16. So the king gave the order, and Daniel was brought and thrown into a den of lions. The king consoled Daniel by saying, “Your God whom you continually serve will rescue you!”
17. Then a stone was brought and placed over the opening to the den. The king sealed it with his signet ring and with those of his nobles so that nothing could be changed with regard to Daniel.
18. Then the king departed to his palace. But he spent the night without eating, and no diversions were brought to him. He was unable to sleep.
19. In the morning, at the earliest sign of daylight, the king got up and rushed to the lions’ den.
20. As he approached the den, he called out to Daniel in a worried voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, was your God whom you continually serve able to rescue you from the lions?”