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all the other administrators and high officers. Because of Daniel’s great
ability, the king made plans to place him over the entire empire.
Then the other administrators and high officers began searching for
some fault in the way Daniel was handling government affairs, but they
couldn’t find anything to criticize or condemn. He was faithful, always
responsible, and completely trustworthy. So they concluded, “Our only
chance of finding grounds for accusing Daniel will be in connection with
the rules of his religion.”
So the administrators and high officers went to the king and said, “Long
live King Darius! We are all in agreement—we administrators, officials,
high officers, advisers, and governors—that the king should make a law
that will be strictly enforced. Give orders that for the next thirty days
any person who prays to anyone, divine or human—except to you, Your
Majesty—will be thrown into the den of lions. And now, Your Majesty,
issue and sign this law so it cannot be changed, an official law of the Medes
and Persians that cannot be revoked.” So King Darius signed the law.
But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home
and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done,
giving thanks to his God. Then the officials went together to Daniel’s
house and found him praying and asking for God’s help. So they went
straight to the king and reminded him about his law. “Did you not sign a
law that for the next thirty days any person who prays to anyone, divine
or human—except to you, Your Majesty—will be thrown into the den of
lions?”
“Yes,” the king replied, “that decision stands; it is an official law of the
Medes and Persians that cannot be revoked.”
Then they told the king, “That man Daniel, one of the captives from
Judah, is ignoring you and your law. He still prays to his God three times
a day.”
Hearing this, the king was deeply troubled, and he tried to think of a way
to save Daniel. He spent the rest of the day looking for a way to get Daniel
out of this predicament.
In the evening the men went together to the king and said, “Your Maj
esty, you know that according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, no
law that the king signs can be changed.”
So at last the king gave orders for Daniel to be arrested and thrown into
the den of lions. The king said to him, “May your God, whom you serve
so faithfully, rescue you.”
A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den. The king
sealed the stone with his own royal seal and the seals of his nobles, so
that no one could rescue Daniel. Then the king returned to his palace and
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