Daniel · Bible in Basic English
Daniel 3 Bible in Basic English
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, sixty cubits high and six cubits wide: he put it up in the valley of Dura, in the land of Babylon.
1 Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits and its width six cubits. He set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.
2 And Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to get together all the captains, the chiefs, the rulers, the wise men, the keepers of public money, the judges, the overseers, and all the rulers of the divisions of the country, to come to see the unveiling of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had put up.
2 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.
3 Then the captains, the chiefs, the rulers, the wise men, the keepers of public money, the judges, the overseers, and all the rulers of the divisions of the country, came together to see the unveiling of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had put up; and they took their places before the image which Nebuchadnezzar had put up.
3 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.
4 Then one of the king's criers said in a loud voice, To you the order is given, O peoples, nations, and languages,
4 Then the herald cried aloud, “To you it is commanded, peoples, nations, and languages,
5 That when the sound of the horn, pipe, harp, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe, and all sorts of instruments, comes to your ears, you are to go down on your faces in worship before the image of gold which Nebuchadnezzar the king has put up:
5 that whenever you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music, you fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up.
6 And anyone not falling down and worshipping will that same hour be put into a burning and flaming fire.
6 Whoever doesn’t fall down and worship shall be cast into the middle of a burning fiery furnace the same hour.”
7 So at that time, all the people, when the sound of the horn, pipe, harp, trigon, psaltery, and all sorts of instruments, came to their ears, went down on their faces in worship before the image of gold which Nebuchadnezzar the king had put up.
7 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.
8 At that time certain Chaldaeans came near and made a statement against the Jews.
8 Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near and brought accusation against the Jews.
9 They made answer and said to Nebuchadnezzar the king, O King, have life for ever.
9 They answered Nebuchadnezzar the king, “O king, live for ever!
10 You, O King, have given an order that every man, when the sound of the horn, pipe, harp, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe, and all sorts of instruments, comes to his ears, is to go down on his face in worship before the image of gold:
10 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 shall fall down and worship the golden image;
11 And anyone not falling down and worshipping is to be put into a burning and flaming fire.
11 and whoever doesn’t fall down and worship shall be cast into the middle of a burning fiery furnace.
12 There are certain Jews whom you have put over the business of the land of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego; these men have not given attention to you, O King: they are not servants of your gods or worshippers of the gold image which you have put up.
12 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.”
13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in his wrath and passion gave orders for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego to be sent for. Then they made these men come in before the king.
13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in rage and fury commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. Then these men were brought before the king.
14 Nebuchadnezzar made answer and said to them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, that you will not be servants of my god or give worship to the image of gold which I have put up?
14 Nebuchadnezzar answered them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you don’t serve my gods and you don’t worship the golden image which I have set up?
15 Now if you are ready, on hearing the sound of the horn, pipe, harp, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe, and all sorts of instruments, to go down on your faces in worship before the image which I have made, it is well: but if you will not give worship, that same hour you will be put into a burning and flaming fire; and what god is there who will be able to take you out of my hands?
15 Now if you are ready whenever you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music to fall down and worship the image which I have made, good; but if you don’t worship, you shall be cast the same hour into the middle of a burning fiery furnace. Who is that god who will deliver you out of my hands?”
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, answering Nebuchadnezzar the king, said, There is no need for us to give you an answer to this question.
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, “Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.
17 If our God, whose servants we are, is able to keep us safe from the burning and flaming fire, and from your hands, O King, he will keep us safe.
17 If it happens, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.
18 But if not, be certain, O King, that we will not be the servants of your gods, or give worship to the image of gold which you have put up.
18 But if 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.”
19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of wrath, and the form of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego: and he gave orders that the fire was to be heated up seven times more than it was generally heated.
19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the form of his appearance 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.
20 And he gave orders to certain strong men in his army to put cords on Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego and put them into the burning and flaming fire.
20 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.
21 Then these men had cords put round them as they were, in their coats, their trousers, their hats, and their clothing, and were dropped into the burning and flaming fire.
21 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.
22 And because the king's order was not to be put on one side, and the heat of the fire was so great, the men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego were burned to death by the flame of the fire.
22 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.
23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, with the cords about them, went down into the burning and flaming fire.
23 These three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the middle of the burning fiery furnace.
24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar, full of fear and wonder, got up quickly, and said to his wise men, Did we not put three men in cords into the fire? and they made answer and said to the king, True, O King.
24 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, “True, O king.”
25 He made answer and said, Look! I see four men loose, walking in the middle of the fire, and they are not damaged; and the form of the fourth is like a son of the gods.
25 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.”
26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near the door of the burning and flaming fire: he made answer and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, you servants of the Most High God, come out and come here. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego came out of the fire.
26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace. He spoke and said, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, you servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the middle of the fire.
27 And the captains, the chiefs, and the rulers, and the king's wise men who had come together, saw these men, over whose bodies the fire had no power, and not a hair of their heads was burned, and their coats were not changed, and there was no smell of fire about them.
27 The local governors, the deputies, and the governors, and the king’s counselors, being gathered together, 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.
