30. They were there with their sons, their wives, and their livestock because troubles pressed heavily on them.
31. The king’s officers and the troops in Jerusalem, David’s City, learned that those who had rejected the king’s command had gone down to hiding places in the wilderness.
32. Many pursued and overtook them. The king’s military forces camped opposite them and prepared for battle against them on the Sabbath.
33. They said to them: "Enough of this! Come out and do what the king commands, and you will live."
34. But the Israelites replied: "We won’t come out, and we won’t do what the king commands and so violate the Sabbath."
35. So the enemy immediately attacked them.
36. Still they didn’t answer or throw a rock at them or even block up their hiding places.
37. They said, "Let’s all die in our innocence. Heaven and earth testify on our behalf that you are killing us unjustly."
38. So the troops attacked them on the Sabbath. They died, with their wives and children and livestock, as many as one thousand people.
39. When Mattathias and his friends learned about this, they deeply mourned for the dead.
40. They said to each other: "If we all do as our people have done and refuse to fight against the Gentiles for our lives and our commandments, they will soon eliminate us from the earth."
41. So they decided that day: "We will fight against anyone who comes to attack us on the Sabbath. Let’s not all die as our people did in their hiding places."