glory of Israel but then the poem quickly speaks of how prideful the Israelites had become. Then the poem mentions that Israel was conquered for worshiping idols and putting too much faith in man instead of God. Daniel is briefly mentioned in the first hundred lines of the poem but he shows up to interpret God’s signs, warnings, to Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel was given a new name, Baltassar, when he was made a servant and the other three youths were given new names as well, Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago. At the end of their three-year training, the king found that they excelled at everything that they were trained in, so he placed them in high places in his court. Daniel soon got to show off his great wisdom because he succeeded when all the other magicians in the kingdom failed. Daniel was able to recite and interpret King Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams. Daniel is able to interpret the king’s dream and show him that his pride is becoming out of control, but King Nebuchadnezzar is quick to forget what Daniel told him. The poem then talks about the three youths being thrown into the “fiery furnace” for not bowing down and worshiping the Babylonian gods. This was a pretty common form of execution for the Babylonians. The furnace is supposed to represent the end for the youths and the youths represent faith in God. The furnace was so hot that the men who threw them in perished. An angel of God protected the youths from the flames of the furnace. Nebuchadnezzar was told that the men were alive and when he looked into the furnace he saw four men in the furnace and the three youth were unbound. Nebuchadnezzar then told the men to come out of the furnace; he then saw the power of God and gave the men promotions in his court. The poem says that Nebuchadnezzar is the most arrogant of men (Daniel, i 614). So God punishes him for his wickedness and castes him into exile for a while, but when he comes back he hasn’t changed his ways. So God eventually causes his kingdom to fall to another king, Cyrus the Mede. King Nebuchadnezzar has another dream the night before his kingdom falls. He is really flustered and scared because of what the dream showed him. Like before, no one in the country could tell the king the