The Fiery Furnace

Then the king called together all his officials for the dedication of the image: the local governors, the deputies and the governors, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces. So they all came together for the dedication, and they stood in front of the image Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

Then the herald, the man who announced the king’s orders, called out in a loud voice, “People of every nation and every language, here is the command. Whenever you hear the sound of the horn, the flute, the zither, the lyre, the harp, the pipe, and every kind of music, you must fall down and worship the golden image King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. Whoever doesn’t fall down and worship will be thrown into the middle of a fiery furnace that same hour.”

So as soon as the people heard the horn, the flute and all the rest of the music, people of every nation and every language fell down and worshiped the golden image King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

“O king, live forever!” they said to King Nebuchadnezzar. “You yourself, O king, gave the order. Everyone who hears the horn, the flute and all the other music must fall down and worship the golden image. Whoever doesn’t fall down and worship will be thrown into the middle of a fiery furnace.

“There are some Jews you put in charge of running the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. These men, O king, have shown you no respect. They don’t serve your gods, and they don’t worship the golden image you have set up.”

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were from Judah, like Daniel. Their own names were Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, but they had been given new names.

“Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego,” Nebuchadnezzar asked them, “is it true that you don’t serve my gods, and that you don’t worship the golden image I have set up? Now if you’re ready to fall down and worship the image I have made whenever you hear the music, good. But if you don’t worship, you will be thrown into the middle of a fiery furnace that same hour. Then who is the god who will rescue you from my hands?”

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego answered the king, “Nebuchadnezzar, we don’t need to answer you about this. If it happens, our God whom we serve is able to rescue us from the fiery furnace, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But if not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image you have set up.”

He commanded some of the strongest men from his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, then throw them into the fiery furnace. So the three were tied up, still dressed in their pants, their tunics, their cloaks and their other clothes. Then they were thrown into the middle of the fiery furnace.

The king’s order was urgent, and the heat of the furnace was terrible. So the flames of the fire killed the men who carried Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

Still tied up, the three men fell down into the middle of the fiery furnace.

He confessed that God had been right and fair in everything he had brought on them and on Jerusalem, the holy city of their ancestors. It had all come on them because of their sins. They had turned away from God, and they had not obeyed his commandments or kept them. God had handed them over to lawless enemies, the most hateful rebels, and to an unjust king who was the most wicked in all the world. “And now we can’t say a word,” Azariah prayed. “Shame and disgrace have come on your servants and on those who worship you.”

He begged God not to give them up completely, for the sake of God’s own name. He begged him not to cancel his covenant. He asked God not to take his mercy away from them, for the sake of Abraham, whom God loved, and Isaac his servant, and Israel his holy one. God had promised them descendants as many as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Now, Azariah said, they had become smaller than any other nation. They had been humbled all over the world because of their sins. They had no prince, no prophet and no leader. They had no burnt offering, no sacrifice, no offering and no incense, and no place to make an offering to God and find mercy.

“Don’t put us to shame,” he prayed. “Treat us with your kindness and your great mercy. Rescue us by your wonderful works, and bring glory to your name, Lord. Let everyone who harms your servants be thrown into confusion. Let them be ashamed of all their power and might, and let their strength be broken. Let them know that you are the Lord, the only God, glorious over the whole world.”

But the angel of the Lord came down into the furnace with Azariah and his companions. He drove the flames of the fire out of the furnace. He made the middle of the furnace like a moist, whistling wind, so that the fire didn’t touch them at all. It didn’t hurt them or trouble them.

They sang that he is blessed in the temple of his holy glory; blessed as the one who sees the depths and sits on the cherubim; blessed on the throne of his kingdom; and blessed in the wide sky of heaven. Each time they sang that he is to be praised and glorified above all forever.

They called on all the waters above the sky and all the powers of the Lord, on the sun and moon and the stars of heaven, on every shower and dew and on all the winds. They called on fire and heat, on dew and snowstorms, on nights and days, on light and darkness, on cold and heat, on frost and snow, and on lightning and clouds.

They called on the earth, on the mountains and hills, and on everything that grows on the earth; on the sea and rivers and the springs; on the whales and everything that moves in the waters; on all the birds of the air; and on all the wild animals and cattle.

They called on all people, and on Israel; on the priests of the Lord and the servants of the Lord; on the spirits and souls of those who do right; and on all who are holy and humble in heart.

“Yes, O king,” they answered.

“Look!” he said. “I see four men, untied, walking in the middle of the fire, and they aren’t hurt. The appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”

Then Nebuchadnezzar went up to the opening of the fiery furnace and called out, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, you servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the middle of the fire.

The local governors, the deputies, the governors and the king’s counselors came together and looked at these men. The fire had no power over their bodies. The hair on their heads wasn’t singed. Their pants were just as they had been. They didn’t even smell of fire.

“Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego!” Nebuchadnezzar said. “He has sent his angel and saved his servants who trusted in him. They went against the king’s order, and they were ready to die so that they would not serve or worship any god but their own God.

“So I give this order: if people of any nation or language say anything bad about the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, they must be cut to pieces, and their houses must be turned into a heap of dung, because no other god is able to rescue like this.”

Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the province of Babylon.