Daniel 3–4

The Faithfulness of Three Young Israelites and God’s Deliverance

3Nebuchadnezzar the king made a statue of gold. Its height was sixty cubits and its width was six cubits; he set it up in the valley of Dura in the province of Babylon. ²Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent directions to assemble the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates and all of the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the statue that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. ³Then the satraps, the prefects, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the officials of the province were assembled for the dedication of the statue that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up, and were standing before^a the statue that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. ⁴Then the herald proclaimed aloud,^b “To you it is commanded,^c O peoples, nations and people of all languages,^{d 5}that at the time that you hear the sound of the horn, the flute, the lyre, the trigon, the harp, the drum and all kinds of music, you must fall down and you must worship the statue of gold^e that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up. ⁶And whoever^f does not fall down and worship will be thrown immediately^g into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire.” ⁷Therefore,^h at that time,ⁱ as soon as^j all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, the flute, the lyre, the trigon, the harp and all kinds of music, all the peoples, the nations and people of all languages^k were falling down and were worshiping the statue of gold^l that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

⁸Therefore^m at this timeⁿ some astrologers^o came forward and they denounced the Jews.^{p 9}They responded and said^q to Nebuchadnezzar the king, “O king, may you live forever!^{r 10}You, O king, have made a decree that everyone^s who hears the sound of the horn, the flute, the lyre, the trigon, the harp and the drum and all kinds of music, he shall fall down and shall worship the statue of gold.^{t 11}And whoever^u does not fall down^v and worship shall be thrown into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire. ¹²However there are Judean men whom you have appointed^w over the affairs of the province of Babylon—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—these men, O king, pay you no heed^x and were not serving your god, and the statue of gold^y that you set up they are not worshiping.”

¹³Then Nebuchadnezzar said in rage and anger to bring in Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego; then they brought in these men before the king. ¹⁴Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you are not serving my god, and you are not worshiping the statue of gold^z that I have set up? ¹⁵Now if you are ready so that when^a you hear the sound of the horn, the flute, the lyre, the trigon, the harp and the drum and all kinds of music, you fall down and you worship the statue that I have made, that will be good. But if you do not worship it, immediately^b you will be thrown into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire, and who is the god^c who^d will rescue you from my hands?”

¹⁶Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego answered and said to the king, Nebuchadnezzar, “We have no need on this matter to present a defense to you.^{e 17}If it is so,^f our God, whom we serve, is able to rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire. And from your hand, O king, let him rescue us. ¹⁸And if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods,^g and the statue of gold^h that you have set up we will not worship.”

The Wrath of the King and His Fiery Furnace of Death

¹⁹Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with anger and the image of his face was changed towardⁱ Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, so he ordered and said^j to heat up the one furnace seven times what was usual to heat it up. ²⁰And he commanded the strongest men of the guards^k who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and to throw them into the furnace of blazing fire. ²¹Then these men were bound with their garments, their trousers and their turbans and their other clothing, and they were thrown into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire. ²²Therefore^l because^m the word of the king was severe and the furnace was exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire killed these men who lifted up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. ²³But these men, the three of them, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, fell down into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire, and they were bound.

²⁴Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and he rose up in haste and he asked, saying to his advisers, “Did we not throw three men, bound, into the midst of the fire? They answered, saying to the king, “Certainly, O king!” ²⁵He answered,ⁿ saying, “Look, I see four men unbound walking in the midst of the fire and there is no damage to them, and the^o appearance of the fourth man resembles the son of a god.” ²⁶Then Nebuchadnezzar approached the door of the furnace of blazing fire, and he called out, saying, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants^p of the Most High God, come out^q and come here!” So then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the middle of the fire. ²⁷And the satraps, the prefects, the governors and the advisors of the king were assembling, and they saw these men, that the fire had no power over their bodies, and the hair of their heads was^r not singed, and their garments were not harmed, and the smell of fire did not come from them.

