Daniel 6: A law that catches the king as well as Daniel

Daniel's excellence under Darius creates a political problem because his rivals can find no administrative fault worth prosecuting. Their solution is to turn his established devotion to God into the offense. The decree they secure flatters the king by making him the only permitted recipient of petitions for thirty days, yet the supposedly unchangeable law soon traps Darius more effectively than Daniel. Daniel does nothing theatrical when the law changes. He continues praying as he had before, and the accusers use that continuity to force the king's hand. A sealed stone closes the den while Darius spends a sleepless night in the palace. At dawn the answer comes from inside: God has sent an angel and shut the lions' mouths. The violence that follows Daniel's rescue is not softened, as the accusers and their families are thrown to the same animals. Darius then proclaims an enduring divine kingdom, while Daniel continues through another change of rulers.