44
The king also sent messengers with a decree to Jerusalem and all the towns of Judea, ordering the people to follow customs that were foreign to the country.
45
He ordered them not to offer burnt offerings, grain offerings, or wine offerings in the Temple, and commanded them to treat Sabbaths and festivals as ordinary work days.
46
They were even ordered to defile the Temple and the holy things in it.
47
They were commanded to build pagan altars, temples, and shrines, and to sacrifice pigs and other unclean animals there.
48
They were forbidden to circumcise their sons and were required to make themselves ritually unclean in every way they could,