Mattathias and the Seven Brothers

At that time Mattathias, the son of John, was high priest. When the king’s servants were trying to force him to obey the edict, he defied the ungodly decrees with wonderful courage, and in front of everyone he killed a Hebrew who was publicly performing ungodly rites. Now that a leader had been found, rebellion broke out at once. Mattathias left the town, and since many flocked to him, he gathered what looked like a regular army. Every man in that host meant to defend himself with arms against an ungodly government, and to fall in battle rather than take part in ungodly ceremonies. [a]

Meanwhile Antiochus was forcing the Jews who lived in the Greek cities of his realm to offer sacrifice, and he was inflicting unheard-of tortures on those who refused. It was at this time that the well-known and remarkable suffering of the seven brothers and their mother took place. When they were being forced to break the law of God and the customs of their ancestors, all the brothers chose to die instead. Last of all, their mother joined them in both their suffering and their death.