⁴² and that all should give up their particular customs. All the nations accepted the command of the king.^{(A) 43} Many even from Israel gladly adopted his religion; they sacrificed to idols and profaned the Sabbath. ⁴⁴ And the king sent letters by messengers to Jerusalem and the towns of Judah; he directed them to follow customs strange to the land, ⁴⁵ to forbid burnt offerings and sacrifices and drink offerings in the sanctuary, to profane Sabbaths and festivals,^(B)

¹⁵ and the Jews, whom he had not considered worth burying but had planned to throw out with their children for the wild animals and for the birds to eat, he would make, all of them, equal to citizens of Athens,^(A)

²⁴ We have heard that the Jews do not consent to our father’s change to Greek customs but prefer their own way of living and ask that their own customs be allowed them.^(A)