Daniel 3:28

Nebuchadnezzar declared, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent His angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him. They violated the king’s command and risked their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Nebuchadnezzar speaks publicly to his assembled officials immediately after the three men emerge unburned from the furnace. He is issuing a formal declaration that functions as both praise and decree.

The words — בְּרִיךְ (bərîkh, "blessed") opens the king's statement as a formal benediction, the first public acknowledgment of the three men's God by a pagan ruler.

The thread — The angel who delivers the faithful echoes Psalms 34:7, where the angel of the LORD "encamps around those who fear Him and delivers them."

Why it lands — The verse names the specific cost: violating a king's command and risking death rather than serve another god. It asks the reader to identify what they would refuse to do under comparable pressure.

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

עָנֵ֨ה'a.Neh[was] replying נְבֽוּכַדְנֶצַּ֜רne.vu.khad.ne.TzarNebuchadnezzar וְאָמַ֗רve./'a.Marand/ [he was] saying בְּרִ֤יךְbe.Rikh[be] blessed אֱלָהֲהוֹן֙'e.la.ha./hOnGod/ their דִּֽי־di-of שַׁדְרַ֤ךְshad.RakhShadrach מֵישַׁךְ֙mei.shaKhMeshach וַעֲבֵ֣דva./'a.Vedand/ Abed-נְג֔וֹne.Go-nego דִּֽי־di-who שְׁלַ֤חshe.Lachhe has sent מַלְאֲכֵהּ֙mal.'a.Khe/hangel/ his וְשֵׁיזִ֣בve./shei.Zivand/ he has delivered לְעַבְד֔וֹהִיle./'av.Do./hi<obj.>/ servants/ his דִּ֥יdiwho הִתְרְחִ֖צוּhit.re.Chi.tzuthey trusted עֲל֑וֹהִיa.Lo./hion/ him וּמִלַּ֤תu./mi.Latand/ [the] word of מַלְכָּא֙mal.Ka/'king/ the שַׁנִּ֔יוsha.Nivthey violated וִיהַ֣בוּvi./Ha.vuand/ they gave גֶשְׁמְה֗וֹןgesh.mei./honbody/ their דִּ֠יdithat לָֽא־la'-not יִפְלְח֤וּןyif.le.Chunthey will pay reverence וְלָֽא־ve./la'-and/ not יִסְגְּדוּן֙yis.ge.Dunthey will pay homage לְכָל־le./kholto/ any אֱלָ֔הּ'e.Lahgod לָהֵ֖ןla.Henexcept לֵאלָֽהֲהֽוֹן׃le./La.ha./Honto/ own God/ their

King James Version

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.

Cross-references

Romans 14:7 For none of us lives to himself alone, and none of us dies to himself alone.
Psalms 34:7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, and he delivers them.
Psalms 84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and a shield; the LORD gives grace and glory; He withholds no good thing from those who walk with integrity.
Exodus 20:5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
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.
Psalms 22:4 In You our fathers trusted; they trusted and You delivered them.
Psalms 147:11 The LORD is pleased with those who fear Him, who hope in His loving devotion.
Romans 12:1 Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
Psalms 62:8 Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts before Him. God is our refuge. Selah
Isaiah 26:3 You will keep in perfect peace the steadfast of mind, because he trusts in You.

People named

NebuchadnezzarAzariahHananiahMishael