Daniel, 14

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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. 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.

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. 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?

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 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.

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. 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.

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

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.

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 the priests of Bel were threescore and ten, beside 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. 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;

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 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.

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

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.

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. 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.

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

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.

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

16. In the morning betime the king arose, 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, Daniel, are the seals whole? And he said, Yea, O king, they be whole.

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. 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.

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 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.

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

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

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. 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.

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

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

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

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 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.

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

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

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

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, 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.

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 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 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.

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 unto Habbacuc, Go, carry the dinner that thou hast into Babylon unto Daniel, who is in the lions' den.

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

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

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, and bare him by the hair of his head, and through the vehemency of his spirit set him in Babylon over the den.

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

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

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: neither hast thou forsaken them that seek thee and 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 did eat: and the angel of the Lord set Habbacuc in his own place again immediately.

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

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.

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

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