2 Maccabees 6:6-8

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

⁶ People could neither keep the sabbath, nor observe the festivals of their ancestors, nor so much as confess themselves to be Jews.

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. 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,