Nebuchadnezzar
the king made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits, and its
width six cubits. He set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of
Babylon. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the local
governors, the deputies, and the governors, the judges, the treasurers,
the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to
come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had
set up. Then the local governors, the deputies, and the governors, the
judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers
of the provinces, were gathered together to the dedication of the image
that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the
image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
Then the herald cried aloud, “To you
it is commanded, peoples, nations, and languages, that whenever you
hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all
kinds of music, you fall down and worship the golden image that
Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up. Whoever doesn’t fall down and
worship shall be cast into the middle of a burning fiery furnace the
same hour.”
Therefore at that time, when all the
peoples heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe,
and all kinds of music, all the peoples, the nations, and the languages,
fell down and worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king
had set up.
Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near,
and brought accusation against the Jews. They answered Nebuchadnezzar
the king, “O king, live for ever! You, O king, have made a decree that
every man who hears the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp,
pipe, and all kinds of music shall fall down and worship the golden
image; and whoever doesn’t fall down and worship shall be cast into the
middle of a burning fiery furnace. There are certain Jews whom you
have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, have not respected you. They
don’t serve your gods, and don’t worship the golden image which you have
set up.”
Then Nebuchadnezzar in rage and fury
commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. Then these
men were brought before the king. Nebuchadnezzar answered them, “Is it
on purpose, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you don’t serve my
god, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? Now if you are
ready whenever you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre,
harp, pipe, and all kinds of music to fall down and worship the image
which I have made, good; but if you don’t worship, you shall be cast the
same hour into the middle of a burning fiery furnace. Who is that god
who will deliver you out of my hands?”
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
answered the king, “Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in
this matter. If it happens, 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. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will
not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up.”
Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury,
and the form of his appearance was changed against Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego. He spoke, and commanded that they should heat the furnace
seven times more than it was usually heated. He commanded certain
mighty men who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were
bound in their pants, their tunics, and their mantles, and their other
clothes, and were cast into the middle of the burning fiery furnace.
Therefore because the king’s commandment was urgent, and the furnace
exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These three men, Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego, fell down bound into the middle of the burning fiery
furnace.
Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was
astonished and rose up in haste. He spoke and said to his counselors,
“Didn’t we cast three men bound into the middle of the fire?”
They answered the king, “True, O king.”
He answered, “Look, I see four men
loose, walking in the middle of the fire, and they are unharmed. The
appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”
Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the
mouth of the burning fiery furnace. He spoke and said, “Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, you servants of the Most High God, come out, and
come here!”
Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
came out of the middle of the fire. The local governors, the deputies,
and the governors, and the king’s counselors, being gathered together,
saw these men, that the fire had no power on their bodies. The hair of
their head wasn’t singed. Their pants weren’t changed, the smell of fire
wasn’t even on them.
Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said,
“Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his
angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him, and have changed
the king’s word, and have yielded their bodies, that they might not
serve nor worship any god, except their own God. Therefore I make a
decree, that every people, nation, and language, which speak anything
evil 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 who is able to deliver like this.”
Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.
