Daniel 3:14-4:17

English Standard Version

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 ^(A)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.^[a] But if you do not worship, ^(B)you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And ^(C)who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?”

^16 (D)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, ^(E)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.^{[b] 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.”

¹⁹ Then Nebuchadnezzar was ^(F)filled with fury, and the expression of his face ^(G)was changed against ^(H)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated. ²⁰ And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army ^(I)to bind ^(J)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. ²¹ Then these men were ^(K)bound in their cloaks, their tunics,^[c] their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. ²² Because the king's order was ^(L)urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up ^(M)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. ²³ And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell ^(N)bound into the burning fiery furnace.

²⁴ Then King Nebuchadnezzar was ^(O)astonished and rose up ^(P)in haste. He declared to his ^(Q)counselors, “Did we not cast three men ^(R)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, ^(S)walking in the midst of the fire, and they ^(T)are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like ^(U)a son of the gods.”

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

Nebuchadnezzar Praises God

4 ^[e] King Nebuchadnezzar to all ^(AN)peoples, nations, and languages, ^(AO)that dwell in all the earth: ^(AP)Peace be multiplied to you! ² It has seemed good to me to show the ^(AQ)signs and wonders that the ^(AR)Most High God has done for me.

Nebuchadnezzar's Second Dream

^4 [f] I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house and prospering in my palace. ⁵ I saw a dream that made me afraid. As I lay in bed the fancies and ^(AW)the visions of my head alarmed me. ⁶ So ^(AX)I made a decree that ^(AY)all the wise men of Babylon should be brought before me, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream. ⁷ Then ^(AZ)the magicians, the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers came in, and I told them the dream, but ^(BA)they could not make known to me its interpretation. ⁸ At last Daniel came in before me—he who was named ^(BB)Belteshazzar after the name of my god, and in whom is ^(BC)the spirit of the holy gods^[g]—and I told him the dream, saying, ⁹ “O Belteshazzar, ^(BD)chief of the magicians, because I know that ^(BE)the spirit of the holy gods is in you and that no ^(BF)mystery is too difficult for you, tell me ^(BG)the visions of my dream that I saw and their interpretation. ^10 (BH)The visions of my head as I lay in bed were these: I saw, and ^(BI)behold, a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great. ^11 (BJ)The tree grew and became strong, and its top reached to heaven, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth. ^12 (BK)Its leaves were beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in it was food for all. ^(BL)The beasts of the field found shade under it, and ^(BM)the birds of the heavens lived in its branches, and all flesh was fed from it.

¹³ “I saw in ^(BN)the visions of my head as I lay in bed, and behold, ^(BO)a watcher, ^(BP)a holy one, came down from heaven. ¹⁴ He ^(BQ)proclaimed aloud and said thus: ^(BR)‘Chop down the tree and ^(BS)lop off its branches, ^(BT)strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. ^(BU)Let the beasts flee from under it and the birds from its branches. ¹⁵ But leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, amid the tender grass of the field. Let him be wet with the dew of heaven. Let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth. ¹⁶ Let his mind be changed from a man's, and let a beast's mind be given to him; ^(BV)and let seven periods of time ^(BW)pass over him. ¹⁷ The sentence is by the decree of ^(BX)the watchers, the decision by the word of ^(BY)the holy ones, to the end that the living may know that the Most High ^(BZ)rules the kingdom of men ^(CA)and gives it to whom he will and ^(CB)sets over it the lowliest of men.’