1 {It pleased Darius}, and he set up one hundred and twenty satraps over the kingdom, that they were {throughout the whole kingdom},
2 and over them [were] three administrators, [of] whom Daniel [was] one, [so] that these satraps were giving account to them, and the king would not be suffering loss.
3 Then Daniel {began distinguishing himself} above the administrators and the satraps {because} an exceptional spirit [was] in him, and [so] the king planned to appoint him over the whole kingdom.
4 Then the [other] administrators and satraps {began to seek} to find pretext against Daniel {in connection with the kingdom}, but they were not able to find any pretext and {corruption} {because} he was trustworthy, and no negligence or {corruption} {could be found in him}.
5 Then these men {said}, "We will not find any pretext against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God."
6 So the administrators and the satraps conspired {with respect to} the king and so they said to him, "Darius, O king, live {forever}!
7 All of [the] administrators of the kingdom, and the prefects, the satraps, the counselors and the governors took counsel [and have] agreed to establish an edict of the king and to enforce a decree that {whoever} will seek a prayer from any god or human except from you [for] up to thirty days will be thrown into {the lion pit}.
8 Now, O king, establish the edict and you must sign the document [so] that [it] cannot be changed, according to [the] law of [the] Medes and Persians which cannot be revoked."
9 {So} the king, Darius, signed the writing and the interdict.
10 Now {when} Daniel realized that the document was signed, he went to his house ({now he had windows in his upper room that were open} toward Jerusalem), and three times {daily} he knelt on his knees and prayed and [gave] praise before his God, {just as} he had been doing {previously}.
11 Then these men came as a group and they found Daniel praying and pleading for mercy before his God.
12 Then they approached {and spoke with the king} concerning the edict of the king, "{Did you not sign an edict} that any person who would seek [anything] from any God or human within thirty days except from you, O king, would be thrown into {the lion pit}?" The king answered and said, "The matter [as you have just stated] is certain according to [the] law of [the] Medes and Persians which cannot be revoked."
13 Then {they responded} and said before the king, "Daniel, who [is] from {the exiles} of Judah, {is not paying any attention} to you, O king, or to the decree that you have signed, {and three times daily} he says his prayer."
14 Then the king, when he heard that {report}, he was extremely distressed over it; and {concerning Daniel} {he was determined} to rescue him. And until the setting of the sun he was making every effort to deliver him.
15 Then these men came as group to the king and {said}, "Recall, O king, that [with respect to] [the] law of [the] Medes and Persians that {any} decree or edict that the king establishes cannot be changed."
16 Then the king gave the command, and Daniel was brought in and they threw [him] into {the lion pit}. {The king said} to Daniel, "Your God, whom you serve {faithfully}, may he rescue you!"
17 And a stone was brought and it was put on the entrance of the pit, and the king sealed it with his signet [ring] and with the signet [rings] of his lords, so that nothing would be changed concerning Daniel.
18 Then the king went to his palace and spent the night in fasting, and no food was brought in before him and his sleep fled from him.
19 Then the king got up at daybreak, at first light, and he went {in haste} to {the lion pit}.
20 And {when he came near} to the pit, he cried out to Daniel with distressed voice, [and] the king {spoke} and said to Daniel, "O Daniel, servant of the living God, your God whom you serve faithfully, was he able to rescue you from the lions?"
21 Then Daniel spoke to the king, "O king, live {forever}!
22 My God sent his angel and he shut the mouth of the lions and they did not hurt me, {because} before him {I was found} blameless, and also before you, O king, I have not done [any] wrong."
23 Then the king was exceedingly glad over it and commanded [that] Daniel be lifted up from the pit; and [there] was not any wound found on him, because he had trusted in his God.
24 The king then commanded, and these men were brought {who had accused Daniel}, and they threw them and their children and their wives into {the lion pit}, and they had not reached the floor of the pit {before} the lions had overpowered them and they had crushed all of their bones.
25 Then Darius the king wrote to all the people, the nations, and the languages living in the whole earth, "May your prosperity become great!
26 {I make a decree} that in all the dominion of my kingdom [people] will be trembling and fearing before the God of Daniel, for he [is] the living God and endures {forever} and his kingdom [is] one that will not be destroyed and his {dominion has no end}.
27 [He is] rescuing, delivering, and working signs and wonders in the heavens and on earth, for he [has] rescued Daniel from the {power} of the lions."