Cast: Narrator, Hananiah, Azariah, Mishael, King Nebuchadnezzar, Evil Advisor, Guard #1, Guard #2, Angel

Narrator: “Once upon a time, there were three young men, named Hananiah, Azariah and Mishael. They lived near the city of Jerusalem, nearly 600 years before Jesus was born on Earth.”

Hananiah: “If we were still alive today, we’d be more than 2600 years old!”

Azariah: “It was a really long time ago.”

Mishael: “But our story is important, isn’t it?”

Hananiah: “Yes, you’re right. It is VERY important – that’s why people still remember us, after such a long time.”

Azariah: “They wrote it all down in the book of Daniel, chapter 3.”

Mishael: “I wonder if any of THESE kids will have important stories, worth remembering?”

Narrator: [Interrupting] “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. So, if we can get back to my story?”

Hananiah: “But of course.”

Azariah: “Feel free.”

Mishael: “Be our guest.”

Narrator: “Thank you, you are SO kind. [Clears throat, moves back to edge of stage.] So, in those days, the people of Israel and their king were not doing a very good job of obeying God. They ignored his laws and were cruel to each other. They even forgot about worshiping God, and worshipped false gods, called idols.”

Hananiah: “It’s true. It was a very sad time to live in Israel.”

Azariah: “There were only a few of us who kept on believing in Jehovah God.”

Mishael: “The prophets kept warning the people and the king, but they wouldn’t listen.”

[Hananiah, Azariah and Mishael move to one corner of the stage.]

Narrator: “So, God used a nation from the East called ‘Babylon’ to punish his people. King Nebuchadnezzar sent his armies to attack Israel.”

Nebuchadnezzar: [Comes on stage with Evil Advisor, Guard #1 and Guard #2.] “I think it is time to expand our empire. What nation should we attack next?”

Evil Advisor: “Your Majesty, there is a small country called Israel, at the westernmost edge of your empire, near Egypt. The people who live there are called ‘Jews’, for some reason. Our spies tell us that they have quite a bit of gold and treasure. We should expand in that direction, I believe.”

Nebuchadnezzar: “Treasure, eh? Near Egypt, eh? We need to keep an eye on them … they think they are pretty tough. Yes, go ahead, let’s take it. [To Guard #1] Take the Army and go attack Israel.”

Guard #1: “Sir, yes sir!” [Guard #1 and Guard #2 march off. Nebuchadnezzar and Advisor withdraw to back of center stage, where Nebuchadnezzar sits on his throne.]

Narrator: “And so, the armies came and attacked Israel, and the people of Israel were defeated. Because they did not trust in God, or worship Him, God did not save them from their enemies.”

Hananiah; “You can’t say He didn’t warn them.”

Azariah: “No, God spoke through several prophets, especially poor Jeremiah.”

Mishael: “But would anyone listen? No.”

Narrator: “The first time that the armies from Babylon came, they seized all the treasure they could find, and they also took hostages from the families of the king and his nobles. At this time, Hananiah, Azariah and Mishael were taken from their homes and marched off to Babylon.”

Guard #1: “Let’s see, who shall we take as a hostage to Babylon?”

Guard #2: “Our orders say to pick all the young men we can find, who come from important families. How ‘bout these three teenagers? They look healthy and strong.”

Guard #1: “Sounds good. Hey, you three, come with us.”

Hananiah: “Us three?”

Azariah: “Perhaps you mean some OTHER three?”

Mishael: “There must be some mistake – we are some of those who DID believe in God. We should be allowed to stay.”

Guard #1: “No, you fit the description. It’s off to Babylon with you.” [Guard #1 and Guard #2 threaten Hananiah, Azariah and Mishael, and begin to march them off.]

Hananiah: “Can we say goodbye to our parents?”

Azariah: “Or get some food for the journey?”

Mishael: “Or even pack a toothbrush?”

Guard #2: “You can write a letter, and you’ll eat what we give you on the way. We have toothbrushes in Babylon, don’t you worry. Come on, you three!” [They march Hananiah, Azariah and Mishael offstage, at sword-point.]

Narrator: “The armies of Babylon attacked Israel twice more, eventually burning the capitol city of Jerusalem to the ground. They took as prisoners pretty much anyone with any skills at all, or who could spell their name the same way twice. Meanwhile, in Babylon, they put the prisoners to work. Hananiah, Azariah and Mishael were given work to do in the government.”

