The Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Jews 1

Azariah and the Three Jews 1

The Prayer of Azariah in the Furnace

¹They walked around in the midst of the flames, singing hymns to God and blessing the Lord.[#Dan 1.6, 7; 2.17]

²Then Azariah stood still in the fire and prayed aloud:

³“Blessed are you, O Lord, God of our ancestors, and worthy of praise,

and glorious is your name forever!

⁴For you are just in all you have done;[#Ezra 9.15; Ps 25.10; Dan 4.37]

all your works are true and your ways right,

and all your judgments are true.

⁵You have executed true judgments in all you have brought upon us[#Dan 9.24; Tob 13.9]

and upon Jerusalem, the holy city of our ancestors;

by a true judgment you have brought all this upon us because of our sins.

⁶For we have sinned and broken your law in turning away from you;[#Lam 1.18; Dan 9.5]

in all matters we have sinned grievously.

⁷We have not obeyed your commandments;[#Deut 4.40; Tob 14.9]

we have not kept them or done what you have commanded us for our own good.

⁸So all that you have brought upon us[#Ezra 9.15]

and all that you have done to us,

you have done by a true judgment.

⁹You have handed us over to our enemies, lawless and hateful rebels,[#Dan 4.27; 2 Macc 5.8]

and to an unjust king, the most wicked in all the world.

¹⁰And now we cannot open our mouths;[#Ps 39.9; 44.13]

we, your servants who worship you, bear shame and reproach.

¹¹For your name’s sake do not give us up forever,[#Lev 26.44; Deut 4.31]

and do not annul your covenant.

¹²Do not withdraw your mercy from us,[#2 Chr 20.7; Isa 41.8; Jas 2.23]

for the sake of Abraham your beloved

and for the sake of Isaac your servant

and Israel your holy one,

¹³to whom you promised[#Gen 15.5; 22.17]

to multiply their descendants like the stars of heaven

and like the sand on the shore of the sea.

¹⁴For we, O Lord, have become fewer than any other nation[#Deut 28.62]

and are brought low this day in all the world because of our sins.

¹⁵In our day we have no ruler, or prophet, or leader,[#2 Kings 25.9; 2 Chr 36.19; Ps 74.9; Hos 3.4]

no burnt offering, or sacrifice, or oblation, or incense,

no place to make an offering before you and to find mercy.

¹⁶Yet with a contrite heart and a humble spirit may we be accepted,[#Ps 51.16, 17]

¹⁷as though it were with burnt offerings of rams and bulls[#Ps 25.3; 51.16, 17; Mic 6.7, 8]

or with tens of thousands of fat lambs;

such may our sacrifice be in your sight today,

and may we unreservedly follow you,

for no shame will come to those who trust in you.

¹⁸And now with all our heart we follow you;

we fear you and seek your presence.

¹⁹Do not put us to shame,[#Ps 25.2]

but deal with us in your patience

and in your abundant mercy.

²⁰Deliver us in accordance with your marvelous works,[#Ps 115.1]

and bring glory to your name, O Lord.

²¹Let all who do harm to your servants be put to shame;

let them be disgraced and deprived of all power,

and let their strength be broken.

²²Let them know that you alone are the Lord God,[#Ps 59.13; 83.18; 2 Macc 1.27]

glorious over the whole world.”

The Song of the Three Jews

²³Now the king’s servants who threw them in kept stoking the furnace with naphtha, pitch, tinder, and brushwood.[#Isa 1.31; 2 Macc 1.33, 36]

²⁴And the flames poured out above the furnace forty-nine cubits[#Dan 3.22]

²⁵and spread out and burned those Chaldeans who were caught near the furnace.

²⁶But the angel of the Lord came down into the furnace to be with Azariah and his companions and drove the fiery flame out of the furnace[#v 2; Dan 3.25]

²⁷and made the inside of the furnace as though a moist wind were whistling through it. The fire did not touch them at all and caused them no pain or distress.[#Dan 3.27; Wis 17.18; Acts 2.2]

²⁸Then the three with one voice praised and glorified and blessed God in the furnace:

²⁹“Blessed are you, O Lord, God of our ancestors,

and to be praised and highly exalted forever;

And blessed is your glorious, holy name,

and to be highly praised and highly exalted forever.

³⁰Blessed are you in the temple of your holy glory,

and to be extolled and highly glorified forever.

³¹Blessed are you who look into the depths from your throne on the cherubim,[#Ps 80.1; 99.1; Isa 37.16]

and to be praised and highly exalted forever.

³²Blessed are you on the throne of your kingdom,[#Isa 6.1]

and to be extolled and highly exalted forever.

³³Blessed are you in the firmament of heaven,[#Ps 150.1]

and to be sung and glorified forever.

³⁴“Bless the Lord, all you works of the Lord;[#Ps 103.22; 145.10]