April 10, 2024 PORTALS OF PRAYER READINGS
Daniel 3:16-28
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered
and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this
matter. 17 If this be so, our God whom
we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will
deliver us out of your hand, O king.[a] 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we
will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with
fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually
heated. 20 And he ordered some of the
mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast
them into the burning fiery furnace. 21 Then
these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics,[b] their
hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery
furnace. 22 Because the king's order
was urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men
who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 23 And
these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning
fiery furnace.
24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished
and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men
bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.”
25 He answered and said, “But I see four men
unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the
appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”
26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the
door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, “Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. 27 And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and
the king's counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any
power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed,
their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them. 28 Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the
God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered
his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside[c] the king's
command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god
except their own God.
Footnotes
- Daniel 3:17 Or If
our God whom we serve is able to deliver us, he will deliver us from the
burning fiery furnace and out of your hand, O king
- Daniel 3:21 The
meaning of the Aramaic words rendered cloaks and tunics is
uncertain; also verse 27
- Daniel 3:28 Aramaic
and changed
Psalm 9:1-10
I Will Recount Your Wonderful Deeds
[a] To the
choirmaster: according to Muth-labben.[b] A Psalm of
David.
9 I will give
thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;
I
will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
2 I will be glad and exult in you;
I
will sing praise to your name, O Most High.
3 When my enemies turn back,
they
stumble and perish before[c] your
presence.
4 For you have maintained my just cause;
you
have sat on the throne, giving righteous judgment.
5 You have rebuked the nations;
you have made the wicked perish;
you
have blotted out their name forever and ever.
6 The enemy came to an end in everlasting
ruins;
their
cities you rooted out;
the
very memory of them has perished.
7 But the Lord sits enthroned forever;
he
has established his throne for justice,
8 and he judges the world with righteousness;
he
judges the peoples with uprightness.
9 The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed,
a
stronghold in times of trouble.
10 And those who know your name put their
trust in you,
for
you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.
Footnotes
- Psalm 9:1 Psalms
9 and 10 together follow an acrostic pattern, each stanza
beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. In the
Septuagint they form one psalm
- Psalm 9:1 Probably a
musical or liturgical term
- Psalm 9:3 Or because
of
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Source for Bible text - www.biblegateway.com
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