2 Maccabees 6:5-7

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

⁵ The altar was covered with abominable offerings that were forbidden by the laws. 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.