Daniel 6
1 It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom a hundred and twenty satraps, which should be over the whole kingdom,
King Darius decided to divide his kingdom into 120 provinces. He appointed a governor to rule each province.
2 and over them three presidents, of whom Daniel was one, that the satraps might give accounts to them, and the king might have no damage.
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 was eminent above the presidents and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.
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 sought to find occasion against Daniel in relation to the kingdom; but they could find no occasion nor fault; because he was faithful, and no error nor fault was 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 said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, unless we find it against him concerning 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 rushed together to the king, and spake thus to him: King Darius, live forever!
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 All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors and the satraps, the counsellors and the prefects, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whoever shall ask a petition of any god or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the 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, establish the decree and sign the writing that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians which altereth not.
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 Wherefore King Darius signed the writing and the decree.
So King Darius [wrote] the law and signed it.
10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house, his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, and three times a day he kneeled upon his knees, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done before.
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 rushed together, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God.
The officials went together [to my house] and they saw me praying and requesting God to help me.
12 Then they came near and spake before the king concerning the royal decree: Hast thou not signed a decree, that every man who shall ask a petition of any god or man within thirty days, save of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.
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 answered they and said before the king, Daniel, who is of the sons of the captives of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the decree which thou hast signed, but maketh his petition 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 Then the king, when he heard these words, was much troubled, and set his heart to deliver him; and he labored till the going down of the sun 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 assembled before the king, and said to the king, Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is, that no decree or statute which the king establisheth may 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 commanded that they should bring Daniel and cast him into the den of lions. And the king spake and said to Daniel, May thy God, whom thou servest continually, deliver thee!
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 was brought and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords, that nothing concerning Daniel might be changed.
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 to his palace, and passed the night fasting, and suffered not the concubines to be brought to him; and his sleep went from 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 arose very early in the morning, and went 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 when he came to the den, he cried with a troubled voice to Daniel; and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, has thy God, whom thou servest continually, been able to deliver thee 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 said Daniel to the king, O king, live forever!
I answered, “(Your Majesty/O king), I hope that you will live a long time!
22 My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, so that they have not hurt me; forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no wrong.
[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 exceedingly glad, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he 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 And the king commanded, and they brought those men who had accused Daniel, and cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and broke all their bones before they came to the bottom of the den.
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 King Darius wrote to all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you!
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 make a decree, that in every government of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel; for he is the living God that endureth forever, and whose kingdom shall not be destroyed, and whose dominion shall endure 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 It is he that delivereth and rescueth, and worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power 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 This Daniel 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.
