Now if you are ready, at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, and bagpipe and all kinds of music, then you shall fall down and worship the image that I have made. But if you do not worship, you will immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire; and what god is there who can save you out of my hands?”
Daniel 3:13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in rage and wrath said to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego; then these men were brought before the king.
Daniel 3:14 Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, that you are not serving my gods and do not worship the golden image that I have set up?
Daniel 3:15 Now if you are ready, at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, and bagpipe and all kinds of music, then you shall fall down and worship the image that I have made. But if you do not worship, you will immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire; and what god is there who can save you out of my hands?”
Daniel 3:16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to respond to you with an answer concerning this matter.
Daniel 3:17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to save us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will save us out of your hand, O king.
The verse centers on "ready", "time", "hear", "sound", "horn", "flute", "lyre", and "trigon". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "ready" and "time", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 14's "Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them Is..." into verse 16's "Shadrach Meshach and Abed-nego answered and said...", so "ready" and "time" 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 "ready" and "time" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.