The 3 men in the fire
1King Nebuchadnezzar made a big statue. It was made of gold and it was 60 cubits high and 6 cubits wide. He put the statue upright in the Dura Valley in the land of Babylon. 2Then King Nebuchadnezzar called all the important_officials in the land to be there when they dedicated the statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had made and put upright. 3All the important_officials in the land came to be there when they dedicated the statue. They all stood in front of the statue that the king had made.
4Then one of the king's officials talked very loudly and said: ‘All of you who come from other lands and speak different languages, you must listen to what the king says: 5When they start to play music, you must bow down to the golden statue that Nebuchadnezzar has made and you must worship the statue. 6My men will take each person who does not bow down and immediately throw him into a big fire.’
7All the people who came from other lands and who talked different languages did what the king had said. Every time they started to play music, the people bowed down and worshipped the golden statue that Nebuchadnezzar had made.
8But one day some of the wise men came to the king and complained about the people who came from Judah. 9The wise men told King Nebuchadnezzar: ‘Your_Majesty, we hope you will live forever. 10You said everyone must bow down and worship the golden statue when the music plays, 11and your men will take anyone who does not bow down, and throw him into a big fire. 12But there are men who came from Judah who don't want to do what you have said. They are Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They are the men that you have chosen to help rule the land of Babylon. They don't want to serve your god. They don't want to bow down and worship the statue that you have made.’
13King Nebuchadnezzar became very angry. He told his soldiers to bring Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to him. When they came to King Nebuchadnezzar, 14he said to them: ‘Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, is it true that you do not want to serve my god? Is it true that you do not want to bow down and worship the statue that I have made? 15Now, if the music plays and you bow down and worship the golden statue that I have made, it will be good, and there will be no problem. But if you don't bow down, my men will take you immediately and throw you in the big fire. I will do it to you. There is no god who can stop me.’
16Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego said to King Nebuchadnezzar: ‘We don't need to explain this to you. We know that we did the right thing. 17Our God can save us. We serve Him and He will keep us from burning in the fire. 18But, Your_Majesty, you must know that even if our God does not save us, we will not serve your god and we will not worship the statue that you have made.’
19Nebuchadnezzar became very angry with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. He told his men to make the fire 7 times hotter than it always was. 20Then he told his soldiers to tie Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and to throw them into the fire. 21The soldiers tied them and threw them into the fire. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were still wearing all their clothes. 22The king told them to make the fire hotter, and it was very hot. When the soldiers threw the 3 men into the fire, the flames burnt the soldiers and they died. 23The 3 men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, fell into the furnace. Their hands and feet were tied.
24But then King Nebuchadnezzar became afraid and he stood up. He asked his advisors: ‘Did you throw 3 men into the fire? Did you tie them before you threw them in?’ They said to the king: ‘Yes, Your_Majesty, that is right.’
25Then the king said: ‘But now I see 4 men. They are not tied up and they are walking in the fire and they are all right. I see that the 4th man looks like an angel.’
26Nebuchadnezzar went to the door of the big furnace where the fire was. He said: ‘Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out.’ They came out. 27The important_officials all came to look at them and they saw that the fire had not burnt the 3 men. It had not even burnt the hair on their heads. Their clothes were still the same and they did not smell like fire.
28Then Nebuchadnezzar said: ‘I praise the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. He sent his angel and He saved his servants. They believed that He would help them and they did not do what the king said. They thought it was better to die than to disobey their own God. They did not want to serve any other god. 29That is why I say: All people in all the lands must honour the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. If someone says anything bad against their God, my soldiers will kill him and cut him into pieces and destroy his house. There is no other god who can save like this God.’
30After that, the king was very good to Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the land of Babylon.
