¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego answered and said to the king, Nebuchadnezzar, “We have no need on this matter to present a defense to you.^{[a] 17} If it is so,^[b] our God, whom we serve, is able to rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire. And from your hand, O king, let him rescue us. ¹⁸ And if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods,^[c] and the statue of gold^[d] that you have set up we will not worship.”