⁴ And when they spoke to him day after day and he would not listen to them, they told Haman, in order to see whether Mordecai's words would stand, for he had told them that he was a Jew.

¹⁰ And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he ^(A)would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her.

⁹ And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear ^(A)the Lord, the God of heaven, ^(B)who made the sea and the dry land.”

²⁰ As he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish. The king declared to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of ^(A)the living God, ^(B)has your God, whom you serve continually, ^(C)been able to deliver you from the lions?” ²¹ Then Daniel said to the king, ^(D)“O king, live forever! ²² My God ^(E)sent his angel ^(F)and shut the lions' mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless ^(G)before him; ^(H)and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.” ²³ Then the king was exceedingly glad, and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and ^(I)no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. ²⁴ And the king commanded, and ^(J)those men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and cast into the den of lions—they, their children, and their wives. And before they reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones in pieces.

²⁵ Then King Darius wrote to all ^(K)the peoples, nations, and languages ^(L)that dwell in all the earth: ^(M)“Peace be multiplied to you. ^26 (N)I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion ^(O)people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel,

²⁸ So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and ^(V)the reign of ^(W)Cyrus the Persian.

¹³ Then they answered and said before the king, ^(A)“Daniel, who is one ^(B)of the exiles ^(C)from Judah, ^(D)pays no attention to you, O king, or ^(E)the injunction you have signed, but makes his petition ^(F)three times a day.”

²³ And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell ^(A)bound into the burning fiery furnace.

²⁴ Then King Nebuchadnezzar was ^(B)astonished and rose up ^(C)in haste. He declared to his ^(D)counselors, “Did we not cast three men ^(E)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, ^(F)walking in the midst of the fire, and they ^(G)are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like ^(H)a son of the gods.”

²⁶ Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, ^(I)“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the ^(J)Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then ^(K)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. ²⁷ And the ^(L)satraps, the prefects, the governors, and ^(M)the king's counselors gathered together and saw that ^(N)the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their ^(O)cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them. ²⁸ Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of ^(P)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who ^(Q)has sent his angel and ^(R)delivered his servants, who ^(S)trusted in him, and set aside^[a] the king's command, and yielded up their bodies rather than ^(T)serve and worship any god except their own God. ²⁹ Therefore ^(U)I make a decree: Any ^(V)people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of ^(W)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego ^(X)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 ^(Y)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in ^(Z)the province of Babylon.

^16 (A)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, ^(B)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.^{[a] 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.”

¹² There are certain Jews whom you have ^(A)appointed over the affairs of ^(B)the province of Babylon: ^(C)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, ^(D)pay no attention to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

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!