Daniel 6

The new king sat on his throne. His name was Darius. He chose 120 satraps to rule all over his kingdom. A satrap was a governor who ruled one part of the land for the king.

Over all the satraps, Darius put three top leaders. The satraps answered to them, so that the king would not suffer loss. Daniel was one of the three.

Daniel was an old man by now. He had been taken from Jerusalem as a young man, about 70 years earlier (Daniel 1:1-6). He had served kings in Babylon ever since.

Daniel did his work better than all the others. The Bible says Daniel did this "by his extraordinary spirit" (6:3). Earlier in the book, this spirit showed itself as unusual wisdom and understanding (Daniel 5:12). So Darius made a plan. He would put Daniel in charge of the whole kingdom.

The other leaders and the satraps began to watch Daniel. They looked for a charge against him. A charge is a reason to accuse someone of doing wrong.

They could not find one. Daniel did not cheat. He was not lazy or careless. The Bible says "he was trustworthy" (6:4).

The Bible doesn't say exactly why they turned against Daniel. But the king's plan to promote Daniel came first. Then the hunt began.

At last the men said, "We will never find any charge against this Daniel, unless we find something against him concerning the law of his God" (6:5).

They knew Daniel was faithful to his God. His faith was the one thing they could use against him. So they made a plan to catch him, like a trap for an animal. This is a comparison.

The men went to the king together. They greeted him the way people greeted kings back then. "O King Darius, may you live forever" (6:6).

They said all the royal leaders had agreed on a new law. For thirty days, no one could pray to any god or any person except King Darius. Anyone who did would be thrown into the den of lions.

Daniel was one of the top royal leaders. The Bible does not say that anyone asked him.

The men asked the king to sign the law. They reminded him that under the law of the Medes and Persians, a signed law could never be changed.

So King Darius signed it.

The Bible doesn't say why Darius agreed. But remember what the law said. For thirty days, the king would be the only one anyone could ask for help.

Daniel heard that the law had been signed. He went home.

Daniel's house had an upper room. Its windows opened toward Jerusalem, his home city, far away across the desert.

One likely reason Daniel faced Jerusalem: long before, King Solomon had prayed for God's people. He asked God to hear them if they were ever taken captive and prayed toward Jerusalem (1 Kings 8:48). Daniel was a captive in a far land.

Three times a day, Daniel got down on his knees. He prayed, and he gave thanks to his God. He did this "just as he had done before" (6:10).

Daniel did not hide. He did not stop. He did not change anything. He prayed as he always had.

Then the men came as a group. They found Daniel praying and asking his God for help.

The men went to the king. They asked him about his law. They asked if he had signed a law about the lions' den.

The king said yes. "According to the law of the Medes and Persians the order stands, and it cannot be repealed" (6:12). Repealed means taken back.

Then the men carried out their plan. They said, "Daniel, one of the exiles from Judah, shows no regard for you, O king" (6:13). They said Daniel still prayed three times a day.

They did not call Daniel a leader or a loyal servant. They called him an exile, a person taken from his home by force.

When the king heard this, he was "deeply distressed" (6:14). Now the king's own law would send Daniel to the lions.

Darius set his mind on rescuing Daniel. He worked at it until the sun went down.

Then the men came back to the king together. They told him again that no law the king signed could ever be changed.

The most powerful man in the kingdom was trapped by his own law.

So the king gave the order. Daniel was brought and thrown into the lions' den.

Darius spoke to Daniel. "May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you" (6:16). Continually means all the time, without stopping. Deliver means rescue.

A stone was brought and placed over the opening of the den. The king sealed it with his own signet ring. A signet ring pressed the king's mark into soft clay. His nobles sealed it with their rings too. Now no one could change what happened to Daniel.

The king went back to his palace. He did not eat that night. Nothing was brought in to entertain him. He could not sleep.

Darius had more power than anyone in the land. But he could do nothing now except wait for morning.

At the first light of dawn, the king got up. He hurried to the lions' den.

When Darius reached the den, he cried out. His voice was full of anguish, a deep pain mixed with fear. "O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?" (6:20).

A voice came up from the den. "O king, may you live forever" (6:21).

It was Daniel. He was alive.

Daniel said, "My God sent His angel and shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me" (6:22). An angel is a messenger from God.

Daniel said God had found him innocent. He had done nothing wrong against the king either.

The king was overjoyed. He ordered his servants to lift Daniel out of the den. They found no wounds on Daniel at all. The Bible says this was "because he had trusted in his God" (6:23).

Then the king gave another order. This part of the story is very hard to read.

The men who had lied about Daniel were brought to the den. Their wives and their children were brought too. They were all thrown in.

The lions overpowered them before they reached the bottom of the den. They all died.

This was the king's command. The Bible does not say that God told him to do it. It also does not stop to say whether it was right or wrong. The wives and children had not set the trap. Christians have struggled with this passage for a long time. There is more about it below, under "Wait, what?"

Then King Darius wrote a letter. He sent it to every nation and every language in his land.

Darius ordered everyone in his kingdom to tremble in fear before the God of Daniel. He wrote, "For He is the living God, and He endures forever; His kingdom will never be destroyed, and His dominion will never end" (6:26). Dominion means rule.

Darius also wrote, "He delivers and rescues" (6:27). He said God does signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. He said God had rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.

Not long before, Darius had signed a law. It said that only the king could be asked for help. Now the same king told the whole world who really rescues.

Daniel did well for the rest of Darius's rule, and while Cyrus the Persian was king.