Bible – Bible Society of Zimbabwe

The Prayer of Azariah

1 The three young men, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, started walking around in the flames, singing hymns to God, and praising him as Lord. 2 Then Azariah stood still and there in the fire he prayed aloud: 3 “O Lord, the God of our ancestors, we praise and adore you; may your name be honored forever. 4 You have treated us as we deserve. In everything you have done to us you are always honest, and when you bring us to judgment, you are always fair. 5 You did what was right when you brought disaster upon Jerusalem, the holy city of our ancestors. We deserved that judgment because of our sins. 6 We disobeyed you, we turned our backs on you, and we are guilty of every sin. 7 We did not do the things that you commanded us to do. If we had obeyed your laws, we would have prospered, 8 but now we deserve the judgment and punishment that you have brought upon us. 9 You have handed us over to lawless, hateful, and defiant enemies—to the most wicked king in the world. 10 And now all of us who worship you are humiliated; we are too ashamed to open our mouths.

11 “Yet for the sake of your own honor, do not break your covenant with us and abandon us forever. 12 Do not withhold your mercy from us. Keep your promises to Abraham, whom you loved, to Isaac, your servant, and to Jacob, the father of your holy people Israel. 13 You promised to give them as many descendants as the stars in the sky or as the grains of sand along the seashore. 14 But now, Lord, we are fewer in number than any other nation; wherever we are, we live in disgrace because of our sins. 15 We are left without a king, without any prophets or leaders. There is no longer a Temple where we can go to offer you burnt offerings, sacrifices, gifts, or incense, no place where we can make offerings to you and find your mercy. 16 But we come to you with repentant hearts and humble spirits, begging you to accept us just as if we had come with burnt offerings of rams and bulls and thousands of fat lambs. 17 Accept our repentance as our sacrifice to you today, so that we may obey you with all our hearts. No one who trusts you will ever be disappointed. 18-19 Now with all our hearts we promise to obey you, worship you, and come to you in prayer. Treat us with kindness and mercy, and let us never be put to shame. 20 O Lord, rescue us with one of your miracles; bring honor to your name.

21 “Bring disgrace and shame on all who harm us. Take away their might and power and crush their strength. 22 Let them know that you alone are Lord and God and that you rule in majesty over the whole world.”

23 The king's servants who had thrown the three men into the furnace kept the fire hot by feeding it with oil, tar, flax, and brushwood. 24 The flames blazed up to a height of seventy-five feet 25 and even spread out and burned up the Babylonians standing near the furnace. 26 But an angel of the Lord came down into the fire where the three men were. He pushed aside the flames 27 so that it felt as if a cool breeze were blowing, and the fire did not touch the men at all or hurt them in any way.

The Song of the Three Young Men

28 There in the furnace the three young men again started singing together in praise of God:

29 “We praise you, O Lord, the God of our ancestors.

30 May your glorious, holy name

be held in honor and reverence forever.

31 May hymns be sung to your glory forever

and may your holy presence be praised in that temple,

32 where you sit on your heavenly throne above the winged creatures

and look down to the world of the dead.

May you be praised and honored forever.

33 May you be praised as you sit on your royal throne.

May hymns be sung to your glory forever.

34 May you be praised in the dome of the heavens.

May hymns be sung to your glory forever.

35 “Praise the Lord, all creation;