¹⁴ those closest to him being Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the ^(A)seven princes of Persia and Media, ^(B)who had access to the king’s presence, and who ^[a]ranked highest in the kingdom):

²⁰ And when he came to the den, he cried out with a ^[a]lamenting voice to Daniel. The king spoke, saying to Daniel, “Daniel, servant of the living God, ^(A)has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?”

⁴⁷ The king answered Daniel, and said, “Truly ^(A)your God is the God of ^(B)gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret.”

^20 (A)To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because ^(B)there^[a] is no light in them.

²⁵ and weighed out to them ^(A)the silver, the gold, and the articles, the offering for the house of our God which the king and his counselors and his princes, and all Israel who were present, had offered.

²⁸ and ^(A)has extended mercy to me before the king and his counselors, and before all the king’s mighty princes.

So I was encouraged, as ^(B)the hand of the Lord my God was upon me; and I gathered leading men of Israel to go up with me.