Daniel 6
1 It has been good before Darius, and he has established over the kingdom satraps—one hundred and twenty—that they may be throughout the whole kingdom,
King Darius decided to divide his kingdom into 120 provinces. He appointed a governor to rule each province.
2 and three presidents higher than they, of whom Daniel [is] first, that these satraps may give to them an account, and the king have no loss.
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 Then this Daniel has been overseer over the presidents and satraps, because that an excellent spirit [is] in him, and the king has thought to establish him over 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 Then the presidents and satraps have been seeking to find a cause of complaint against Daniel concerning the kingdom, and any cause of complaint and corruption they are not able to find, because that he [is] faithful, and any error and corruption have not been found in him.
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 Then these men are saying, “We do not find against this Daniel any cause of complaint, except we have found [it] against him in the Law of his God.”
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 Then these presidents and satraps have assembled near the king, and thus they are saying to him: “O King Darius, live for all ages!
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 Taken counsel have all the presidents of the kingdom, the prefects, and the satraps, the counselors, and the governors, to establish a royal statute, and to strengthen an interdict, that any who seeks a petition from any god and man until thirty days, except of you, O king, is cast into a den of lions.
[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, O king, you establish the interdict, and sign the writing, that it is not to be changed, as a law of Media and Persia, that does not pass away.”
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 Therefore King Darius has signed the writing and interdict.
So King Darius [wrote] the law and signed it.
10 And Daniel, when he has known that the writing is signed, has gone up to his house, and the window being opened for him, in his upper chamber, toward Jerusalem, three times in a day he is kneeling on his knees, and praying, and confessing before his God, because that he was doing [it] before this.
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 these men have assembled, and found Daniel praying and pleading grace before his God;
The officials went together [to my house] and they saw me praying and requesting God to help me.
12 then they have come near, indeed, they are saying before the king concerning the king’s interdict: “Have you not signed an interdict, that any man who seeks from any god and man until thirty days, except of you, O king, is cast into a den of lions?” The king has answered and said, “The thing [is] certain as a law of Media and Persia, that does not pass away.”
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 have answered, indeed, they are saying before the king, that, “Daniel, who [is] of the sons of the expulsion of Judah, has not placed on you, O king, [any] regard, nor on the interdict that you have signed, and three times in a day he is seeking his petition.”
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 Then the king, when he has heard the matter, is greatly displeased at himself, and on Daniel he has set the heart to deliver him, and until the going up of the sun he was arranging to deliver 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 these men have assembled near the king, and are saying to the king, “Know, O king, that the law of Media and Persia [is] that any interdict and statute that the king establishes is not to 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 Then the king has spoken, and they have brought Daniel, and have cast [him] into a den of lions. The king has answered and said to Daniel, “Your God, whom you are serving continually, delivers you Himself.”
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 And a stone has been brought and placed at the mouth of the den, and the king has sealed it with his signet, and with the signet of his great men, that the purpose is not changed concerning 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 has gone to his palace, and he has passed the night fasting, and dahavan have not been brought up before him, and his sleep has fled [from] off him.
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 Then the king rises in the early morning, at the light, and he has gone in haste to the den of lions;
At dawn the next morning, the king got up and went quickly to the pit where the lions were.
20 and at his coming near to the den, to Daniel, with a grieved voice, he cries. The king has answered and said to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, your God, whom you are serving continually, is He able to deliver 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 Then Daniel has spoken with the king: “O king, live for all ages:
I answered, “(Your Majesty/O king), I hope that you will live a long time!
22 my God has sent His messenger, and has shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not injured me: because that before Him purity has been found in me; and also before you, O king, injury I have not done.”
[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 Then was the king very glad for him, and he has commanded Daniel to be taken up out of the den, and Daniel has been taken up out of the den, and no injury has been found in him, because he has believed 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 And the king has spoken, and they have brought those men who had accused Daniel, and to the den of lions they have cast them, they, their sons, and their wives; and they have not come to the lower part of the den until the lions have power over them, and all their bones they have broken small.
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 the king has written to all the peoples, nations, and languages, who are dwelling in all the land: “Your peace be great!
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 From before me a decree is made, that in every dominion of my kingdom they are trembling and fearing before the God of Daniel, for He [is] the living God, and abiding for all ages, and His kingdom that which [is] not destroyed, and His dominion [is] to the 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 A deliverer, and rescuer, and doer of signs and wonders in the heavens and in earth [is] He who has delivered Daniel from the paw of the lions.”
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 And this Daniel has prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of 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.