The King’s Praise for the Great Deliverance of the Three Young Israelites

²⁸Nebuchadnezzar responded,^s saying, “Blessed be their God, the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who sent his angel^t and rescued his servants who trusted in him, and the command of the king they disobeyed, and they gave their bodies so that they did not serve and did not worship any god except their God. ²⁹And from me is set forth^u a decree that any people, nation, or language that may utter criticism against their God—the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego—will be broken into pieces and their^v house will be made like ruins. For^w there is not another God who is able to rescue like this God.” ³⁰Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

Nebuchadnezzar Declares What the Most High God Has Done for Him

4^a Nebuchadnezzar the king to all of the nations, the peoples and languages that live in the whole earth: “May your prosperity increase! ²It is pleasing to me to recount the signs and wonders that the Most High God worked for me. ³How great are his signs and wonders, how strong is his kingdom, an everlasting kingdom;^b and his sovereignty is from generation to generation.

The Dream and the King’s Search for an Interpreter

⁴“I, Nebuchadnezzar, was content in my house and prospering in my palace. ⁵And I saw a dream and a revelation on my bed and it frightened me, and the visions of my head terrified me. ⁶And a decree was sent out,^c ordering that all the wise men of Babylon were to be brought in before me so that they may make known to me the explanation of the dream. ⁷Then the magicians,^d the conjurers,^e the astrologers^f and the diviners came in and I told them the dream, but they could not make known to me its explanation.^{g 8}Then at last^h Daniel came before me whose name wasⁱ Belteshazzar, according to^j the name of my god, and in whom was the spirit of the holy gods,^k and I related the dream to him.^l

⁹“ ‘O Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians,^m I myself know that the spiritⁿ of the holy gods is in you, and no mystery is too difficult^o for you. Now tell me the visions of my dream that I saw, and its explanation.^{p 10}Now these were the visions of my head as I was lying on my bed: I was gazing^q and, look, a tree was in the midst of the earth, and its height was exalted.

¹¹The tree grew and it became strong,

and its height reached to heaven,^r

and it was visible to the end of the whole earth.^s

¹²Its foliage was beautiful,

and its fruit abundant,

and in it was provision for all.

Under it the animals^t of the field sought shade,

and in its branches the birds of heaven^u nested,

and from it all the living beings were fed.

¹³“ ‘I was looking in the vision of my head as I lay on my bed, and look, a watcher,^v and a holy one, came down from heaven.

¹⁴He cried aloud^w and so he said:

“Cut down the tree and chop off its branches;

shake off its foliage and scatter its fruit.

Let the animals flee from under it,

and the birds from its branches.

¹⁵But the stump of its roots

leave in the earth,

along with^x a band of iron and bronze;

leave it in the grass of the field.

And in^y the dew of heaven

let it^z be watered,

and with the animals^a

let his lot be in the grass of the earth.

¹⁶Let his mind be changed from that of a human,^b

and let the mind of an animal be given to him,

and let seven times pass over him.

¹⁷The sentence is by the decree of the watchers,

and the decision by the command of the holy ones,

in order that^c the living will know

that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdom of humankind,

and to whomever^d he wills he gives it,

and he even sets the humblest of men over it.”

¹⁸“ ‘This is the dream that I, Nebuchadnezzar the king, saw. Now^e you, Belteshazzar, declare its explanation, for^f all of the wise men of my kingdom were not able to make the explanation known to me, but you are able because the spirit of holy gods is in you.’

Daniel Relates and Interprets the Dream

¹⁹“Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was distressed for some time,^g and his thoughts disturbed him. The king answered and he said, ‘Belteshazzar, let the dream and its explanation not disturb you.’ Belteshazzar answered and said, ‘My lord, may the dream and its explanation be for those who hate you and for your enemies. ²⁰The tree that you saw, which grew and became strong and its height reached to heaven^h and it was visible to the end of the whole earth,^{i 21}and its foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant, and so there was provision for all in it, and the animals^j of the…