1 Maccabees 2:39-41

Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition

³⁹ And Mathathias and his friends heard of it, and they mourned for them exceedingly.

⁴⁰ And every man said to his neighbour: If we shall all do as our brethren have done, and not fight against the heathens for our lives, and our justifications: they will now quickly root us out of the earth.

⁴¹ And they determined in that day, saying: Whosoever shall come up against us to fight on the sabbath day, we will fight against him: and we will not all die, as our brethren that were slain in the secret places.