Bible Strands
Daniel 3:18
But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden statue you have set up.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego address King Nebuchadnezzar immediately after stating God's ability to rescue them from the furnace. They deliver this declaration directly to the ruler while standing before his demand to worship the golden image.
The words — The Hebrew particle לָא (la', "not") appears three times in the provided parsing list, structuring the refusal. The phrase יְדִיעַ (yeDi'a', "known") combined with לֶהֱוֵא (leheve', "let it be") establishes the statement as a formal royal notification.
The thread — The verse's insistence on divine obedience over royal decree runs parallel to Acts 5:29 and Revelation 2:10. Its willingness to endure persecution for faith mirrors the principle stated in Matthew 10:39.
Why it lands — The text records a conditional submission to God's will followed by an absolute rejection of idolatry. It requires a reader to submit to divine authority when human commands conflict, without relying on emotional appeal.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
Cross-references
- Acts 5:29 But Peter and the other apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than men.
- Matthew 10:39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
- Revelation 2:10 Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will suffer tribulation for ten days. Be faithful even unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.
- Matthew 10:32 Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father in heaven.
- Luke 12:3 What you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the housetops.
- Acts 4:10 then let this be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.
- Revelation 12:11 They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. And they did not love their lives so as to shy away from death.
- Joshua 24:15 But if it is unpleasing in your sight to serve the LORD, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD!”
- Proverbs 28:1 The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.
- Isaiah 51:12 “I, even I, am He who comforts you. Why should you be afraid of mortal man, of a son of man who withers like grass?