¹³ Then Nebuchadnezzar ^(A)in furious rage commanded that ^(B)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 ^(C)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, ^(D)you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And ^(E)who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?”

^16 (F)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, ^(G)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 ^(H)filled with fury, and the expression of his face ^(I)was changed against ^(J)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 ^(K)to bind ^(L)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. ²¹ Then these men were ^(M)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 ^(N)urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up ^(O)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. ²³ And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell ^(P)bound into the burning fiery furnace.

²⁴ Then King Nebuchadnezzar was ^(Q)astonished and rose up ^(R)in haste. He declared to his ^(S)counselors, “Did we not cast three men ^(T)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, ^(U)walking in the midst of the fire, and they ^(V)are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like ^(W)a son of the gods.”

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