Daniel in the lions’ den

The king's palace sparkled in the late afternoon sunlight. Inside it was busy, with people rushing from place to place to do what the king commanded.

One of these people was a man named Daniel. Darius, the king, gave Daniel a lot of power in his kingdom. He trusted Daniel. Daniel was not only a good worker, but he was also a good friend.

Daniel was different from most of the men who worked for the king. He didn't really care about all the power he had. What he cared about most was God. In fact, Daniel loved God so much that he prayed three times a day, to thank God for all the good things he had been given.

Some of the king's other workers didn't like Daniel at all. They were jealous of his power and of his friendship with the king. So they decided to find a way to get rid of Daniel.

They thought, and thought, and thought.

“Ah-ha!” one man said finally. “I know exactly what we can do.” And the very next day, they went to see the king.

“Oh, King Darius,” they said to him, “you are so great, that no one should be allowed to worship anyone but you. There should be a new law. If any person in your kingdom worships someone besides you, they will be thrown into a den of lions. We have written this law down. Will you sign it?”

King Darius thought this sounded like a good idea. So, he picked up his royal pen and signed his name to the paper. The kingdom had a new law.

The men were very happy. They were pretty sure that now they could get Daniel into trouble.

Daniel, of course, had heard about the new law. But did that stop him from praying to God as he always did? Of course not!

Daniel even prayed with his windows wide open. He had nothing to hide. But with the windows open, it was easy for the men to see Daniel as he prayed.

The men hurried back to the king. “We caught Daniel praying to God instead of to you!” one of them exclaimed.

“You must throw him into the lions’ den,” said another.

King Darius was very upset when he heard this. First of all, he was angry at himself. He knew now that he had been tricked into signing the law. Also, the king loved Daniel and wanted to find a way to protect him. But even though the king thought and thought, he couldn't think of a way to save Daniel.

So he did what the law said he should do. “Throw Daniel into the lions’ den!” he commanded.

They threw Daniel in the cave with the hungry lions, and rolled a big stone in front so he couldn't escape. The men were sure they would never see Daniel alive again. So was the king. In fact, he was so upset that he couldn't sleep at all that night.

Very early the next morning, King Darius ran to the cave and called to Daniel. “Daniel! Daniel! Are you alive? Did your God save you from the lions?”

The king waited anxiously. Then he heard Daniel's voice. “Good King Darius, don't be afraid,” Daniel said. “God is with me here in the lions’ den. He shut the lions’ mouths so they couldn't hurt me. Because I didn't do anything wrong.”

Then the king gave a shout of joy. And he called for his servants to help Daniel up out of the lions’ den. King Darius gave Daniel a big hug. He was so happy that Daniel was alive!

Best of all, King Darius started to love God, too. He saw that there was only one God, who was a good and loving God. And he wanted everyone to know about Him. King Darius tore up the old law and wrote a new one.

“Everyone should worship Daniel's God, because He is the only God and He is good,” he said.

This law made Daniel very happy. He was glad that everyone could learn to love God as much as he did. Especially the king.