6^aIt pleased Darius^q to appoint 120 satraps^r to rule throughout the kingdom, ²with three administrators over them, one of whom was Daniel.^s The satraps were made accountable^t to them so that the king might not suffer loss. ³Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.^u ⁴At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges^v against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. ⁵Finally these men said, “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.”^w

⁶So these administrators and satraps went as a group to the king and said: “May King Darius live forever!^x ⁷The royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers and governors^y have all agreed that the king should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any god or human being during the next thirty days, except to you, Your Majesty, shall be thrown into the lions’ den.^z

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Footnotes

aIn Aramaic texts 6:1–28 is numbered 6:2–29.

Cross references

qSee Da 5:31
rSee Est 1:1
s Da 2:48–49
t Ezr 4:22
uSee Ge 41:41; See Est 10:3; See Da 1:20; 5:12–14
v Jer 20:10
w Ac 24:13–16
xSee Ne 2:3
ySee Da 3:2
z Ps 59:3; 64:2–6; See Da 3:6