CHAPTER II. 21 And Daniel continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus. f CHAP. II. shew the king's matter: therefore ND in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him. o2 Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrolog 12 For this cause the king was gers, and the sorcerers, and the angry and very furious, and comChaldeans, for to shew the king his manded to destroy all the wise men dreams. So they came and stood of Babylon. before the king. 11 And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh. f3 And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream. 4 Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriac, O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation. 5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill. 6 But if ye shew the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honour therefore, shew me the dream, and the interpretation thereof. 13 And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain. f 14 Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captain of the king's guard, which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon: 15 He answered and said to Arioch the king's captain, Why is the decree so hasty from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel. 16 Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would shew the king the interpretation. 17 Then Daniel went to his house and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions: 7 They answered again and said, d 18 That they would desire merLet the king tell his servants the cies of the God of heaven concerndream, and we will shew the inter-ing this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the pretation of it. 8 The king answered and said, I rest of the wise men of Babylon. know of certainty that ye would v 19 Then was the secret revealed gain the time, because ye see the unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. thing is gone from me. 9 But, if ye will not make known t 20 Daniel answered and said, unto me the dream, there is but one Blessed be the name of God for decree for you for ye have prepar-ever and ever: for wisdom and might ed lying and corrupt words to speak are his: before me, till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can shew me the interpretion thereof. 10 The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can Kkkk 21 And he changeth the times and the seasons; he removeth kings, and setteth up kings; he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: 22 He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is 937 in the darkness, and the light dwell- 31 eth with him. d 23 I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king's matter. f 24 Therefore, Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon he went and said thus unto him; Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will shew unto the king the interpretation. Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. 32 This image's bead was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, 33 His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. T 34 Thou sawest ull that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. 35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and be came like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great 26 The king answered and said mountain, and filled the whole to Daniel, whose name was Belte-earth. 25 Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said thus unto him, I have found a man of the captives of Judah, that will make known unto the king the interpretation. shazzar, Art thou able to make 36¶ This is the dream; and we known unto me the dream which I will tell the interpretation thereof have seen, and the interpretation before the king. thereof? t 27 Daniel answered in the pre-kings: for the God of heaven bath sence of the king, and said, The se- given thee a kingdom, power, and cret which the king hath demanded strength, and glory. cannot the wise men, the astrologers, r 58 And wheresoever the children the magicians, the soothsayers, shew of men dwell, the beasts of the field unto the king: and the fowls of the heaven hath he 1 28 But, there is a God in heaven given into thy hand, and hath made that revealeth secrets, and maketh thee ruler over them all. Thou art known to the king Nebuchadnezzar this head of gold. t 37 Thou, O king, art a king of what shall be in the latter days.r 39 And after thee shall arise Thy dream, and the visions of thy another kingdom inferior to thee, head upon thy bed, are these; and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. : 29 As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass r 40 And the fourth kingdom shall hereafter and he that revealeth se- be strong as iron: forasmuch as crets maketh known to thee what iron breaketh in pieces and subdushall come to pass. eth all things: and as iron that c* 30 But as for me, this secret is breaketh all these, shall it break in not revealed to me for any wisdom pieces and bruise. that I have more than any living,r 41 And whereas thou sawest the but for their sakes that shall make feet and toes, part of potters' clay, known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart. and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, foras much as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. 42 And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. f 2 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes, 543 And whereas thou sawest iron the governors, and the captains, the mixed with miry clay, they shall min-judges, the treasurers, the counselgle themselves with the seed of men lors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers but they shall not cleave one to of the provinces, to come to the deanother, even as iron is not mixed dication of the image which Newith clay. buchadnezzar the king had set up. * 44 And in the days of these kings 3 Then the princes, the governshall the God of heaven set up a ors, and captains, the judges, the kingdom, which shall never be de- treasurers, the counsellors, the shestroyed: and the kingdom shall not riffs, and all the rulers of the probe left to other people, but it shall vinces, were gathered together unto break in pieces and consume all the dedication of the image that these kingdoms, and it shall stand Nebuchadnezzar the king had set for ever. up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. A4 Then a herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages, 45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great 5 That at what time ye hear the God hath made known to the king sound of the cornet, flute, harp, what shall come to pass hereafter; saekbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all and the dream is certain, and the in- kinds of music, ye fall down and terpretation thereof sure. worship the golden image that Nef46 Then the king Nebuchad-buchadnezzar the king hath set up, nezzar fell upon his face, and wor- 6 And whoso falleth not down and shipped Daniel, and commanded worshippeth shall the same hour be that they should offer an oblation cast into the midst of a burning fiery and sweet odours unto him. furnace. 47 The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret. g 48 Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon. f49 Then Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, over the af fairs of the province of Babylon but Daniel sat in the gate of the king. CHAP. III. EBUCHADNEZZAR the 7 Therefore, at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of music, all the people, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. ƒ 8 Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and accused the Jews. 9 They spake and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live for ever. 10 Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, shall fall N king made an image of gold, down and worship the golden image: 11 And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth, that he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. 20 And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the bursing fiery furnace. 21 Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burn c 12 There are certain Jews whom 13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in furnace exceeding hot, the flame of nego. 23 And these three men, Sha14 Nebuchadnezzar spake and drach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, fell said unto them, Is it true, O Sha-down bound into the midst of the drach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, do burning fiery furnace. not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? 15 Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye 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? c 16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. c 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 thy hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. 19 Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated. 24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. 25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. m 26 ¶ Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed nego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither, Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, came forth of the midst of the fire. 27 And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was a hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them. d 28 Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted 1 in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God. 29 Therefore, I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other god that can deliver after this sort. 30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, in the province of Babylon. 90 Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof. y 10 Thus were the visions of my head in my bed; I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great. 11 The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth: 12 The leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in CHAP. IV. it was meat for all the beasts of the [EBUCHADNEZZAR the field had shadow under it, and the tions, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you. 2 I thought it good to shew the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me. 13 How great are his signs! and how mighty are his wonders! his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation. 4 Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in my house, and flourishing in my palace: v 5 I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me. boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed of it. E 13 I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and behold a watcher and a holy one came down from heaven; 14 He cried aloud, and said thus, Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit: let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from his branches. 15 Nevertheless, leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field: and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth. 16 Let his heart be changed from man's, and let a beast's heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him. g 6 Therefore made I a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known unto me the interpretation of the dream. 7 Then came in the magicians, 17 This matter is by the decree of the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the watchers, and the demand by the soothsayers: and I told the the word of the holy ones: to the indream before them, but they did not tent that the living may know that make known unto me the interpreta-the Most High ruleth in the kingdom tion thereof, of men, and giveth it to whomsoever t8 But at the last Daniel came he will, and setteth up over it the in before me, whose name was Bel-basest of men. teshazzar, according to the name of t 18 This dream I L'ag Nebuchadmy god, and in whom is the spirit nezzar have seen. Now thou, O of the holy gods: and before him I Belteshazzar, declare the interprettold the dream, saying, lation thereof, forasmuch as all the |