Tell the Story
Daniel and the Lions’ Den
6 It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 120 satraps, to be throughout the whole kingdom; 2 and over them three high officials, of whom Daniel was one, to whom these satraps should give account, so that the king might suffer no loss. 3 Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other high officials and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him. And the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. 4 Then the high officials and the satraps sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom, but they could find no ground for complaint or any fault, because he was faithful, and no error or fault was found in him. 5 Then these men said, “We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God.”
6 Then these high officials and satraps came by agreement1 to the king and said to him, “O King Darius, live forever! 7 All the high officials of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the counselors and the governors are agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an injunction, that whoever makes petition to any god or man for thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions. 8 Now, O king, establish the injunction and sign the document, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked.” 9 Therefore King Darius signed the document and injunction.
10 When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously. 11 Then these men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and plea before his God. 12 Then they came near and said before the king, concerning the injunction, “O king! Did you not sign an injunction, that anyone who makes petition to any god or man within thirty days except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?” The king answered and said, “The thing stands fast, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be revoked.” 13 Then they answered and said before the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or the injunction you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.”
14 Then the king, when he heard these words, was much distressed and set his mind to deliver Daniel. And he labored till the sun went down to rescue him. 15 Then these men came by agreement to the king and said to the king, “Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no injunction or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed.”
16 Then the king commanded, and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions. The king declared2 to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!” 17 And a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. 18 Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; no diversions were brought to him, and sleep fled from him.
19 Then, at break of day, the king arose and went in haste to the den of lions. 20 As he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish. The king declared to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?” 21 Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! 22 My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.” 23 Then the king was exceedingly glad, and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. 24 And the king commanded, and those men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and cast into the den of lions—they, their children, and their wives. And before they reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones in pieces.
25 Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: “Peace be multiplied to you. 26 I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel,
for he is the living God,
enduring forever;
his kingdom shall never be destroyed,
and his dominion shall be to the end.
27 He delivers and rescues;
he works signs and wonders
in heaven and on earth,
he who has saved Daniel
from the power of the lions.”
28 So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
After Nebuchadnezzar died, his grandson Belshazzar reigned in his place as king in Babylon. But after Belshazzar was killed, a new line of kings and a new kingdom rose to power—as Daniel predicted. Babylon was overtaken by the Medes and the Persians, and Darius was the new king.
Darius organized his reign with various rulers over different parts of the kingdom. Daniel was one of the key rulers. Some of the other rulers were jealous because the king thought so highly of Daniel. They tried to find a reason to get Daniel in trouble, but Daniel was so careful and so faithful that they found no complaints to bring before the king.
Instead they got busy on a nasty plan. The rulers flattered the king. “You are an amazing king,” they said. “You ought to make a law that forbids your subjects to worship any god but you. And if they worship another god, you should throw them into the den of lions.” The king must have thought himself pretty important because he thought this was a swell idea. He signed the document, and it became the law of the land.
Daniel had been a good helper for Darius, but he knew Darius was no god. Daniel worshiped the true God—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—and prayed to the Lord three times a day. Just because the new law said everyone needed to pray to Darius didn’t mean Daniel was going to stop praying to the real God.
When the jealous leaders saw Daniel praying to the Lord—just like they knew he would—they hurried to the palace to tattle to the king. Darius was upset. He never meant for his friend to be fed to the lions, but he had signed the decree, and now he didn’t dare change it. As Daniel was cast into the den, the king cried out, “May your God deliver you!” The den was covered with a stone and sealed with the king’s own ring. Darius returned to his home a sad man. He didn’t sleep all night.
As soon as it was morning, the king got up and ran to the lion’s den. He yelled out in a panic, like your mom might if she saw you riding your bike in the middle of the road. Darius said, “O Daniel, has your God kept you safe from the lions?” I bet the king was nervous about what he would hear next. Would it be the voice of Daniel or the roar of a well-fed lion? “I’m okay!” Daniel replied. “My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths. I am innocent before God and have done nothing to harm you, O king.”
The king was glad. He ordered Daniel to be set free and commanded the wicked men and their families to be cast into the den of lions. Before they hit the ground, the sleeping lions woke up and did their worst. Then King Darius signed a new decree calling on all the people to tremble and fear before the
God of Daniel—the God who performs mighty signs and is mighty to save. Darius saw firsthand that the true God could do what the king of the Medes
and Persians couldn’t do.
