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 appoint over the kingdom 120 provincial governors who would rule over all the 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.
Over them there were three chief administrators, and Daniel was one of them. These chief administrators were appointed so that they might supervise the provincial governors, so that the king should suffer no loss.
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.
Daniel was distinguished above the other chief administrators and the provincial governors because he had an extraordinary spirit. The king was planning to put him over the whole kingdom.
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 other chief administrators and the provincial governors looked for mistakes in the work Daniel did for the kingdom, but they could find no corruption or failure in his duty because he was faithful. No mistakes or negligence was 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 these men said, “We cannot find any reason to complain against this Daniel unless we find something against him regarding 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 administrators and governors brought a plan before the king. They said to him, “King Darius, may you live forever!
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 chief administrators of the kingdom, the regional governors, and the provincial governors, the advisors, and the governors have consulted together and decided that you, the king, should issue a decree and should enforce it, so that whoever makes a petition to any god or man for thirty days, except to you, king, that person must be thrown 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, King, issue a decree and sign the document so that it may not be changed, as directed by the laws of the Medes and Persians, so it cannot be repealed.”
9 So King Darius [wrote] the law and signed it.
So king Darius signed the document making the decree into a law.
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.
When Daniel learned that the document had been signed into law, he went into his house (now his windows were open in his upper room toward Jerusalem), and he got down on his knees, as he did three times a day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done before.
11 The officials went together [to my house] and they saw me praying and requesting God to help me.
Then these men who had formed the plot together saw Daniel make requests and seek help from 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 approached the king and spoke with him about his decree: “Did you not make a decree that everyone who makes a petition to any god or human being during the next thirty days, except to you, king, must be throw into the den of lions?” The king answered, “The matter is settled, as directed by the law of the Medes and Persians; it cannot be repealed.”
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 they replied to the king, “That person Daniel, who is one of the people of the exile from Judah, pays no attention to you, king, or to the decree that you have signed. He prays to his God 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.
When the king heard this, he was terribly distressed, and he applied his mind to rescue Daniel from this ruling. He labored until sunset to try to save Daniel.
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 who had formed the plot gathered together with the king and said to him, “Know, king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians, that no decree or statute that the king issues can 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 gave an order, and they brought in Daniel, and they threw him into the lions' den. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue 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.
A stone was brought over the entrance to the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the signet rings of his nobles so that nothing might 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 he went through the night fasting. No entertainment was brought before him, and sleep fled from him.
19 At dawn the next morning, the king got up and went quickly to the pit where the lions were.
Then at daybreak the king got up and he quickly went to the lions' den.
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?”
As he came near to the den, he called out to Daniel in a sad voice, saying to Daniel, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to save you from the lions?”
21 I answered, “(Your Majesty/O king), I hope that you will live a long time!
Then said Daniel to the king, “King, live forever!
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 messenger and has shut the lions' mouths, and they have not hurt me. For I was found blameless before him and also before you, king, and I have done you no harm.”
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 the king was very happy. He gave an order that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was lifted up out of the den. No harm was found on him, because he had trusted 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!
The king gave an order, and they brought those men who had accused Daniel and threw them into the den of lions—they, their children, and their wives. Before they reached the floor, the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones to pieces.
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 to all the peoples, nations, and languages that live in all the earth: “May peace increase for 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 hereby make a decree that in all the dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God and lives forever, and his kingdom shall not be destroyed; his dominion shall be to 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 makes us safe and rescues us, and he does signs and wonders in heaven and in earth; he has kept Daniel safe from the strength 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 Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and during the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
