The Fiery Furnace

⁸ Therefore at that time certain ^(A)Chaldeans ^(B)came forward and maliciously accused the Jews. ⁹ They declared^[a] to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! ¹⁰ You, O king, ^(C)have made a decree, that every man who ^(D)hears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, ^(E)shall fall down and worship the golden image. ¹¹ And whoever does not fall down and worship ^(F)shall be cast into a burning fiery furnace. ¹² There are certain Jews whom you have ^(G)appointed over the affairs of ^(H)the province of Babylon: ^(I)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, ^(J)pay no attention to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

¹³ Then Nebuchadnezzar ^(K)in furious rage commanded that ^(L)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. ¹⁴ Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? ¹⁵ Now if you are ready when ^(M)you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good.^[b] But if you do not worship, ^(N)you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And ^(O)who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?”

^16 (P)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. ¹⁷ If this be so, ^(Q)our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.^{[c] 18} But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

¹⁹ Then Nebuchadnezzar was ^(R)filled with fury, and the expression of his face ^(S)was changed against ^(T)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated. ²⁰ And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army ^(U)to bind ^(V)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. ²¹ Then these men were ^(W)bound in their cloaks, their tunics,^[d] their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. ²² Because the king's order was ^(X)urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up ^(Y)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. ²³ And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell ^(Z)bound into the burning fiery furnace.

²⁴ Then King Nebuchadnezzar was ^(AA)astonished and rose up ^(AB)in haste. He declared to his ^(AC)counselors, “Did we not cast three men ^(AD)bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” ²⁵ He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, ^(AE)walking in the midst of the fire, and they ^(AF)are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like ^(AG)a son of the gods.”

²⁶ Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, ^(AH)“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the ^(AI)Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then ^(AJ)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. ²⁷ And the ^(AK)satraps, the prefects, the governors, and ^(AL)the king's counselors gathered together and saw that ^(AM)the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their ^(AN)cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them. ²⁸ Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of ^(AO)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who ^(AP)has sent his angel and ^(AQ)delivered his servants, who ^(AR)trusted in him, and set aside^[e] the king's command, and yielded up their bodies rather than ^(AS)serve and worship any god except their own God. ²⁹ Therefore ^(AT)I make a decree: Any ^(AU)people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of ^(AV)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego ^(AW)shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way.” ³⁰ Then the king promoted ^(AX)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in ^(AY)the province of Babylon.

³⁸ And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant^[a] of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And ^(A)the angel departed from her.