Then they came near, and spake before the king concerning the king's decree; Hast thou not signed a decree, that every man that shall ask <i>a petition</i> of any God or man within thirty days, save of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The thing <i>is</i> true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.