Six hundred years before Christ, Jerusalem was conquered by the Babylonian king; the temple built by Solomon was destroyed, and many of the Israelite people were taken captive. Among the captives were noble youths Daniel, Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael. The king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, ordered them to be educated in Chaldean wisdom, but they, keeping the commandments of their faith, refused excesses and led a strict lifestyle; they ate only vegetables and drank water. The Lord granted them wisdom, and to the holy Daniel – the gift of insight and interpretation of dreams. The holy prophet Daniel, keeping faith in the One God, surpassed all the Chaldean astrologers and magicians in wisdom and was brought close to the king. One day, Nebuchadnezzar had a strange dream, but upon waking, he forgot what he had seen. The Babylonian wise men were powerless to reveal what the king had dreamed. Then the holy prophet Daniel glorified the power of the true God before all, revealing not only the content of the dream but also its prophetic significance. After this, Daniel was elevated to the rank of chief of Babylon.
The king Nebuchadnezzar commanded that his image – a huge statue – be erected, to which divine honors were to be paid. For refusing to do this, three youths – Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael – were thrown into a blazing furnace. The flames rose above the furnace to 49 cubits, scorching the Chaldeans standing nearby, while the holy youths walked in the midst of the flames, offering prayers to the Lord. The Angel of the Lord appeared and cooled the flames, and the youths remained unharmed. The king, seeing this, commanded them to come out and turned to the true God.
During the reign of Belshazzar, the holy Daniel interpreted the mysterious inscription that appeared on the palace wall during a feast, foretelling the fall of the Babylonian kingdom. Under the Persian king Darius, the holy Daniel was thrown into a den of hungry lions by the slanders of his enemies, but they did not touch him, and he remained unharmed. King Darius rejoiced over Daniel and commanded that throughout his kingdom, people should worship Daniel's God. The holy prophet Daniel deeply mourned for his people, suffering just punishment for their many sins and iniquities, and prayed for God's mercy.
In interpreting the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar, the prophet Daniel proclaimed the succession of kingdoms and the greatness of the last Kingdom – the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. The prophetic vision of the seventy weeks revealed to the world the signs of the First and Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The holy Daniel interceded for his people before the successor of Darius – King Cyrus, who proclaimed freedom to the captives. Daniel and his friends lived to a great old age and died in captivity. According to the testimony of Saint Cyril of Alexandria, the holy Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael were beheaded by the command of the Persian king Cambyses.
