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The Blue Letter Bible

Daniel 3 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

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Nebuchadnezzar’s Golden Image

Unchecked Copy BoxDan 3:1 - King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits[fn] and its breadth six cubits. He set it up on the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.
Unchecked Copy BoxDan 3:2 - Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent to gather the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
Unchecked Copy BoxDan 3:3 - Then the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces gathered for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
Unchecked Copy BoxDan 3:4 - And the herald proclaimed aloud, “You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages,
Unchecked Copy BoxDan 3:5 - that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up.
Unchecked Copy BoxDan 3:6 - And whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace.”
Unchecked Copy BoxDan 3:7 - Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, all the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

The Fiery Furnace

Unchecked Copy BoxDan 3:8 - Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and maliciously accused the Jews.
Unchecked Copy BoxDan 3:9 - They declared[fn] to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever!
Unchecked Copy BoxDan 3:10 - You, O king, have made a decree, that every man who hears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image.
Unchecked Copy BoxDan 3:11 - And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into a burning fiery furnace.
Unchecked Copy BoxDan 3:12 - There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, pay no attention to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
Unchecked Copy BoxDan 3:13 - Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king.
Unchecked Copy BoxDan 3:14 - Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up?
Unchecked Copy BoxDan 3:15 - Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good.[fn] But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?”
Unchecked Copy BoxDan 3:16 - Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.
Unchecked Copy BoxDan 3:17 - If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.[fn]
Unchecked Copy BoxDan 3:18 - But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
Unchecked Copy BoxDan 3:19 - Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated.
Unchecked Copy BoxDan 3:20 - And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.
Unchecked Copy BoxDan 3:21 - Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics,[fn] their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace.
Unchecked Copy BoxDan 3:22 - Because the king’s order was urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Unchecked Copy BoxDan 3:23 - And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace.
Unchecked Copy BoxDan 3:24 - Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.”
Unchecked Copy BoxDan 3:25 - He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”
Unchecked Copy BoxDan 3:26 - Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire.
Unchecked Copy BoxDan 3:27 - And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them.
Unchecked Copy BoxDan 3:28 - Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside[fn] the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God.
Unchecked Copy BoxDan 3:29 - Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way.”
Unchecked Copy BoxDan 3:30 - Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.
ESV Footnotes
A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters
Aramaic answered and said; also verses 24, 26
Aramaic lacks well and good
Or If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us, he will deliver us from the burning fiery furnace and out of your hand, O king
The meaning of the Aramaic words rendered cloaks and tunics is uncertain; also verse 27
Aramaic and changed
ESV

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Books and Bibles, a Publishing Ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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For more information on this translation, see the ESV Preface.

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Daniel Chapter 3 — Additional Translations: