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Daniel, starting at chapter 1
{1:1} In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to Jerusalem, and besieged it. {1:2}
The [1>]Lord[<1] gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part
of the vessels of the house of [2>]God[<2]; and he carried them into
the land of Shinar to the house of his god: and he brought the vessels
into the treasure house of his god. {1:3} The king spoke to Ashpenaz
the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring in [certain] of the
children of Israel, even of the seed royal and of the nobles; {1:4}
youths in whom was no blemish, but well-favored, and skillful in all
wisdom, and endowed with knowledge, and understanding science, and
such as had ability to stand in the king's palace; and that he should
teach them the learning and the language of the Kasdim. {1:5} The king
appointed for them a daily portion of the king's dainties, and of the
wine which he drank, and that they should be nourished three years;
that at its end they should stand before the king. {1:6} Now among
these were, of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and
Azariah. {1:7} The prince of the eunuchs gave names to them: to Daniel
he gave [the name of] Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, [of] Shadrach;
and to Mishael, [of] Meshach; and to Azariah, [of] Abednego. {1:8} But
Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the
king's dainties, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he
requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile
himself. {1:9} Now God made Daniel to find kindness and compassion in
the sight of the prince of the eunuchs. {1:10} The prince of the
eunuchs said to Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who has appointed
your food and your drink: for why should he see your faces worse
looking than the youths who are of your own age? so would you endanger
my head with the king. {1:11} Then Daniel said to the steward whom the
prince of the eunuchs had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael,
and Azariah: {1:12} Test your servants, I beg you, ten days; and let
them give us vegetables to eat, and water to drink. {1:13} Then let
our faces be looked on before you, and the face of the youths who eat
of the king's dainties; and as you see, deal with your servants.
{1:14} So he listened to them in this matter, and proved them ten
days. {1:15} At the end of ten days their faces appeared fairer, and
they were fatter in flesh, than all the youths who ate of the king's
dainties. {1:16} So the steward took away their dainties, and the wine
that they should drink, and gave them pulse. {1:17} Now as for these
four youths, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and
wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. {1:18}
At the end of the days which the king had appointed for bringing them
in, the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar.
{1:19} The king talked with them; and among them all was found none
like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore stood they
before the king. {1:20} In every matter of wisdom and understanding,
concerning which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times
better than all the magicians and enchanters who were in all his
realm. {1:21} Daniel continued even to the first year of king Cyrus.
{2:1} In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar,
Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams; and his spirit was troubled, and his
sleep went from him. {2:2} Then the king commanded to call the
magicians, and the enchanters, and the sorcerers, and the Kasdim, to
tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king.
{2:3} The king said to them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit is
troubled to know the dream. {2:4} Then spoke the Kasdim to the king in
the Syrian language, O king, live forever: tell your servants the
dream, and we will show the interpretation. {2:5} The king answered
the Kasdim, The thing is gone from me: if you don't make known to me
the dream and its interpretation, you shall be cut in pieces, and your
houses shall be made a dunghill. {2:6} But if you show the dream and
its interpretation, you shall receive of me gifts and rewards and
great honor: therefore show me the dream and its interpretation. {2:7}
They answered the second time and said, Let the king tell his servants
the dream, and we will show the interpretation. {2:8} The king
answered, I know of a certainty that you would gain time, because you
see the thing is gone from me. {2:9} But if you don't make known to me
the dream, there is but one law for you; for you have prepared lying
and corrupt words to speak before me, until the time be changed:
therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me its
interpretation. {2:10} The Kasdians answered before the king, and
said, There is not a man on the earth who can show the king's matter,
because no king, lord, or ruler, has asked such a thing of any
magician, or enchanter, or Chaldean. {2:11} It is a rare thing that
the king requires, and there is no other who can show it before the
king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh. {2:12} For
this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to
destroy all the wise men of Babylon. {2:13} So the decree went forth,
and the wise men were to be slain; and they sought Daniel and his
companions to be slain. {2:14} Then Daniel returned answer with
counsel and prudence to Arioch the captain of the king's guard, who
was gone forth to kill the wise men of Babylon; {2:15} he answered
Arioch the king's captain, Why is the decree so urgent from the king?
Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel. {2:16} Daniel went in, and
desired of the king that he would appoint him a time, and he would
show the king the interpretation. {2:17} Then Daniel went to his
house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his
companions: {2:18} that they would desire mercies of the God of heaven
concerning this secret; that Daniel and his companions should not
perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. {2:19} Then was the
secret revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel
blessed the God of heaven. {2:20} Daniel answered, Blessed be the name
of God forever and ever; for wisdom and might are his. {2:21} He
changes the times and the seasons; he removes kings, and sets up
kings; he gives wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to those who have
understanding; {2:22} he reveals the deep and secret things; he knows
what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him. {2:23} I thank
you, and praise you, you God of my fathers, who have given me wisdom
and might, and have now made known to me what we desired of you; for
you have made known to us the king's matter. {2:24} Therefore Daniel
went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men
of Babylon; he went and said thus to him: Don't destroy the wise men
of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will show to the king
the interpretation. {2:25} Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the
king in haste, and said thus to him, I have found a man of the
children of the captivity of Judah, who will make known to the king
the interpretation. {2:26} The king answered Daniel, whose name was
Belteshazzar, Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have
seen, and its interpretation? {2:27} Daniel answered before the king,
and said, The secret which the king has demanded can neither wise men,
enchanters, magicians, nor soothsayers, show to the king; {2:28} but
there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and he has made known to
the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Your dream,
and the visions of your head on your bed, are these: {2:29} as for
you, O king, your thoughts came [into your mind] on your bed, what
should happen hereafter; and he who reveals secrets has made known to
you what shall happen. {2:30} But as for me, this secret is not
revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but to
the intent that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and
that you may know the thoughts of your heart. {2:31} You, O king, saw,
and behold, a great image. This image, which was mighty, and whose
brightness was excellent, stood before you; and its aspect was
awesome. {2:32} As for this image, its head was of fine gold, its
breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of brass,
{2:33} its legs of iron, its feet part of iron, and part of clay.
{2:34} You saw until a stone was cut out without hands, which struck
the image on its feet that were of iron and clay, and broke them in
pieces. {2:35} Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and
the gold, broken in pieces together, and became like the chaff of the
summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that no
place was found for them: and the stone that struck the image became a
great mountain, and filled the whole earth. {2:36} This is the dream;
and we will tell its interpretation before the king. {2:37} You, O
king, are king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the
kingdom, the power, and the strength, and the glory; {2:38} and
wherever the children of men dwell, the animals of the field and the
birds of the sky has he given into your hand, and has made you to rule
over them all: you are the head of gold. {2:39} After you shall arise
another kingdom inferior to you; and another third kingdom of brass,
which shall bear rule over all the earth. {2:40} The fourth kingdom
shall be strong as iron, because iron breaks in pieces and subdues all
things; and as iron that crushes all these, shall it break in pieces
and crush. {2:41} Whereas you saw the feet and toes, part of potters'
clay, and part of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom; but there shall
be in it of the strength of the iron, because you saw the iron mixed
with miry clay. {2:42} As the toes of the feet were part of iron, and
part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly
broken. {2:43} Whereas you saw the iron mixed with miry clay, they
shall mingle themselves with the seed of men; but they shall not cling
to one another, even as iron does not mingle with clay. {2:44} In the
days of those kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which
shall never be destroyed, nor shall its sovereignty be left to another
people; but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms,
and it shall stand forever. {2:45} Because you saw that a stone was
cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the
iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God has
made known to the king what shall happen hereafter: and the dream is
certain, and its interpretation sure. {2:46} Then the king
Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, and worshiped Daniel, and commanded
that they should offer an offering and sweet odors to him. {2:47} The
king answered to Daniel, and said, Of a truth your God is the God of
gods, and the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you have
been able to reveal this secret. {2:48} Then the king made Daniel
great, and gave him many great gifts, and made him to rule over the
whole province of Babylon, and to be chief governor over all the wise
men of Babylon. {2:49} Daniel requested of the king, and he appointed
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, over the affairs of the province of
Babylon: but Daniel was in the gate of the king.
