All-Age Service at St Giles – Sunday 16th January 2011
- Characters: Narrator (Emily Nathan)
- Daniel (Daniel Nathan)
- Belshazzar (king of Babylon) (Anna Wallace)
- Writing on the Wall (Phoebe Greenstreet)
- Ghostly Hand (Ben Ells)
- Chief Good Official (Madelyn Key)
- Chief Nasty Official (Abi Mandry)
- Darius (king of Persia) (Juliet Wallace)
- Good counsellor (Emily Hale)
- Wicked Counsellor (Adam Spencer)
- Lion Keeper (Immy Pledge)
- Guests
- Good Officials
- Nasty Officials
- Bloodthirsty Lions (Church Mice)
Narrator I’ll tell you a story that happened 2,500 years ago. The hero of my story is Daniel.
Daniel Hi, I am Daniel. I come from a place called Judah. My family was taken from our home by the King of Babylon. He conquered the whole of Judah and carried all the important people into slavery. But of all the young men, I was singled out for my good looks and intelligence. They gave me the best food and beautiful clothes, and trained me to be a high official in the king’s palace.
Belshazzar (Proudly)
I am Belshazzar, king of Babylon. I worship gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone, and no one dare defy me.
Narrator But Daniel refused to worship the king’s pagan gods. Instead, he worshipped the one true God, which made him unpopular and sometimes got him into trouble.
Daniel That’s true. I was thrown into prison, and released only because the king needed my help. There was a great banquet. They all feasted and drank wine from the sacred vessels they had stolen from the Temple in Jerusalem. The king gave them gifts, for he liked to be kid to his friends, to keep them on his side.
Belshazzar As my friends and I feasted and drank a ghostly hand appeared. It had no body – it was just a hand.
All the guests gasp in alarm
The Ghostly Hand floats towards the Writing on the Wall character
The Writing on the Wall character slowly opens a scroll
Ghostly Hand (Points along the opening scroll and reads)
May nay may nay teckel yoo farsin.
Belshazzar (Frightened)
The hand floated towards the wall, wrote words there, and vanished.
All the guests gasp in alarm
Chief Good Official What does it mean?
Chief Nasty Official I don't know. I can't understand it.
Chief Good Official Nothing good. That's for sure.
Chief Nast Official I'm scared. I'm going.
Chief Good Official Me too.
All the guests run away
Belshazzar I was alone and scared. I trembled. I could not understand what the words meant. No one could interpret them. But they frightened me. So I sent for Daniel.
Daniel The hand wrote these words. “To the King. You have been weighed on the scales. You are a lightweight. Your days are numbered. Tonight you will die.”
Daniel points to Belshazzar who shrinks back
Narrator The great king Belshazzar shrank into a corner. His knees knocked with fear. All his friends deserted him. That very night he was killed
Belshazzar Aaaaargh!
Belshazzar falls down dead, as flamboyantly as he likes
Narrator The new King was Darius.
Darius I am Darius. I conquered all the nations round about. My empire grew, so I needed many officials to help me rule it. (Darius points to the nasty officials) They made me a god.
Nasty Officials (Bowing down)
Oh great god Darius.
Darius It was silly. I am not a god but a man. But they insisted. They also insisted that I make a decree, that no one in my kingdom should worship any god except me. Anyone who worshipped other gods would be thrown into a den of bloodthirsty lions.
Darius points to lions
Bloodthirsty Lions growl and claw at the air
Daniel How horrible! But what can I do?
Narrator Daniel was in a jam. He liked King Darius and became his friend. But he could not worship him. The king's nasty officials were jealous of Daniel's friendship with the king and plotted to get rid of him.
Wicked Counsellor While Daniel is the king's friend we get no presents or favours like we did in Belshazzar's day. We must find a way to trip him up.
Nasty Officials Aye!
Narrator And they found a way. For despite the king's decree, Daniel prayed prayed as usual to the one true God. The nasty officials spied on him and discovered this.
Nasty Officials He-he-he! Now we can get our revenge on Daniel and destroy him.
