Exile · c. 539–538 BC
Chapter 16
The Lions’ Den
My God has sent his angel, and has shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not hurt me, because innocence was found in me before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.”
For parents
Daniel is thrown into a den of lions and comes out unhurt. Then, at the king’s command, the men who accused him are thrown to the lions with their children and their wives, and the lions kill them before they reach the bottom of the den (Daniel 6:24). It is told plainly and without detail.
On King ’s orders, had been dressed in purple, with a chain of gold around his neck, and proclaimed the third ruler in the kingdom. That same night Belshazzar, the king, was killed. received the kingdom. He was about sixty-two years old.
Darius decided to put a hundred and twenty local governors over the kingdom, to serve in every part of it. Over them he put three chief officials, and Daniel was one of the three. The local governors were to answer to these three, so that the king would not lose anything.
Daniel stood out above the other chief officials and the local governors, because an excellent spirit was in him. The king had it in mind to put him in charge of the whole kingdom.
Then the other chief officials and the local governors tried to find something to accuse Daniel of in his work for the kingdom. But they couldn’t find any reason to accuse him, or anything wrong, because he was faithful. They found no mistake and no fault in him.
“We won’t find anything to accuse this Daniel of,” these men said, “unless it’s about the law of his God.”
Then these chief officials and local governors came to the king together. “King Darius, live forever!” they said. “All the officials of the kingdom have talked it over: the chief officials, the deputies and the local governors, the counselors and the governors. They have agreed that a royal law should be made, and a strict order given. For thirty days, anyone who asks any god or any man for anything, except you, O king, is to be thrown into the den of lions.
“Now, O king, make the order and sign it in writing, so that it can’t be changed, according to the law of the and , which never changes.”
So King Darius signed the written order.
When Daniel knew that the order was signed, he went into his house. The windows of his room were open toward . Three times a day he knelt, and prayed, and gave thanks to his God, as he had done before.
Then these men came together, and they found Daniel making requests to his God and pleading with him.
They came before the king and spoke about his order. “Didn’t you sign an order,” they said, “that for thirty days anyone who asks any god or man for anything, except you, O king, will be thrown into the den of lions?”
“That is true,” the king answered, “according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which never changes.”
Then they said to the king, “That Daniel, one of the captives brought from , doesn’t respect you, O king, or the order you signed. He makes his requests three times a day.”
When the king heard this, he was very upset. He set his heart on saving Daniel, and he worked hard to rescue him until the sun went down.
Then these men came to the king together. “Know this, O king,” they said. “It is a law of the Medes and Persians that no order or law the king makes can be changed.”
The king gave the command. They brought Daniel, and they threw him into the den of lions.
The king said to Daniel, “Your God, whom you never stop serving, will rescue you.”
A stone was brought and laid over the opening of the den. The king put his own on it, and the seals of his nobles too, so that nothing about Daniel’s situation could be changed.
Then the king went back to his palace. All that night he ate nothing. No musical instruments were brought in to him, and sleep would not come to him.
Very early in the morning, the king got up and rushed to the den of lions.
When he came close to the den where Daniel was, he called out in a troubled voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, is your God, whom you never stop serving, able to rescue you from the lions?”
Then Daniel answered the king. “O king, live forever! My God has sent his and has shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not hurt me, because he found me innocent. And I have done no harm to you either, O king.”
The king was filled with joy, and he gave orders to take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no harm of any kind was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.
Then, at the king’s command, they brought the men who had accused Daniel and threw them into the den of lions, with their children and their wives. The lions attacked them and killed them before they reached the bottom of the den.
Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples and nations of every language, everywhere on earth: “May you have great peace! This is my order: all through my kingdom, people must tremble before the God of Daniel and fear him.
“Because he is the living God,who stands firm forever.His kingdom will never be destroyed.His rule will last to the very end.He rescues and he saves.He does signs and wonders in heaven and on the earth.He is the one who has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.”
So Daniel did well while Darius was king, and while the Persian was king.