[Guard #1 and Guard #2 march in Hananiah, Azariah and Mishael and settle them on three stools, then Guard #1 and Guard #2 leave.]

Evil Advisor: [Stands in front of Hananiah, Azariah and Mishael.] “Welcome to Paperwork Boot Camp. Here you will learn to handle all the forms and paperwork of the Babylonian government. If you do well, you will be given more responsibility. If you do poorly, we will throw you to the lions.”

Narrator: “Because of their faithfulness to God, they soon became very important officials.”

Evil Advisor: “Thanks to MY excellent teaching, the King has noticed you. But your names are a bit of a problem, so the King has decided to rename you. You, Hananiah!”

Hananiah: “Yes, sir?”

Evil Advisor: “You will be named ‘Shadrach’, from now on.” [Places Shadrach name tag on Hananiah.] “And you, Mishael!”

Mishael: “Yes, sir?”

Evil Advisor: “You will be named ‘Meshach’ from now on.” [Places Meshach name tag on Mishael.] “And you, Azariah!”

Azariah: “You will be named ‘Abednego’ from now on.” [Places Abednego name tag on Azariah.] “Also, you’ll need to change order. I know you’re used to being ‘Hananiah, Azariah and Mishael, but since Shadrach and Meshach rhyme, now you’ll be ‘Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego’. That means Abednego is now number 3, and Meshach is number 2. Switch places.” [Meshach and Abednego switch.]

Narrator: “The three captives from Israel just kept on working hard and they kept on being faithful to God. After a while, the king gave them responsibility for one of the most important provinces of the country.”

Nebuchadnezzar: “Men, I have noticed how faithfully you work for me, even though you first came here as prisoners. I am going to give you a new job – you three will help my other advisers watch over the whole province of Babylon. This is a very important job, but I know I can trust my trusty Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego!” [Nebuchadnezzar claps them each hard on the back as he says their name, and walks out. Each of them falls down when he hits them, but the king doesn’t notice.]

Narrator: “But this special attention from the king made some of the other advisors jealous. So they watched for their chance to get back at the three Jews.”

Evil Advisor: “I was really hoping to be given charge of the province of Babylon myself. I can’t believe the King gave that job to those Jews! I need to watch my chance to get back at them.”

Narrator: “A while later, the King was bored, which is never a good thing. He decided to make a big golden statue, and to have everyone bow down to it.”

Nebuchadnezzar: “Make a big golden idol and set it up near my palace. Then hire a band, and when they play music, everyone will bow down to it. This will be a great new god that we can all worship.”

Evil Advisor: “Um, yes, your majesty. How big do you want the idol to be?”

Nebuchadnezzar: “Let’s see … about 90 feet tall, and 9 feet wide. Cover the whole thing with gold – it will look very impressive.”

Evil Advisor: “Won’t that cost a lot of money?”

Nebuchadnezzar: “I’ve got plenty of treasure. See that it is done, and quickly, man! And tell everyone that they better bow down to it, or I’ll throw ‘em in my fiery furnace!”

[Evil Advisor rushes out, and there is sound of sawing and hammering, maybe a power drill, for comic effect.]

Narrator: “And so, the idol was built, and set up on a flat place near the palace. The heralds announced to everyone that they must bow down to the idol when the music played, or else. But when the band played [band music plays], three of the King’s officials refused to bow down to it.”

Shadrach: “We can’t bow down to an idol!”

Meshach: “No, definitely not. God specifically told us Jews not to do that.”

Abednego: “If we worshipped any other idol, that would be dishonoring to God. Only He is worthy to be worshipped. I don’t care HOW they threaten us, we won’t do it!”

Narrator: “And so, the evil advisor saw his chance. He ran to tell the King.”

Evil Advisor: [Runs up to king, bows before him.] “Your majesty, do you remember that huge, very snazzy idol you put up outside the palace?”

Nebuchadnezzar: “Why, yes, I do, as if it was only yesterday. Wait a minute, it WAS only yesterday!”

Evil Advisor: “Well, do you remember how you ordered that all the government officials were supposed to bow down and worship this new god you have made? And do you remember the punishment for those who refused?”