The nasty officials rub their hands together in glee
Narrator So they ran to King Darius and told him what Daniel was doing.
Nasty Officials Throw him to the lions!
Good Officials Spare him, oh king!
Nasty Officials Throw him to the lions!
Good Officials But Daniel is your friend!
Darius What shall I do? Daniel is indeed my friend. But I have made my decree. How can I go back on it?
Good Counsellor Be merciful, oh king! Spare you friend! Your people will love you for it.
Darius Yes. Yes. If I am kind my people will love me.
Wicked Counsellor Be strong, oh king! Punish you friend. Your people will respect and fear you for it.
Darius Yes. Yes. If I am strong my people will obey me.
Good Counsellor Your people will love a merciful king.
Wicked Counsellor But they will only obey a strong one. Remember Belshazzar. He was kind to his friends. Look what happened to him.
Darius He's right.
Nasty Officials Throw him to the lions!
Good Officials Spare him, oh king!
Nasty Officials Throw him to the lions!
Wicked Counsellor Remember Belshazzar!
The Bloodthirsty Lions growl at Daniel
Darius Alas! I have no choice. Daniel my deputy has been caught praying to his God three times a day as usual. I cannot revoke my decree without appearing weak and probably ending up murdered like Belshazzar. A king must be strong. My order must be obeyed. Poor Daniel must be thrown into the den of bloodthirsty lions and be killed. Alas!
(Points at the Lion Keeper)
Throw Daniel to the lions!
The Bloodthirsty Lions growl and claw at the air
Lion Keeper (Seizes Daniel)
Here you are, lads. A nice tasty little snack.
(He throws Daniel into the lions' den)
The Nasty Officials cheer
Daniel Aaaarghhh! Now I’m in big trouble. These lions look very bloodthirsty. And they’re starving.
The Bloodthirsty Lions growl and claw at the air
Daniel All I can do is pray to God and ask him to rescue me.
Daniel prays
The Bloodthirsty Lions stop growling and look meek
Narrator King Darius could not eat or sleep. All night he paced up and down his bedroom wishing he had been merciful. In the morning he went sadly to the lion’s den. The stone was rolled back, and he anxiously looked in. To his amazement he saw Daniel, alive and well, and unharmed by the lions who were lying around like pussycats.
Daniel Long live the king! I prayed to my God and he sent his angel to shut the lions’ mouths. God did this because I have done no wrong, and because I put my trust in him.
Darius I am overjoyed. Come out my friend!
Darius extends his hand towards Daniel
Daniel walks to Darius, bows, and stands beside him
The Good Officials cheer
Darius But Daniel, how is it that the bloodthirsty lions did not eat you?
Daniel I was spared because I prayed to the One True God and he protected me.
Darius Then I withdraw my decree. From now on, my people will no longer worship me. Instead they will worship the One True God of Daniel.
The Good Officials cheer
The Nasty Officials scowl and shrink back defeated
The Bloodthirsty Lions turn towards the nasty official and growl
The Nasty Officials run away terrified
Narrator The nasty officials who had tried to destroy Daniel fled in terror, but they could not run far enough. King Darius arrested them and threw them all into the lions’ den, together with their nasty families.
The Good Officials throw the Nasty Officials into the lions' den
Lion Keeper (To the lions) Here you are, lads. Grub up!
Narrator Even before they reached the floor, the bloodthirsty lions overpowered them and ate them all up.
Daniel Oh dear. That wasn’t what I had in mind at all! But I suppose they did deserve it.
Narrator And that is how King Darius decreed that all his people should worship the God of Daniel. He even wrote a song to the living God, who rescues and saves, and who performs signs and wonders in all the earth. After this, Daniel went on to interpret many dreams, and to have visions himself.
Daniel You can read about all this in my book, the Book of Daniel, which you will find in the Old Testament after Ezekiel, among the prophets.
Narrator So – did the story end happily ever after? What do you think? Was Darius a good or a bad king? Was he strong or weak? Was Daniel brave or foolish? Think about this story and what happened in it, and then make up your own minds . . . .
1 comment:
May nay may nay teckel yoo farsin.
Post a Comment