There once was a man named Daniel who was as gentle as a lamb. The King loved Daniel so much that he gave him power over the entire kingdom. But this made many men jealous of Daniel. One day, when the men happened to see him praying to God, they thought of a way to hurt Daniel. They went to the king and said, “You are a powerful king. Why don’t you make a law that forbids people to pray to any god but you.” The king was flattered and said, “You’re right. That sounds like a great idea!”

So a law was made that if anyone prayed to a god that was not the king, that person would be thrown to the lions.

The jealous men kept a close watch on Daniel until they caught him praying to God. When they caught him they took him before the King. The King hated to punish Daniel, but he felt he had to enforce the law. That night, the men threw Daniel into the lion’s den and closed the door.

The men laughed as they walked away. They were finally rid of Daniel! But the king was very sad. “Daniel is as gentle as a lamb,” he said. “There is no way he will last five minutes with those lions.”

Slowly the night passed. In the morning, the king ordered the door to the lion’s den to be opened. And there he saw Daniel lying down with the beasts, completely unharmed. One of the creatures was even licking his face.

The king could not believe his eyes. “Now there is a man who has religion,” he said to the other men, who also could not believe their eyes. “For religion gives you peace. And right before your eyes you can see it: the lion and the lamb are lying down together and neither is afraid.”