Nebuchadnezzar: “Yes, I remember that. As I recall, the punishment was to be thrown into my fiery furnace. But who would be so foolish as to risk that death? Where is this heading?”

Evil Advisor: “Your majesty, I have a complaint: three of your officials are refusing to bow down and worship the golden image!”

Nebuchadnezzar: [In a rage.] “What? How DARE they disobey my command! Bring them to me!”

[Evil Advisor rushes out, is joined by Guard #1 and Guard #2. They grab Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and haul them in to the King.]

Evil Advisor: “Here they are, your majesty. These are the men who refuse to bow down to the golden image you set up.”

Nebuchadnezzar: “Wait a minute! Aren’t you those three Jews, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego? Didn’t I give you charge over the whole province of Babylon? How dare you disobey my orders and show contempt for this new god?”

Shadrach: “Yes, your majesty, we are Jews. We bow only to our God, Jehovah. We cannot worship the image you have set up.”

Nebuchadnezzar: “Let no one say I am an unreasonable tyrant. I will give you one more chance. When the band plays, you will bow down to the image, or else I will have you thrown into the fiery furnace!”

Meshach: “Your majesty, we will not in any case bow down to this image you have made. Our God, who we DO worship, is able to save us from you.”

Abednego: “But you should understand us clearly, your majesty: even if our God does NOT save us, we STILL won’t worship your image. Our worship is for God alone.”

Nebuchadnezzar: [Furiously shouting] “THAT’S ENOUGH! GUARDS! HEAT THE FURNACE 7 TIMES HOTTER, AND THROW THEM IN!”

Narrator: “And so they did. They bound the three Jewish young men, and they heated the furnace until it was hotter than it had ever been before ... “ [Sound of flames]

Guard #1: “Wait just a second. I think that’s a Granny knot.”

Guard #2: “No it isn’t, that is a square knot. THIS is a Granny.”

Guard #1: “Are you sure? I could’ve sworn that was a Granny.”

Guard #2: “Where’d you learn to tie knots, anyway?”

Narrator: [Speaking impatiently to the two Guards] “Are you quite finished?”

Guard #1: “Yes, I think so. We’ve got it settled.”

Narrator: “OK. As I was saying … They bound the three young Jewish men, and they heated the furnace until it was hotter than it had ever been before. But when they tried to throw Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego into the furnace, the fire was so hot that it killed the soldiers who were pushing them through the doorway. Nevertheless, the three young men fell into the fiery furnace.” [Sound of flames louder, Guards shriek and fall dead, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego fall into the furnace.]

Evil Advisor: “Well, your majesty, it is done. Several of the guards were apparently killed, because of the heat of the furnace, but at least that’s the last we’ll see of those three!”

[Angel appears in the furnace with the three, and helps to untie them.]

Angel: “Say, I think this is a Granny knot. What kind of guards do they have here, anyway?”

Nebuchadnezzar: [Peering into furnace] “Wait a minute. How many did we throw in?”

Evil Advisor: “Three, sire.”

Nebuchadnezzar: “Well, now there are four! They are walking around in there, untied, and the fourth one looks like a son of the gods!” [Walks over as near the furnace as he can stand, flinches from the heat.] “Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out!”

[Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego climb stairs back onto stage.]

Nebuchadnezzar: “Let me look at you. Were you burned? Check them out, Evil Adviser. See if anything has happened to them.”

Evil Advisor: [Walks all around the three, checks their skin, looks for any burns, even sniffs their clothing.] “No, sire, they seem completely unharmed. They don’t even smell like smoke!”

Nebuchadnezzar: “Well, I have learned my lesson! Blessed be the Most High God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has saved His servants from the fire! Evil Advisor, take a memo!”

Evil Advisor: “Ready, your majesty.”

Nebuchadnezzar: “Send this letter out to everyone in my kingdom. From now on, no one is to say anything bad about the God of the Jews, Jehovah. If they do say something bad about Him, they will be torn limb from limb and their houses destroyed, so their families have no place to live. This Jehovah God is greater than any other God – no one can save like He does!”

Narrator: “And so, the Jews who lived in Babylon were left in peace and allowed to worship Jehovah, and no one dared say anything against them for many years, thanks to the courage of Hananiah, Azariah and Mishael, and thanks to the God who saves.”

The End