Psalm 17:1, 5-6, 8, 15 and 2 Maccabees 7:1-2, 9-14

Psalm 17:1, 5-6, 8, 15 
Hear, LORD, my plea for justice;
pay heed to my cry;
Listen to my prayer
from lips without guile.
My steps have kept to your paths;
my feet have not faltered.
I call upon you; answer me, O God.
​Turn your ear to me; hear my speech.
Keep me as the apple of your eye;
hide me in the shadow of your wings
I am just—let me see your face;
when I awake, let me be filled with your presence.

2 Maccabees 7:1
It happened that seven brothers with their mother were arrested
and tortured with whips and scourges by the king,
to force them to eat pork in violation of God's law. 
One of the brothers, speaking for the others, said:
“What do you expect to achieve by questioning us? 
We are ready to die rather than transgress the laws of our ancestors.”

At the point of death he said:
“You accursed fiend, you are depriving us of this present life,
but the King of the world will raise us up to live again forever. 
It is for his laws that we are dying.”

After him the third suffered their cruel sport.
He put out his tongue at once when told to do so,
and bravely held out his hands, as he spoke these noble words:
“It was from Heaven that I received these;
for the sake of his laws I disdain them;
from him I hope to receive them again.”
Even the king and his attendants marveled at the young man's courage,
because he regarded his sufferings as nothing.

After he had died,
they tortured and maltreated the fourth brother in the same way. 
When he was near death, he said,
“It is my choice to die at the hands of men
with the hope God gives of being raised up by him;
but for you, there will be no resurrection to life.”