Nebuchadnezzar’s Golden Image

¹ King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits and its breadth six cubits. He set it up on the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.

² Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent to gather the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counsellors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

³ Then the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counsellors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces gathered for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

⁴ And the herald proclaimed aloud, “You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, ⁵ that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up.

⁶ And whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace.”

⁷ Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, all the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshipped the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

The Fiery Furnace

⁸ Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and maliciously accused the Jews.

⁹They declared to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live for ever!

¹⁰ You, O king, have made a decree, that every man who hears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image.

¹¹ And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into a burning fiery furnace.

¹² There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, pay no attention to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

¹³ Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king.

¹⁴ Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up?

¹⁵ Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?”

¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.

¹⁷ If this be so, 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.

¹⁸ But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

¹⁹ Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated.

²⁰ And he ordered some of the mighty men of 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 cloaks, their tunics, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace.

²² Because the king’s order was urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

²³ And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace.

The Prayers of Azariah and His Companions

²⁴ And they walked about in the midst of the flames, singing hymns to God and blessing the Lord.

²⁵ Then Azariah stood and offered this prayer; in the midst of the fire he opened his mouth and said:

²⁶ “Blessed are you, O Lord, God of our ancestors, and worthy of praise; and your name is glorified forever.

²⁷ For you are just in all that you have done, and all your works are true and your ways right, and all your judgments are truth.

²⁸ You have executed true judgments in all that you have brought upon us and upon Jerusalem, the holy city of our ancestors, for in truth and justice you have brought all these upon us because of our sins.

²⁹ For we have sinfully and lawlessly departed from you, and have sinned in all things

³⁰ and have not obeyed your commandments; we have not observed them or done them, as you have commanded us that it might go well with us.

³¹ So all that you have brought upon us and all that you have done to us, you have done in true judgment.

³² You have given us into the hands of lawless enemies, most hateful rebels, and to an unjust king, the most wicked in all the world.

³³ And now we cannot open our mouths; shame and disgrace have befallen your servants and worshipers.

³⁴ For your name’s sake do not give us up utterly and do not break your covenant

³⁵ and do not withdraw your mercy from us, for the sake of Abraham your beloved and for the sake of Isaac your servant and Israel your holy one,

³⁶ to whom you promised to make their descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as the sand on the shore of the sea.

³⁷ For we, O Lord, have become fewer than any nation and are brought low this day in all the world because of our sins.

³⁸ And at this time there is no prince or prophet or leader, no whole burnt offering or sacrifice or oblation or incense, no place to make an offering before you or to find mercy.

³⁹ Yet with a contrite heart and a humble spirit may we be accepted,

⁴⁰ as though it were with whole burnt offerings of rams and bulls and with tens of thousands of fat lambs; such may our sacrifice be in your sight this day, and may it accomplish after you, for there will be no shame for those who trust in you.

⁴¹ And now with all our heart we follow you, we fear you and seek your face.

⁴² Do not put us to shame, but deal with us in your forbearance and in your abundant mercy.

⁴³ Deliver us in accordance with your marvelous works and give glory to your name, O Lord!

⁴⁴ Let all who do harm to your servants be put to shame; let them be disgraced and deprived of all dominion and let their strength be broken.

⁴⁵ Let them know that you are the Lord, the only God, glorious over the whole world.”

⁴⁶ Now the king’s servants who threw them in did not cease feeding the furnace fires with naphtha, pitch, tow, and brush.

⁴⁷ And the flame streamed out above the furnace forty- nine cubits,

⁴⁸ and it broke through and burned those of the Chaldeans whom it caught about the furnace.

⁴⁹ But the angel of the Lord came down into the furnace to be with Azariah and his companions and drove the fiery flame out of the furnace

⁵⁰ and made the midst of the furnace like a moist whistling wind, so that the fire did not touch them at all or hurt or trouble them.

⁵¹ Then the three, as with one mouth, praised and glorified and blessed God in the furnace, saying: ⁵² “Blessed are you, O Lord, God of our ancestors, and to be praised and highly exalted forever; and blessed is your glorious, holy name and to be highly praised and highly exalted forever;

⁵³ blessed are you in the shrine of your holy glory and to be extolled and highly glorified forever.

⁵⁴ Blessed are you, who sits upon cherubim and looks upon the deeps, and to be praised and highly exalted forever.

⁵⁵ Blessed are you upon the throne of your kingdom and to be extolled and highly exalted forever.

⁵⁶ Blessed are you in the firmament of heaven and to be sung and glorified forever.

⁵⁷ Bless the Lord, all works of the Lord, sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.

⁵⁸ Bless the Lord, you heavens, sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.

⁵⁹ Bless the Lord, you angels of the Lord, sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.

⁶⁰ Bless the Lord, all waters above the heaven, sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.

⁶¹ Bless the Lord, all powers, sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.

⁶² Bless the Lord, sun and moon, sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.

⁶³ Bless the Lord, stars of heaven, sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.

⁶⁴ Bless the Lord, all rain and dew, sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.

⁶⁵ Bless the Lord, all winds, sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.

⁶⁶ Bless the Lord, fire and heat, sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.

⁶⁷ Bless the Lord, winter cold and summer heat, sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.

⁶⁸ Bless the Lord, dews and snows, sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.

⁶⁹ Bless the Lord, nights and days, sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.

⁷⁰ Bless the Lord, light and darkness, sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.

⁷¹ Bless the Lord, ice and cold, sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.

⁷² Bless the Lord, frosts and snows, sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.

⁷³ Bless the Lord, lightnings and clouds, sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.

⁷⁴ Let the earth bless the Lord; let it sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.

⁷⁵ Bless the Lord, mountains and hills, sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.

⁷⁶ Bless the Lord, all things that grow on the earth, sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.

⁷⁷ Bless the Lord, seas and rivers, sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.

⁷⁸ Bless the Lord, you springs, sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.

⁷⁹ Bless the Lord, you whales and all creatures that move in the waters, sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.

⁸⁰ Bless the Lord, all birds of the air, sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.

⁸¹ Bless the Lord, all beasts and cattle, sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.

⁸² Bless the Lord, you sons of men, sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.

⁸³ Bless the Lord, O Israel, sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.

⁸⁴ Bless the Lord, you priests, sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.

⁸⁵ Bless the Lord, you servants, sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.

⁸⁶ Bless the Lord, spirits and souls of the righteous, sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.

⁸⁷ Bless the Lord, you who are holy and humble in heart, sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.

⁸⁸ Bless the Lord, Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael, sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever; for he has rescued us from Hades and saved us from the hand of death and delivered us from the midst of the burning fiery furnace; from the midst of the fire he has delivered us.

⁸⁹ Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy is forever.

⁹⁰ Bless him, all who worship the Lord, the God of gods, sing praise to him and give thanks to him, for his mercy is forever.”

God Delivers His Servants

⁹¹ Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counsellors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.”

⁹² He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”

⁹³ Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire.

⁹⁴ And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king’s counsellors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them.

⁹⁵ Nebuchadnezzar answered 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 set aside the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God.

⁹⁶ Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way.”

⁹⁷ Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.