2 Maccabees 12:43–46

⁴³And making a gathering, he sent twelve thousand drachms of silver to Jerusalem for sacrifice to be offered for the sins of the dead, thinking well and religiously concerning the resurrection.

⁴⁴(For if he had not hoped that they that were slain should rise again, it would have seemed superfluous and vain to pray for the dead,)

⁴⁵And because he considered that they who had fallen asleep with godliness, had great grace laid up for them.

⁴⁶It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins.