Daniel, 14

1. And king Astyages was gathered to his fathers, and Cyrus of Persia received his kingdom.

1. When King Astyages died, Cyrus the Persian ascended the throne.

2. And Daniel conversed with the king, and was honoured above all his friends.

2. Daniel was very close to the king, who held him in higher esteem than any of his other friends.

3. Now the Babylons had an idol, called Bel, and there were spent upon him every day twelve great measures of fine flour, and forty sheep, and six vessels of wine.

3. The Babylonians had an idol called Bel, to which twelve bushels of fine flour, forty sheep, and six measures of wine were offered daily.

4. And the king worshipped it and went daily to adore it: but Daniel worshipped his own God. And the king said unto him, Why dost not thou worship Bel?

4. The king took part in this cult and worshiped the idol every day. Daniel, on the other hand, worshiped only his own God.

5. Who answered and said, Because I may not worship idols made with hands, but the living God, who hath created the heaven and the earth, and hath sovereignty over all flesh.

5. And the king asked him, "Why don't you worship Bel?" Daniel answered, "I worship no man-made idols, but only the living God who made heaven and earth and rules over all mankind."

6. Then said the king unto him, Thinkest thou not that Bel is a living God? seest thou not how much he eateth and drinketh every day?

6. The king asked, "Don't you think Bel is a living god? Don't you see how much he eats and drinks every day?"

7. Then Daniel smiled, and said, O king, be not deceived: for this is but clay within, and brass without, and did never eat or drink any thing.

7. Daniel laughed. "Do not be deceived, O king. This is only clay inside and bronze outside. It never ate or drank anything."

8. So the king was wroth, and called for his priests, and said unto them, If ye tell me not who this is that devoureth these expences, ye shall die.

8. Enraged, the king called his priests and said to them, "If you will not tell me who consumes all these offerings, you will all die.

9. But if ye can certify me that Bel devoureth them, then Daniel shall die: for he hath spoken blasphemy against Bel. And Daniel said unto the king, Let it be according to thy word.

9. But if you can show that Bel consumes them, it is Daniel who will die for blaspheming." Daniel said to the king, "Let it be as you say."

10. Now the priests of Bel were threescore and ten, beside their wives and children. And the king went with Daniel into the temple of Bel.

10. There were seventy priests of Bel, besides their wives and children. Together with Daniel, the king went to Bel's temple.

11. So Bel's priests said, Lo, we go out: but thou, O king, set on the meat, and make ready the wine, and shut the door fast and seal it with thine own signet;

11. The priests said to the king, "See, we are going outside. We will leave you here inside, O king, to set out the food and prepare the wine. Then you can leave them, shut the door and seal it with your ring.

12. And to morrow when thou comest in, if thou findest not that Bel hath eaten up all, we will suffer death: or else Daniel, that speaketh falsely against us.

12. You will return in the morning, and if you find that Bel has not eaten the food and drunk the wine, we are ready to be executed. But if the reverse happens, Daniel must die for telling lies and slandering us."

13. And they little regarded it: for under the table they had made a privy entrance, whereby they entered in continually, and consumed those things.

13. They were confident for they had made a secret entrance under the table, through which they used to come in to consume the food and wine offerings.

14. So when they were gone forth, the king set meats before Bel. Now Daniel had commanded his servants to bring ashes, and those they strewed throughout all the temple in the presence of the king alone: then went they out, and shut the door, and sealed it with the king's signet, and so departed.

14. When the priests had left, the king set the food before Bel, while Daniel ordered his servants to scatter ashes all over the temple floor. Then they left after shutting the door and sealing it with the king's ring.

15. Now in the night came the priests with their wives and children, as they were wont to do, and did eat and drinck up all.

15. That night the priests and their wives and children came and, as usual, ate and drank the offerings.

16. In the morning betime the king arose, and Daniel with him.

16. Early the next morning, the king returned to the temple with Daniel.

17. And the king said, Daniel, are the seals whole? And he said, Yea, O king, they be whole.

17. "Are the seals unbroken, Daniel?" the king asked. Daniel answered, "They are unbroken, O king."

18. And as soon as he had opened the dour, the king looked upon the table, and cried with a loud voice, Great art thou, O Bel, and with thee is no deceit at all.

18. Opening the door, the king looked at the table, then exclaimed, "You are indeed great, O Bel. There is no deception in you."

19. Then laughed Daniel, and held the king that he should not go in, and said, Behold now the pavement, and mark well whose footsteps are these.

19. Daniel laughed, and restraining the king from entering, he said, "But look at the floor and see whose footprints these are."

20. And the king said, I see the footsteps of men, women, and children. And then the king was angry,

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

21. And took the priests with their wives and children, who shewed him the privy doors, where they came in, and consumed such things as were upon the table.

21. Enraged, the king ordered the priests and their wives and children to be seized. They were compelled to show him the secret door through which they used to enter to consume the offerings on the table.

22. Therefore the king slew them, and delivered Bel into Daniel's power, who destroyed him and his temple.

22. They were put to death on orders of the king. And Bel was handed over to Daniel, who destroyed the idol and its temple.

23. And in that same place there was a great dragon, which they of Babylon worshipped.

23. In Babylon there was a big dragon which was also worshiped.

24. And the king said unto Daniel, Wilt thou also say that this is of brass? lo, he liveth, he eateth and drinketh; thou canst not say that he is no living god: therefore worship him.

24. "Look," said the king to Daniel, "this is alive, not made of bronze. Would you deny that this is a living god? Worship it."

25. Then said Daniel unto the king, I will worship the Lord my God: for he is the living God.

25. Daniel replied, "I will worship no one but the Lord my God, for he alone is the living God.

26. But give me leave, O king, and I shall slay this dragon without sword or staff. The king said, I give thee leave.

26. Then Daniel took some pitch, fat and hair, and boiled them together. He made them into cakes which he fed to the Dragon. And the Dragon burst after eating them.

27. Then Daniel took pitch, and fat, and hair, and did seethe them together, and made lumps thereof: this he put in the dragon's mouth, and so the dragon burst in sunder : and Daniel said, Lo, these are the gods ye worship.

27. Daniel said to the king, "Now look at what happened to the thing you worship.

28. When they of Babylon heard that, they took great indignation, and conspired against the king, saying, The king is become a Jew, and he hath destroyed Bel, he hath slain the dragon, and put the priests to death.

28. The Babylonians became angry upon hearing of this. "Our king has become a Jew," they said. "He destroyed Bel, killed the Dragon and put the priests to death."

29. So they came to the king, and said, Deliver us Daniel, or else we will destroy thee and thine house.

29. They went to the king and said, "Hand Daniel over to us or we will kill you and your family!"

30. Now when the king saw that they pressed him sore, being constrained, he delivered Daniel unto them:

30. The king was forced to hand Daniel over to the people.

31. Who cast him into the lions' den: where he was six days.

31. Daniel was thrown into the lions' den, where he stayed for six days.

32. And in the den there were seven lions, and they had given them every day two carcases, and two sheep: which then were not given to them, to the intent they might devour Daniel.

32. In the den were seven lions which were fed daily with two human bodies and two sheep. This food was withheld from them, to make sure that they would devour Daniel.

33. Now there was in Jewry a prophet, called Habbacuc, who had made pottage, and had broken bread in a bowl, and was going into the field, for to bring it to the reapers.

33. Now in Judea was a prophet named Habakkuk. He had put some bread and stew in a basket, and was about to take them to the reapers in the field

34. But the angel of the Lord said unto Habbacuc, Go, carry the dinner that thou hast into Babylon unto Daniel, who is in the lions' den.

34. when an angel of the lord appeared and said to him, "Take that lunch to Daniel in the lion's den at Babylon."

35. And Habbacuc said, Lord, I never saw Babylon; neither do I know where the den is.

35. Habakkuk said, "Sir, I have never been to Babylon nor have I seen the lions' den."

36. Then the angel of the Lord took him by the crown, and bare him by the hair of his head, and through the vehemency of his spirit set him in Babylon over the den.

36. The angel then took him by the crown of his head, carried him by his hair, and soon they were alighting above the lion's den in Babylon.

37. And Habbacuc cried, saying, O Daniel, Daniel, take the dinner which God hath sent thee.

37. "Daniel, Daniel," cried, Habakkuk, "take this lunch God has sent you."

38. And Daniel said, Thou hast remembered me, O God: neither hast thou forsaken them that seek thee and love thee.

38. Daniel gave thanks to God, saying, "You have remembered me, O God, and have not forsaken those who love you."

39. So Daniel arose, and did eat: and the angel of the Lord set Habbacuc in his own place again immediately.

39. Daniel ate, and the Lord's angel returned Habakkuk to his own place.

40. Upon the seventh day the king went to bewail Daniel: and when he came to the den, he looked in, and behold, Daniel was sitting.

40. On the seventh day, the king came to the lions' den to mourn for Daniel. He looked inside and saw Daniel sitting there.

41. Then cried the king with a loud voice, saying, Great art Lord God of Daniel, and there is none other beside thee.

41. The king cried aloud, "How great you are, O Lord God of Daniel! Surely there is no other God but you!"

42. And he drew him out, and cast those that were the cause of his destruction into the den: and they were devoured in a moment before his face.

42. He took Daniel out and threw into the den those who tried to destroy him. They were at once devoured before his eyes.