{3:1} Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height
was sixty cubits, and its breadth six cubits: he set it up in the
plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. {3:2} Then Nebuchadnezzar
the king sent to gather together the satraps, the deputies, and the
governors, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs,
and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the
image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. {3:3} Then the
satraps, the deputies, and the governors, the judges, the treasurers,
the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces,
were gathered together to the dedication of the image that
Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image
that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. {3:4} Then the herald cried aloud, To
you it is commanded, peoples, nations, and languages, {3:5} that
whenever you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp,
pipe, and all kinds of music, you fall down and worship the golden
image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up; {3:6} and whoever
doesn't fall down and worship shall the same hour be cast into the
midst of a burning fiery furnace. {3:7} Therefore at that time, when
all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre,
harp, pipe, and all kinds of music, all the peoples, the nations, and
the languages, fell down and worshiped the golden image that
Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. {3:8} Therefore at that time
certain Kasdim came near, and brought accusation against the Jews.
{3:9} They answered Nebuchadnezzar the king, O king, live for ever.
{3:10} You, O king, have made a decree, that every man that shall hear
the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds
of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image; {3:11} and
whoever doesn't fall down and worship shall be cast into the midst of
a burning fiery furnace. {3:12} There are certain Jews whom you have
appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not respected you. They
don't serve your gods, nor worship the golden image which you have set
up. {3:13} Then Nebuchadnezzar in [his] rage and fury commanded to
bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men
before the king. {3:14} Nebuchadnezzar answered them, Is it on
purpose, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you don't serve my god,
nor worship the golden image which I have set up? {3:15} Now if you
are ready whenever you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither,
lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music to fall down and worship the
image which I have made, [well]: but if you don't worship, you shall
be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and
who is that god that shall deliver you out of my hands? {3:16}
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, Nebuchadnezzar, we
have no need to answer you in this matter. {3:17} If it be [so], our
God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery
furnace; and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. {3:18} But
if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods,
nor worship the golden image which you have set up. {3:19} Then was
Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his appearance was
changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: [therefore] he spoke,
and commanded that they should heat the furnace seven times more than
it was usually heated. {3:20} He commanded certain mighty men who were
in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, [and] to cast
them into the burning fiery furnace. {3:21} Then these men were bound
in their pants, their tunics, and their mantles, and their [other]
garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
{3:22} Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent, and the
furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took
up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. {3:23} These three men, Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning
fiery furnace. {3:24} Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and
rose up in haste: he spoke and said to his counselors, Didn't we cast
three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered the king,
True, O king. {3:25} He answered, Look, I see four men loose, walking
in the midst of the fire, and they are unharmed; and the aspect of the
fourth is like a son of the gods. {3:26} Then Nebuchadnezzar came near
to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace: he spoke and said,
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, you servants of the Most High God,
come forth, and come here. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came
forth out of the midst of the fire. {3:27} The satraps, the deputies,
and the governors, and the king's counselors, being gathered together,
saw these men, that the fire had no power on their bodies, nor was the
hair of their head singed, neither were their pants changed, nor had
the smell of fire passed on them. {3:28} Nebuchadnezzar spoke and
said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has
sent his angel, and delivered his servants who trusted in him, and
have changed the king's word, and have yielded their bodies, that they
might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God. {3:29}
Therefore I make a decree, that every people, nation, and language,
which speak anything evil against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a
dunghill; because there is no other god who is able to deliver after
this sort. {3:30} Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego in the province of Babylon.
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Footnotes:
[1] {1:2} The word translated "Lord" (mixed case) is "Adonai."
[2] {1:2} The Hebrew word rendered "God" is "Elohim."
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