1 It was not long before King Antiochus sent Geron of Athens to our nation with the following orders:Force the Jews to give up the Law of their God and their ancient customs.
2 Make the temple in Jerusalem unfit as a place to worship their God by turning it into a temple for Zeus of Olympus. Then name the temple on Mount Gerizim, “The Temple for Zeus Who Welcomes Strangers,” since that is what it was earlier called by the people who live there.
3 After this, those foreigners abused our people so cruelly that we almost lost hope.
4 They held wild parties and did other disgusting things in the temple, such as having sex with prostitutes and setting up vulgar idols.
5 Even our altar was piled high with unclean sacrifices that were forbidden by our Law.
6 It became a crime to worship on the Sabbath, or to celebrate our ancient festivals, or even to admit that you were a Jew.
7 Each month, the foreigners celebrated the king's birthday. And during the ceremony they cruelly forced our people to eat the insides of sacrificed animals. Besides this, they made us wear sprigs of ivy in our hair and walk in parades whenever they celebrated a festival to honor the god Dionysus.