At the nation where Daniel was send into exile, Darius ascended a new throne. He appointed the old man Daniel and other two governors to hold office. The king considered Daniel wise and reliable. Then, the other two governors were so jealous of him, all the time that they tried to find something wrong with the way Daniel administered the empire. Then one day, they came to know that he prayed three times a day, for his homeland. 

The governors said to the king. 

"Your Majesty, Let Your Majesty issue this order that for thirty days, no one should be permitted to request from any god, except from Your Majesty. Anyone who violates this order is to be thrown into a pit filled with lions." 

The king was so pleased with the order not to request from any god, except from the king himself. that he approved it, at once.

When Daniel learned that King Darius had issued the order, he went upstairs room of his house, and still prayed to God, for the recovery of national sovereignty. 



When Daniel's enemies observed him pray to God, all of them brought him before the King. 

"Your Majesty, Daniel prayed to God, three times a day, violating the order that Your Majesty had issued. He should be given the order to be thrown into a pit filled with lions." 

The king noticed that the two governors concocted the plot against Daniel, because they were jealous of him. Nevertheless, he cannot take his word back. Eventually, Daniel was thrown into a pit filled with lions, very hungry and horrific. 

Being pleased with Daniel, the king cannot sleep all last night, and in the next morning, he ran to the pit filled with lions. 

"Daniel, Daniel! Did your god save you?" 

Then, Daniel said. 

"Yes, Your Majesty, God sent his angel to shut the mouths of the lions so that they would not hurt me." 

The king was overjoyed at Daniel's keeping alive. 

Daniel came out of the pit filled with lions, without having been hurt at all. The king gave the order to arrest all the men who had accused Daniel, and he had them thrown, together with all their family members, into the pit filled with lions. Then, the hungry lions pounced on them and tore them into pieces. 

The king praised and respected the God that Daniel had been serving.

(Daniel 6:1-24)