Chapter 91

¹ So when Darius, also called Ahasuerus, had received the kingdom, he appointed a hundred and twenty satraps, and over them three commissioners, of whom Daniel was one, so that the satraps might render account to them, that the king might not be troubled. And Daniel was set above them, because an extraordinary spirit was in him, and the king appointed him over the whole of his kingdom. —

² For when Darius the Mede had heard the things concerning him—the wisdom he had acquired and his trustworthiness and reverence from childhood—he appointed him to be first among all his friends and to be lord over all his kingdom, just as Pharaoh did, granting to Joseph the second honors of the throne of his kingdom and subjecting all the rulers of Egypt to him as subordinates.

³ Now when this had come about, the commissioners and the satraps, moved by envy, sought to find a pretext against Daniel, so that by seizing some occasion against him and bringing an accusation they might put him to death; that the saying might be fulfilled which we spoke of a little before, namely that whenever someone is reverent and fears God, having grace and wisdom from God, he is hated by the rest of men, because they themselves were not counted worthy of the same grace.

⁴ So likewise the satraps and the commissioners hated Daniel out of envy, since he was wiser and more trustworthy than all of them.

⁵ For Scripture testified to this when it said: And they found against him no pretext or fault or transgression, because he was faithful.

⁶ For he not only kept the commandments of God according to the law, but also administered the king’s affairs with great diligence and exactness, unwilling to defile his own pure conscience by any sordid dealing for the sake of a little gain.