⁶ Now among them from the sons of Judah were ^(A)Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. ⁷ Then the commander of the officials assigned new names to them; and to Daniel he assigned the name ^(B)Belteshazzar, to Hananiah ^(C)Shadrach, to Mishael ^(D)Meshach, and to Azariah ^(E)Abed-nego.

Daniel’s Resolve

⁸ But Daniel ^[a]made up his mind that he would not ^(F)defile himself with the ^(G)king’s choice food or with the ^(H)wine which he drank; so he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself. ⁹ Now God granted Daniel ^(I)favor and compassion in the sight of the commander of the officials. ¹⁰ The commander of the officials said to Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has allotted your food and your drink; for why should he see your faces looking gaunt in comparison to the youths who are your own age? Then you would ^[b]make me forfeit my head to the king.” ¹¹ But Daniel said to the overseer whom the commander of the officials had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, ¹² “Please put your servants to the test for ten days, and let us be ^(J)given some vegetables to eat and water to drink. ¹³ Then let our appearance be ^[c]examined in your presence and the appearance of the youths who are eating the king’s choice food; and deal with your servants according to what you see.”

¹⁴ So he listened to them in this matter, and put them to the test for ten days. ¹⁵ And at the end of ten days their appearance seemed ^(K)better, and ^[d]they were fatter than all the youths who had been eating the king’s choice food. ¹⁶ So the overseer continued to ^[e]withhold their choice food and the wine they were to drink, and kept ^(L)giving them vegetables.

¹⁷ And as for these four youths, ^(M)God gave them knowledge and intelligence in every kind of ^[f]literature and expertise; Daniel even understood all kinds of ^(N)visions and dreams.

¹⁸ Then at the end of the days which the king had ^[g]specified ^[h]for presenting them, the commander of the officials ^[i]presented them before Nebuchadnezzar. ¹⁹ And the king talked with them, and out of them all not one was found like ^(O)Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; so they ^[j](P)entered the king’s personal service. ²⁰ As for every matter of ^(Q)expertise ^[k]and understanding about which the king consulted them, he found them ^(R)ten times ^(S)better than all the ^(T)soothsayer priests and conjurers who were in all his realm.

¹⁷ Then Daniel went to his house and informed his friends, ^(A)Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, about the matter,

⁴⁹ And Daniel made a request of the king, and he ^(A)appointed ^(B)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego over the administration of the province of Babylon, while Daniel was at the king’s ^[a](C)court.

¹² There are certain Jews whom you have ^(A)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 ^(B)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 ^(C)my gods, nor worship the golden statue that I have set up? ¹⁵ Now if you are ready, ^(D)at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, ^[a]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 ^[b]immediately be ^(E)thrown into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire; and ^(F)what god is there who can rescue you from my hands?”

^16 (G)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 ^(H)God whom we serve is able to rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire; ^[c]and ^(I)He will rescue us from your hand, O king. ^18 (J)But even if He does not, ^(K)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 ^(L)wrath, and his facial expression was changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. He answered ^[d]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 ^(M)trousers, their ^[e]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 ^[f]command was ^(N)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, ^(O)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 ^(P)walking about in the middle of the fire ^[g]unharmed, and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the ^(Q)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 ^(R)Most High God, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego ^(S)came out of the middle of the fire. ²⁷ The ^(T)satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together and saw that the ^(U)fire had no ^[h]effect on ^[i]the bodies of these men, nor was the hair of their heads singed, nor were their ^[j](V)trousers ^[k]damaged, nor had even the smell of fire touched them.

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

^34 (A)quenched the power of fire, ^(B)escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, ^(C)became mighty in war, ^(D)put foreign armies to flight.