Worship of the Image Refused

⁸ For this reason at that time certain ^(A)Chaldeans came forward and ^[a](B)brought charges against the Jews. ⁹ They began to speak and said to Nebuchadnezzar the king: “^(C)O king, live forever! ¹⁰ You, O king, have ^(D)made a decree that every person who hears the sound of the horn, flute, ^[b]lyre, trigon, psaltery, and bagpipe, and all kinds of musical instruments, is to ^(E)fall down and worship the golden statue. ¹¹ But whoever does not fall down and worship shall be thrown into the middle of a furnace of blazing fire. ¹² There are certain Jews whom you have ^(F)appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon, namely Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. These men, O king, have disregarded you; they do not serve your gods, nor do they worship the golden statue which you have set up.”

¹⁹ But when her masters saw that their hope of ^(A)profit was suddenly gone, they seized ^(B)Paul and Silas and ^(C)dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities, ²⁰ and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, “These men, Jews as they are, are causing our city trouble, ²¹ and they ^(D)are proclaiming customs that are not lawful for us to accept or to practice, since we are ^(E)Romans.”