4 Maccabees 15:3-5

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

³ She loved piety more, the piety that preserves them for eternal life according to God’s promise.^{[a] 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.