2 Maccabees 6:5-7

New Catholic Bible

⁵ so that the altar was covered with abominable offerings that were prohibited by the law.

⁶ No one was allowed to keep the Sabbath or to observe the traditional feasts or even to admit being a Jew. ⁷ Furthermore, on the monthly celebration of the king’s birthday, the Jews were forcibly compelled to partake of the sacrificial victims, and when the festival of Dionysus^[a] was celebrated, they were forced to wear wreaths of ivy and to take part in the procession honoring him.