Then they came to the king and said: “Hand over Daniel to us, or we will kill you and your family.” Faced with this threat, the king was forced to hand Daniel over to them. They threw Daniel into the lions’ den, where he remained for six days. In the den, there were seven lions, and usually they were given two human bodies and two sheep each day. But this time, they gave them nothing, so that they would devour Daniel. At that moment, the prophet Habakkuk, who was in Judea, had just prepared a stew and broken some bread into a basket, and was on his way to the field to take the food to the harvesters. But the Angel of the Lord said to Habakkuk: “Take the food you have to Daniel in Babylon, in the lions’ den.” Habakkuk replied: “Lord, I have never seen Babylon, and I don’t know where the den is.” Then the Angel of the Lord took him by the crown of his head and carried him by his hair to Babylon, with the speed of the spirit, and set him down at the edge of the den. Habakkuk shouted: “Daniel, Daniel, take the food that God has sent you.” Daniel said: “You have remembered me, God, and have not forsaken those who love you.” Then he got up and ate, and the Angel of God immediately returned Habakkuk to his home. On the seventh day, the king came to mourn for Daniel. He came to the den, looked in, and saw Daniel sitting there peacefully. Then he cried out: “Great are you, Lord, the God of Daniel! There is no other god but you!” He ordered that Daniel be lifted out of the den. And he commanded that those who had tried to destroy Daniel be thrown into the lions’ den, and they were instantly devoured before his eyes. (Daniel 14,29–42)

The Book of Daniel tells the story of the prophet Daniel who, according to the narrative, lived in Babylon as an exiled along with the rest of the Hebrew people.

The Catholic version of the book, which includes the Greek additions, duplicates the story of Daniel in the lions’ den; it is this Greek text that is condensed and depicted here. It narrates how after destroying the idols of Babylon, the prophet was thrown by the people into a pit with seven lions, and King Cyrus, a friend of the prophet, was unable to stop it. According to the text, Daniel stayed there one week and during this period the animals were not fed to make them devour him. An Angel took the prophet Habakkuk from Judea to Babylon to get Daniel some food to eat. After the days of punishment had passed, the king went to mourn his friend and discovered that he was unharmed.