Daniel 3:18 (YLT)

Passage

And lo--not! be it known to thee, O king, that thy gods we are not serving, and to the golden image thou hast raised up we do no obeisance.'

Nearby Context

Daniel 3:16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego have answered, yea, they are saying to the king Nebuchadnezzar, `We have no need concerning this matter to answer thee.

Daniel 3:17 Lo, it is; our God whom we are serving, is able to deliver us from a burning fiery furnace; and from thy hand, O king, He doth deliver.

Daniel 3:18 And lo--not! be it known to thee, O king, that thy gods we are not serving, and to the golden image thou hast raised up we do no obeisance.'

Daniel 3:19 Then Nebuchadnezzar hath been full of fury, and the expression of his face hath been changed concerning Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego; he answered and said to heat the furnace seven times above that which it is seen to be heated;

Daniel 3:20 and to certain mighty men who <FI>are<Fi> in his force he hath said to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, to cast into the burning fiery furnace.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "lo--not", "known", "thee", "king", "gods", "serving", "golden", and "image". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "lo--not" and "known", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 17's "Lo it is our God whom we..." into verse 19's "Then Nebuchadnezzar hath been full of fury...", so "lo--not" and "known" 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 "lo--not" and "known" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.