Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting: neither were instruments of musick brought before him: and his sleep went from him.
Parallel translations
- WEB Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting; neither were instruments of music brought before him: and his sleep fled from him.
- BSB Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting. No entertainment was brought before him, and sleep fled from him.
- NKJV Now the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; and no musicians were brought before him. Also his sleep went from him.
- NASB Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting, and no entertainment was brought before him; and his sleep fled from him.
- NLT Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night fasting. He refused his usual entertainment and couldn’t sleep at all that night.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The king passes the night fasting and sleepless, refusing all entertainment. His anguish shows his genuine concern for Daniel.
Overview
Darius spends a wretched, sleepless night, unable to be comforted by the usual diversions. His distress contrasts with the peace Daniel enjoys in the den under God's protection. The verse quietly underscores that the one trusting God rests while the one who wronged him is troubled.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Esth 6:1On that night could not the king sleep, and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king.
- Dan 2:1And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him.
- 2 Sam 12:16–17David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth.
- Ps 77:4Thou holdest mine eyes waking: I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
- Job 21:12They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ.
- 1 Kgs 21:27And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly.
- Jonah 3:3–9So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days’ journey.
- Isa 24:8–9The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth.
- Eccl 2:8I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts.
- Rev 18:22And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee;
- 2 Sam 19:24And Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king, and had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came again in peace.
- Ps 137:2We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.
- Amos 6:4–6That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall;
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Christ at the center
Daniel sees the stone cut without hands that shatters the kingdoms, and 'one like a son of man' given everlasting dominion — titles and visions Jesus claims as his own.
How Daniel 6:18 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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