The 3 young people, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego in the furnace

This infuriated King Nebuchadnezzar; his expression was changed now as he looked at Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego. He gave orders for the furnace to be made seven times hotter than usual and commanded certain stalwarts from his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego and throw them into the burning fiery furnace.

They were then bound in their cloaks, trousers, headgear and other garments, and thrown into the burning fiery furnace. The king's command was so urgent and the heat of the furnace was so fierce, that the men carrying Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego were burnt to death by the flames from the fire; the three men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego fell, bound, into the burning fiery furnace.

And they walked in the heart of the flames, praising God and blessing the Lord. Azariah stood in the heart of the fire, praying aloud thus: May you be blessed and revered, Lord, God of our ancestors, may your name be held glorious for ever.

All this time, the king's servants, who had thrown them into the furnace, had been stoking it with crude oil, pitch, tow and brushwood until the flames rose forty-nine cubits above the furnace 48 and, leaping out, burnt those Chaldaeans to death who were standing round it.

But the angel of the Lord came down into the furnace beside Azariah and his companions; he drove the flames of the fire outwards from the furnace and, in the heart of the furnace, wafted a coolness to them as of the breeze and dew, so that the fire did not touch them at all and caused them no pain or distress. Then all three in unison began to sing, glorifying and blessing God in the furnace.

King Nebuchadnezzar sprang to his feet in amazement. He said to his advisers, 'Did we not have these three men thrown bound into the fire?' They answered the king, 'Certainly, Your Majesty'. 'But', he went on, 'I can see four men walking free in the heart of the fire and quite unharmed! And the fourth looks like a child of the gods!' Nebuchadnezzar approached the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and said, 'Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego, servants of God Most High, come out, come here!' And from the heart of the fire out came Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego.

The satraps, magistrates, governors, and advisers of the king crowded round the three men to examine them: the fire had had no effect on their bodies: not a hair of their heads had been singed, their cloaks were not scorched, no smell of burning hung about them. Nebuchadnezzar said, 'Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego: he has sent his angel to rescue his servants who, putting their trust in him, defied the order of the king, and preferred to forfeit their bodies rather than serve or worship any god but their God. I therefore decree as follows, "Peoples, nations, and languages! Let any of you speak disrespectfully of the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego, and I shall have him torn limb from limb and his house turned into a dunghill; for there is no other god who can save like this."'

Book of Daniel