Daniel, 14

1. When King Astyages joined his ancestors, Cyrus of Persia succeeded him.

1. When King Astyages was laid with his fathers, Cyrus the Persian received his kingdom.

2. Daniel was very close to the king, who respected him more than any of his other friends.

2. And Daniel was a companion of the king, and was the most honored of his friends.

3. Now, in Babylon there was an idol called Bel, to which twelve bushels of the finest flour, forty sheep and six measures of wine were offered every day.

3. Now the Babylonians had an idol called Bel, and every day they spent on it twelve bushels of fine flour and forty sheep and fifty gallons of wine.

4. The king venerated this idol and used to go and worship it every day. Daniel, however, worshipped his own God.

4. The king revered it and went every day to worship it. But Daniel worshiped his own God.

5. 'Why do you not worship Bel?' the king asked Daniel. 'I do not worship idols made by human hand,' Daniel replied, 'I worship the living God who made heaven and earth and who is lord over all living creatures.'

5. And the king said to him, "Why do you not worship Bel?" He answered, "Because I do not revere man-made idols, but the living God, who created heaven and earth and has dominion over all flesh."

6. 'Do you not believe, then,' said the king, 'that Bel is a living god? Can you not see how much he eats and drinks each day?'

6. The king said to him, "Do you not think that Bel is a living God? Do you not see how much he eats and drinks every day?"

7. Daniel laughed. 'Your Majesty,' he said, 'do not be taken in; he is clay inside, and bronze outside, and has never eaten or drunk anything.'

7. Then Daniel laughed, and said, "Do not be deceived, O king; for this is but clay inside and brass outside, and it never ate or drank anything."

8. This made the king angry; he summoned his priests, 'Tell me who eats all this food,' he said, 'or die. Prove to me that Bel really eats it, and I will have Daniel put to death for blaspheming him.'

8. Then the king was angry, and he called his priests and said to them, "If you do not tell me who is eating these provisions, you shall die.

9. Daniel said to the king, 'Let it be as you say.'

9. But if you prove that Bel is eating them, Daniel shall die, because he blasphemed against Bel." And Daniel said to the king, "Let it be done as you have said."

10. There were seventy of these priests, to say nothing of their wives and children. The king went to the temple of Bel, taking Daniel with him.

10. Now there were seventy priests of Bel, besides their wives and children. And the king went with Daniel into the temple of Bel.

11. The priests of Bel said to him, 'We shall now go out, and you, Your Majesty, will lay out the meal and mix the wine and set it out. Then, lock the door and seal it with your personal seal. If, when you return in the morning, you do not find that everything has been eaten by Bel,let us be put to death; otherwise let Daniel, that slanderer!'

11. And the priests of Bel said, "Behold, we are going outside; you yourself, O king, shall set forth the food and mix and place the wine, and shut the door and seal it with your signet.

12. They were thinking -- hence their confidence -- of a secret entrance which they had made under the table, and by which they came in regularly and took the offerings away.

12. And when you return in the morning, if you do not find that Bel has eaten it all, we will die; or else Daniel will, who is telling lies about us."

13. When the priests had gone and the king had set out the food for Bel,

13. They were unconcerned, for beneath the table they had made a hidden entrance, through which they used to go in regularly and consume the provisions.

14. Daniel made his servants bring ashes and spread them all over the temple floor, with no other witness than the king. They then left the building, shut the door and, sealing it with the king's seal, went away.

14. When they had gone out, the king set forth the food for Bel. Then Daniel ordered his servants to bring ashes and they sifted them throughout the whole temple in the presence of the king alone. Then they went out, shut the door and sealed it with the king's signet, and departed.

15. That night, as usual, the priests came with their wives and children; they ate and drank everything.

15. In the night the priests came with their wives and children, as they were accustomed to do, and ate and drank everything.

16. The king was up very early next morning, and Daniel with him.

16. Early in the morning the king rose and came, and Daniel with him.

17. 'Daniel,' said the king, 'are the seals intact?' 'They are intact, Your Majesty,' he replied.

17. And the king said, "Are the seals unbroken, Daniel?" He answered, "They are unbroken, O king."

18. The king then opened the door and, taking one look at the table, exclaimed, 'You are great, O Bel! There is no deception in you!'

18. As soon as the doors were opened, the king looked at the table, and shouted in a loud voice, "You are great, O Bel; and with you there is no deceit, none at all."

19. But Daniel laughed; and, restraining the king from going in any further, he said, 'Look at the floor and take note whose footmarks these are!'

19. Then Daniel laughed, and restrained the king from going in, and said, "Look at the floor, and notice whose footsteps these are."

20. 'I can see the footmarks of men, of women and of children,' said the king,

20. The king said, "I see the footsteps of men and women and children."

21. and angrily ordered the priests to be arrested, with their wives and children. They then showed him the secret door through which they used to come and take what was on the table.

