Daniel · 28 verses
Daniel 6
Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.
The chapter
What happens here
Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.
Darius signs a decree that cannot be changed, then spends the day trying to rescue the man it has condemned—a remarkably brisk collision between royal authority and its own paperwork.
The decree and the open windowsvv. 1–10
Darius arranges the kingdom under 120 satraps and three administrators, with Daniel among them. Daniel’s extraordinary spirit so distinguishes him that the king plans to set him over the whole kingdom, which sends the other administrators and satraps hunting for some flaw. They find none: no corruption, no negligence, and no charge at all—unless, they decide, it can be found in the law of his God. The resulting decree forbids petitions to any god or man except the king for thirty days and consigns offenders to the lions. Daniel hears it, goes upstairs, faces Jerusalem, kneels three times a day, prays, gives thanks, and does precisely what he had done before.
The den and the sleepless palacevv. 11–23
The conspirators find Daniel praying and bring the decree back to Darius, who is deeply distressed. He labors until sundown to rescue Daniel, but the men return with the awkward reminder that no decree established by the king can be changed. Daniel is thrown into the den; Darius seals it, spends the night fasting, refuses entertainment, and finds that sleep has fled. At dawn he hurries to the lions and calls down in anguish. Daniel answers that his God sent an angel and shut the lions’ mouths. The king is overjoyed, and Daniel emerges without a wound.
The lions’ second appointmentvv. 24–28
The men who falsely accused Daniel are thrown into the den with their children and wives. The lions overpower them before they reach the bottom and crush all their bones, a starkly different reception from Daniel’s. Darius then writes to every nation and language in the land, proclaiming the living God of Daniel, who delivers and rescues. Daniel prospers through the reigns of Darius and Cyrus the Persian; the lions, meanwhile, have had an unusually decisive day.
The text
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Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.
Dan 6:1Now it pleased Darius to appoint 120 satraps to rule throughout the kingdom,
Dan 6:2and over them three administrators, including Daniel, to whom these satraps were accountable so that the king would not suffer loss.
Dan 6:3Soon, by his extraordinary spirit, Daniel distinguished himself among the administrators and satraps. So the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.
Dan 6:4Thus the administrators and satraps sought a charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom, but they could find no charge or corruption, because he was trustworthy, and no negligence or corruption was found in him.
Dan 6:5Finally these men said, “We will never find any charge against this Daniel unless we find something against him concerning the law of his God.”
Dan 6:6So the administrators and satraps went together to the king and said, “O King Darius, may you live forever!
Dan 6:7All the royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers, and governors have agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce a decree that for thirty days anyone who petitions any god or man except you, O king, will be thrown into the den of lions.
Dan 6:8Therefore, O king, establish the decree and sign the document so that it cannot be changed—in accordance with the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.”
Dan 6:10Now when Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he went into his house, where the windows of his upper room opened toward Jerusalem, and three times a day he got down on his knees, prayed, and gave thanks to his God, just as he had done before.
Dan 6:11Then these men went as a group and found Daniel petitioning and imploring his God.
Dan 6:12So they approached the king and asked about his royal decree: “Did you not sign a decree that for thirty days any man who petitions any god or man except you, O king, will be thrown into the den of lions?” The king replied, “According to the law of the Medes and Persians the order stands, and it cannot be repealed.”
Dan 6:13Then they told the king, “Daniel, one of the exiles from Judah, shows no regard for you, O king, or for the decree that you have signed. He still makes his petition three times a day.”
Dan 6:14As soon as the king heard this, he was deeply distressed and set his mind on delivering Daniel, and he labored until sundown to rescue him.
Dan 6:15Then the men approached the king together and said to him, “Remember, O king, that by the law of the Medes and Persians no decree or ordinance established by the king can be changed.”
Dan 6:16So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the den of lions. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!”
Dan 6:17A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that nothing concerning Daniel could be changed.
Dan 6:18Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting. No entertainment was brought before him, and sleep fled from him.
Dan 6:19At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the den of lions.
Dan 6:20When he reached the den, he cried out in a voice of anguish, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?”
Dan 6:22My God sent His angel and shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, for I was found innocent in His sight, and I have done no wrong against you, O king.”
Dan 6:23The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den, and when Daniel was lifted out of the den, no wounds whatsoever were found on him, because he had trusted in his God.
Dan 6:24At the command of the king, the men who had falsely accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the den of lions—they and their children and wives. And before they had reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.
Dan 6:25Then King Darius wrote to the people of every nation and language throughout the land: “May your prosperity abound.
Dan 6:26I hereby decree that in every part of my kingdom, men are to tremble in fear before the God of Daniel: For He is the living God, and He endures forever; His kingdom will never be destroyed, and His dominion will never end.
Dan 6:27He delivers and rescues; He performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth, for He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.”
Dan 6:28So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
01 — Also here
Who else the chapter reaches
Names written in the English are linked in the text above. These are the ones that are not: an entity the Hebrew or Greek names under a spelling the translation does not use, or one reached only by an assertion about a verse of this chapter.
Named in the Hebrew or Greek somewhere in this chapter, under a form the English renders differently — the registry's Ludim against the translation's Ludites — so there is no word in the sentence to hang the link on.
Reached by an assertion Atlas extracted from a verse of this chapter rather than by a name written in it — a pronoun, a title, or a participant the sentence carries without naming. This layer is model-read and measured at 88.6–90.3% precision, and it is kept separate from the names above for that reason.
02 — Read alongside
Where this is echoed
Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 372 passages were voted onto 28 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.
- 10Acts 5:29But Peter and the other apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than men.
- 222 Timothy 4:17But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message would be fully proclaimed, and all the Gentiles would hear it. So I was delivered from the mouth of the lion.
- 22Hebrews 11:33who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions,
- 10Psalms 55:17Morning, noon, and night, I cry out in distress, and He hears my voice.
- 16Psalms 37:39–40The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; He is their stronghold in time of trouble.
- 3Daniel 5:14I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you, and that you have insight, intelligence, and extraordinary wisdom.
- 101 Thessalonians 5:17–18Pray without ceasing.
- 22Acts 12:11Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent His angel and rescued me from Herod’s grasp and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating.”
- 22Psalms 91:11–13For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.
- 41 Peter 3:16keeping a clear conscience, so that those who slander you may be put to shame by your good behavior in Christ.
- 16Job 5:19He will rescue you from six calamities; no harm will touch you in seven.
- 16Psalms 91:14–16“Because he loves Me, I will deliver him; because he knows My name, I will protect him.
- 26Daniel 4:34But at the end of those days I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven, and my sanity was restored to me. Then I praised the Most High, and I honored and glorified Him who lives forever: “For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation.
- 3Genesis 41:38–41So Pharaoh asked them, “Can we find anyone like this man, in whom the Spirit of God abides?”
- 3Proverbs 22:29Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will be stationed in the presence of kings; he will not stand before obscure men.
- 22Acts 24:16In this hope, I strive always to maintain a clear conscience before God and man.
Onward