¹⁶ Then the king gave the command, and Daniel was brought and thrown into the den of lions. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you faithfully serve, deliver you!”^{(A) 17} A stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the signet ring of his lords, so that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. ¹⁸ Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; no entertainment was brought to him, and sleep fled from him.^(B)

Daniel Saved from the Lions

¹⁹ Then at dawn, the king got up and at first light hurried to the den of lions. ²⁰ When he came near the den where Daniel was, he cried out anxiously to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God whom you faithfully serve been able to deliver you from the lions?”^{(C) 21} Daniel then said to the king, “O king, live forever! ²² My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not hurt me, because I was found blameless before him; also before you, O king, I have done no wrong.”^{(D) 23} Then the king was exceedingly glad and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him because he had trusted in his God.^{(E) 24} The king gave a command, and those who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the den of lions—they, their children, and their wives. Before they reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones in pieces.^(F)

²⁵ Then King Darius wrote to all peoples and nations of every language throughout the whole world: “May you have abundant prosperity!^{(G) 26} I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people shall tremble and fear before the God of Daniel:

²⁸ So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.^(I)