2 Maccabees 4:16-18

Good News Translation

¹⁶ And this turned out to be the source of all their troubles, for the very people whose ways they admired and whose customs they tried to imitate became their enemies and oppressed them. ¹⁷ It is a serious thing to disregard God's Law, as you will see from the following events.

Jerusalem under Syrian Influence

¹⁸ Once when the king was present for the athletic games that were held every five^[a] years in the city of Tyre,