So the king gave orders for Daniel to be taken and thrown into the pit filled with lions. He said to Daniel, "May your God, whom you serve so loyally, rescue you."

He saves and rescues; he performs wonders and miracles in heaven and on earth. He saved Daniel from being killed by the lions."

Now then, as soon as you hear the sound of the trumpets, oboes, lyres, zithers, harps, and all the other instruments, bow down and worship the statue. If you do not, you will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace. Do you think there is any god who can save you?"

If the God whom we serve is able to save us from the blazing furnace and from your power, then he will.

The king said, "Praise the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! He sent his angel and rescued these men who serve and trust him. They disobeyed my orders and risked their lives rather than bow down and worship any god except their own.

"And now I command that if anyone of any nation, race, or language speaks disrespectfully of the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, he is to be torn limb from limb, and his house is to be made a pile of ruins. There is no other god who can rescue like this."

Go to the LORD for help, and worship him continually.

I will always put my hope in you; I will praise you more and more.

I will go in the strength of the LORD God; I will proclaim your goodness, yours alone.

Now that I am old and my hair is gray, do not abandon me, O God! Be with me while I proclaim your power and might to all generations to come.

Yet I always stay close to you, and you hold me by the hand.

I have decided to obey your laws until the day I die.

I will praise him as long as I live; I will sing to my God all my life.

Don't be envious of sinful people; let reverence for the LORD be the concern of your life.

If it is, you have a bright future.

So now, descendants of Jacob, trust in your God and return to him. Be loyal and just, and wait patiently for your God to act.

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to teach them that they should always pray and never become discouraged.

We ourselves, then, will give our full time to prayer and the work of preaching."

Some people keep on doing good, and seek glory, honor, and immortal life; to them God will give eternal life.

Be persistent in prayer, and keep alert as you pray, giving thanks to God.

pray at all times,

be thankful in all circumstances. This is what God wants from you in your life in union with Christ Jesus.

But if you look closely into the perfect law that sets people free, and keep on paying attention to it and do not simply listen and then forget it, but put it into practice---you will be blessed by God in what you do.

If the God whom we serve is able to save us from the blazing furnace and from your power, then he will.

Is anything too hard for the LORD? As I said, nine months from now I will return, and Sarah will have a son."

"Is there a limit to my power?" the LORD answered. "You will soon see whether what I have said will happen or not!"

Now if you kill all your people, the nations who have heard of your fame will say

that you killed your people in the wilderness because you were not able to bring them into the land you promised to give them.

"Sovereign LORD, you made the earth and the sky by your great power and might; nothing is too difficult for you.

For there is nothing that God cannot do."

From such terrible dangers of death he saved us, and will save us; and we have placed our hope in him that he will save us again,

and it is for this reason that I suffer these things. But I am still full of confidence, because I know whom I have trusted, and I am sure that he is able to keep safe until that Day what he has entrusted to me.

No one stood by me the first time I defended myself; all deserted me. May God not count it against them!

And the Lord will rescue me from all evil and take me safely into his heavenly Kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever! Amen.

And so he is able, now and always, to save those who come to God through him, because he lives forever to plead with God for them.

To him who is able to keep you from falling and to bring you faultless and joyful before his glorious presence---