So a decree went out, and the wise men were about<n id="1" /> to be executed. They also sought<n id="2" /> Daniel and his friends so that they could be executed.p>

<n id="1" /><p class="bodytext">&#8220;Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, a scribe of the perfect law of the God of heaven:

Everyone who does not observe both the law of your God and the law of the king will be completely<n id="1" /> liable to the appropriate penalty, whether it is death or banishment or confiscation of property or detainment in prison.&#8221;p>

You are authorized<n id="1" /> by the king and his seven advisers to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of your God which is in your possession,<n id="2" />

He inquired of Arioch the king&#8217;s deputy, &#8220;Why is the decree from the king so urgent?&#8221;<n id="1" /> Then Arioch informed Daniel about the matter.

So these men concluded,<n id="1" /> &#8220;We won&#8217;t find any pretext against this man Daniel unless it is<n id="2" /> in connection with the law of his God.&#8221;p>

Now let the king issue a written interdict<n id="1" /> so that it cannot be altered, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be changed.<n id="2" />

<p class="poetry">He will speak words against the Most High.p> <p class="poetry">He will harass<n id="1" /> the holy ones of the Most High continually.p> <p class="poetry">His intention<n id="2" /> will be to change times established by law.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">They will be delivered into his handp> <p class="poetry">For a time, times,<n id="4" /> and half a time.p>

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;I, King Artaxerxes, hereby issue orders to all the treasurers of<n id="1" /> Trans-Euphrates, that you precisely execute all that Ezra the priestly scribe of the law of the God of heaven may request of you &#8211;

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;Now you, Ezra, in keeping with the wisdom of your God which you possess,<n id="1" /> appoint judges<n id="2" /> and court officials who can arbitrate cases on behalf of all the people who are in Trans-Euphrates who know the laws of your God. Those who do not know this law should be taught.

If you don&#8217;t inform me of the dream, there is only one thing that is going to happen to you.<n id="1" /> For you have agreed among yourselves to report to me something false and deceitful<n id="2" /> until such time as things might change. So tell me the dream, and I will have confidence<n id="3" /> that you can disclose its interpretation.&#8221;p>

Then those men came by collusion to the king and<n id="1" /> said to him,<n id="2" /> &#8220;Recall,<n id="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.&#8221;

So they approached the king and said to him,<n id="1" /> &#8220;Did you not issue an edict to the effect that for the next thirty days anyone who prays to any god or human other than to you, O king, would be thrown into a den of lions?&#8221; The king replied, &#8220;That is correct,<n id="2" /> according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be changed.&#8221;