Daniel and the Lions
Daniel 6
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Daniel worked for the king.
He was good and honest and everybody knew it.
Three times every day, Daniel prayed.
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Daniel worked in the king's palace, and he did his job so well that the king was going to put him in charge of the whole kingdom. He was honest when nobody was checking. And three times every day, morning and midday and evening, Daniel went to the room upstairs, opened the window, and talked to God.
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Some men were jealous of Daniel.
They could not find one bad thing about him.
So they made a new rule instead.
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The other officials could not stand it. They watched him and watched him, hoping to catch him doing something wrong, and there was nothing to catch. The only thing we will ever find against this man, they said, has to do with his God. So they went to the king with an idea.
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The rule said, pray to nobody but the king.
The king signed it without thinking.
Anyone who breaks it goes to the lions.
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They told the king it would be a fine thing if for thirty days nobody in the land prayed to anyone except him, and anyone who did would be thrown into the lions' den. The king liked the sound of it and signed his name, and once a law like that was signed, not even the king could unsign it.
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Daniel heard about the rule.
He went home. He opened his window.
And he prayed, just like always.
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Daniel heard the news. He did not shout about it and he did not hide either. He went home and climbed the stairs to the room where he always went, and he opened the window that faced Jerusalem, exactly as he had every day of his life, and he knelt down and thanked God.
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They took Daniel to the lions.
The king was very sorry.
A stone was rolled across the door.
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The men had been waiting outside and they ran straight to the king. The king was horrified. He had walked into a trap, and he spent the whole day trying to find a way out of it, and there was none. That evening Daniel was put down into the den with the lions, and a heavy stone was rolled across.
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The king could not sleep all night.
At sunrise he ran to the den and called out.
Daniel answered. God shut the lions' mouths.
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The king would not eat and he would not sleep. At the first light of morning he ran to the den and called down, has your God been able to keep you safe? And Daniel's voice came back up. My God sent his angel and shut the lions' mouths. They brought him up, and there was not a single scratch on him.
