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Daniel 6

6 King Darius decided to appoint 120 satraps to govern the different parts of his kingdom. 2 He also appointed three sareks to supervise those satraps. To make sure that none of them cheated the king, those satraps had to give them regular accounts of their work. Daniel was one of the sareks. 3 Daniel had very good character, so he soon showed that he was more capable than all the satraps and the other sareks. As a result, the king planned to put him in charge of the whole kingdom. 4 Then the satraps and other sareks tried to find something they could accuse Daniel of doing wrong in his work for the king. But Daniel was very reliable, so he had not done anything negligent or corrupt. So the other royal officials could not find anything they could accuse him of doing wrong. 5 So they concluded, “The only thing we will find to accuse Daniel about will be something that he has to do to obey his God.”

6 So the sareks and satraps went together to the king and told him, “King Darius, we hope that you will live for a very long time! 7 All of your sareks, rulers satraps, counselors, and governors have agreed that you should make a law and enforce it strictly. Your Majesty, the law would be that for the next 30 days, no one may ask any god or man except you for anything. If anyone does that, your servants will throw him into a pit full of lions. 8 So, Your Majesty, please make this law. Have one of your scribes write it out, and then sign it. No one will then be able to change it, because the laws of the Medes and Persians are permanent.” 9 So King Darius made the law, and when one of his scribes wrote it out, he signed it.

10 When Daniel learned that the king had made that law and signed it, he went home. He went to his upstairs room and opened the windows so that he could look toward Jerusalem. He knelt down and prayed and gave thanks to God. He did that three times each day, just as he had done before. 11 Then the royal officials came to his house together, and they saw that he was praying to God and asking him to help him. 12 So they went back to the king and talked with him about the law he had made. They said, “Your Majesty, you signed a law that for the next 30 days, no one may ask any god or man except you for anything. The law said that if anyone did that, your servants would throw him into a pit full of lions.” The king replied, “Yes, I made that law. And the laws of the Medes and Persians are permanent.”

13 Then they told the king, “Your Majesty, that man Daniel, who is one of the Judeans whom our soldiers brought here as prisoners, is disregarding you. He is not obeying the law that you signed. He is still praying to his God three times each day!” 14 When the king heard that, it distressed him greatly. He determined to save Daniel. For the rest of that day, he tried hard to find a way to rescue him.

15 But in the evening, those royal officials went back to the king together and told him, “Your Majesty, you know what our Median and Persian laws require. If the king makes any rule or law, no one can change it.”

16 So the king gave a command, and his servants brought Daniel to him. The king told him, “I hope that your God, whom you obey so faithfully, will rescue you!” Then the servants threw Daniel into a pit full of lions.

17 They put a large stone across the top of the pit. Then the king sealed the stone with the ring he wore that had his royal seal on it. His nobles also sealed it with their rings. That kept anyone from removing the stone and rescuing Daniel. 18 Then the king returned to his palace. To show how sorry he was for Daniel, he did not eat any food that evening, and he did not have anyone play music for him. He did not sleep that night.

19 As soon as it became light the next morning, the king got up and went quickly to the pit of lions. 20 As he arrived at the pit where Daniel was, he cried out in distress. He said, “Daniel, the God whom you worship is really alive! Has your God, whom you obey so faithfully, been able to save you from the lions?”

21 Daniel responded, “Your Majesty, I hope that you will live for a very long time! 22 Yes, my God sent an angel to keep the lions from harming me. They did not hurt me at all. God rescued me because he knows that I did not do anything sinful. He also knows that I have not done anything that hurt you, Your Majesty!”

23 This made the king very happy. He commanded his servants to lift Daniel up out of the pit. When they did that, they saw that the lions had not wounded him at all. Daniel had trusted God, and so God had protected him.

24 Then the king commanded his soldiers to arrest the men who had said bad things about Daniel. They threw them into the pit where the lions were. They also threw in their wives and children. While they were still tumbling toward the bottom of the pit, the lions leaped on them and tore them apart.

25 Then King Darius sent a letter to the people who lived in his empire. They were from many different nations and groups, and they spoke many different languages. He wrote, “I hope that all is well with you. 26 I am making a decree that throughout my empire, people should show great respect to the God whom Daniel worships.

He is the God who is really alive,

and he lives forever.

No one will ever destroy his kingdom;

he will rule forever.

27 He certainly rescues people who trust him.

He performs great miracles

in heaven and on earth.

He rescued Daniel by keeping the lions from attacking him!”

28 After this, Daniel was successful for the rest of the time that Darius was king. He was also successful during the time when Cyrus the Persian was king.

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