21. Then the king was enraged, and he seized the priests and their wives and children; and they showed him the secret doors through which they were accustomed to enter and devour what was on the table.

22. The king had them put to death and handed Bel over to Daniel who destroyed both the idol and its temple.

22. Therefore the king put them to death, and gave Bel over to Daniel, who destroyed it and its temple.

23. There was a great dragon which the Babylonians worshipped too.

23. There was also a great dragon, which the Babylonians revered.

24. The king said to Daniel, 'Are you going to tell me that this is made of bronze? Look, it is alive; it eats and drinks; you cannot deny that this is a living god; worship it, then.'

24. And the king said to Daniel, "You cannot deny that this is a living god; so worship him."

25. Daniel replied, 'I will worship the Lord my God; he is the living God. With your permission, Your Majesty, without using either sword or club, I shall kill this dragon.'

25. Daniel said, "I will worship the Lord my God, for he is the living God.

26. 'You have my permission,' said the king.

26. But if you, O king, will give me permission, I will slay the dragon without sword or club." The king said, "I give you permission."

27. Whereupon, Daniel took some pitch, some fat and some hair and boiled them up together, rolled the mixture into balls and fed them to the dragon; the dragon swallowed them and burst. Daniel said, 'Now look at the sort of thing you worship!'

27. Then Daniel took pitch, fat, and hair, and boiled them together and made cakes, which he fed to the dragon. The dragon ate them, and burst open. And Daniel said, "See what you have been worshiping!"

28. The Babylonians were furious when they heard about this and rose against the king. 'The king has turned Jew,' they said, 'he has allowed Bel to be overthrown, and the dragon to be killed, and he has put the priests to death.'

28. When the Babylonians heard it, they were very indignant and conspired against the king, saying, "The king has become a Jew; he has destroyed Bel, and slain the dragon, and slaughtered the priests."

29. So they went to the king and said, 'Hand Daniel over to us or else we shall kill you and your family.'

29. Going to the king, they said, "Hand Daniel over to us, or else we will kill you and your household."

30. They pressed him so hard that the king found himself forced to hand Daniel over to them.

30. The king saw that they were pressing him hard, and under compulsion he handed Daniel over to them.

31. They threw Daniel into the lion pit, and there he stayed for six days.

31. They threw Daniel into the lions' den, and he was there for six days.

32. In the pit were seven lions, which were given two human bodies and two sheep every day; but for this period they were not given anything, to make sure they would eat Daniel.

32. There were seven lions in the den, and every day they had been given two human bodies and two sheep; but these were not given to them now, so that they might devour Daniel.

33. Now, the prophet Habakkuk was in Judaea: he had been making a stew and breaking up bread into a basket. He was on his way to the fields, taking this to the harvesters,

33. Now the prophet Habakkuk was in Judea. He had boiled pottage and had broken bread into a bowl, and was going into the field to take it to the reapers.

34. when the angel of the Lord spoke to him, 'Take the meal you are carrying to Babylon, and give it to Daniel in the lion pit.'

34. But the angel of the Lord said to Habakkuk, "Take the dinner which you have to Babylon, to Daniel, in the lions' den."

35. 'Lord,' replied Habakkuk, 'I have not even seen Babylon and know nothing about this pit.'

35. Habakkuk said, "Sir, I have never seen Babylon, and I know nothing about the den."

36. The angel of the Lord took hold of his head and carried him off by the hair to Babylon where, with a great blast of his breath, he set Habakkuk down on the edge of the pit.

36. Then the angel of the Lord took him by the crown of his head, and lifted him by his hair and set him down in Babylon, right over the den, with the rushing sound of the wind itself.

37. 'Daniel, Daniel,' Habakkuk shouted, 'take the meal that God has sent you.'

37. Then Habakkuk shouted, "Daniel, Daniel! Take the dinner which God has sent you."

38. And Daniel said, 'You have kept me in mind, O God; you have not deserted those who love you.'

38. And Daniel said, "Thou hast remembered me, O God, and hast not forsaken those who love thee."

39. Rising to his feet, he ate the meal, while the angel of God carried Habakkuk back in a moment to his own country.

39. So Daniel arose and ate. And the angel of God immediately returned Habakkuk to his own place.

40. On the seventh day, the king came to lament over Daniel; on reaching the pit he looked inside, and there sat Daniel.

40. On the seventh day the king came to mourn for Daniel. When he came to the den he looked in, and there sat Daniel.

41. 'You are great, O Lord, God of Daniel,' he exclaimed, 'there is no god but you!'

41. And the king shouted with a loud voice, "Thou art great, O Lord God of Daniel, and there is no other besides thee."

42. He then had Daniel released from the pit and the plotters of Daniel's ruin thrown in instead, where they were instantly eaten before his eyes.

42. And he pulled Daniel out, and threw into the den the men who had attempted his destruction, and they were devoured immediately before his eyes.