HISTORY
The Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Holy Children is a lengthy passage that appears after Daniel 3:23 in Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Bibles, as well as in the ancient Greek Septuagint translation. Article VI of the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England has it listed as non-canonical (but till, with the other Apocryphal texts, "the Church doth read for example of life and instruction of manners"). The passage is omitted from some Protestant Bibles as an apocryphal addition.
The passage includes the penitential prayer of Azariah (Abednego in Babylonian; see Daniel 1:6–7) while the three youths were in the fiery furnace; a brief account of a figure who met them in the furnace and was unburned (an angel, or interpreted by Christians as a prefigurement or theophany of Jesus Christ, in the same vein as Melchisedek); and the hymn of praise they sang (with the refrain, "Praise and exalt Him above all forever...", repeated many times, each naming a feature of the world) when they realized they were delivered.
The "Song of the Three Holy Youths" is part of the hymn called a canon sung during the Matins and other services in Orthodoxy. It can be found in the Church of England Book of Common Prayer as the canticle called the "Benedicite" and is one of the traditional canticles that can follow the first scripture lesson in the Order of Morning Prayer. It is also an optional song for Matins in Lutheran liturgies, and either an abbreviated or full version of the Song is featured as the Old Testament Canticle in the Lauds liturgy for Sundays and Feasts in the Divine Office of the Roman Catholic Church.
WHY IT'S NOT IN THE BIBLE
This is "Additions to Daniel, inserted between 3:23 and 3:24" (NRSV, paperback, p. 131). Additions to Daniel (or any other book of the Bible) should be looked at through the eye of Proverbs 30:5-6. Additions are written by liars!
This Prayer of Azariah gives songs that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego supposedly sung while they were in the fire. One song is quite long. If you read Daniel chapter three, it does not appear they were in the furnace for any great length of time.
The clear false doctrine in this book can be found in verses 26-27 (It's one chapter, 68 verses long). Verses 26-27 says,
But the angel of the Lord came down into the furnace to be with Azariah and his companions, and drove the fiery flame out of the furnace, and made the inside of the furnace as though a moist wind were whistling through it.
This is a lie. Please note Daniel 3:22-26.
The Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Holy Children is a lengthy passage that appears after Daniel 3:23 in Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Bibles, as well as in the ancient Greek Septuagint translation. Article VI of the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England has it listed as non-canonical (but till, with the other Apocryphal texts, "the Church doth read for example of life and instruction of manners"). The passage is omitted from some Protestant Bibles as an apocryphal addition.
The passage includes the penitential prayer of Azariah (Abednego in Babylonian; see Daniel 1:6–7) while the three youths were in the fiery furnace; a brief account of a figure who met them in the furnace and was unburned (an angel, or interpreted by Christians as a prefigurement or theophany of Jesus Christ, in the same vein as Melchisedek); and the hymn of praise they sang (with the refrain, "Praise and exalt Him above all forever...", repeated many times, each naming a feature of the world) when they realized they were delivered.
The "Song of the Three Holy Youths" is part of the hymn called a canon sung during the Matins and other services in Orthodoxy. It can be found in the Church of England Book of Common Prayer as the canticle called the "Benedicite" and is one of the traditional canticles that can follow the first scripture lesson in the Order of Morning Prayer. It is also an optional song for Matins in Lutheran liturgies, and either an abbreviated or full version of the Song is featured as the Old Testament Canticle in the Lauds liturgy for Sundays and Feasts in the Divine Office of the Roman Catholic Church.
WHY IT'S NOT IN THE BIBLE
This is "Additions to Daniel, inserted between 3:23 and 3:24" (NRSV, paperback, p. 131). Additions to Daniel (or any other book of the Bible) should be looked at through the eye of Proverbs 30:5-6. Additions are written by liars!
This Prayer of Azariah gives songs that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego supposedly sung while they were in the fire. One song is quite long. If you read Daniel chapter three, it does not appear they were in the furnace for any great length of time.
The clear false doctrine in this book can be found in verses 26-27 (It's one chapter, 68 verses long). Verses 26-27 says,
But the angel of the Lord came down into the furnace to be with Azariah and his companions, and drove the fiery flame out of the furnace, and made the inside of the furnace as though a moist wind were whistling through it.
This is a lie. Please note Daniel 3:22-26.
