Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace: he spake and said, "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, ye servants of the Most High God, come forth, and come hither."
Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, came forth out of the midst of the fire. And the satraps, the deputies, and the governors, and the king's counselors, being gathered together, saw these men, that the fire had no power upon their bodies, nor was the hair of their head singed, neither were their hose changed, nor had the smell of fire passed on them.
Nebuchadnezzar spake and said, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and have yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God. Therefore I make a decree, that every people, nation, and language, which speak anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a ruin: because there is no other god that is able to deliver after this sort."
Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, in the province of Babylon.
§100. Daniel and the Lions (Dan. 6:1-28)
A. THE DECREE OF KING DARIUS
It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom a hundred and twenty satraps, which should be throughout the whole kingdom; and over them three presidents, of whom Daniel was one; that these satraps might give account unto them, and that the king should have no damage. Then this Daniel was distinguished above the presidents and the satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.
Then the presidents and the satraps sought to find occasion against Daniel as touching the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. Then said these men, "We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God."
Then these presidents and satraps assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, "King Darius, live for ever. All the presidents of the kingdom, the deputies and the satraps, the counselors and the governors, have consulted together, to establish a royal statute, and to make a strong decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any god or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not."
Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree.