Daniel 6

1And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.

2It seemed good to Darius to appoint over the kingdom one hundred and twenty satraps, who would be throughout the whole kingdom.

3And over them were three high officials, of whom Daniel was one, so that these satraps might give account to them and the king might suffer no loss.

4Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the high officials and the satraps, because an extraordinary spirit was in him, and the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.

5Then the high officials and satraps tried to find grounds for accusing Daniel in matters of the kingdom, but they could find no grounds for accusation or corruption, because he was trustworthy, and no negligence or corruption could be found against him.

6Then these men said, ‘We will not find any charge against this Daniel unless we find it against him in the law of his God.’

7Then these high officials and satraps came before the king and said this to him: “King Darius, live forever!”

8All the high officials of the kingdom, the prefects and satraps, the counselors and governors, have agreed together to establish a royal statute and to enforce an injunction: that whoever makes a petition to any god or man for thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be thrown into the lions’ den.

9Now, O king, establish the injunction and sign the document so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be revoked.

10Because of this, King Darius signed the document and the injunction.

11And when Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house. Now the windows in his upper room were open toward Jerusalem, and three times a day he knelt on his knees and prayed and gave thanks before his God, just as he had been doing before this.

12Then these men came by agreement and found Daniel petitioning and pleading before his God.

13Then they came near and spoke before the king concerning the king’s injunction: “Did you not sign an injunction that any man who makes a petition to any god or man for thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be thrown into the lions’ den?” The king answered and said, “The matter is certain, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be changed.”

14Then they answered and said before the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or to the injunction that you have signed, but three times a day he makes his petition.”

15Then the king, when he heard the statement, was greatly distressed, and he set his mind on delivering Daniel; and until the going down of the sun he kept striving to rescue him.

16Then these men came by agreement to the king and said to the king, "Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that any injunction or statute that the king establishes cannot be changed."

17Then the king gave the command, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the den of lions. The king answered and said to Daniel, “Your God, whom you continually serve, he will deliver you.”

18Then a stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the pit, and the king sealed it with his signet ring and with the signet rings of his nobles, so that nothing concerning Daniel might be changed.

19Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; no entertainment was brought before him, and sleep fled from him.

20Then the king arose at dawn, at first light, and in haste went to the den of the lions.

21And when he came near the den, he cried out to Daniel with a distressed voice. The king spoke and said to Daniel, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you continually serve, been able to deliver you from the lions?”

22Then Daniel spoke with the king: “O king, live forever!”

23My God sent his angel and shut the mouths of the lions, and they have not harmed me, because innocence was found in me before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.

24Then the king was very glad because of him, and he ordered that Daniel be brought up from the pit. So Daniel was brought up from the pit, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.

25Then the king commanded, and those men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the lions’ den—they, their sons, and their wives. And before they reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.

26Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: “May your peace abound.”

27A decree is issued by me, that in all the dominion of my kingdom people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God, enduring forever; and his kingdom will not be destroyed, and his dominion will be to the end.

28who rescues and delivers, and works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth—he who rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.

29And this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and during the reign of Cyrus the Persian.