²⁶ But as you have seen and heard, this man Paul has persuaded many people that handmade gods aren’t really gods at all. And he’s done this not only here in Ephesus but throughout the entire province!

⁴ So, what about eating meat that has been offered to idols? Well, we all know that an idol is not really a god and that there is only one God.

¹⁴ Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you refuse to serve my gods or to worship the gold statue I have set up?

Nebuchadnezzar’s Gold Statue

3 King Nebuchadnezzar made a gold statue ninety feet tall and nine feet wide^[a] and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.

²⁸ So on the advice of his counselors, the king made two gold calves. He said to the people,^[a] “It is too much trouble for you to worship in Jerusalem. Look, Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of Egypt!”