4 Maccabees 15:1-3

New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised

15 O reason of the children, tyrant over the emotions! O religion, more desirable to the mother than her children! ² Two courses were open to this mother, that of religion, and that of preserving her seven sons for a time, as the tyrant had promised. ³ She loved religion more, the religion that preserves them for eternal life according to God’s promise.^[a]