Our nation was wicked, God told us so

My dad said to pray for the people we know,

The people were hard and refused to be wise

Everyone doing what was right in their eyes,

My dad loved the Lord, and that's why it's so hard

To be away from my home so very, very far,

Father always said, "Son, be ready to stand

For God and His Word and be a good man."

We stood by the Lord and obeyed all His law

We held nothing back, confessed every flaw,

But the nation was evil and God's judgment then came

God tried to tell us that our sin was to blame,

It happened, a day that was like any other

Dad in the field with my six older brothers,

Without any warning the soldiers were there

While dad was plowing and mom combing her hair,

We finished a whole house full of chores

While old uncle Simon was sitting there bored,

When all at once we heard the hard thumping sound

Of the hooves of the horses pounding the ground,

And screams from the village were heard in the air

Metal striking metal, the sound everywhere,

A crash broke the front door right off of the jamb

A soldier strode in, in his arms my pet lamb,

That he killed and threw to another man there

Then turned and killed uncle, right there in the chair,

"Take that one!" pointed to me, with voice so gruff

"Seems fit for a king." And if that weren't enough.

He laughed as he ran his sword through my mother

"He's all that is here. I see there's no other."

My father and brother were taken in chains

And led away captive so nothing remained,

The horrible numbness and shock ebbed away

I've not seen my homeland since that awful day,

I was taken captive with others like me

I seemed to have value to them, don't you see?

I met three other boys and we were soon friends

Hananiah and Mishael, pals to the end,

Yes, we were three of a kind and don't you know

They would say, "There's Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,"

That other one, Daniel, did watch us with care

No matter what happened, we knew he was there,

He helped to straighten out the food that we eat

We began to eat pulse and not the king's meat,

But my heart beat for home, it's smells and it's tastes

Yet, my family's all gone, my home is laid waste

I still his voice as my dad read the scrolls

No matter what happens or how life unfolds,

I and my friends have vowed to do right

No matter what happens or how dark the night,

Soon came a test of the vow we had made

On a day that was a hundred and ten in the shade,

We were in the court and serving the king

When we saw the workmen making the thing,

It was in the courtyard and we saw it grow tall

An image of a man at which we're to fall,

Down and worship.  The thought sickened me!

How could the king ask it? Couldn't the man see

That worshipping him and his idol was wrong?

He did not, we were ordered to bow to that god

Or be burnt in a furnice for refusing to laud,

The sun was shining, every official wore smiles

The gold of the idol shone brightly for miles,

I can't say the easy thing wouldn't have been just be to bow

But we looked at each other and remembered our vow,

At the sound of the music, all bowed - to the last man

But the power of our vow caused us three to stand,

Now the king was caught up in self worship and greed

"Everyone but you boys my orders do heed!

Dare you defy your king in this way?

At the sound of the music, you'll worship this day!

Or be burned to a crisp in a furnice - seven times hotter

And your ashes dragged off to fertilize the fodder!"

So I answered him then and said, "It may be

That God let's you burn us, but you will not see

Us bow to you or your idol of gold

But God can deliver us if the truth be told."

Playing the music again changed not a thing

But to increase his rage and tell them to bring

Ropes to bind us, our hands and our feet

And heat up the furnice with seven times heat,

As the soldiers took us to the edge of the pit

All of us felt the heat rise up off of it,

But the closer we got it cooler it felt

We saw soldiers burn up, on us not a welt,

We fell in the fire and we saw by our sides

The Son of God walking and smiling besides!

The ropes burned away, yet the fire didn't burn

The king found that day, a lesson he'd learned,

The test of our faith was solid and true

You know - any place feels like home, when God is with you.