I, like my brothers, give up body and life for the laws of our fathers: The Greek word for life is often rendered “soul” (so Goldstein). But the youngest brother is only giving up his life. Body and life say essentially the same thing here and can be combined by rendering this clause as “My brothers gave their lives for the laws of our ancestors, and so will I.”

Appealing to God to show mercy soon to our nation and by afflictions and plagues to make you confess that he alone is God: Appealing refers to the speaker alone, not to the group of brothers. Appealing to God means “praying to God.” So Contemporary English Version has “I pray that God,” or we may say “I am praying that God.” Afflictions and plagues (literally “whips”) refer to God’s punishment. Though these words have different literal meanings, they say essentially the same thing: terrible troubles. To make you confess that he alone is God is not a prayer for the king’s conversion. The boy is not looking for Antiochus to begin worshiping the God of the Jews. Instead, he wants the king to realize, as a result of God’s punishment, that the God of the Jews is truly in charge of history, and that there is no other God.

Here is an alternative model for this verse:

• My brothers gave their lives for the laws of our ancestors, and so will I. I pray that God will soon have mercy on our nation, and that he will punish you so severely that you will be forced to [or, must/have to] admit that there is no other God [or, that he alone is God].

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on 1-2 Maccabees. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.