7 Alexander had reigned twelve years when he died.
8 So his officers took over his kingdom, each in his own territory,
9 and after his death they all put on diadems, and so did their sons after them for many years, multiplying evils on the earth.
10 There sprang from these a sinful offshoot, Antiochus Epiphanes, son of King Antiochus, once a hostage at Rome. He became king in the one hundred and thirty-seventh year of the kingdom of the Greeks.
11 In those days there appeared in Israel transgressors of the law who seduced many, saying: “Let us go and make a covenant with the Gentiles all around us; since we separated from them, many evils have come upon us.”
12 The proposal was agreeable;
13 some from among the people promptly went to the king, and he authorized them to introduce the ordinances of the Gentiles.