antiochus was both punished upon earth, and is punished now he is dead; for when he was quite unable to compel the Israelites to adopt foreign customs, and to desert the manner of life of their fathers,
6
then, departing from Jerusalem, he made war against the Persians.
7
And the righteous mother of the seven children spake also as follows to her offspring: I was a pure virgin, and went not beyond my father's house; but I took care of the built-up rib.
8
No destroyer of the desert, ravisher of the plain, injured me; nor did the destructive, deceitful snake, make spoil of my chaste virginity; and I remained with my husband during the period of my prime.
9
And these my children, having arrived at maturity, their father died: blessed was he! for having sought out a life of fertility in children, he was not grieved with a period of loss of children.
10
And he used to teach you, when yet with you, the law and the prophets.