²⁰ And he said, ^(A)“The Jews have agreed to ask that you bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire more fully about him.

¹⁴ They came to the chief priests and ^(A)elders, and said, “We have bound ourselves under a great oath that we will eat nothing until we have killed Paul. ¹⁵ Now you, therefore, together with the council, suggest to the commander that he be brought down to you ^[a]tomorrow, as though you were going to make further inquiries concerning him; but we are ready to kill him before he comes near.”

The Jerusalem Jews Plot to Kill Paul

23 Then Paul, looking earnestly at the council, said, “Men and brethren, ^(A)I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.”

⁵ Then these men said, “We shall not find any charge against this Daniel unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God.”

⁶ So these governors and satraps thronged before the king, and said thus to him: ^(A)“King Darius, live forever! ⁷ All the governors of the kingdom, the administrators and satraps, the counselors and advisors, have ^(B)consulted together to establish a royal statute and to make a firm decree, that whoever petitions any god or man for thirty days, except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions. ⁸ Now, O king, establish the decree and sign the writing, so that it cannot be changed, according to the ^(C)law of the Medes and Persians, which ^[a]does not alter.” ⁹ Therefore King Darius signed the written decree.

Daniel in the Lions’ Den

¹⁰ Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open ^(D)toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees ^(E)three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.

¹¹ Then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God. ^12 (F)And they went before the king, and spoke concerning the king’s decree: “Have you not signed a decree that every man who petitions any god or man within thirty days, except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?”

The king answered and said, “The thing is true, ^(G)according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which ^[b]does not alter.”