SHADRACH, MESHACH, AND ABEDNEGO ARE CAST INTO THE BURNING, FIERY FURNACE, BECAUSE THEY WILL NOT WORSHIP THE GOLDEN IMAGE. DANIEL INTERPRETS THE KING'S DREAM OF THE GREAT TREE. NEBUCHADNEZZAR, FOR HIS PRIDE, IS DRIVEN OUT TO LIVE WITH THE BEASTS OF THE FIELD.
NEBUCHADNEZZAR, the king, made an image of gold, and set it up on a plain in the province of Babylon. Then the king sent and called the princes, the governors, the captains, the judges, and all the rulers of his kingdom; and these great men came and were gathered together before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Then one of the king's servants called out in a loud voice to them, and said, It is commanded that so soon as you hear the sound of the harp, the flute, the trumpet, and all kinds of music, you shall fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar, the king, has set up. And whosoever falleth not down and worshippeth, shall that same hour be cast into the midst of a burning, fiery furnace. Then the king commanded the musicians to play, and as soon as the people heard the sound of the music, they all fell down and worshipped the golden image.
But some of the Chaldeans came to the king, and spoke against the Jews, saying, O king, live forever! Thou, O king, hast made a law that every man who shall hear the sound of the flute, the harp, the trumpet, and all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image, and that whosoever falleth not down and worshippeth, shall be cast into the burning, fiery furnace. There are some Jews whom thou hast set over the province of Babylon, named Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and these men, O King, have not obeyed thee, they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
Then Nebuchadnezzar, because these men had not obeyed him, commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and they brought them before the king. And Nebuchadnezzar spoke to them, and said, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that ye do not serve my gods, nor worship the golden image that I have set up? Now, if you be ready when you shall hear the sound of the harp, the flute, the trumpet, and all kinds of music, and fall down and worship the image I have made, no harm shall be done to you; but if you worship not, you shall be cast, the same hour, into the midst of a burning, fiery furnace; and who is the God that is able to save you out of my hands?
Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered, and said to the king, We are not afraid to tell thee what we will do in this matter. If thou wilt cast us into the burning, fiery furnace, our God, whom we serve, is able to save us from death, and he will save us out of thy hand, O king. Yet even if he let us burn, we tell thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image that thou hast set up.
Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury. He looked in fierce anger on Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and said to his servants that they should heat the furnace seven times hotter than it was heated before. And he commanded the most mighty soldiers in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and cast them into it. Then these three men were bound, in their coats, their hats, and their other garments, and were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. And because the furnace was exceeding hot, and the king made them go near to it, the flame killed the men who cast Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in; and these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down, bound, into the midst of the fire. But soon they rose up, and walked in the fire; for God would not let it burn them.
Then Nebuchadnezzar, the king, was astonished, and he said in haste to the rulers and great men who were with him, Did we not cast three wee are a men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered, We did, O king. And he said, Lo, I see four men loose and walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt. And the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning, fiery furnace, and cried out and said, Shadrach, Meshach, THE FIERY FURNACE. and Abednego, ye servants of the Most High God, come out and come here. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the midst of the fire. And the princes, the governors, and the captains, who were gathered together, saw these men whom the fire had not hurt, nor was a hair of their heads burned, neither were their coats changed, nor was the smell of the fire upon them.
Then Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and saved his servants that trusted in him. Therefore I make a decree and a law, that every nation and people which shall speak evil of the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be destroyed, and their houses shall be torn down and made into heaps; for there is no other God that can save like him. Then the king made Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego greater than they, had been before in the province of Babylon.
Now Babylon was a very great city. The river Euphrates ran through the midst of it, so that part of the city was on one side of the river and part on the other. The walls around Babylon were sixty miles long. They had in them one hundred gates, all made of brass. Built up above the walls were high towers. The palace of King Nebuchadnezzar was of great size, and ornamented with statues of men and animals, with vessels of gold and silver, and with many other costly and beautiful things which he had taken from the nations that he made to serve him.
