חֲמִשָּׁה דְבָרִים אֵרְעוּ אֶת אֲבוֹתֵינוּ בְּשִׁבְעָה עָשָׂר בְּתַמּוּז וַחֲמִשָּׁה בְּתִשְׁעָה בְאָב. בְּשִׁבְעָה עָשָׂר בְּתַמּוּז נִשְׁתַּבְּרוּ הַלּוּחוֹת, וּבָטַל הַתָּמִיד, וְהֻבְקְעָה הָעִיר, וְשָׂרַף אַפּוֹסְטֹמוֹס אֶת הַתּוֹרָה, וְהֶעֱמִיד צֶלֶם בַּהֵיכָל. בְּתִשְׁעָה בְאָב נִגְזַר עַל אֲבוֹתֵינוּ שֶׁלֹּא יִכָּנְסוּ לָאָרֶץ, וְחָרַב הַבַּיִת בָּרִאשׁוֹנָה וּבַשְּׁנִיָּה, וְנִלְכְּדָה בֵיתָר, וְנֶחְרְשָׁה הָעִיר. מִשֶּׁנִּכְנַס אָב, מְמַעֲטִין בְּשִׂמְחָה:
Five things (i.e., calamities) befell our forefathers on the seventeenth of Tammuz, and five on the ninth of Av. On the seventeenth of Tammuz, the tablets were broken [For on the sixth of Sivan, the Ten Commandments were given, and early on the seventh, he (Moses) went up (to Sinai) to receive the rest of the Torah and remained there forty days, which are thus found to have ended on the seventeenth of Tammuz; and upon his descent, he broke the tablets.], the tamid (the daily burnt-offering) was abolished, [no lambs being available, the city being under siege], the city was breached, and Apostamus burned the Torah and placed an image in the sanctuary. [Amoraim differ on this in the Yerushalmi. One says, the image of Menasheh, in the first Temple. Another, the image of Apostamus, one of the later Greeks, in the second Temple.] On the ninth of Av, it was decreed upon our ancestors not to enter Eretz Yisrael, the first and second Temples were destroyed, Betar was captured, and the city was plowed up. When Av enters, joy is diminished.