Sep 21 - Daniel 1-3
Daniel
1In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it2And the Lord delivered into his hand Jehoiakim the king of Judah and a portion of the vessels of the house of God. And he carried them away into the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and he brought the vessels into the treasure chamber of his god3And the king told Ashpenaz, the chief of the eunuchs, that he should bring in some of the sons of Israel, and some of the offspring of the king and of the sovereigns4young men, in whom there was no blemish, noble in appearance, and accomplished in all wisdom, cautious in knowledge, and well-educated, and who could stand in the palace of the king, so that he might teach them the letters and the language of the Chaldeans5And the king appointed for them provisions for each day, from his own food and from the wine which he himself drank, so that, after being nourished for three years, they would stand in the sight of the king6Now, among those of the sons of Judah, there were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah7And the chief of the eunuchs assigned names to them: to Daniel, Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego8But Daniel resolved in his heart that he would not be polluted with the king’s meal, nor with the wine he drank, and he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not be contaminated9And so God gave Daniel grace and mercy in the sight of the leader of the eunuchs10And the leader of the eunuchs said to Daniel, "I am afraid of my lord the king, who has appointed food and drink for you, who, if he should see that your faces are leaner than those of the other youths your age, you would condemn my head to the king.11And Daniel said to Malasar, whom the leader of the eunuchs had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah12"I beg you to test us, your servants, for ten days, and let roots be given to us to eat and water to drink13and then observe our faces, and the faces of the children who eat the king’s food, and then deal with your servants according to what you see.14When he had heard these words, he tested them for ten days15But, after ten days, their faces appeared better and fatter than all the children who had eaten from the king’s food16Thereafter, Malasar took away their portions and their wine for drinking, and he gave them roots17Yet, to these children, God gave knowledge and instruction in every book, and wisdom, but to Daniel, also the understanding of all visions and dreams18And when the time was completed, after which the king had said that they would be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before the sight of Nebuchadnezzar19And, when the king conversed with them, there had not been found any so great in all the world as Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; and so they stood in the sight of the king20And in every concept of wisdom and understanding, about which the king consulted with them, he found them to be ten times better than all the seers and astrologers put together, who were in his entire kingdom21And so Daniel remained, even until the first year of king Cyrus
1In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar saw a dream, and his spirit was terrified, and his dream fled from him2Yet the king commanded that the seers, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans be gathered together to reveal to the king his dreams. When they arrived, they stood in front of the king3And the king said to them, "I saw a dream, and, being confused in mind, I do not know what I saw.4And the Chaldeans answered the king in Syriac, "O king, live forever. Tell the dream to your servants, and we will reveal its interpretation.5And in answer, the king said to the Chaldeans, "The memory of it has slipped away from me. Unless you reveal the dream to me, and its meaning, you will be put to death, and your houses will be confiscated6But if you explain the dream and its meaning, you will receive from me rewards, and gifts, and great honor. Therefore, reveal to me the dream and its interpretation.7They answered again and said, "Let the king tell the dream to his servants, and we will reveal its interpretation.8The king answered and said, "I am certain that you are stalling for time because you know that the memory of it has slipped away from me9Therefore, if you do not reveal to me the dream, there is only one conclusion to be reached about you, that the interpretation is likewise false, and packed full of deception, so as to speak before me until the time passes away. And so, tell me the dream, so that I will also know that the interpretation that you tell me is likewise true.10Then the Chaldeans answered before the king, and they said, "There is no man on earth who can accomplish your word, O king. For neither has any king, however great and mighty, asked for an answer of this kind from every seer, and astrologer, and Chaldean11For the answer that you seek, O king, is very difficult. Neither can anyone be found who can reveal it in the sight of the king, except the gods, whose conversation is not with men.12When he heard this, the king commanded, in fury and in great wrath, that all the wise men of Babylon should be destroyed13And when the decree had gone forth, the wise men were put to death; and Daniel and his companions were sought, to be destroyed14Then Daniel inquired, about the law and the sentence, of Arioch, the general of the king’s army, who had gone forth to execute the wise men of Babylon15And he asked him, who had received the orders of the king, for what reason such a cruel sentence had gone forth from the face of the king. And so, when Arioch had revealed the matter to Daniel16Daniel went in and asked of the king that he would grant him time to reveal the solution to the king17And he went into his house and explained the task to Hananiah, and Mishael, and Azariah, his companions18so that they would seek mercy before the face of the God of heaven, about this mystery, and so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the other wise men of Babylon19Then the secret was revealed to Daniel