2 Maccabees 6:1

Judaism is outlawed

1 Shortly afterward the king sent out an Athenian elder to force the Jews to turn away from their ancestral laws and stop living according to God's laws.

2 Maccabees 6:1 In-Context

1 Shortly afterward the king sent out an Athenian elder to force the Jews to turn away from their ancestral laws and stop living according to God's laws.

2 He was also ordered to defile the temple in Jerusalem and to rename it for Zeus Olympus, and to rename the temple in Mount Gerizim for Zeus, Friend of Strangers, just as the people living there requested.

3 The onslaught of this evil was severe and hard for all to bear.

4 The Gentiles filled the temple with wild partying and sexual indulgence. They were entertaining themselves with prostitutes and having sex with women in the priestly chambers. In addition, they carried in unfit things,

5 and the altar was illegally covered with offerings forbidden by the laws.

Footnotes

• [a] Or Geron, an Athenian