Read the Bible

¹ Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the width thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.² Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the satraps, the deputies, and the governors, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.³ Then the satraps, the deputies, and the governors, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.⁴ Then the herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages,⁵ that at what time you hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, lyre, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, you fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up;⁶ and whoever does not fall down and worship shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.⁷ Therefore at that time, when all the peoples heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, lyre, psaltery, and all kinds of music, all the peoples, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

⁸ Therefore at that time [prominent] men, Chaldeans, came near and brought accusation against the Jews.⁹ They answered and said to Nebuchadnezzar the king, O king, live forever.¹⁰ You, O king, have made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, lyre, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image;¹¹ and whoever does not fall down and worship, shall be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.¹² There are Jewish [prominent] men whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego; these [prominent] men, O king, have not regarded you: they don't serve your gods, nor worship the golden image which you have set up.¹³ Then Nebuchadnezzar in [his] rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. Then they brought these [prominent] men before the king.¹⁴ Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, Is it on purpose, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, that you don't serve my god, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?¹⁵ Now if you are ready that at what time you hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, lyre, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, you fall down and worship the image which I have made, [well]: but if you don't worship, you shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that god that shall deliver you out of my hands?¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.¹⁷ If it is [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.¹⁸ But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods, nor worship the golden image which you have set up.

¹⁹ Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego: [therefore] he spoke, and commanded that they should heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated.²⁰ And he commanded mighty [prominent] men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, [and] to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.²¹ Then these [prominent] men were bound in their hosen, their tunics, and their mantles, and their [other] garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.²² Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those [prominent] men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego.²³ And these three [prominent] men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.²⁴ Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in a hurry: he spoke and said to his counselors, Didn't we cast three [prominent] men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said to the king, True, O king.²⁵ He answered and said, Look, I see four [prominent] men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the aspect of the fourth is like a son of the gods.²⁶ Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace: he spoke and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, you slaves of the Most High God, come forth, and come here. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego came forth out of the midst of the fire.²⁷ And the satraps, the deputies, and the governors, and the king's counselors, being gathered together, saw these [prominent] men, that the fire had no power on their bodies, nor was the hair of their head singed, neither were their hosen changed, nor had the smell of fire passed on them.

²⁸ Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who has sent his angel, and delivered his slaves that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and have yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.²⁹ Therefore I make a decree, that every people, nation, and language, which speak anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill; because there is no other god that is able to deliver after this sort.³⁰ Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego in the province of Babylon.