by a vision in the night. And Daniel blessed the God of heaven20and speaking aloud, he said, "May the name of the Lord be blessed by the present generation and for ever; for wisdom and fortitude are his21And he alters the times and the ages. He takes away kingdoms and he establishes them. He gives wisdom to those who are wise and teaching skills to those who understand22He reveals deep and hidden things, and he knows what has been established in darkness. And the light is with him23To you, God of our fathers, I confess, and you, I praise. For you have given wisdom and fortitude to me, and now you have revealed to me what we asked of you, for you have uncovered for us the king’s thoughts.24After this, Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon, and he spoke to him in this way, "Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon. Bring me in before the king, and I will explain the solution to the king.25Then Arioch quickly brought Daniel to the king, and he said to him, "I have found a man of the sons of the transmigration of Judah, who would announce the solution to the king.26The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, "Do you really think that you can reveal to me the dream that I saw and its interpretation?27And Daniel, facing the king, answered and said, "The secret that the king seeks, the wise men, the seers, and the soothsayers are unable to reveal to the king28But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, who has revealed to you, king Nebuchadnezzar, what will happen in the latter times. Your dream and the visions of your head upon your bed, are such as these29You, O king, began to think, while in your blanket, about what will be hereafter. And he who reveals secrets showed you what will happen30To me, likewise, this mystery is revealed, not according to the wisdom that is in me more than in other living things, but so that the interpretation might be made manifest to the king, and so that you may know the thoughts of your mind31You, O king, saw, and behold, something like a great statue. This statue, which was great and high, stood exalted above you, and you considered how terrible it was32The head of this statue was of the finest gold, but the breast and the arms were of silver, and further on, the belly and the thighs were of brass33but the shins were of iron, a certain part of the feet were of iron and another part were of clay34And so you looked until a stone was broken off without hands from a mountain, and it struck the statue on its feet, which were of iron and clay, and it shattered them35Then the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold were crushed together and diminished like the ashes of a summer courtyard, and they were quickly taken away by the wind, and no place was found for them; but the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth36This is the dream; we will also tell its interpretation before you, O king37You are a king among kings, and the God of heaven has given to you a kingdom, and fortitude, and power, and glory38and all the places wherein the sons of men and the beasts of the field dwell. He has likewise given the flying creatures of the air into your hand, and he has placed all things under your realm. Therefore, you are the head of gold39And after you, another kingdom will rise up, inferior to you, of silver, and another third kingdom of brass, which will rule over the whole world40And the fourth kingdom will be like iron. Just as iron shatters and conquers all things, so will it shatter and crush all these41Furthermore, because you saw the feet and the toes to be part of potter’s clay and part of iron, the kingdom will be divided, but still, from the slip of iron it will take its origin, since you saw the iron mingled with the earthenware from clay42And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, part of the kingdom will be strong and part will be crushed43Yet, because you saw the iron mingled with pottery from the earth, they will indeed be combined together with the offspring of man, but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron cannot be mixed with earthenware44But in the days of those kingdoms, the God of heaven will inspire a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and his kingdom will not be handed over to another people, and it will crush and will consume all these kingdoms, and this kingdom itself will stand in eternity45In accordance with what you saw, because the stone was torn away from the mountain without hands, and it crushed the earthenware, and the iron, and the brass, and the silver, and the gold, the great God has shown the king what will happen after this. And the dream is true, and its interpretation is faithful.46Then king Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and adored Daniel, and he commanded that they should offer in sacrifice to him victims and incense47And so the king spoke with Daniel and said, "Truly, your God is the God of gods, and Lord of kings, and also a revealer of secrets, since you could uncover this mystery.48Then the king raised Daniel to a high rank and gave him many great gifts, and he appointed him as leader over all the provinces of Babylon and as chief of the magistrates over all the other wise men of Babylon49However, Daniel required of the king that he appoint Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the works of the province of Babylon. But Daniel himself was at the king’s door
