Daniel 3:16-28

3:16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to King Nebuchadnezzar, ¹  “We do not need to give you a reply ²  concerning this. 3:17 If ³  our God whom we are serving exists, ⁴  he is able to rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and he will rescue us, O king, from your power as well. 3:18 But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we don’t serve your gods, and we will not pay homage to the golden statue that you have erected.”

3:19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage, and his disposition changed ⁵  toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He gave orders ⁶  to heat the furnace seven times hotter than it was normally heated. 3:20 He ordered strong ⁷  soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and to throw them into the furnace of blazing fire. 3:21 So those men were tied up while still wearing their cloaks, trousers, turbans, and other clothes, ⁸  and were thrown into the furnace ⁹  of blazing fire. 3:22 But since the king’s command was so urgent, and the furnace was so excessively hot, the men who escorted ¹⁰  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were killed ¹¹  by the leaping flames. ¹²  3:23 But those three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell into the furnace ¹³  of blazing fire while still securely bound. ¹⁴ 

God Delivers His Servants

3:24 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 ¹⁵  into ¹⁶  the fire?” They replied to the king, “For sure, O king.” 3:25 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!” ¹⁷  3:26 Then Nebuchadnezzar approached the door of the furnace of blazing fire. He called out, ¹⁸  “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the most high God, come out! Come here!”

Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego emerged from the fire. ¹⁹  3:27 Once the satraps, prefects, governors, and ministers of the king had gathered around, they saw that those men were physically ²⁰  unharmed by the fire. ²¹  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!

3:28 Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, ²²  “Praised be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent forth his angel ²³  and has rescued his servants who trusted in him, ignoring ²⁴  the edict of the king and giving up their bodies rather than ²⁵  serve or pay homage to any god other than their God!

Matthew 7:22-23

7:22 On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons and do ²⁶  many powerful deeds?’ 7:23 Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Go away from me, you lawbreakers!’ ²⁷ 

John 13:37

13:37 Peter said to him, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you!” ²⁸ 

John 15:13

15:13 No one has greater love than this – that one lays down his life ²⁹  for his friends.

Acts 21:13

21:13 Then Paul replied, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking ³⁰  my heart? For I am ready not only to be tied up, ³¹  but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

Philippians 1:20-21

1:20 My confident hope ³²  is that I will in no way be ashamed ³³  but that with complete boldness, even now as always, Christ will be exalted in my body, whether I live or die. ³⁴  1:21 For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain.

Philippians 2:3

2:3 Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition ³⁵  or vanity, each of you should, in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself.

[3:16]  ¹ tc In the MT this word is understood to begin the following address (“answered and said to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar’”). However, it seems unlikely that Nebuchadnezzar’s subordinates would address the king in such a familiar way, particularly in light of the danger that they now found themselves in. The present translation implies moving the atnach from “king” to “Nebuchadnezzar.”

[3:16]  ² tn Aram “to return a word to you.”

[3:17]  ³ tc The ancient versions typically avoid the conditional element of v. 17.

[3:17]  ⁴ tn The Aramaic expression used here is very difficult to interpret. The question concerns the meaning and syntax of אִיתַי (’itay, “is” or “exist”). There are several possibilities. (1) Some interpreters take this word closely with the participle later in the verse יָכִל (yakhil, “able”), understanding the two words to form a periphrastic construction (“if our God is…able”; cf. H. Bauer and P. Leander, Grammatik des Biblisch-Aramäischen, 365, §111b). But the separation of the two elements from one another is not an argument in favor of this understanding. (2) Other interpreters take the first part of v. 17 to mean “If it is so, then our God will deliver us” (cf. KJV, ASV, RSV, NASB). However, the normal sense of ’itay is existence; on this point see F. Rosenthal, Grammar, 45, §95. The present translation maintains the sense of existence for the verb (“If our God…exists”), even though the statement is admittedly difficult to understand in this light. The statement may be an implicit reference back to Nebuchadnezzar’s comment in v. 15, which denies the existence of a god capable of delivering from the king’s power.

[3:19]  ⁵ tn Aram “the appearance of his face was altered”; cf. NLT “his face became distorted with rage”; NAB “[his] face became livid with utter rage.”

