2 Maccabees 6:20-22

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

²⁰ as all ought to go who have the courage to refuse things that it is not right to taste, even for the natural love of life.

²¹ Those who were in charge of that unlawful sacrifice took the man aside because of their long acquaintance with him, and privately urged him to bring meat of his own providing, proper for him to use, and to pretend that he was eating the flesh of the sacrificial meal that had been commanded by the king, ²² so that by doing this he might be saved from death, and be treated kindly on account of his old friendship with them.