Daniel 3:19-23

3:19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage, and his disposition changed ¹  toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He gave orders ²  to heat the furnace seven times hotter than it was normally heated. 3:20 He ordered strong ³  soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and to throw them into the furnace of blazing fire. 3:21 So those men were tied up while still wearing their cloaks, trousers, turbans, and other clothes, ⁴  and were thrown into the furnace ⁵  of blazing fire. 3:22 But since the king’s command was so urgent, and the furnace was so excessively hot, the men who escorted ⁶  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were killed ⁷  by the leaping flames. ⁸  3:23 But those three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell into the furnace ⁹  of blazing fire while still securely bound. ¹⁰ 

[3:19]  ¹ tn Aram “the appearance of his face was altered”; cf. NLT “his face became distorted with rage”; NAB “[his] face became livid with utter rage.”

[3:19]  ² tn Aram “he answered and said.”

[3:20]  ³ tn This is sometimes taken as a comparative: “[some of the] strongest.”

[3:21]  ⁴ sn There is a great deal of uncertainty with regard to the specific nature of these items of clothing.

[3:21]  ⁵ tn Aram “into the midst of the furnace.” For stylistic reasons the words “the midst of” have been left untranslated.

[3:22]  ⁶ tn Aram “caused to go up.”

[3:22]  ⁷ tn The Aramaic verb is active.

[3:22]  ⁸ tn Aram “the flame of the fire” (so KJV, ASV, NASB); NRSV “the raging flames.”

[3:23]  ⁹ tn Aram “into the midst of the furnace.” For stylistic reasons the words “the midst of” have been left untranslated.

[3:23]  ¹⁰ sn The deuterocanonical writings known as The Prayer of Azariah and The Song of the Three present at this point a confession and petition for God’s forgiveness and a celebration of God’s grace for the three Jewish youths in the fiery furnace. Though not found in the Hebrew/Aramaic text of Daniel, these compositions do appear in the ancient Greek versions.