1King Nebuchadnezzar made a statue of gold, sixty cubits high and six cubits wide, and he set it up in the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon2Then king Nebuchadnezzar sent to gather together the governors, magistrates and judges, generals and sovereigns and commanders, and all the leaders of the regions, to come together for the dedication of the statue, which king Nebuchadnezzar had raised3Then the governors, magistrates and judges, generals and sovereigns and nobles, who were appointed to power, and all the leaders of the regions were brought together so as to convene for the dedication of the statue, which king Nebuchadnezzar had raised. And so they stood before the statue that king Nebuchadnezzar had set up4And a herald proclaimed loudly, "To you it is said, to you peoples, tribes, and languages5that in the hour when you will hear the sound of the trumpet and the pipe and the lute, the harp and the psaltery, and of the symphony and every kind of music, you must fall down and adore the gold statue, which king Nebuchadnezzar has set up6But if anyone will not bow down and adore, in the same hour he will be cast into a furnace of burning fire.7After this, therefore, as soon as all the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the pipe and the lute, the harp and the psaltery, and of the symphony and every kind of music, all the peoples, tribes, and languages fell down and adored the gold statue, which king Nebuchadnezzar had set up8And soon, about the same time, some influential Chaldeans came and accused the Jews9and they said to king Nebuchadnezzar, "O king, live forever10You, O king, have established a decree, so that every man who might hear the sound of the trumpet, the pipe and the lute, the harp and the psaltery, and of the symphony and every kind of music, will prostrate himself and adore the gold statue11But if any man will not fall down and adore, he would be cast into a furnace of burning fire12Yet there are influential Jews, whom you have appointed over the works of the region of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, have scorned your decree. They do not worship your gods, and they do not adore the gold statue which you have raised up.13Then Nebuchadnezzar, in fury and in wrath, commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego should be brought, and so, without delay, they were brought before the king14And king Nebuchadnezzar addressed them and said, "Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not worship my gods, nor adore the gold statue, which I have set up?15Therefore, if you are prepared now, whenever you hear the sound of the trumpet, pipe, lute, harp and psaltery, and of the symphony and every kind of music, prostrate yourselves and adore the statue which I have made. But if you will not adore, in the same hour you will be cast into the furnace of burning fire. And who is the God that will rescue you from my hand?"16Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to king Nebuchadnezzar, "It is not right for us to obey you in this matter17For behold our God, whom we worship, is able to rescue us from the oven of burning fire and to free us from your hands, O king18But even if he will not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not worship your gods, nor adore the gold statue, which you have raised up."19Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury and the appearance of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and he commanded that the furnace should be heated to seven times its usual fire20And he ordered the strongest men of his army to bind the feet of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the furnace of burning fire21And immediately these men were bound, and along with their coats, and their hats, and their shoes, and their garments, were cast into the middle of the furnace of burning fire22But the king’s order was so urgent that the furnace was heated excessively. As a result, those men who had cast in Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were killed by the flame of the fire23But these three men, that is, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, having been bound, fell down in the middle of the oven of burning fire.24And they were walking in the midst of the flame, praising God and blessing the Lord25Then Azariah, while standing, prayed in this manner, and opening his mouth in the midst of the fire, he said26"Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers, and your name is praiseworthy and glorious for all ages27For you are just in all the things that you have accomplished for us, and all your works are true, and your ways are right, and all your judgments are true28For you have made equally true judgments in all the things that you have brought upon us and upon Jerusalem, the holy city of our fathers. For in truth and in judgment, you have brought down all these things because of our sins29For we have sinned, and we have committed iniquity in withdrawing from you, and we have offended in all things30And we have not listened to your precepts, nor have we observed or done as you have ordered us, so that it might go well with us31Therefore, everything that you have brought upon us, and all that you have done for us, you have done in true judgment32And you have delivered us into the hands of our enemies: traitors, unjust and most wicked, and to a king, unjust and most wicked, even more so than all others on earth33And now we are not able to open our mouths. We have become a shame and a disgrace to your servants and to those who worship you34Do not hand us over forever, we ask you, because of your name, and do not abolish your covenant35And do not withdraw your mercy from us, because of Abraham, your beloved, and Isaac, your servant, and Israel, your holy one36You have spoken with them, promising that you would multiply their offspring like the stars of heaven and like the sand on the seashore37For we, O Lord, are diminished more than all other peoples, and we are brought low throughout all the earth, this day, because of our sins38Neither is there, at this time, a leader, or a ruler, or a prophet, nor any holocaust, or sacrifice, or oblation, or incense, or place of first fruits, in your eyes, so that we may be able to find your mercy.39Nevertheless, with a contrite soul and humble spirit, let us be accepted40Just as in the holocausts of rams and bullocks, and as in thousands of fat lambs, so let our sacrifice be in your sight this day, in order to please you. For there is no shame for those who trust in you41And now we follow you wholeheartedly, and we fear you, and we seek your face42Do not put us to shame, but deal with us in agreement with your clemency and according to the multitude of your mercies43And rescue us by your