Daniel 3:18 (LSB)

Passage

But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods, and we will not worship the golden image that you have set up.”

Nearby Context

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.

Daniel 3:18 But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods, and we will not worship the golden image that you have set up.”

Daniel 3:19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with wrath, and the image of his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. He answered and said to heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated.

Daniel 3:20 And he said to certain mighty men of valor who were in his military host to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego in order to cast them into the furnace of blazing fire.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "known", "king", "going", "serve", "gods", "worship", "golden", and "image". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "known" and "king", 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 Nebuchadnezzar was filled with wrath and...", so "known" and "king" 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 "king" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.