2 Maccabees 6:6-8
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
6 People could neither keep the Sabbath nor observe the festivals of their ancestors nor so much as confess themselves to be Jews.(A)
7 On the monthly celebration of the king’s birthday, the Jews[a] were taken, under bitter constraint, to partake of the sacrifices, and when a festival of Dionysus was celebrated, they were compelled to wear wreaths of ivy and to walk in the procession in honor of Dionysus.(B) 8 At the suggestion of the people of Ptolemais,[b] a decree was issued to the neighboring Greek cities that they should adopt the same policy toward the Jews and make them partake of the sacrifices(C)
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