Whoever does not bow down and pay homage will immediately ¹  be thrown into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire!”

And whoever does not bow down and pay homage must be thrown into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire.

Then Nebuchadnezzar approached the door of the furnace of blazing fire. He called out, ¹  “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the most high God, come out! Come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego emerged from the fire. ² 

Once the satraps, prefects, governors, and ministers of the king had gathered around, they saw that those men were physically ¹  unharmed by the fire. ²  The hair of their heads was not singed, nor were their trousers damaged. Not even the smell of fire was to be found on them!

“While I was watching, thrones were set up, and the Ancient of Days ¹  took his seat. His attire was white like snow; the hair of his head was like lamb’s ²  wool. His throne was ablaze with fire and its wheels were all aflame. ³ 

If ¹  our God whom we are serving exists, ²  he is able to rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and he will rescue us, O king, from your power as well.

He ordered strong ¹  soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and to throw them into the furnace of blazing fire.

So those men were tied up while still wearing their cloaks, trousers, turbans, and other clothes, ¹  and were thrown into the furnace ²  of blazing fire.

But those three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell into the furnace ¹  of blazing fire while still securely bound. ² 

But since the king’s command was so urgent, and the furnace was so excessively hot, the men who escorted ¹  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were killed ²  by the leaping flames. ³ 

Then King Nebuchadnezzar was startled and quickly got up. He said to his ministers, “Wasn’t it three men that we tied up and threw ¹  into ²  the fire?” They replied to the king, “For sure, O king.”

He answered, “But I see four men, untied and walking around in the midst of the fire! No harm has come to them! And the appearance of the fourth is like that of a god!” ¹ 

A river of fire was streaming forth and proceeding from his presence. Many thousands were ministering to him; Many tens of thousands stood ready to serve him. ¹  The court convened ²  and the books were opened.

Now if you are ready, when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, trigon, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, you must bow down and pay homage to the statue that I had made. If you don’t pay homage to it, you will immediately be thrown into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire. Now, who is that god who can rescue you from my power?” ¹