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The Prophecy
of Daniel 3
King Nabuchodonosor made a statue of gold, of sixty
cubits high, and six cubits broad, and he set it up
in the plain of Dura of the province of Babylon.
Then Nabuchodonosor the king sent to call together the
nobles, the magistrates, and the judges, the captains,
the rulers, and governors, and all the chief men of
the provinces, to come to the dedication of the statue
which king Nabuchodonosor had set up.
Then the nobles, the magistrates, and the judges, the
captains, and rulers, and the great men that were placed
in authority, and all the princes of the provinces,
were gathered together to come to the dedication of
the statue, which king Nabuchodonosor had set up. And
they stood before the statue which king Nabuchodonosor
had set up.
Then a herald cried with a strong voice: To you it is
commanded, O nations, tribes, and languages:
That in the hour that you shall hear the sound of the
trumpet, and of the flute, and of the harp, of the sackbut,
and of the psaltery, and of the symphony, and of all
kind of music; ye fall down and adore the golden statue
which king Nabuchodonosor hath set up.
But if any man shall not fall down and adore, he shall
the same hour be cast into a furnace of burning fire.
Upon this therefore, at the time when all the people
heard the sound of the trumpet, the flute, and the harp,
of the sackbut, and the psaltery, of the symphony, and
of all kind of music: all the nations, tribes, and languages
fell down and adored the golden statue which king Nabuchodonosor
had set up.
And presently at that very time some Chaldeans came
and accused the Jews,
And said to king Nabuchodonosor: O king, live for ever:
Thou, O king, hast made a decree that every man that
shall bear the sound of the trumpet, the flute, and
the harp, of the sackbut, and the psaltery, of the symphony,
and of all kind of music, shall prostrate himself, and
adore the golden statue:
And that if any man shall not fall down and adore, he
should be cast into a furnace of burning fire.
Now there are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the
works of the province of Babylon, Sidrach, Misach, and
Abdenago: these men, O king, have slighted thy decree:
they worship not thy gods, nor do they adore the golden
statue which thou hast set up.
Then Nabuchodonosor in fury, and in wrath, commanded
that Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago should be brought:
who immediately were brought before the king.
And Nabuchodonosor the king spoke to them, and said:
Is it true, O Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, that you
do not worship my gods, nor adore the golden statue
that I have set up?
Now therefore if you be ready at what hour soever you
shall hear the sound of the trumpet, flute, harp, sackbut,
and psaltery, and symphony, and of all kind of music,
prostrate yourselves, and adore the statue which I have
made: but if you do not adore, you shall be cast the
same hour into the furnace of burning fire: and who
is the God that shall deliver you out of my hand?
Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago answered and said to king
Nabuchodonosor: We have no occasion to answer thee concerning
this matter.
For behold our God, whom we worship, is able to save
us from the furnace of burning fire, and to deliver
us out of thy hands, O king.
But if he will not, be it known to thee, O king, that
we will not worship thy gods, nor adore the golden statue
which thou hast set up.
Then was Nabuchodonosor filled with fury: and the countenance
of his face was changed against Sidrach, Misach, and
Abdenago, and he commanded that the furnace should be
heated seven times more than it had been accustomed
to be heated.
And he commanded the strongest men that were in his
army, to bind the feet of Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago,
and to cast them into the furnace of burning fire.
And immediately these men were bound and were cast into
the furnace of burning fire, with their coats, and their
caps, and their shoes, and their garments.
For the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace
was heated exceedingly. And the flame of the fire slew
those men that had cast in Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago.
But these three men, that is, Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago,
fell down bound in the midst of the furnace of burning
fire.
Then Nabuchodonosor the king was astonished, and rose
up in haste, and said to his nobles: Did we not cast
three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered
the king, and said: True, O king.
He answered, and said: Behold I see four men loose,
and walking in the midst of the fire, and there is no
hurt in them, and the form of the fourth is like the
Son of God.
Then Nabuchodonosor came to the door of the burning
fiery furnace, and said: Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago,
ye servants of the most high God, go ye forth, and come.
And immediately Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago went out
from the midst of the fire.
And the nobles, and the magistrates, and the judges,
and the great men of the king being gathered together,
considered these men, that the fire had no power on
their bodies, and that not a hair of their head had
been singed, nor their garments altered, nor the smell
of the fire had passed on them.
Then Nabuchodonosor breaking forth, said: Blessed be
the God of them, to wit, of Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago,
who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants
that believed in him: and they changed the king's word,
and delivered up their bodies that they might not serve,
nor adore any god, except their own God.
By me therefore this decree is made, that every people,
tribe, and tongue, which shall speak blasphemy against
the God of Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, shall be destroyed,
and their houses laid waste: for there is no other God
that can save in this manner.
Then the king promoted Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago,
in the province of Babylon.
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