18 For there arose none in our age, neither is there any of us today, tribe, or kindred, or family, or city, which worship gods made with hands, as it was in the former days;
19 for the which cause our fathers were given to the sword, and for a spoil, and fell with a great fall before our enemies.
20 But we know none other god beside him, wherefore we hope that he will not despise us, nor any of our race.
21 For if we be taken so, all Judaea shall sit upon the ground, and our sanctuary shall be spoiled; and of our blood shall he require the profanation thereof.
22 And the slaughter of our brethren, and the captivity of the land, and the desolation of our inheritance, shall he turn upon our heads among the Gentiles, wherever we shall be in bondage; and we shall be an offence and a reproach before them that take us for a possession.
23 For our bondage shall not be ordered to favor: but the Lord our God shall turn it to dishonor.
24 And now, brethren, let us show an example to our brethren, because their soul hangs upon us, and the sanctuary and the house and the altar rest upon us.