Daniel 1–14

Chapter 1

In the third year of the reign of Joakim, king of Juda, Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem, and besieged it.

²And the Lord delivered into his hands Joakim, the king of Juda, and part of the vessels of the house of God: and he carried them away into the land of Sennaar, to the house of his god, and the vessels he brought into the treasure house of his god.

³And the king spoke to Asphenez, the master of the eunuchs, that he should bring in some of the children of Israel, and of the king’s seed, and of the princes,

⁴Children in whom there was no blemish, well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, acute in knowledge, and instructed in science, and such as might stand in the king’s palace, that he might teach them the learning, and tongue of the Chaldeans.

⁵And the king appointed them a daily provision, of his own meat, and of the wine of which he drank himself, that being nourished three years, afterwards they might stand before the king.

⁶Now there was among them of the children of Juda, Daniel, Ananias, Misael, and Azarias.

⁷And the master of the eunuchs gave them names: to Daniel, Baltassar: to Ananias, Sidrach: to Misael, Misach: and to Azarias, Abdenago.

⁸But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not be defiled with the king’s table, nor with the wine which he drank: and he requested the master of the eunuchs that he might not be defiled.

⁹And God gave to Daniel grace and mercy in the sight of the prince of the eunuchs.

¹⁰And the prince of the eunuchs said to Daniel: I fear my lord, the king, who hath appointed you meat and drink: who if he should see your faces leaner than those of the other youths, your equals, you shall endanger my head to the king.

¹¹And Daniel said to Malasar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had appointed over Daniel, Ananias, Misael, and Azarias:

¹²Try, I beseech thee, thy servants for ten days, and let pulse be given us to eat, and water to drink:

¹³And look upon our faces, and the faces of the children that eat of the king’s meat: and as thou shalt see, deal with thy servants.

¹⁴And when he had heard these words, he tried them for ten days.

¹⁵And after ten days, their faces appeared fairer and fatter than all the children that ate of the king’s meat.

¹⁶So Malasar took their portions, and the wine that they should drink: and he gave them pulse.

¹⁷And to these children God gave knowledge, and understanding in every book, and wisdom: but to Daniel the understanding also of all visions and dreams.

¹⁸And when the days were ended, after which the king had ordered they should be brought in: the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nabuchodonosor.

¹⁹And when the king had spoken to them, there were not found among them all such as Daniel, Ananias, Misael, and Azarias: and they stood in the king’s presence.

²⁰And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the diviners, and wise men, that were in all his kingdom.

²¹And Daniel continued even to the first year of king Cyrus.

Chapter 2

In the second year of the reign of Nabuchodonosor, Nabuchodonosor had a dream, and his spirit was terrified, and his dream went out of his mind.

²Then the king commanded to call together the diviners and the wise men, and the magicians, and the Chaldeans: to declare to the king his dreams: so they came and stood before the king.

³And the king said to them: I saw a dream: and being troubled in mind I know not what I saw.

⁴And the Chaldeans answered the king in Syriac: O king, live for ever: tell to thy servants thy dream, and we will declare the interpretation thereof.

⁵And the king, answering, said to the Chaldeans: The thing is gone out of my mind: unless you tell me the dream, and the meaning thereof, you shall be put to death, and your houses shall be confiscated.

⁶but if you tell the dream, and the meaning of it, you shall receive of me rewards, and gifts, and great honour: therefore, tell me the dream, and the interpretation thereof.

⁷They answered again and said: Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will declare the interpretation of it.

⁸The king answered and said: I know for certain, that you seek to gain time, since you know that the thing is gone from me.

⁹If, therefore, you tell me not the dream, there is one sentence concerning you, that you have also framed a lying interpretation, and full of deceit, to speak before me till the time pass away. Tell me, therefore, the dream, that I may know that you also give a true interpretation thereof.

¹⁰Then the Chaldeans answered before the king, and said: There is no man upon earth, that can accomplish thy word, O king; neither doth any king, though great and mighty, ask such a thing of any diviner, or wise man, or Chaldean.

