4 Maccabees 15:4-6

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

⁴ In what manner might I express the passions of parents who love their children? We impress upon the character of a small child a wondrous likeness both of mind and of form. Especially is this true of mothers, who because of their birth pangs have a deeper sympathy toward their offspring than do the fathers. ⁵ For to the extent that mothers are of tender spirit and bear more children, so much the more attached are they to their children. ⁶ The mother of the seven boys, more than any other mother, loved her children. In seven pregnancies she had implanted in herself tender love toward them,