King James VersionDaniel3

Daniel

1 Neb­uchad­nez­zar the king made an im­age of gold, whose height was three­score cu­bits, and the breadth there­of six cu­bits: he set it up in the plain of Du­ra, in the province of Baby­lon. 2 Then Neb­uchad­nez­zar the king sent to gath­er to­geth­er the princes, the gov­er­nors, and the cap­tains, the judges, the trea­sur­ers, the coun­sel­lors, the sher­iffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the ded­i­ca­tion of the im­age which Neb­uchad­nez­zar the king had set up. 3 Then the princes, the gov­er­nors, and cap­tains, the judges, the trea­sur­ers, the coun­sel­lors, the sher­iffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gath­ered to­geth­er unto the ded­i­ca­tion of the im­age that Neb­uchad­nez­zar the king had set up; and they stood be­fore the im­age that Neb­uchad­nez­zar had set up. 4 Then an her­ald cried aloud, To you it is com­mand­ed, O peo­ple, na­tions, and lan­guages, 5 That at what time ye hear the sound of the cor­net, flute, harp, sack­but, psaltery, dul­cimer, and all kinds of mu­sick, ye fall down and wor­ship the gold­en im­age that Neb­uchad­nez­zar the king hath set up: 6 And whoso fal­l­eth not down and wor­ship­peth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burn­ing fiery fur­nace. 7 There­fore at that time, when all the peo­ple heard the sound of the cor­net, flute, harp, sack­but, psaltery, and all kinds of mu­sick, all the peo­ple, the na­tions, and the lan­guages, fell down and wor­shipped the gold­en im­age that Neb­uchad­nez­zar the king had set up. 8 Where­fore at that time cer­tain Chaldeans came near, and ac­cused the Jews. 9 They spake and said to the king Neb­uchad­nez­zar, O king, live for ev­er. 10 Thou, O king, hast made a de­cree, that ev­ery man that shall hear the sound of the cor­net, flute, harp, sack­but, psaltery, and dul­cimer, and all kinds of mu­sick, shall fall down and wor­ship the gold­en im­age: 11 And whoso fal­l­eth not down and wor­ship­peth, that he should be cast into the midst of a burn­ing fiery fur­nace. 12 There are cer­tain Jews whom thou hast set over the af­fairs of the province of Baby­lon, Shadrach, Me­shach, and Abed­nego; these men, O king, have not re­gard­ed thee: they serve not thy gods, nor wor­ship the gold­en im­age which thou hast set up. 13 Then Neb­uchad­nez­zar in his rage and fury com­mand­ed to bring Shadrach, Me­shach, and Abed­nego. Then they brought these men be­fore the king. 14 Neb­uchad­nez­zar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Me­shach, and Abed­nego, do not ye serve my gods, nor wor­ship the gold­en im­age which I have set up? 15 Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cor­net, flute, harp, sack­but, psaltery, and dul­cimer, and all kinds of mu­sick, ye fall down and wor­ship the im­age which I have made; well: but if ye wor­ship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burn­ing fiery fur­nace; and who is that God that shall de­liv­er you out of my hands? 16 Shadrach, Me­shach, and Abed­nego, an­swered and said to the king, O Neb­uchad­nez­zar, we are not care­ful to an­swer thee in this mat­ter. 17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to de­liv­er us from the burn­ing fiery fur­nace, and he will de­liv­er us out of thine hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor wor­ship the gold­en im­age which thou hast set up. 19 Then was Neb­uchad­nez­zar full of fury, and the form of his vis­age was changed against Shadrach, Me­shach, and Abed­nego: therefore he spake, and com­mand­ed that they should heat the fur­nace one sev­en times more than it was wont to be heat­ed. 20 And he com­mand­ed the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Me­shach, and Abed­nego, and to cast them into the burn­ing fiery fur­nace. 21 Then these men were bound in their coats, their ho­sen, and their hats, and their other gar­ments, and were cast into the midst of the burn­ing fiery fur­nace. 22 There­fore be­cause the king's com­mand­ment was ur­gent, and the fur­nace ex­ceed­ing hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Me­shach, and Abed­nego. 23 And these three men, Shadrach, Me­shach, and Abed­nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burn­ing fiery fur­nace. 24 Then Neb­uchad­nez­zar the king was as­tonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his coun­sel­lors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They an­swered and said unto the king, True, O king. 25 He an­swered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walk­ing in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. 26 Then Neb­uchad­nez­zar came near to the mouth of the burn­ing fiery fur­nace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Me­shach, and Abed­nego, ye ser­vants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Me­shach, and Abed­nego, came forth of the midst of the fire. 27 And the princes, gov­er­nors, and cap­tains, and the king's coun­sel­lors, be­ing gath­ered to­geth­er, saw these men, upon whose bod­ies the fire had no pow­er, nor was an hair of their head singed, nei­ther were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them. 28 Then Neb­uchad­nez­zar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Me­shach, and Abed­nego, who hath sent his an­gel, and de­liv­ered his ser­vants that trust­ed in him, and have changed the king's word, and yield­ed their bod­ies, that they might not serve nor wor­ship any god, ex­cept their own God. 29 There­fore I make a de­cree, That ev­ery peo­ple, na­tion, and lan­guage, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Me­shach, and Abed­nego, shall be cut in pieces, and their hous­es shall be made a dunghill: be­cause there is no oth­er God that can de­liv­er af­ter this sort. 30 Then the king pro­mot­ed Shadrach, Me­shach, and Abed­nego, in the province of Baby­lon.