¹¹For the thing that thou asketh, O king, is difficult: nor can any one be found that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose conversation is not with men.

¹²Upon hearing this, the king in fury, and in great wrath, commanded that all the wise men of Babylon should be put to death.

¹³And the decree being gone forth, the wise men were slain: and Daniel and his companions were sought for, to be put to death.

¹⁴Then Daniel inquired concerning the law and the sentence, of Arioch, the general of the king’s army, who was gone forth to kill the wise men of Babylon.

¹⁵And he asked him that had received the orders of the king, why so cruel a sentence was gone forth from the face of the king. And when Arioch had told the matter to Daniel,

¹⁶Daniel went in, and desired of the king, that he would give him time to resolve the question, and declare it to the king.

¹⁷And he went into his house, and told the matter to Ananias, and Misael, and Azarias, his companions:

¹⁸To the end that they should ask mercy at the face of the God of heaven, concerning this secret, and that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

¹⁹Then was the mystery revealed to Daniel by a vision in the night: and Daniel blessed the God of heaven,

²⁰And speaking, he said: Blessed be the name of the Lord from eternity and for evermore: for wisdom and fortitude are his.

²¹And he changeth times and ages: taketh away kingdoms, and establisheth them: giveth wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to them that have understanding:

²²He revealeth deep and hidden things, and knoweth what is in darkness: and light is with him.

²³To thee, O God of our fathers, I give thanks, and I praise thee: because thou hast given me wisdom and strength: and now thou hast shewn me what we desired of thee, for thou hast made known to us the king’s discourse.

²⁴After this Daniel went in to Arioch, to whom the king had given orders to destroy the wise men of Babylon, and he spoke thus to him: Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will tell the solution to the king.

²⁵Then Arioch in haste brought in Daniel to the king, and said to him: I have found a man of the children of the captivity of Juda, that will resolve the question to the king.

²⁶The king answered, and said to Daniel, whose name was Baltassar: Thinkest thou indeed that thou canst tell me the dream that I saw, and the interpretation thereof?

²⁷And Daniel made answer before the king, and said: The secret that the king desireth to know, none of the wise men, or the philosophers, or the diviners, or the soothsayers, can declare to the king.

²⁸But there is a God in heaven that revealeth mysteries, who hath shewn to thee, O king Nabuchodonosor, what is to come to pass in the latter times. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these:

²⁹Thou, O king, didst begin to think in thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth mysteries shewed thee what shall come to pass.

³⁰To me also this secret is revealed, not by any wisdom that I have more than all men alive: but that the interpretation might be made manifest to the king, and thou mightest know the thought of thy mind.

³¹Thou, O king, sawest, and behold there was as it were a great statue: this statue, which was great and high, tall of stature, stood before thee, and the look thereof was terrible.

³²The head of this statue was of fine gold, but the breast and the arms of silver, and the belly and the thighs of brass.

³³And the legs of iron, the feet part of iron and part of clay.

³⁴Thus thou sawest, till a stone was cut out of a mountain without hands: and it struck the statue upon the feet thereof that were of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces.

³⁵Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of a summer’s threshing floor, and they were carried away by the wind: and there was no place found for them: but the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

³⁶This is the dream: we will also tell the interpretation thereof before thee, O king.

³⁷Thou art a king of kings: and the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, and strength, and power, and glory:

³⁸And all places wherein the children of men, and the beasts of the field do dwell: he hath also given the birds of the air into thy hand, and hath put all things under thy power: thou, therefore, art the head of gold.

³⁹And after thee shall rise up another kingdom, inferior to thee, of silver: and another third kingdom of brass, which shall rule over all the world.

⁴⁰And the fourth kingdom shall be as iron. As iron breaketh into pieces, and subdueth all things, so shall that break, and destroy all these.

⁴¹And whereas thou sawest the feet, and the toes, part of potter’s clay, and part of iron: the kingdom shall be divided, but yet it shall take its origin from the iron, according as thou sawest the iron mixed with the miry clay.

⁴²And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay: the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.

⁴³And whereas…