^4 (A)Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master^[a] that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

²¹ Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear ^(A)your servant cursing you.

²⁴ And the king commanded, and ^(A)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.

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.”

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.”

More Sayings of the Wise

²³ These also are sayings of ^(A)the wise.

²² Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness that Jehoiada, Zechariah's father, had shown him, but killed his son. And when he was dying, he said, “May the Lord see ^(A)and avenge!”^[a]

Joash Assassinated

²³ At the end of the year ^(B)the army of the Syrians came up against Joash. They came to Judah and Jerusalem and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus. ²⁴ Though the army of the Syrians had come with few men, ^(C)the Lord delivered into their hand a very great army, ^(D)because Judah^[b] had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers. Thus they ^(E)executed judgment on Joash.