“Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.”
Nebuchadnezzar's confession follows: Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him. They disobeyed the king's command and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God. The king's blessing (Blessed be the God) constitutes a public religious confession and acknowledgment of divine supremacy. He explicitly credits God's action—the sending of the angel—for the youths' deliverance. Significantly, he praises their faithfulness: They disobeyed the king's command and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God. Nebuchadnezzar acknowledges that the youths acted rightly in disobeying his command; the king's authority is superseded by loyalty to God. This confession represents the most complete theological admission that could come from a pagan king; he acknowledges God's power, the youths' righteousness, and the supremacy of God's law over his own commands.
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