Endure RSV

Daniel 3:10-30 You, O king, have made a decree, that every man who hears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image;

and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into a burning fiery furnace.

There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon; Shad'rach, Me'shach, and A-bed'ne-go. These men, O king, pay no heed to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up."

Then Ne-bu-chad-nez'zar in furious rage commanded that Shad'rach, Me'shach, and A-bed'ne-go be brought. Then they sought these men before the king.

Ne-bu-chad-nez'zar said to them, "Is it true, O Shad'rach, Me'shach, and A-bed'ne-go, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image which I have set up?

Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image which I have made, well and good;  but if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace; and who is the god  that will deliver you out of my hands?"

Shad'rach, Me'shach, and A-bed'ne-go answered the king, "O  Ne-bu-chad-nez'zar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.

If it be so, 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.

But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up."

Then Ne-bu-chad-nez'zar was full of fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shad'rach, Me'shach, and A-bed'ne-go. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was wont to be heated.

And he ordered certain mighty men of his army to bind Shad'rach, Me'shach, and A-bed'ne-go, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.

Then these men were bound in their mantles, their tunics, their hats, and their other garments, and they were cast into the burning fiery furnace.

Because the king's order was strict and the furnace very hot, the flame of the fire slew those men who took up Shad'rach, Me'shach, and A-bed'ne-go.

And these three men, Shad'rach, Me'shach, and A-bed'ne-go, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace.

Then King Ne-bu-chad-nez'zar was astonished and rose up in haste. He said to his counselors, "Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?" They answered the king, "True, O king."

He answered, "But I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt, and  the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods."

Then Ne-bu-chad-nez'zar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace and said, "Shad'rach, Me'shach, and A-bed'ne-go, servants of the Most High God, come forth, and come here!" Then Shad'rach, Me'shach, and A-bed'ne-go came out from the fire.

And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king's counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not any power over the bodies of those men; the hair of their heads was not singed, their mantles were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them.

Ne-bu-chad-nez'zar said, "Blessed be the God of Shad'rach, Me'shach, and A-bed'ne-go, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and sent at nought the king's command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship  any god except their own  God.

Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shad'rach, Me'shach, and A-bed'ne-go shall be torn limb form limb, and their houses laid in ruins; for there is no other god who is able to deliver in this way."

Then the king promoted Shad'rach, Me'shach, and A-bed'ne-go in the province of Babylon.