The Fiery Furnace

Nebuchadnezzar sets up a golden statue sixty cubits high on the plain of Dura. At the sound of the trumpet and every kind of instrument, everyone must bow down to it; whoever refuses will be thrown into a blazing furnace. Everyone obeys except three Jews: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Reported, they answer the furious king calmly: “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us… But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods.” The king has the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual; the flames kill even the men who throw the three friends in, bound. But Nebuchadnezzar, terrified, sees four men walking around unbound in the middle of the fire, and “the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.” The three friends come out unharmed: not a hair singed, not even the smell of fire on them. The king blesses their God, who sent his angel.