Study Desk

Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astounded and stood up quickly; he said to his counselors, "Was it not three men that we threw bound into the middle of the fire?" They replied to the king, "Absolutely, O king."

He responded, "Look! I see four men untied and ^(C1)walking about in the middle of the fire ^(F1)unharmed, and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the ^(C2)gods!"

Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the furnace of blazing fire; he said, "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, come out, you servants of the ^(C1)Most High God, and come here!" Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego ^(C2)came out of the middle of the fire.

The ^(C1)satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king's counselors gathered together and saw that the ^(C2)fire had no ^(F1)effect on ^(F2)the bodies of these men, nor was the hair of their heads singed, nor were their ^(F3)(C3)trousers ^(F4)damaged, nor had even the smell of fire touched them.

Nebuchadnezzar responded and said, "Blessed be the ^(C1)God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who has ^(C2)sent His angel and rescued His servants who put their ^(C3)trust in Him, ^(F1)violating the king's command, and surrendered their bodies ^(C4)rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.

"Therefore I ^(C1)make a decree that any people, nation, or population of any language that speaks anything offensive against the God of ^(C2)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego shall be torn limb from limb and their ^(C3)houses made a rubbish heap, because there is ^(C4)no other god who is able to save in this way."

Then the king ^(C1)made Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego prosperous in the province of Babylon.