Daniel 3:8-30

New American Standard Bible

Worship of the Image Refused

⁸ For this reason at that time certain ^(A)Chaldeans came forward and ^[a](B)brought charges against the Jews. ⁹ They began to speak and said to Nebuchadnezzar the king: “^(C)O king, live forever! ¹⁰ You, O king, have ^(D)made a decree that every person who hears the sound of the horn, flute, ^[b]lyre, trigon, psaltery, and bagpipe, and all kinds of musical instruments, is to ^(E)fall down and worship the golden statue. ¹¹ But whoever does not fall down and worship shall be thrown into the middle of a furnace of blazing fire. ¹² There are certain Jews whom you have ^(F)appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon, namely Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. These men, O king, have disregarded you; they do not serve your gods, nor do they worship the golden statue which you have set up.”

¹³ Then Nebuchadnezzar in ^(G)rage and anger gave orders to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego; then these men were brought before the king. ¹⁴ Nebuchadnezzar began speaking and said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, that you do not serve ^(H)my gods, nor worship the golden statue that I have set up? ¹⁵ Now if you are ready, ^(I)at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, ^[c]lyre, trigon, psaltery and bagpipe, and all kinds of musical instruments, to fall down and worship the statue that I have made, very well. But if you do not worship, you will ^[d]immediately be ^(J)thrown into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire; and ^(K)what god is there who can rescue you from my hands?”

^16 (L)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego replied to the king, “Nebuchadnezzar, we are not in need of an answer to give you concerning this matter. ¹⁷ If it be so, our ^(M)God whom we serve is able to rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire; ^[e]and ^(N)He will rescue us from your hand, O king. ^18 (O)But even if He does not, ^(P)let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods nor worship the golden statue that you have set up.”

Daniel’s Friends Protected

¹⁹ Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with ^(Q)wrath, and his facial expression was changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. He answered ^[f]by giving orders to heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. ²⁰ And he ordered certain valiant warriors who were in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego in order to throw them into the furnace of blazing fire. ²¹ Then these men were tied up in their ^(R)trousers, their ^[g]coats, their caps, and their other clothes, and were thrown into the middle of the furnace of blazing fire. ²² For this reason, because the king’s ^[h]command was ^(S)harsh and the furnace had been made extremely hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. ²³ But these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, ^(T)fell into the middle of the furnace of blazing fire still tied up.

²⁴ Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astounded and stood up quickly; he said to his counselors, “Was it not three men that we threw bound into the middle of the fire?” They replied to the king, “Absolutely, O king.” ²⁵ He responded, “Look! I see four men untied and ^(U)walking about in the middle of the fire ^[i]unharmed, and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the ^(V)gods!” ²⁶ Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the furnace of blazing fire; he said, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, come out, you servants of the ^(W)Most High God, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego ^(X)came out of the middle of the fire. ²⁷ The ^(Y)satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together and saw that the ^(Z)fire had no ^[j]effect on ^[k]the bodies of these men, nor was the hair of their heads singed, nor were their ^[l](AA)trousers ^[m]damaged, nor had even the smell of fire touched them.

²⁸ Nebuchadnezzar responded and said, “Blessed be the ^(AB)God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who has ^(AC)sent His angel and rescued His servants who put their ^(AD)trust in Him, ^[n]violating the king’s command, and surrendered their bodies ^(AE)rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. ²⁹ Therefore I ^(AF)make a decree that any people, nation, or population of any language that speaks anything offensive against the God of ^(AG)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego shall be torn limb from limb and their ^(AH)houses made a rubbish heap, because there is ^(AI)no other god who is able to save in this way.” ³⁰ Then the king ^(AJ)made Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego prosperous in the province of Babylon.