Daniel 6
1 King Darius decided to divide his kingdom into 120 provinces. He appointed a governor to rule each province.
It pleased Darius, and so he appointed over the kingdom one hundred twenty governors, to be placed throughout his whole kingdom.
2 He also appointed me and two other men to be administrators, to supervise the governors and to be sure that they did the king’s work [properly], in order that the king would not have to worry about anything.
And over these, three leaders, of whom Daniel was one, so that the governors would be accountable to them and the king would have no trouble.
3 I soon showed that I was (more capable/able to do the work better) than all the other administrators and the governors. Because of that, the king planned to appoint me to be in charge of the entire empire.
And so Daniel excelled above all the leaders and governors, because a greater spirit of God was in him.
4 Then, the [other] administrators and the governors [became jealous. So they began to] try to find something that they could criticize about the way I was working for the king. But I always did my work faithfully and honestly, and was never lazy. So they could not find anything to criticize.
Furthermore, the king considered setting him over the entire kingdom; whereupon the leaders and the governors sought to find a complaint against Daniel and in favor of the king. And they could find no case, or even suspicion, because he was faithful, and no fault or suspicion was found in him.
5 They concluded, “The only way we can find something for which we can criticize Daniel will be something concerning the laws that his god [his given him].”
Therefore, these men said, “We will not find any complaint against this Daniel, unless it is against the law of his God.”
6 So the administrators and governors went as one group to the king and said, “(Your Majesty/O king), we wish that you will live a long time!
Then the leaders and governors took the king aside privately and spoke to him in this way: “King Darius, live forever.
7 [We] administrators and governors and district governors and advisors and other officials have all agreed that you should make a law that everyone must obey. We want you to command that for the next thirty days people may pray only to you. If anyone prays to anyone else, either to a human or to a god, he must be thrown into [a pit of] lions.
All the leaders of your kingdom, the magistrates and governors, the senators and judges, have taken counsel that an imperial decree and edict should be published, so that all who ask any petition of any god or man for thirty days, except of you, O king, will be cast into the den of lions.
8 And because laws made by [our governments of] Media and Persia cannot be changed, [we want] you, [the head of our government], to sign it.”
Now, therefore, O king, confirm this judgment and write the decree, so that what is established by the Medes and Persians may not be altered, nor will any man be allowed to transgress it.”
9 So King Darius [wrote] the law and signed it.
And so king Darius set forth the decree and established it.
10 But when I found out that [the king] had [written and] signed that law, I went home. I knelt down in my upstairs room and prayed. I looked toward Jerusalem, and the windows were open [with the result that everyone could see me while I was praying]. I prayed three times each day, just as I always did, thanking God.
Now when Daniel learned of this, namely, that the law had been established, he entered his house, and, opening the windows in his upper room towards Jerusalem, he knelt down three times a day, and he adored and gave thanks before his God, as he had been accustomed to do previously.
11 The officials went together [to my house] and they saw me praying and requesting God to help me.
Therefore, these men, inquiring diligently, discovered that Daniel was praying and making supplication to his God.
12 So they returned to the king and said to him, “[Do you remember] that you wrote a law stating that for the next thirty days people may pray only to you, and if anyone prays to anyone else, either to a human or to a god, he will be thrown into [a pit of] lions?” The king replied, “[Yes, that is the law that I wrote]. It is a law of [our governments of] Media and Persia, which cannot be canceled.”
And they approached and spoke to the king about the edict. “O king, did you not decree that every man who makes a request to any of the gods or men for thirty days, except to yourself, O king, would be cast into the den of lions?” To which the king replied, saying, “The sentence is true, and according to the decree of the Medes and Persians, it is not lawful to violate it.”
13 Then they said to the king, “Well, that [man] Daniel, one of the men who were brought from Judah, is not paying any attention to you or the law that you [signed]. He prays [to his god] three times each day!”
Then they answered and said before the king, “Daniel, of the sons of the captivity of Judah, is not concerned about your law, nor about the decree that you have established, but three times a day he prays his supplication.”
14 When the king heard that, he was very distressed. He tried to find a way to save me. All the rest of that day he tried to think of a way to rescue me.
