“This is the writing that was inscribed: MENE, MENE, ¹  TEQEL, and PHARSIN. ² 

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

So King Darius issued the written interdict.

Now let the king issue a written interdict ¹  so that it cannot be altered, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be changed. ² 

Then they said to the king, “Daniel, who is one of the captives ¹  from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or to the edict that you issued. Three times daily he offers his prayer.” ² 

When Daniel realized ¹  that a written decree had been issued, he entered his home, where the windows ²  in his upper room opened toward Jerusalem. ³  Three ⁴  times daily he was ⁵  kneeling 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, ¹  “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?” The king replied, “That is correct, ²  according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be changed.”