Daniel and the Lions

Daniel loved God and prayed to Him three times every day. He was also REALLY good at his job working for King Darius. So good that the king wanted to put Daniel in charge of everything!

This made some other men JEALOUS. They wanted to get Daniel in trouble. But Daniel never did anything wrong!

'The only way to trap Daniel,' they said, 'is to make a rule about his God.'

They went to the king with a sneaky plan. 'O King, make a new law! For thirty days, no one can pray to anyone except YOU. If they do, throw them to the LIONS!'

The king thought this sounded like a good idea and signed the law.

When Daniel heard about the law, what do you think he did? He went home, opened his window toward Jerusalem, and prayed—just like always! Three times a day, on his knees, thanking God.

The jealous men peeked through the window. 'Gotcha!'

They ran to tell the king. 'Daniel broke your law!'

King Darius was SO sad. He liked Daniel! He tried everything to save him. But the law couldn't be changed.

Soldiers threw Daniel into a pit full of hungry lions. ROAR! The king called down, 'May YOUR God rescue you!'

A big stone covered the opening. The king went home but couldn't eat or sleep. He was too worried about Daniel.

At sunrise, the king RAN to the lions' den. 'Daniel! Did your God save you?!'

'Yes!' Daniel called back. 'God sent an angel who shut the lions' mouths! They didn't hurt me at all!'

The king was SO happy! He pulled Daniel out—not a scratch on him!

King Darius made a NEW law: 'Everyone must respect Daniel's God! He is the living God who rescues and saves!'

Daniel kept praying. And God kept taking care of him.