¹³ Then Nebuchadnezzar in ^(A)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 ^(B)my gods, nor worship the golden statue that I have set up? ¹⁵ Now if you are ready, ^(C)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 ^(D)thrown into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire; and ^(E)what god is there who can rescue you from my hands?”

^16 (F)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 ^(G)God whom we serve is able to rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire; ^[c]and ^(H)He will rescue us from your hand, O king. ^18 (I)But even if He does not, ^(J)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.”

⁶ Then these commissioners and satraps came ^[a]by agreement to the king and spoke to him as follows: “King Darius, ^(A)live forever! ⁷ All the ^(B)commissioners of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the counselors and the governors, have ^(C)consulted together that the king should establish a statute and enforce an injunction that anyone who offers a prayer to any god or person besides you, O king, for thirty days, shall ^(D)be thrown into the lions’ ^[b]den. ⁸ Now, O king, ^(E)establish the injunction and sign the document so that it will not be changed, according to the ^(F)law of the Medes and Persians, which ^[c]may not be revoked.” ⁹ Thereupon, King Darius ^(G)signed the document, that is, the injunction.

¹⁰ Now when Daniel learned that the document was signed, he entered his house (and in his roof chamber he had windows open ^(H)toward Jerusalem); and he continued ^(I)kneeling on his knees three times a day, ^(J)praying and ^(K)offering praise before his God, just as he had been doing previously.