28 Nebuchadnezzar made answer and said, Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who has sent his angel and kept his servants safe who had faith in him, and who put the king's word on one side and gave up their bodies to the fire, so that they might not be servants or worshippers of any other god but their God.
28 Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him, 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.
29 And it is my decision that any people, nation, or language saying evil against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, will be cut to bits and their houses made waste: because there is no other god who is able to give salvation such as this.
29 Therefore I make a decree that every people, nation, and language which speak anything evil against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill, because there is no other god who is able to deliver like this.”
30 Then the king gave Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego even greater authority in the land of Babylon.
30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.
Cross references (28)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Jeremiah 16:20; Habakkuk 2:19; Isaiah 46:6; Hosea 8:4; Acts 19:26
- 2 Daniel 3:27; Proverbs 29:12; Daniel 6:1–4; Exodus 32:4–6; Daniel 6:6–7
- 3 Revelation 17:17; Revelation 17:13; Revelation 13:13–16; Romans 1:21–28; Romans 3:11
- 4 Daniel 6:25; Daniel 4:1; Micah 6:16; Daniel 4:14; Hosea 5:11
- 5 Daniel 3:15; Daniel 3:10; Daniel 3:7
- 6 Matthew 13:50; Matthew 13:42; Jeremiah 29:22; Daniel 3:15; Daniel 3:11
- 7 1 John 5:19; Revelation 12:9; Revelation 13:8; Revelation 13:3; Revelation 17:8
- 8 Ezra 4:12–16; Daniel 6:12–13; Esther 3:8–9; Daniel 2:10; Acts 16:20–22
- 9 Daniel 5:10; Daniel 6:6; Daniel 6:21; Daniel 2:4; Daniel 3:4–5
- 10 Daniel 3:4–7; Esther 3:12–14; Daniel 6:12; Psalm 94:20; Exodus 1:22
- 12 Daniel 6:13; Daniel 2:49; Acts 17:7; Proverbs 27:4; 1 Samuel 18:7–11
- 13 Daniel 3:19; Daniel 2:12; Esther 3:5–6; 1 Samuel 20:30–33; Proverbs 17:12
- 14 Jeremiah 50:2; Daniel 3:1; Isaiah 46:1; Daniel 4:8; Exodus 21:13–14
- 15 Acts 5:29; 2 Chronicles 32:15–17; Daniel 3:17; Exodus 5:2; 2 Kings 18:35
- 16 Daniel 1:7; Daniel 3:12
- 17 Romans 8:31; Luke 1:37; Hebrews 7:25; Psalm 27:1–2; Isaiah 26:3–4
- 18 Acts 5:29–32; Matthew 10:39; Revelation 2:10–11; Matthew 10:32–33; Luke 12:3–9
- 19 Daniel 3:13; Leviticus 26:24; Leviticus 26:28; Proverbs 21:24; Acts 5:33
- 20 Acts 16:25; Daniel 3:15; Acts 16:23; Acts 12:4–5
- 22 Proverbs 11:8; Proverbs 21:18; Acts 12:19; Matthew 27:5; Daniel 6:24
- 23 Jeremiah 38:6; Daniel 6:16–17; Psalm 34:19; Psalm 124:1–5; Psalm 66:11–12
- 24 Daniel 6:22; Daniel 6:7; Acts 26:13; Daniel 3:17; Daniel 3:9–10
- 25 Isaiah 43:2; Acts 28:5; Mark 16:18; Psalm 91:3–9; Job 1:6
- 26 Daniel 3:17; Daniel 4:2; Revelation 19:5; Isaiah 52:12; Genesis 14:18
- 27 Isaiah 43:2; Hebrews 11:34; Isaiah 26:11; Psalm 83:18; Matthew 10:30
- 28 Romans 14:7–8; Psalm 34:7–8; Psalm 84:11–12; Exodus 20:5; Revelation 12:11
- 29 Daniel 2:5; Daniel 6:26–27; Psalm 76:10; Deuteronomy 32:31; Ezra 6:11
- 30 1 Samuel 2:30; Daniel 2:49; Daniel 3:12; Psalm 91:14; John 12:26
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
… seen with those who were around Ananias, Azarias, Mishael, as present with them in the furnace of fire, in the burning, and preserving them from [the effects of] fire: "And the appearance of the fourth," it is said, "was like to the Son of God." At another time [He is represented as] "a stone cut out of the mountain without …
Let us fear that death which the three men feared when they said to the king, "God is able to deliver us even from that flame; and if not," etc. There was there the fear of that death which the Lord now threatens, when they said, But also if He be not willing openly to deliver us, He can crown …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 7 (1888)
… willing even to permit them to be burnt; lest, if this should come to pass, they might seem to be speaking falsehoods; they add this also and say, "If this happen not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we serve not thy gods." For had they said, "Sins are the cause of His not delivering us, should He …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)
and, lo, I do see four walking in the midst of the fire, and the fourth is like the Son of God." Neither the nature of any created thing, therefore, nor the weakness of the flesh, can prevail against the will of God.
And who else save the three men Ananias, Azariah, and Mishael, ever walked about unharmed in flames that blazed and did not burn?
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 7 (1888)