Daniel was brought to Babylon from Israel as a young boy by King Nebuchadnezzar when the king took over Israel he took with him the most intelligent and handsome young men from Israel to help him at his palace among these were Daniel and his three friends Daniel was very handsome honest and intelligent after a training period of three years the king chose Daniel and his three friends from all the other young men to help him palace over time Daniel earned the Kings trust and affection as he helped the King solve many problems and worked very hard
for the king he was known for being wise beyond his years and he was completely dedicated to his work after the time of Nebuchadnezzar another king ruled Babylon and then another all the kings who ruled Babylon trusted Daniel and depended on him for carrying out many tasks over the years Daniel earned a very good name among the people of Babylon he was praised for his intelligence kindness and hard-working nature he understood the problems faced by the people and made wise suggestions that would help them to find a solution he was a very devout believer of
God and prayed three times a day without fail when King Darius came into power he was so happy with Daniel services that he gave him all the responsibilities for running the country the other senior counsellors and ministers of the King grew jealous of him as they had to follow Daniels orders they met with each other and talked about this often Babban and Samuel were two of the most senior men in Darius's Court they did not like the idea of the Kings growing affection towards Daniel they feared that the King would favour Daniel over them the
King was placing more and more responsibilities on Daniel now and he consulted only Daniel for solving the issues in the kingdom the King felt that Daniel had the best possible solution for any problem the other senior members of the court were becoming afraid that they would no longer be needed by the king and they would be thrown out the most senior members of the court were babban and Samuel and they shared the same worry how to get rid of Daniel one day babban and Samuel met at a wayside in to discuss this problem this Daniel
is becoming even more powerful with every passing day the king only listen to him now we have been serving the kingdom for so many years and yet the king does not even ask for our opinion on anything if this is the case I'm certain the king will remove us from the service of the court we will have to go back to the streets selling pots to make a living quite true my friend we have to do something about this it is a matter of our survival we must find a way to remove this Daniel from
the Kings Court immediately it's not easy Babban he has a great reputation the king will not simply remove him because we say so we have to be very careful we must destroy his reputation I've observed him very closely for some time now and it's next to impossible to find any fault with him he's an extremely devout man and prays to his God three times a day he's very popular among the people as well wait you said he prays three times a day to his God right yes everybody knows about this why? I think I have
something we can use against him if my plan works out we will have to never worry about Daniel anymore what is it tell me and so babban and Samuel devised a plot that day they return to their homes agreeing to meet in court the following day the next day babban and Samuel arrive at the palace to meet with the king they talked about various issues of the state and how happy the people of Babylon are with the king and his rule they praised the King on his bravery his sense of justice and how kind and
merciful he was the king was very pleased with what babban and Samuel had to say then Samuel made a suggestion for a law to be passed my lord the people of Babylon are indebted to you the kingdom is thriving in its fame has reached the far ends of the earth this has all happened only because you are the king no other King has achieved so much for their kingdom as you have I think that we need to celebrate this occasion and give the people an opportunity to show their gratitude to you your words please me
Samuel you are truly a loyal subject of Babylon what do you suggest we do oh my lord I'll explain we have a suggestion that for the next thirty days all the subjects of Babylon will praise and pray to no other God or man other than the king of Babylon you King Darius yes it is a great way to find out who are truly loyal to Babylon and its King we suggest that a decree be passed for the next thirty days nobody will pray to any other God other than King Darius I think that is a
wonderful idea Samuel you really have proven that you are worthy of your position in my court but I must first discuss this with Daniel before I go further with this Your Majesty I don't think that would be necessary we have discussed this with all the senior counsellors of the court and they are in agreement Daniel would with that doubt be overjoyed to have this law passed why waste time over discussing it again but Daniel we have prepared to decree for you to sign on your majesty here's the scroll the King believed that Daniel was aware
of the law however Daniel was not consulted about this and so he was not aware of it babban had sent two guards to Daniel's house at the time that he offered prayers to his God as soon as the soldiers saw Daniel praying to God they immediately moved in to arrest him Daniel didn't you hear of the law passed by the king what law? what have I done wrong why are you arresting me a new law has been passed by the king stating that no citizen is to worship any other God other than King Darius himself
for thirty days I am not aware of this very well take me to the king the soldiers arrested Daniel and took him to the palace to be presented to the king the King heard the news of Daniel's arrest and he was very sad he realised that his senior counsellors had been plotting against Daniel all along but he felt helpless as the law had been passed nobody could be exempted from the law once it was written even the king himself when Daniel was presented to him by the soldiers he felt heartbroken Samuel and Babban were also
present at the court they were happy that their plan was working out as they hoped Daniel what have you done? I thought you were aware of this new rule do you have anything to say to defend yourself my lord Daniel has defied the rule of the kingdom this is as clear as daylight several people have watched him offering prayers to his God you cannot pardon anybody who breaks the law it will not be considered righteous or just Daniel must face punishment he should be thrown into the Lions Den I have nothing to say Your Majesty
I am a servant of the kingdom and I'm ready to face any punishment that you give me I have no choice Daniel but to command that you be thrown into the Lions Den I hope that the God you pray and worship will save you as soon as the king commanded Daniel was taken away by the soldiers to be thrown into the Lions Den the king was very sad that he had to send Daniel to his death that night he could not sleep he was saddened by the fact that his most favourite servant would be ripped
apart by the Lions the next morning as soon as the Sun rose he jumped from his bed and hurried to the Lions Den he approached the den hesitantly and called out to Daniel hesitantly Daniel can you hear me? Did the God that you serve and worship save you? answer me Daniel are you alive? there was silence for a couple of moments yes your majesty and then Darius heard a voice that made him jump with joy it was the voice of Daniel yes your majesty may the King live forever I am unhurt my lord the Lions
did not even touch me my God sent an angel into the den who shut the mouths of these Lions my God has indeed saved me for I am innocent soldiers open the mouth of this Dan at once remove Daniel from the den at once the soldiers removed the huge boulder that closed the mouth of the cave slowly Daniel stepped out of the caves there was not even a single scratch on his body it was truly a miracle Daniel your God is indeed true he came to rescue you in the most hopeless hour I am sorry
that you had to endure this come let us go to the palace at once when news of what had happened to Daniel spread around the kingdom the people were amazed and stunned Babban and Samuel realised that their evil plan had gone wrong when the King arrived at the palace with Daniel he ordered the soldiers to throw babban and Samuel into the same Lions Den the Lions pounced on them and killed them instantly breaking their every bone before they ate them the king was overjoyed that Daniel was back at the court he reversed the old law
and made a new one stating that everybody in Babylon must pray to Daniel's God the God who performs miracles to help those who serve Him and so Daniel continued to serve the king and execute his duties faithfully for a very long time he continued to pray to the true God until he died
