SCRIPTURE READING
Daniel 6:6-27
6So the presidents and satraps conspired and came to the king and
said to him, “O King Darius, live forever! 7All the presidents of the
kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the counselors and the governors
are agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an
interdict, that whoever prays to anyone, divine or human, for thirty days,
except to you, O king, shall be thrown into a den of lions. 8Now, O king,
establish the interdict and sign the document, so that it cannot be
changed, according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which
cannot be revoked.” 9Therefore King Darius signed the document and
interdict. 10Although Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he
continued to go to his house, which had windows in its upper room open
toward Jerusalem, and to get down on his knees three times a day to pray
to his God and praise him, just as he had done previously.
11The conspirators came and found Daniel praying and seeking
mercy before his God. 12Then they approached the king and said
concerning the interdict, “O king! Did you not sign an interdict, that
anyone who prays to anyone, divine or human, within thirty days except
to you, O king, shall be thrown into a den of lions?” The king answered,
“The thing stands fast, according to the law of the Medes and Persians,
which cannot be revoked.” 13Then they responded to the king, “Daniel,
one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or to the
interdict you have signed, but he is saying his prayers three times a day.”
14When the king heard the charge, he was very much distressed. He was
determined to save Daniel, and until the sun went down he made every
effort to rescue him. 15Then the conspirators came to the king and said to
him, “Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no
interdict or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed.” 16Then
the king gave the command, and Daniel was brought and thrown into the
den of lions. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you faithfully serve,
deliver you!” 17A stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den,
and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords,
so that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel.
18Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; no
food was brought to him, and sleep fled from him. 19Then, at break of
day, the king got up and hurried to the den of lions. 20When he came near
the den where Daniel was, he cried out anxiously to Daniel, “O Daniel,
servant of the living God, has your God whom you faithfully serve been
able to deliver you from the lions?” 21Daniel then said to the king, “O
king, live forever! 22My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths so
that they would not hurt me, because I was found blameless before him;
and also before you, O king, I have done no wrong.” 23Then the king was
exceedingly glad and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den.
So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found
on him, because he had trusted in his God. 24The king gave a command,
and those who had accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the den
of lions—they, their children, and their wives. Before they reached the
bottom of the den the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones
in pieces. 25Then King Darius wrote to all peoples and nations of every
language throughout the whole world: “May you have abundant
prosperity! 26I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people
should tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: For he is the living
God, enduring forever. His kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his
dominion has no end. 27He delivers and rescues, he works signs and
wonders in heaven and on earth; for he has saved Daniel from the power
of the lions.”
Reader: Word of God. Word of life.
All: Thanks be to God.