Daniel 6
1 Darius decided it would be good to place the kingdom under the control of one hundred and twenty provincial governors.
King Darius decided to divide his kingdom into 120 provinces. He appointed a governor to rule each province.
2 Three chief ministers were placed over them to look after the king's interests. Daniel was one of the three.
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.
3 Soon Daniel was shown to be a far better administrator than the other chief ministers and provincial governors. Because of his exceptional ability, the king planned to put him in charge of the whole kingdom.
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.
4 As a result the other chief ministers and provincial governors tried to find a pretext against Daniel as to the way he ran the kingdom. But they couldn't find any cause for complaint or any corruption, for he was trustworthy. They could not discover any evidence that Daniel was negligent or corrupt.
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.
5 So they said to themselves, “We won't find any pretext to attack Daniel unless we use his observance of his God's laws against him.”
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].”
6 So these chief ministers and provincial governors went together to see the king. “May Your Majesty King Darius live forever!” they said.
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!
7 “We have all agreed—chief ministers, prefects, provincial governors, counselors, and local governors—that Your Majesty should issue a decree, legally enforced, that for the next thirty days anyone who prays to any god or human being except you, Your Majesty, shall be thrown into the lions' den.
[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.
8 Now, Your Majesty, if you will sign the decree and have it issued so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and the Persians that cannot be revoked.”
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.”
9 So Darius signed the decree into law.
So King Darius [wrote] the law and signed it.
10 When Daniel found out that the decree had been signed he went home to his upstairs room where he would pray three times a day, with the windows open facing Jerusalem. There he kneeled down, praying and thanking his God as he always did.
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.
11 Then the men who had plotted against Daniel went together and found him praying to his God and asking for help.
The officials went together [to my house] and they saw me praying and requesting God to help me.
12 They went to the king right away and asked him about the decree. “Didn't Your Majesty sign a decree that for the next thirty days anyone who prays to any god or human being except you, Your Majesty, shall be thrown into the lions' den?” “I certainly did!” the king replied. “The decree stands. According to the law of the Medes and the Persians it cannot be revoked.”
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.”
13 Then they told the king, “Daniel, one of those captives from Judah, pays no attention to Your Majesty or to the decree you signed and prays three times a day.”
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!”
14 When the king heard this, he was very upset and tried to think of how to save Daniel. He worked hard until sundown trying to rescue him.
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.
15 Then the men returned together and said to the king, “You know, Your Majesty, that according to the law of the Medes and the Persians no decree or statute can be changed.”
[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!]”
16 Eventually the king gave the order and Daniel was taken and thrown into the lions' den. The king told him, “May the God you so loyally serve save you!”
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!”
17 A stone was brought and placed over the entrance to the den and the king sealed it with his own personal seal and those of his nobles so that no one could interfere with what was happening to Daniel.
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.
18 Then the king went back to his palace. He ate nothing at all that night and refused any kind of entertainment. He couldn't sleep a wink.
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].
19 At dawn, as soon as it was light, the king got up and rushed to the lions' den.
At dawn the next morning, the king got up and went quickly to the pit where the lions were.
20 As he approached the den, he called out anxiously to Daniel, “Daniel, servant of the living God whom you honor so faithfully, was your God able to save you from the lions?”
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?”
21 Daniel replied, “May Your Majesty the king live forever!
I answered, “(Your Majesty/O king), I hope that you will live a long time!
22 My God sent his angel to shut the lions' mouths. They have not hurt me because I was found innocent in his sight. In addition, I have never done you any wrong, Your Majesty.”
[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!”
23 The king was extremely pleased and ordered Daniel brought up from the den. Daniel was lifted up from the den and he was found to have no injuries at all because he had trusted in his God.
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.
24 Then the king ordered the men who had accused Daniel to be brought and they were thrown into the lions' den along with their wives and children. Before they even reached the floor of the den the lions attacked them, ripping them to pieces.
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!
25 Then Darius wrote to all the people of the world, the different nations and languages, saying, “I wish you well!
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!
26 I decree that throughout my entire kingdom everyone should respect and honor the God of Daniel, for he is the living God. He is everlasting and his kingdom will never be destroyed. His reign will never end.
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.
27 He is the one who rescues and saves; he does miracles and wonders in the heavens and on earth. He saved Daniel from death in the lions' den.”
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!”
28 Daniel experienced good success during the reigns of Darius and Cyrus the Persian.
So I was successful [all] during the time that Darius ruled and during the time that Cyrus, [the King] of Persia, ruled.
