Daniel 6
1 King Darius decided to divide his kingdom into 120 provinces. He appointed a governor to rule each province.
It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the 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 presidents; of whom Daniel was first: that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage.
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.
Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.
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.
Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault 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].”
Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning 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 these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever.
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 presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of you, O king, he shall 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, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which alters not.
9 So King Darius [wrote] the law and signed it.
Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree.
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 knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did in old times.
11 The officials went together [to my house] and they saw me praying and requesting God to help me.
Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before 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.”
Then they came near, and spoke before the king concerning the king's decree; Have you not signed a decree, that every man that shall ask a petition of any God or man within thirty days, save of you, 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 alters not.
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 answered they and said before the king, That Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regards not you, O king, nor the decree that you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.
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.
Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him: and he laboured till the going down of the sun to deliver 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!]”
Then these men assembled unto the king, and said unto the king, Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is, That no decree nor statute which the king establishes may be changed.
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. Now the king spoke and said unto Daniel, Your God whom you serve continually, he will deliver 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 laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning 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].
Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting: neither were instruments of music brought before him: and his sleep went 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 arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto 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 when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spoke and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is your God, whom you serve continually, able to deliver you from the lions?
21 I answered, “(Your Majesty/O king), I hope that you will live a long time!
Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever.
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 has shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocence was found in me; and also before you, O king, have I done no hurt.
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 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 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!
And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces before even they came at the bottom of the den.
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 unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto 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.
I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and steadfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end.
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 delivers and rescues, and he works signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.
28 So I was successful [all] during the time that Darius ruled and during the time that Cyrus, [the King] of Persia, ruled.
So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
