Daniel 3:18 (KJV)

Passage

But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

Nearby Context

Daniel 3:16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.

Daniel 3:17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.

Daniel 3:18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

Daniel 3:19 Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated.

Daniel 3:20 And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "known", "thee", "king", "serve", "gods", "worship", "golden", and "image". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "known" and "thee", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 17's "If it be so our God whom..." into verse 19's "Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury and...", so "known" and "thee" belong inside that flow. In Daniel context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "known" and "thee" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.