Daniel 6

1Now Darius the Mede received the kingdom. He was sixty-two years old.

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2It pleased Darius to set one hundred and twenty governors over the kingdom, so they might be throughout his entire kingdom.

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3He also set three administrators above these, one of whom was Daniel, so the governors might give account to them, that the king might not be troubled.

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4But Daniel excelled beyond them, because there was an excellent spirit in him, and the king set him over his entire kingdom.

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5The administrators and governors sought to find some charge against Daniel, but they could find no charge or wrongdoing or fault against him because he was faithful.

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6Then the administrators said, 'We will find nothing against Daniel unless we find it in the laws of his God.'

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7So the administrators and the governors stood before the king and said to him, 'King Darius, live forever!

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8All the commanders, governors, the highest officials, and the regional officers have consulted together to establish a royal statute and a firm decree, that whoever petitions any god or man for thirty days, except from you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions.

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9Now therefore, O king, establish the decree and exhibit the writing publicly, so the decree of the Medes and Persians cannot be changed.'

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10Then King Darius gave orders to write the decree.

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11Now when Daniel learned that the decree was posted, he entered his house, where the windows facing Jerusalem were open to him in the upper rooms, and he knelt down on his knees three times that day and prayed and gave thanks to his God, as he was doing before.

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12Then those men watched Daniel closely and found him praying and making supplication before his God.

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13So they approached the king and said, 'O king, did you not give orders that any man who petitioned anything from any god or man, except from you, he would be cast into the den of lions?' The king replied, saying, 'The word is true, and the decree of the Medes and Persians shall not pass away.'

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14Then they answered and said before the king, 'Daniel, who is from the captives of Judea, does not obey your order concerning the decree you commanded, for he prays and petitions his God three times a day.'

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15Then when the king heard this word, he was very sad in himself, and he struggled hard to deliver Daniel, and did his best to deliver him until evening.

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16Then those men said to the king, 'Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no decree or statute the king establishes can be altered.'

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17After that, the king gave the command, and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions. But the king said to Daniel, 'Your God whom you serve continually, He will deliver you.'

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18Then they brought a stone and placed it over the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his ring and with the ring of his nobles, so the matter concerning Daniel might not be changed.

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19The king then went to his house and spent the night without his evening meal; for they brought no meats to him, and his sleep departed from him. Now God shut the mouths of the lions, and they did not trouble Daniel.

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20Then the king arose early in the morning at daybreak and went in haste to the den of lions.

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21As he approached the den, he cried with a loud voice, 'Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the mouth of the lions?'

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22Daniel said to the king, 'O king, live forever!

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23My God sent His angel and shut the mouths of the lions so they did not destroy me, because uprightness was found in me before Him, and I did no wrongdoing in His sight.'

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24Then the king rejoiced greatly over him and gave orders to bring Daniel out of the den; and no corruption was found in him, because he believed in his God.

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25The king then gave orders, and they brought the men who brought charges against Daniel; and they cast them, their children, and their wives into the den of lions. They did not reach the bottom of the den before the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones in pieces.

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26Now Darius the king wrote to all peoples, tribes, and languages who dwell in all the earth: 'May peace be multiplied to you.

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27'A decree was made in my presence, that in every dominion of my kingdom, men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, because He is the living God; He endures unto the ages. His kingdom shall not be destroyed, and His dominion shall continue to the end.

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28He helps and rescues, and works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth; for He delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.'

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29So Daniel prospered in the kingdom of Darius and in the kingdom of Cyrus the Persian.

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