35 At once the enemy forces attacked.
36 But the Jews did not try to defend themselves; not one of them threw a rock or even tried to pile up rocks in front of the caves.
37 They just said, “We've done nothing deserving death! Everyone in heaven and on earth knows that you are wrong to kill us.”
38 On that Sabbath 1,000 Jewish men, women, and children were slaughtered, together with their sheep and goats.
39 When Mattathias and his followers heard what had happened, they mourned a long time.
40 Then they said to each other, “We can't let that happen to us! We've got to defend ourselves and our way of life, even on the Sabbath. If we don't, the Gentiles will soon wipe us out.”
41 On that very day they made up their minds not to die like their relatives in the caves, and they decided to fight anyone who attacked them on the Sabbath.