⁶ So these governors and satraps thronged before the king, and said thus to him: ^(A)“King Darius, live forever! ⁷ All the governors of the kingdom, the administrators and satraps, the counselors and advisors, have ^(B)consulted together to establish a royal statute and to make a firm decree, that whoever petitions any god or man for thirty days, except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions. ⁸ Now, O king, establish the decree and sign the writing, so that it cannot be changed, according to the ^(C)law of the Medes and Persians, which ^[a]does not alter.” ⁹ Therefore King Darius signed the written decree.