Daniel in the Den

In the sprawling, golden shadow of the Persian Empire, the elderly statesman Daniel governs with unmatched integrity, earning the deep affection of King Darius but the bitter jealousy of rival officials. When a scheming satrap named Arik manipulates the king's vanity into signing an unalterable decree that bans prayer to any god or man except Darius, Daniel faces an immediate choice between survival and his lifelong devotion to the living God. Continuing his habit of kneeling three times daily toward Jerusalem, Daniel is caught, condemned, and cast into a stone pit filled with hungry lions. As Darius suffers a sleepless night of grief and guilt, Daniel discovers that true courage is not the absence of danger, but the quiet presence of the Almighty in the dark, leading to an extraordinary dawn that reshapes an empire.