DA-6:1 It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and
twenty
princes, which should be over the whole kingdom;
DA-6:2 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.
DA-6:3 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.
DA-6:4 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.
DA-6:5 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.
DA-6:6 Then these presidents and princes assembled together to
the king, and
said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever.
DA-6:7 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 thee, O king, he shall be
cast into the
den of lions.
DA-6:8 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.
DA-6:9 Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree.
DA-6:10 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 aforetime.
DA-6:11 Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and
making
supplication before his God.
DA-6:12 Then they came near, and spake before the king
concerning the king's
decree; Hast thou not signed a decree, that every man that 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.
DA-6:13 Then answered they and said before the king, That
Daniel, which [is]
of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O
king, nor the
decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three
times a day.
DA-6:14 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.
DA-6:15 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 establisheth may be changed.
DA-6:16 Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and
cast [him] into
the den of lions. [Now] the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy
God whom thou
servest continually, he will deliver thee.
DA-6:17 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 the
purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel.
DA-6:18 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.
DA-6:19 Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went
in haste unto
the den of lions.
DA-6:20 And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable
voice unto
Daniel: [and] the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel,
servant of the
living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to
deliver thee
from the lions?
DA-6:21 Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever.
DA-6:22 My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions'
mouths, 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 hurt.
DA-6:23 Then was the king exceeding 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.
DA-6:24 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 or ever they came at the bottom of the den.
DA-6:25 Then king Darius wrote unto all people, nations, and
languages, that
dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you.
DA-6:26 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
stedfast for
ever, and his kingdom [that] which shall not be destroyed, and
his dominion
[shall be even] unto the end.
DA-6:27 He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and
wonders in
heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of
the lions.
DA-6:28 So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in
the reign of
Cyrus the Persian.
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