¹It pleased Darius to appoint one hundred and twenty satraps over the kingdom, who were to be distributed throughout all the kingdom, ²and over them three ministers, of whom Daniel was one, to whom these satraps would give a report, so that the king would not be in danger. ³Then this Daniel distinguished himself more than the other ministers and satraps, because there was a prodigious spirit in him, and the king proposed to appoint him over the whole kingdom. ⁴At this the ministers and satraps tried to find a pretext against Daniel from the standpoint of the kingdom, but they could not find any pretext or corrupt practice, because he was faithful, and no negligence or corrupt practice was found concerning him. ⁵So these men said, “We shall not find any pretext against this Daniel, except when we find something against him in the formalities of his God.” ⁶Then these ministers and satraps assembled with the king and spoke as follows to him: “O King Darius, live age-abidingly. ⁷All the ministers of the kingdom, the administrators and the satraps, the attendants and the governors have taken counsel together to establish a statute, O king, and to issue a prohibition, that anyone who prays for a request from any god or man for thirty days except from you, O king, will be thrown into the lions' den. ⁸Now then, O king, ratify the prohibition, and draw up the document which is immutable according to the law of Media and Persia, so that it does not lapse.” ⁹On account of this, King Darius drew up the document and the prohibition. ¹⁰Then when Daniel came to know that the document had been drawn up, he went into his house with his windows open in his upper room facing Jerusalem, and three times a day he knelt down on his knees and prayed and gave praise before his God, just as he used to do before this. ¹¹Then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and seeking mercy before his God. ¹²At this they went up to the king and said in his presence concerning the king's prohibition, “Did you not draw up a prohibition that anyone who prays for a request from any god or man for thirty days except from you, O king, would be thrown into the lions' den?” The king answered and said, “The words are fixed according to the law of Media and Persia which does not lapse.” ¹³To this they replied and said in the king's presence, “Daniel, who is one of the deportees from Judah, has not heeded you, O king, or the prohibition which you drew up, and he prays for his request three times a day.” ¹⁴Then when the king heard the words, it grieved him greatly. And concerning Daniel, he applied his mind to deliver him, and up to sunset he made efforts to save him. ¹⁵Then these men assembled to the king and said to the king, “Be aware, O king, that the law of Media and Persia is such that no prohibition or statute which the king establishes is open to change.” ¹⁶So the king gave commandment, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions' den. The king addressed him and said to Daniel, “Your God, whom you constantly worship, will save you.” ¹⁷And a stone was brought, and it was placed on the entrance to the den, and the king sealed it with his seal ring and with the seal ring of his high-ranking officials, so that the plot against Daniel should not change. ¹⁸Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting, and he did not have entertainment come before him, and his sleep evaded him. ¹⁹Then at dawn the king arose, at first light, and he went hastily to the lions' den. ²⁰And as he approached the den, he called out in a sad voice to Daniel, and the king spoke and said to Daniel, “Daniel, servant of the living God, was your God, whom you worship continually, able to save you from the lions?” ²¹Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live age-abidingly. ²²My God has sent his angel and closed the lions' mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found to be innocent before him, and I haven't done anything injurious before you either, O king.” ²³At this the king was very pleased about him, and he gave commandment to bring Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was brought up out of the den, and no harm was found on him, because he had put trust in his God. ²⁴And the king gave commandment, and they brought those men who had slandered Daniel, and they threw them, their sons, and their wives into the lions' den. And they had not landed at the bottom of the den before the lions overpowered them, and they crushed all their bones. ²⁵Then Darius the king wrote to all the peoples, nations and languages who lived in the whole earth, “May your peace increase. ²⁶A decree is hereby issued by me that in every administrative region of my kingdom, they tremble and fear before Daniel's God,

For he is the living God,

Who endures throughout the ages,

Whose kingdom will not be destroyed,

And whose dominion is up to the end.

²⁷He saves and rescues

And performs signs and wonders

In heaven and on earth,

For he saved Daniel

From the reach of the lions.”

²⁸And this Daniel prospered in the kingdom of Darius and in the kingdom of Cyrus the Persian.

Reference(s) in Chapter 6: v.25 ↔ 1 Peter 1:2.