[3:19]  ⁶ tn Aram “he answered and said.”

[3:20]  ⁷ tn This is sometimes taken as a comparative: “[some of the] strongest.”

[3:21]  ⁸ sn There is a great deal of uncertainty with regard to the specific nature of these items of clothing.

[3:21]  ⁹ tn Aram “into the midst of the furnace.” For stylistic reasons the words “the midst of” have been left untranslated.

[3:22]  ¹⁰ tn Aram “caused to go up.”

[3:22]  ¹¹ tn The Aramaic verb is active.

[3:22]  ¹² tn Aram “the flame of the fire” (so KJV, ASV, NASB); NRSV “the raging flames.”

[3:23]  ¹³ tn Aram “into the midst of the furnace.” For stylistic reasons the words “the midst of” have been left untranslated.

[3:23]  ¹⁴ sn The deuterocanonical writings known as The Prayer of Azariah and The Song of the Three present at this point a confession and petition for God’s forgiveness and a celebration of God’s grace for the three Jewish youths in the fiery furnace. Though not found in the Hebrew/Aramaic text of Daniel, these compositions do appear in the ancient Greek versions.

[3:24]  ¹⁵ tn Aram “we threw…bound.”

[3:24]  ¹⁶ tn Aram “into the midst of.”

[3:25]  ¹⁷ sn The phrase like that of a god is in Aramaic “like that of a son of the gods.” Many patristic writers understood this phrase in a christological sense (i.e., “the Son of God”). But it should be remembered that these are words spoken by a pagan who is seeking to explain things from his own polytheistic frame of reference; for him the phrase “like a son of the gods” is equivalent to “like a divine being.”

[3:26]  ¹⁸ tn Aram “answered and said.”

[3:26]  ¹⁹ tn Aram “from the midst of the fire.” For stylistic reasons the words “the midst of” have been left untranslated.

[3:27]  ²⁰ tn Aram “in their bodies.”

[3:27]  ²¹ tn Aram “the fire did not have power.”

[3:28]  ²² tn Aram “answered and said.”

[3:28]  ²³ sn The king identifies the “son of the gods” (v. 25) as an angel. Comparable Hebrew expressions are used elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible for the members of God’s angelic assembly (see Gen 6:2, 4; Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7; Pss 29:1; 89:6). An angel later comes to rescue Daniel from the lions (Dan 6:22).

[3:28]  ²⁴ tn Aram “they changed” or “violated.”

[3:28]  ²⁵ tn Aram “so that they might not.”

[7:22]  ²⁶ tn Grk “and in your name do.” This phrase was not repeated here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[7:23]  ²⁷ tn Grk “workers of lawlessness.”

[13:37]  ²⁸ tn Or “I will die willingly for you.”

[15:13]  ²⁹ tn Or “one dies willingly.”

[21:13]  ³⁰ tn The term translated “breaking” as used by Josephus (Ant. 10.10.4 [10.207]) means to break something into pieces, but in its only NT use (it is a hapax legomenon) it is used figuratively (BDAG 972 s.v. συνθρύπτω).

[21:13]  ³¹ tn L&N 18.13 has “to tie objects together – ‘to tie, to tie together, to tie up.’” The verb δέω (dew) is sometimes figurative for imprisonment (L&N 37.114), but it is preferable to translate it literally here in light of v. 11 where Agabus tied himself up with Paul’s belt.

[1:20]  ³² tn Grk “according to my eager expectation and hope.” The κατά (kata) phrase is taken as governing the following ὅτι (Joti) clause (“that I will not be ashamed…”); the idea could be expressed more verbally as “I confidently hope that I will not be ashamed…”

[1:20]  ³³ tn Or possibly, “be intimidated, be put to shame.”

[1:20]  ³⁴ tn Grk “whether by life or by death.”

[2:3]  ³⁵ tn Grk “not according to selfish ambition.” There is no main verb in this verse; the subjunctive φρονῆτε (fronhte, “be of the same mind”) is implied here as well. Thus, although most translations supply the verb “do” at the beginning of v. 3 (e.g., “do nothing from selfish ambition”), the idea is even stronger than that: “Don’t even think any thoughts motivated by selfish ambition.”