Meshach was one of the three young Jewish men taken into captivity to Babylon along with Daniel. He received the Babylonian name Meshach. He is best known for refusing to worship Nebuchadnezzar's golden image and for being thrown into the blazing furnace, from which he was miraculously saved by God.
Nyckelhändelser
Taken to Babylon
Meshach was among the young Jewish men of royal descent who were chosen to serve at Nebuchadnezzar's court in Babylon.
2And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the vessels of the house of God. He carried them off to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god.
3Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his court officials, to bring in some of the Israelites, both from the royal family and from the nobility—
4young men without any physical defect, handsome, skilled in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge and quick to understand, and fit to serve in the king's palace. He was to teach them the writing and the language of the Chaldeans.
7The chief official gave them new names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.
Along with Daniel, Hananiah and Azariah, Meshach refused to defile himself with the king's food and drink, choosing instead to eat vegetables and drink water.
10but the official said to Daniel, "I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? You would cost me my head before the king."
49At Daniel's request the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to administer the province of Babylon, while Daniel himself remained at the king's court.
Mishael, along with Hananiah and Azariah, refused to bow down before Nebuchadnezzar's great golden image and was accused of disobedience to the king's command.
5When you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, zither, lyre, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up.
10You, O king, have issued a decree that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, pipe, zither, lyre, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music must fall down and worship the golden image,
12There are certain Jews whom you appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men pay no attention to you, O king. They do not serve your gods, and they do not worship the golden image you have set up."
The three men were thrown into a blazing furnace, but God sent an angel to protect them. They came out of the fire unharmed, with not even their hair singed or their clothes smelling of smoke. Nebuchadnezzar praised God after this miracle.
19Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the look on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered that the furnace be heated seven times hotter than usual,
22Because the king's command was so urgent and the furnace so exceedingly hot, the flames of the fire killed the men who carried Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego up to it.
24Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished. He rose up in alarm and said to his counselors, "Did we not throw three men, bound, into the fire?" They answered the king, "Certainly, O king."
25"But look," he said, "I see four men, unbound, walking around in the middle of the fire, and they are unharmed—and the fourth looks like a son of the gods!"
26Then Nebuchadnezzar came near the door of the blazing furnace and called out, "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!" So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the fire.
27The satraps, prefects, governors, and the king's counselors crowded around and saw these men: the fire had no power over their bodies, not a hair of their heads was singed, their robes were unharmed, and no smell of fire clung to them.
28Then Nebuchadnezzar declared, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who sent his angel and rescued his servants who trusted in him! They set aside the king's command and yielded up their bodies rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.
29Therefore I decree that any people, nation, or language that speaks offensively against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb and their houses reduced to rubble, for there is no other god who can rescue like this."