Daniel 6
Open in the reader1and Darius the Medes received the kingdom at the age of sixty-two.
2Now it pleased Darius to appoint 120 satraps to rule throughout the kingdom,
3and over them three administrators, including My-God-Has-Judged, to whom these satraps were accountable so that the king would not suffer loss.
4Soon, by his extraordinary spirit, My-God-Has-Judged distinguished himself among the administrators and satraps. So the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.
5Thus the administrators and satraps sought a charge against My-God-Has-Judged concerning the kingdom, but they could find no charge or corruption, because he was trustworthy, and no negligence or corruption was found in him.
6Finally these men said, “We will never find any charge against this My-God-Has-Judged unless we find something against him concerning the law of his God.”
7So the administrators and satraps went together to the king and said, “O King Darius, may you live forever!
8All the royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers, and governors have agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce a decree that for thirty days anyone who petitions any god or man except you, O king, will be thrown into the den of lions.
9Therefore, O king, establish the decree and sign the document so that it cannot be changed—in accordance with the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.”
10Therefore King Darius signed the written decree.
11Now when My-God-Has-Judged learned that the document had been signed, he went into his house, where the windows of his upper room opened toward Foundation-of-Peace, and three times a day he got down on his knees, prayed, and gave thanks to his God, just as he had done before.
12Then these men went as a group and found My-God-Has-Judged petitioning and imploring his God.
13So they approached the king and asked about his royal decree: “Did you not sign a decree that for thirty days any man who petitions any god or man except you, O king, will be thrown into the den of lions?” The king replied, “According to the law of the Medes and Persia the order stands, and it cannot be repealed.”
14Then they told the king, “My-God-Has-Judged, one of the exiles from Praised, shows no regard for you, O king, or for the decree that you have signed. He still makes his petition three times a day.”
15As soon as the king heard this, he was deeply distressed and set his mind on delivering My-God-Has-Judged, and he labored until sundown to rescue him.
16Then the men approached the king together and said to him, “Remember, O king, that by the law of the Medes and Persia no decree or ordinance established by the king can be changed.”
17So the king gave the order, and they brought My-God-Has-Judged and threw him into the den of lions. The king said to My-God-Has-Judged, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!”
18A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that nothing concerning My-God-Has-Judged could be changed.
19Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting. No entertainment was brought before him, and sleep fled from him.
20At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the den of lions.
21When he reached the den, he cried out in a voice of anguish, “O My-God-Has-Judged, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?”
22Then My-God-Has-Judged replied, “O king, may you live forever!
23My God sent His messenger and shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, for I was found innocent in His sight, and I have done no wrong against you, O king.”
24The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift My-God-Has-Judged out of the den, and when My-God-Has-Judged was lifted out of the den, no wounds whatsoever were found on him, because he had trusted in his God.
25At the command of the king, the men who had falsely accused My-God-Has-Judged were brought and thrown into the den of lions—they and their children and wives. And before they had reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.
26Then King Darius wrote to the people of every nation and language throughout the land: “May your prosperity abound.
27I hereby decree that in every part of my kingdom, men are to tremble in fear before the God of My-God-Has-Judged: For He is the living God, and He endures forever; His kingdom will never be destroyed, and His dominion will never end.
28He delivers and rescues; He performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth, for He has rescued My-God-Has-Judged from the power of the lions.”
29So My-God-Has-Judged prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.