Near to his palace were large gardens, called The Hanging Gardens, because they were raised high up in the air, on the sides of a hill. We read (not in the Bible, but in other books which tell us about him), that Nebuchadnezzar made these gardens to please his wife. She had lived, while she was young, in a hilly country. When the king married her and brought her to Babylon, which stood on a wide, level plain, she longed for hills and woods, like those in the land where she was born. Then Nebuchadnezzar had this great hill made, four hundred feet high, and planted its sides with trees and bushes and flowers. Steps led up to its top, and water was drawn from the river that flowed through the city, to water the gardens that were planted upon it. From a distance it looked like a mountain covered with woods.
And Nebuchadnezzar lived in Babylon. He was a mighty king, and had princes and rulers for his servants, who, because they wanted to please him, told him of his greatness and praised everything that he did; so that he forgot God, and thought only of his own riches and power. Then God was displeased, and sent a strange punishment upon him. But, after he had been punished, Nebuchadnezzar repented of his sins, and he sent to all the people of his kingdom, and to all the nations of the earth, an account of what God had done to him.
He said, I thought it right to tell you of the wonderful things that God has done to me. I had gained the victory over my enemies, and was at rest in my palace, with nothing to trouble me, when I had a dream that made me afraid. Therefore, I called all the wise men of Babylon and told them my dream. But they could not interpret it. At last came Daniel before me, in whom is the Spirit of God; and I told him my dream. I said to him, I saw a tree that stood in the midst of a wide plain, and the height of it was great. The tree grew and was strong, and it reached up to heaven, and its branches spread out to the ends of the earth. The leaves of it were green, and the fruit plentiful. The beasts of the field lay down under its shadow, and the birds of the air made their nests in its branches, and everything that lived came to it for food.
And I saw in my dream a holy angel come down from heaven. He cried with a loud voice, Hew down the tree, and cut off its branches, shake off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts get away from under it, and the birds from its branches. Yet leave the stump of the tree in the ground, where the dew shall fall upon it and wet it. Let it be with the beasts out in the field, until seven years are past. This dream I, Nebuchadnezzar, have seen. Now, O Daniel, tell me the interpretation of it, because all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make it known to me. But thou art able, for the Spirit of God is in thee.
Then Daniel was troubled, and afraid to answer the king. But the king said to him, Let not the dream trouble thee, and do not fear to tell me the interpretation of it. Then Daniel said, The tree which thou sawest, which grew and was strong, whose height reached to heaven, under which the beasts lay down, and among whose branches the birds built their nests—that tree means thee, O king, who hast grown great and full of power, and whose kingdom reaches to the end of the earth. And as thou didst see a holy angel coming down from heaven, and saying, Cut down the tree and destroy it, yet leave the stump of its roots in the earth, and let it be wet with dew, and be with the wild beasts of the field, till seven years pass over it; this is the interpretation, O king, and this is what God has said shall be done to thee. Thou shalt not stay in thy palace to be waited on by thy servants and to live among men. But they shall drive thee out to live with the beasts of the field; thou shalt eat grass like oxen, and lie upon the ground like them, and be wet with the dew, till thou hast learned that God rules over all the nations of the earth, and makes whomsoever he will to be king.
And all of Daniel's words came true. At the end of twelve months Nebuchadnezzar was walking in his palace of the kingdom of Babylon. And as he looked out upon that mighty city, its walls, its temples, its palaces, and its gardens, his heart was full of pride; he forgot that it was God who had made him to be king, and he said, Is not this great Babylon that I have built, by my own power and for my own greatness? While the words were yet in the king's mouth, there came a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, the kingdom is taken from thee. And they shall drive thee from men, and thou shalt live with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee eat grass like oxen, and seven years shall pass over thee, until thou knowest that God rules over all the nations of the earth, and makes whomsoever he will to be king.
In that same hour, God took from king Nebuchadnezzar his reason, so that he was no longer fit to rule over his kingdom, or to live among men. And he was driven out and did eat grass like oxen, and lay upon the ground, and his body was wet with the dew, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers and his nails like birds' claws.
But when the seven years were ended, king Nebuchadnezzar said, I looked up to heaven, and my reason came back to me, and I praised God and honored him who lives forever, and whose kingdom shall have no end. He doeth what he will, in heaven and on earth, and no man can hold back his hand, or ask why he doeth anything. And when my reason came back to me, so did my honor and my kingdom. For the rulers and governors sought for me, and I was made king again, and all my greatness was given me. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and honor God, the king of heaven, who doeth only what is just and true; and those that are proud he is able to bring down.