“Then they came near, and spake before the king concerning the king’s decree; Hast thou not signed a decree, that every man that shall ask a petition of any God or man within thirty days, save of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.”
So the king gave orders and Daniel was brought and thrown into the den of lions. The king said to Daniel, May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you! This sentence marks the narrative's crisis: Daniel is executed according to the law, though against the king's personal wishes. Darius's prayer to Daniel's God—May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you—represents the king's hope that divine intervention will save Daniel. The king's invocation of Daniel's God as continually served acknowledges Daniel's faithful religious practice even while the law forces his punishment. Darius's prayer suggests that he trusts in the God of Israel's power, even as he was manipulated by the conspirators into enacting the law.
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