Nebuchadnezzar’s Golden Statue
Daniel 3Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits+3:1 A cubit is the length from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow on a man’s arm, or about 18 inches or 46 centimeters. and its width six cubits. He set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the local governors, 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. Then the local governors, 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.
Then the herald cried aloud, “To y’all it is commanded, peoples, nations, and languages, that whenever y’all hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music, y’all must fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up. Whoever doesn’t fall down and worship will be immediately thrown into the middle of a burning fiery furnace.”
Therefore at that time, when all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, 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.
The Plot Against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near and brought accusation against the Jews. They answered Nebuchadnezzar the king, “O king, live for ever! You, O king, have made a decree that every man who hears the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music must fall down and worship the golden image; and whoever doesn’t fall down and worship will be thrown into the middle of a burning fiery furnace. There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, have not respected you. They don’t serve your gods, and don’t worship the golden image which you have set up.”
The Fiery Furnace
Then Nebuchadnezzar in rage and fury commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. Then these men were brought before the king. Nebuchadnezzar answered them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that y’all don’t serve my gods and you don’t worship the golden image which I have set up? Now when y’all hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music if y’all are ready to fall down and worship the image that I have made, good. But if y’all don’t worship, y’all will be cast the same hour into the middle of a burning fiery furnace. What god who will deliver you from my hands?”
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, “Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If our God whom we serve exists, ʜᴇ is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and ʜᴇ will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if ʜᴇ does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up.”
Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the facial image was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He spoke, and commanded that they should heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. He commanded certain mighty men who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their pants, their tunics, and their mantles, and their other clothes, and were cast into the middle of the burning fiery furnace. Therefore because the king’s commandment was urgent and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the middle of the burning fiery furnace.
Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished and rose up in haste. He spoke and said to his counselors, “Didn’t we cast three men bound into the middle of the fire?”
They answered the king, “Certainly, O king.”
He answered, “Look, I see four men loose, walking in the middle of the fire, and they are unharmed. The appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”
Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace. He spoke and said, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, y’all come out! Come here!”
Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the middle of the fire. The local governors, the deputies, and the governors, and the king’s counselors, gathered together. They saw these men, that the fire had no power on their bodies. The hair of their head wasn’t singed. Their pants weren’t changed. The smell of fire wasn’t even on them.
Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent ʜɪꜱ angel and delivered ʜɪꜱ servants who trusted in ʜɪᴍ, 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. Therefore I make a decree that every people, nation, and language which speak anything evil against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego will be cut in pieces, and their houses will be made a dunghill, because there is no other god who is able to deliver like this.”
Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.