1 Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah walked around in the flames, singing praises to the Lord God.
2 Then Azariah stood still and prayed out loud:
3 You, Lord God of our ancestors,are worthy to be praised,and your nameshould be honored forever.
4 Everything you do is right;your decisions bring justice.
5 You were right to punish usand to destroy holy Jerusalem,the city of our ancestors.Our people have sinned;
6 we have broken all your lawsand turned away from you.
7 We have disobeyed,even though your commandswere for our own good.
8 You were right to punish us
9 and to let us be conqueredby our hateful enemies.They refuse to obey your Law,and the most evil king on earthis their ruler.
10 They insult us, your servants.We are a disgraceand have no excuse.But we worship and obey you.
11 Please, Lord, for the sakeof your reputation,keep your agreement with us,and someday set us free.
12 You loved Abraham;Isaac obeyed you,and you chose Jacob.For their sakes, don't takeyour mercy from us.
13 You promised to give themmore descendantsthan there are stars in the skyor grains of sand on a beach.
14 But we sinned,and so we have becomethe smallest nation.We are ashamed
15 because we have no rulers,no prophets, no leaders.We have no incense, no altar,and no sacrifices to please youor to ask for your mercy.
16 But if we are humbleand truly sorry for our sins,
17 you will accept usas if we had offereda thousand rams and bullsand ten thousand fat lambs.You never disappoint thosewho trust you, Lord.We want to be your followers,so please answer our prayer.
18 We promise with all our heartsto worship and obey youand to continue praying.
19 So please be patient with usand show us your mercy.
20 Work a miracle and rescue us,so that you, Lord,will be honored.
21 We, your servants, praythat those who have harmed uswill be disgraced;crush their mighty powerso they will fail.
22 Show them that you aloneare the glorious Lord God,the Ruler of all the earth.
23 After the king's servants threw Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah into the furnace, the servants kept tossing in oil, tar, dried flax plants, and small pieces of firewood.
24 The flames blazed up 22 meters above the furnace,
25 and they also shot out from the furnace and burned the Babylonians who were standing nearby.
26 But one of the Lord's angels came down into the furnace to protect Azariah and his two friends. The angel forced the flames out of the furnace,
27 so that the inside of the furnace felt as if a cool breeze were blowing. The fire didn't touch the three men at all, and it caused them no pain or trouble.
28 Then Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah praised God together in the furnace, and they sang:
29 You, Lord God of our ancestors,are always worthyto be praised.
30 Your glorious and holy namewill always deservethe greatest honor.
31 So let songs of praisebe sung in your holy templefor all time.*
32 There, from your throneabove the winged creatures,
33 you watch everything on earthand rule the worldwith glory and majesty.We pray that your praiseswill be sung forever.
34 And age after agein the starry skies,songs will be sungto honor you. Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah continued to sing:
35 All of creationshould sing praisesto the Lord forever.*
36 Everything in the heavensand the water above the sky*
37 should sing praisesto the Lord forever.*
38 The angels and the rulersin the heavens
39 should sing praisesto the Lord forever.*
40 The sun, the moon,
41 and the starsshould sing praisesto the Lord forever.*
42 The wind and the rain
43 and the dew,*
44 as well as the freezing snow,*
45 and the fiery heat
46 should sing praisesto the Lord forever.*
47 The dark of nightand the light of day
48 should sing praisesto the Lord forever.*
49 The frost and snow,*
50 the icy cold,
51 and the thunderstormsshould sing praisesto the Lord forever.
52 Everything on this earthshould sing praisesto the Lord forever.*
53 The mountains and hills
54 and all trees and plantsshould sing praisesto the Lord forever.*
55 The springs and rivers,*
56 together with the oceans
57 and every sea creature,whether large or small,should sing praisesto the Lord forever.*
58 Each bird in the sky,
59 and every animal,wild or tame,should sing praisesto the Lord forever.
60 Every human should sing praisesto the Lord forever,*
61 especially his priests
62 and his chosen people.*
63 We humans should be humble*
64 and obey the Lord
65 with all our heart and soul,and we should sing praisesto him forever.
66 The three of us—Hananiah, Azariah,and Mishael—should sing praisesto the Lord forever,because if he hadn't rescued us,we would have diedin a flaming furnaceand gone downto the world of the dead.
67 So praise the Lordfor his goodness,and praise him for his mercy,because it will never end.
68 Everyone who worships the Lord,the Supreme God,should sing his praisesand thank him for his mercy,because it will never end.