<p class="bodytext">&#8220;This is the writing that was inscribed: <sc>MENEsc>, <sc>MENEsc>,<n id="1" /> <sc>TEQELsc>, and <sc>PHARSINsc>.<n id="2" />

Therefore the palm of a hand was sent from him, and this writing was inscribed.p>

So King Darius issued the written interdict.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" />

Then they said to the king, &#8220;Daniel, who is one of the captives<n id="1" /> from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or to the edict that you issued. Three times daily he offers his prayer.&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

<p class="bodytext">When Daniel realized<n id="1" /> that a written decree had been issued, he entered his home, where the windows<n id="2" /> in his upper room opened toward Jerusalem.<n id="3" /> Three<n id="4" /> times daily he was<n id="5" /> kneeling<n id="6" /> and offering prayers and thanks to his God just as he had been accustomed to do previously.

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;