The report they sent to him was written as follows: “To King Darius: All greetings!

Then King Belshazzar was very terrified, and he was visibly shaken. His nobles were completely dumbfounded.

(This is a copy of the letter they sent to him:) “To King Artaxerxes, from your servants in Trans-Euphrates:

Let his mind be altered from that of a human being, and let an animal’s mind be given to him, and let seven periods of time go by for him.

Then, on Belshazzar’s orders, Daniel was clothed in purple, a golden collar was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed third ruler in the kingdom.

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

Then the king departed to his palace. But he spent the night without eating, and no diversions were brought to him. He was unable to sleep.

Consequently the supervisors and satraps were trying to find some pretext against Daniel in connection with administrative matters. But they were unable to find any such damaging evidence, because he was trustworthy and guilty of no negligence or corruption.

When the king heard this, he was very upset and began thinking about how he might rescue Daniel. Until late afternoon he was struggling to find a way to rescue him.

Then the king was delighted and gave an order to haul Daniel up from the den. So Daniel was hauled up out of the den. He had no injury of any kind, because he had trusted in his God.

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

As for the king seeing a holy sentinel coming down from heaven and saying, ‘Chop down the tree and destroy it, but leave its taproot in the ground, with a band of iron and bronze around it, surrounded by the grass of the field. Let it become damp with the dew of the sky, and let it live with the wild animals, until seven periods of time go by for him’ –