wonders and give glory to your name, O Lord44And let all those be confounded who lead your servants towards evil. May they be confounded by all your power and may their strength be crushed45And may they know that you are the Lord, the only God, and glorious above the world.46And they did not cease, those attendants of the king who had cast them in, to heat the furnace with oil, and flax, and pitch, and brush47And the flame streamed forth above the furnace for forty-nine cubits48And the fire erupted and burnt those of the Chaldeans within its reach near the furnace49But the angel of the Lord descended with Azariah and his companions into the furnace; and he cast the flame of the fire out of the furnace50And he made the middle of the furnace like the blowing of a damp wind, and the fire did not touch them, nor afflict them, nor bother them at all51Then these three, as if with one voice, praised and glorified and blessed God, in the furnace, saying52"Blessed are you, Lord, God of our fathers: praiseworthy, and glorious, and exalted above all forever. And blessed is the holy name of your glory: praiseworthy, and exalted above all, for all ages53Blessed are you in the holy temple of your glory: praiseworthy above all and exalted above all forever54Blessed are you who beholds the abyss and sits upon the cherubims: praiseworthy and exalted above all forever55Blessed are you on the throne of your kingdom: praiseworthy above all and exalted above all forever56Blessed are you in the firmament of heaven: praiseworthy and glorious forever57All works of the Lord, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever58Heaven, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever59Angels of the Lord, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever60All waters that are above the heavens, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever61All powers of the Lord, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever62Sun and moon, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever63Stars of heaven, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever64Every rain and dew, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever65Every breath of God, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever66Fire and steam, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever67Cold and heat, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever68Dews and frost, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever69Sleet and winter, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever70Ice and snow, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever71Nights and days, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever72Light and darkness, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever73Lightning and clouds, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever74May the land bless the Lord: and praise and exalt him above all forever75Mountains and hills, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever76All things that grow in the land, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever77Fountains, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever78Seas and rivers, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever79Whales and all things that move in the waters, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever80All things that fly in the heavens, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever81All beasts and cattle, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever82Sons of men, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever83May Israel bless the Lord: and praise and exalt him above all forever84Priests of the Lord, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever85Servants of the Lord, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever86Spirits and souls of the just, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever87Those who are holy and humble in heart, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever88Hananiah, Azariah, Mishael, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever. For he has delivered us from the underworld, and saved us from the hand of death, and freed us from the midst of the burning flame, and rescued us from the midst of the fire89Give thanks to the Lord because he is good: because his mercy is forever90All those who are pious, bless the Lord, the God of gods: praise him and acknowledge him because his mercy is for all generations.91Then king Nebuchadnezzar was astonished, and he quickly got up and said to his nobles: "Did we not cast three men shackled into the midst of the fire?" Answering the king, they said, "True, O king.92He answered and said, "Behold, I see four men unbound and walking in the midst of the fire, and no harm is in them, and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of God.93Then Nebuchadnezzar approached the entrance of the furnace of burning fire, and he said, "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the supreme God, come out and approach." And immediately Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego went out from the midst of the fire94And when the governors, and the magistrates, and the judges, and the powerful of the king had gathered together, they considered these men because the fire had no power against their bodies, and not a hair of their head had been scorched, and their pants had not been affected, and the smell of the fire had not passed onto them95Then Nebuchadnezzar, bursting out, said, "Blessed is their God, the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who sent his angel and rescued his servants who believed in him. And they altered the verdict of the king, and they delivered up their bodies, so that they would not serve or adore any god except their God96Therefore, this decree is established by me: that every people, tribe, and language, whenever they have spoken blasphemy against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, will perish and their homes will be destroyed. For there is no other God who is able to save in this way.97Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon