We inquired of those elders, asking them, ‘Who gave you the authority to rebuild this temple and to complete this structure?’

Even when I must walk through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for you are with me; your rod and your staff reassure me. ¹ 

May I hear about your loyal love in the morning, ¹  for I trust in you. Show me the way I should go, ²  because I long for you. ³ 

Until the dawn arrives ¹  and the shadows flee, I will go up to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense.

Do not chase after other gods until your shoes wear out and your throats become dry. ¹  But you say, ‘It is useless for you to try and stop me because I love those foreign gods ²  and want to pursue them!’

Then Nebuchadnezzar in a fit of rage ¹  demanded that they bring ²  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego before him. So they brought them ³  before the king.

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 

So these men concluded, ¹  “We won’t find any pretext against this man Daniel unless it is ²  in connection with the law of his God.”

When such a person ¹  hears the words of this oath he secretly ²  blesses himself ³  and says, “I will have peace though I continue to walk with a stubborn spirit.” ⁴  This will destroy ⁵  the watered ground with the parched. ⁶ 

She said, “I will indeed go with you. But you will not gain fame ¹  on the expedition you are undertaking, ²  for the Lord will turn Sisera over to a woman.” ³  Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh.

But Ruth replied, “Stop urging me to abandon you! ¹  For wherever you go, I will go. Wherever you live, I will live. Your people will become my people, and your God will become my God.

But when I leave you, the Lord’s spirit will carry you away so I can’t find you. ¹  If I go tell Ahab I’ve seen you, he won’t be able to find you and he will kill me. ²  That would not be fair, ³  because your servant has been a loyal follower of ⁴  the Lord from my youth.

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 

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!

Then those men came by collusion to the king and ¹  said to him, ²  “Recall, ³  O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no edict or decree that the king issues can be changed.”

The king gave another order, ¹  and those men who had maliciously accused ²  Daniel were brought and thrown ³  into the lions’ den – they, their children, and their wives. ⁴  They did not even reach the bottom of the den before the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.

But there are Jewish men whom you appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon – Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego – and these men ¹  have not shown proper respect to you, O king. They don’t serve your gods and they don’t pay homage to the golden statue that you have erected.”