Now when the king had heard these words, he was greatly grieved, and, on behalf of Daniel, he set his heart to free him, and he labored even until sunset to rescue him.
15 [In the evening, many of] [HYP] the officials went together to the king and said, “(Your Majesty/O king), you know that [our governments of] Media and Persia have declared that no law that the king signs can be canceled/changed. [So Daniel must be thrown to the lions!]”
But these men, knowing the king, said to him, “You know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is that every decree which the king has established may not be altered.”
16 So the king gave the order, and his servants brought me and threw me into a pit where the lions [were]. [Before they threw me in], the king said to me, “I hope/wish that your God, whom you worship regularly, will rescue you!”
Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions. And the king said to Daniel, “Your God, whom you always serve, he himself will free you.”
17 They rolled a huge stone across the entrance to the pit. Then the king [fastened a string across the entrance and put wax at each end, and stamped the wax with] the seal from his [ring] and the seals [of the rings] of his officials, in order that no one could [secretly] rescue me.
And a stone was brought, and it was placed over the mouth of the den, which the king sealed with his own ring, and with the ring of his nobles, so that no one would act against Daniel.
18 Then the king returned to his palace. That night he refused to eat any food. He would not allow anyone to entertain him [because he did not want to be happy, with the result that he would forget about me. And that night] he was unable to sleep [because he was worried about me].
And the king departed into his house, and he went to bed without eating, and food was not set before him, moreover, even sleep fled from him.
19 At dawn the next morning, the king got up and went quickly to the pit where the lions were.
Then the king, getting himself up at first light, went quickly to the den of lions.
20 When he came near it, he was very worried. He called out, “Daniel, you who serve the all-powerful God! Was your God, whom you worship regularly, able to save you from the lions?”
And coming near to the den, he cried out with a tearful voice to Daniel and spoke to him. “Daniel, servant of the living God, your God, whom you serve always, do you believe he has prevailed to free you from the lions?”
21 I answered, “(Your Majesty/O king), I hope that you will live a long time!
And Daniel, answering the king, said, “O king, live forever.
22 [Yes], my God sent his angel to shut the lions’ mouths, in order that they would not harm me! [He did that] because [he knows that] I have done nothing that he thinks is wrong. And, (Your Majesty/O king), I never did anything wrong to you!”
My God has sent his angel, and he has closed the mouths of the lions, and they have not harmed me, because before him justice has been found in me, and, even before you, O king, I have committed no offense.”
23 The king was extremely happy, and he commanded [his servants] to lift me out of the pit. [When they did that, they] saw that the lions had not wounded me at all. [God had protected me] because I trusted in him.
Then was the king exceedingly glad for him, and he commanded that Daniel should be taken out of the den. And Daniel was taken out of the den, and no wound was found in him, because he believed in his God.
24 Then the king commanded that the men who had accused me should be seized and be thrown, along with their wives and children, into the pit where the lions were. [When they were thrown into the pit], the lions leaped on them and crushed their bones before they fell onto the bottom of the pit!
Moreover, by order of the king, those men were brought who had accused Daniel, and they were cast into the lions’ den, they, and their sons, and their wives, and they did not reach the bottom of the den before the lions seized them and crushed all their bones.
25 Then King Darius wrote [this message and sent it throughout his kingdom] to the people of every people-group and nation and from all language groups: “I wish/hope that everything is going very well with you!
Then king Darius wrote to all peoples, tribes, and languages dwelling in all the land. “May peace be increased with you.
26 I command that everyone in my kingdom should fear and revere the God that Daniel [worships]. He is the all-powerful God, and he will live forever. His kingdom will never be destroyed; he will rule forever.
It is hereby established by my decree that, in all my empire and my kingdom, they shall begin to tremble and fear the God of Daniel. For he is the living and eternal God forever, and his kingdom will not be destroyed, and his power will last forever.
27 He rescues and saves [his people]. He performs all kinds of miracles in heaven and on the earth. He rescued Daniel from the power of the lions!”
He is the liberator and the savior, performing signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, who has freed Daniel from the lions’ den.”
28 So I was successful [all] during the time that Darius ruled and during the time that Cyrus, [the King] of Persia, ruled.
Thereafter, Daniel continued through the reign of Darius until the reign of Cyrus, the Persian.
