First Reading: Daniel 3:14-20, 91-92, 95

¹⁴ King Nebuchadnezzar questioned them: “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you will not serve my god, or worship the golden statue that I set up?
¹⁵ Be ready now to fall down and worship the statue I had made, whenever you hear the sound of the trumpet, flute, lyre, harp, psaltery, bagpipe, and all the other musical instruments; otherwise, you shall be instantly cast into the white-hot furnace; and who is the God that can deliver you out of my hands?”
¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar, “There is no need for us to defend ourselves before you in this matter.
¹⁷ If our God, whom we serve, can save us from the white-hot furnace and from your hands, O king, may he save us!
¹⁸ But even if he will not, know, O king, that we will not serve your god or worship the golden statue which you set up.”
¹⁹ Nebuchadnezzar’s face became livid with utter rage against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace to be heated seven times more than usual
²⁰ and had some of the strongest men in his army bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and cast them into thewhite-hot furnace.
⁹¹ King Nebuchadnezzar rose in haste and asked his nobles, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” “Assuredly, O king,” they answered.
⁹² ”But,” he replied, “I see four men unfettered and unhurt, walking in the fire, and the fourth looks like a son of God.”
⁹⁵ Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who sent his angel to deliver the servants that trusted in him; they disobeyed the royal command and yielded their bodies rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.