⁴⁹ Daniel made a request of the king, and he ^(A)appointed ^(B)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of ^(C)the province of Babylon. But Daniel ^(D)remained at the king's court.

⁷ And ^(A)the chief of the eunuchs ^(B)gave them names: ^(C)Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.

Mordecai Discovers a Plot

¹⁹ Now when the virgins were gathered together ^(A)the second time, Mordecai was sitting ^(B)at the king's gate.

¹² There are certain Jews whom you have ^(A)appointed over the affairs of ^(B)the province of Babylon: ^(C)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, ^(D)pay no attention to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

¹³ Then Nebuchadnezzar ^(E)in furious rage commanded that ^(F)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. ¹⁴ Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? ¹⁵ Now if you are ready when ^(G)you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good.^[a] But if you do not worship, ^(H)you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And ^(I)who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?”

^16 (J)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. ¹⁷ If this be so, ^(K)our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.^{[b] 18} But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

¹⁹ Then Nebuchadnezzar was ^(L)filled with fury, and the expression of his face ^(M)was changed against ^(N)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated. ²⁰ And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army ^(O)to bind ^(P)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. ²¹ Then these men were ^(Q)bound in their cloaks, their tunics,^[c] their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. ²² Because the king's order was ^(R)urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up ^(S)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. ²³ And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell ^(T)bound into the burning fiery furnace.

²⁴ Then King Nebuchadnezzar was ^(U)astonished and rose up ^(V)in haste. He declared to his ^(W)counselors, “Did we not cast three men ^(X)bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” ²⁵ He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, ^(Y)walking in the midst of the fire, and they ^(Z)are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like ^(AA)a son of the gods.”

²⁶ Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, ^(AB)“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the ^(AC)Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then ^(AD)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. ²⁷ And the ^(AE)satraps, the prefects, the governors, and ^(AF)the king's counselors gathered together and saw that ^(AG)the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their ^(AH)cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them. ²⁸ Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of ^(AI)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who ^(AJ)has sent his angel and ^(AK)delivered his servants, who ^(AL)trusted in him, and set aside^[d] the king's command, and yielded up their bodies rather than ^(AM)serve and worship any god except their own God. ²⁹ Therefore ^(AN)I make a decree: Any ^(AO)people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of ^(AP)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego ^(AQ)shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way.” ³⁰ Then the king promoted ^(AR)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in ^(AS)the province of Babylon.

²¹ In those days, as Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate, ^(A)Bigthan and ^(B)Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, became angry and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.

God Reveals Nebuchadnezzar's Dream

¹⁷ Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to ^(A)Hananiah, ^(B)Mishael, and ^(C)Azariah, his companions,

¹⁷ As for these four youths, ^(A)God gave them learning and ^(B)skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had ^(C)understanding in all visions and dreams.

³ Then all ^(A)the officials of the king of Babylon came ^(B)and sat in the middle gate: Nergal-sar-ezer of Samgar, Nebu-sar-sekim ^(C)the Rab-saris, Nergal-sar-ezer the Rab-mag, with all the rest of the officers of the king of Babylon.