Then the king was very sorry for what he had done, for he loved Daniel, and knew that no one could take his place in the kingdom.  All day, until the sun went down, he tried in vain to find some way to save Daniel’s life; but when evening came, these men again told him of the law that he had made, and said to him that it must be kept.  Very unwillingly the king sent for Daniel, and gave an order that he should be thrown into the den of lions.  He said to Daniel:  “Perhaps your God, whom you serve so faithfully, will save you from the lions.”

They led Daniel to the mouth of the pit where the lions were kept, and they threw him in; and over the mouth they placed a stone; and the king sealed it with his own seal, and with the seals of his nobles; so that no one might take away the stone and let Daniel out of the den.

Then the king went again to his palace; but that night he was so sad that he could not eat, nor did he listen to music as he was used to listen.  He could not sleep, for all through the night he was thinking of Daniel.  Very early in the morning he rose up from his bed and went in haste to the den of lions.  He broke the seal and took away the stone, and in a voice full of sorrow he called out, scarcely hoping to have an answer: 

“O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God been able to save you from the lions?”

And out of the darkness in the den came the voice of Daniel, saying: 

“O king, may you live forever!  My God has sent his angel and has shut the mouths of the lions.  They have not hurt me, because my God saw that I had done no wrong.  And I have done no wrong toward you, O king!”

[Illustration:  DANIEL’S ANSWER TO THE KING—­“Then said Daniel unto the King, O King, live forever.  My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me.”—­(Daniel 6:  21-22.)]

Then the king was glad.  He gave to his servants orders to take Daniel out of the den.  Daniel was brought out safe and without harm, because he had trusted fully in the Lord God.  Then by the king’s command, they brought those men who had spoken against Daniel, and with them their wives and their children, for the king was exceedingly angry with them.  They were all thrown into the den, and the hungry lions leaped upon them, and tore them in pieces, so soon as they fell upon the floor of the den.

After this king Darius wrote to all the lands and the peoples in the many kingdoms under his rule: 

“May peace be given to you all abundantly!  I make a law that everywhere among my kingdoms men fear and worship the Lord God of Daniel; for he is the living God, above all other gods, who only can save men.”

And Daniel stood beside king Darius until the end of his reign, and afterward while Cyrus the Persian was king over all the lands.

THE STORY OF THE ANGEL BY THE ALTAR