^12 (A)And they went before the king, and spoke concerning the king’s decree: “Have you not signed a decree that every man who petitions any god or man within thirty days, except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?”

The king answered and said, “The thing is true, ^(B)according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which ^[a]does not alter.”

⁸ Now, O king, establish the decree and sign the writing, so that it cannot be changed, according to the ^(A)law of the Medes and Persians, which ^[a]does not alter.”

Daniel’s Friends Disobey the King

⁸ Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans ^(A)came forward and accused the Jews. ⁹ They spoke and said to King Nebuchadnezzar, ^(B)“O king, live forever! ¹⁰ You, O king, have made a decree that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the gold image; ¹¹ and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. ^12 (C)There are certain Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego; these men, O king, have ^(D)not paid due regard to you. They do not serve your gods or worship the gold image which you have set up.”

¹⁹ If it pleases the king, let a royal ^[a]decree go out from him, and let it be recorded in the laws of the Persians and the Medes, so that it will ^(A)not ^[b]be altered, that Vashti shall come no more before King Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she.

¹⁹ But ^(A)when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and ^(B)dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities.

² And when he was called upon, Tertullus began his accusation, saying: “Seeing that through you we enjoy great peace, and ^[a]prosperity is being brought to this nation by your foresight, ³ we accept it always and in all places, most noble Felix, with all thankfulness. ⁴ Nevertheless, not to be tedious to you any further, I beg you to hear, by your ^[b]courtesy, a few words from us. ^5 (A)For we have found this man a plague, a creator of dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. ^6 (B)He even tried to profane the temple, and we seized him, ^[c]and wanted ^(C)to judge him according to our law. ^7 (D)But the commander Lysias came by and with great violence took him out of our hands, ^8 (E)commanding his accusers to come to you. By examining him yourself you may ascertain all these things of which we accuse him.” ⁹ And the Jews also ^[d]assented, maintaining that these things were so.

²⁴ Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.