Daniel 1–12

1^*In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah ^acame Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it. ^2*And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with ^bpart of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried ^cinto the land of Shinar to the house of his god; ^dand he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god.

³And the king spake unto Ashpenaz ^ethe master of his eunuchs, that he should bring ^*certain of the children of Israel, and of the king’s seed, and of ^fthe princes; ⁴Children in whom was no ^gblemish, but well favoured, and ^hiskilful in all wisdom, and cunning in ⁱknowledge, and understanding ^ikscience, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king’s palace, and ^lwhom they might teach ^imthe learning and the tongue of ⁿthe Chaldeans. ⁵And the king appointed them ⁿⁿa daily provision of ^othe king’s meat, and of ^†the wine which he drank: so nourishing them ^pthree years, that at the end thereof they might ^qstand before the king. ⁶Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, ^rHananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: ⁷Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs ^sgave names: for he gave unto Daniel the name of ^tBelteshazzar; ^ttand to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of ^uAbed-nego.

⁸But Daniel ^vpurposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with ^othe portion of the king’s ^wxmeat, nor with ^wythe wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. ⁹Now God ^zahad brought Daniel into favour and ^atender love with the prince of the eunuchs. ¹⁰And the prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who hath appointed your meat and your drink: for why should he see your faces ^†worse liking than the children which are of your ^||sort? then shall ye make me endanger my head to the king. ¹¹Then said Daniel to ^||Melzar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, ¹²Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ^bten days; and let them give us ^†cpulse ^†to eat, and water to drink. ¹³Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the children that eat of ^dthe portion of the king’s meat: and as thou seest, deal with thy servants. ¹⁴So he consented to them in this matter, and proved them ten days. ¹⁵And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and ^efatter in flesh than all the children which did eat ^dthe portion of the king’s meat. ¹⁶Thus Melzar took away ^dthe portion of their meat, and ^dthe wine that they should drink; and gave them ^cpulse.

¹⁷As for these four children, ^fGod gave them ^gknowledge and ^gskill in all ^glearning and ^gwisdom: and ^||Daniel ^hhad understanding in all visions and ⁱdreams. ^18*Now at the end of ^kthe days that the king had said he should bring them in, then the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. ¹⁹And the king communed with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore ^lstood they before the king. ²⁰And in all matters of ^†wisdom and understanding, that ^mthe king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all ^nothe magicians and ^opastrologers that were in all his realm. ^21*And Daniel continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus.

2And ^ain the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith ^bhis spirit was troubled, and ^chis sleep brake from him. ^2ccThen the king commanded to call ^dthe magicians, and ^dthe astrologers, and ^ethe sorcerers, and ^fthe Chaldeans, for to shew the king his dreams. So they came and ^gstood before the king. ³And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and ^bmy spirit was troubled to know the dream. ⁴Then spake ^fthe Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, ^*ggO king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation. ⁵The king answered and said to ^fthe Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall ^hbe ^†cut in pieces, and ^hiyour houses shall be made a dunghill. ⁶But ^kif ye shew the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me ^lgifts and ^||rewards and great honour: ^mtherefore shew me the dream, and the interpretation thereof. ⁷They answered again and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation of it. ⁸The king answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would ^†ngain the time, ⁿⁿbecause ye see the thing is gone from me. ⁹But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, ^othere is but one decree for you: for ye have ^pprepared lying and ^qcorrupt words to speak before me, ⁿtill the time be changed: ^mtherefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can shew me the interpretation thereof. ^10fThe Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king’s matter: ^rtherefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any ^dmagician, or ^dastrologer, or ^fChaldean. ¹¹And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can shew it before the king, ^sexcept ^tthe gods, ^uwhose dwelling is not with flesh. ^12uuFor this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all ^vthe wise men of Babylon. ¹³And the decree went forth that ^vthe wise men should be slain; and they sought ^wDaniel and his fellows to be slain.

¹⁴Then Daniel ^†answered with counsel and ^xwisdom to Arioch the ^||†captain of the king’s guard, which was gone forth to slay ^vthe wise men of Babylon: ¹⁵He answered and said to Arioch the king’s captain, Why is the decree so ^xxhasty from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel. ¹⁶Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would shew the king the interpretation. ¹⁷Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to ^yHananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions: ^18zThat they would desire mercies ^†of ^athe God of heaven concerning this ^bsecret; ^||that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of ^ccthe wise men of Babylon.

¹⁹Then was ^bthe secret revealed unto Daniel ^din a night vision. Then Daniel ^eblessed ^athe God of heaven. ²⁰Daniel answered and said,

^fBlessed be the name of God for ever and ever:

For ^gwisdom and might are his:

²¹And ^hhe changeth ⁱthe times and the seasons:

He ^klremoveth kings, and ^lsetteth up kings:

He giveth wisdom unto the wise,

And ^mknowledge to them that know understanding:

²²ⁿHe revealeth the deep and secret things:

^oHe knoweth what is in the darkness,

And ^pthe light dwelleth with him.

^23qI thank thee, and praise thee, O thou ^rGod of my fathers,

Who hast given me ^gwisdom and might,

And hast made known unto me now what ^swe desired of thee:

For thou hast now made known unto us the king’s matter.

^24uuTherefore Daniel went in unto ^tArioch, whom the king had ^uordained to destroy ^ccthe 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. ²⁵Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king ^vin 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. ²⁶The king answered and said to Daniel, ^wwhose name was Belteshazzar, ^xArt thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof? ²⁷Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, ^bThe secret which the king hath demanded ^xxcannot ^bbthe wise men, ^ythe astrologers, ^ythe magicians, ^zthe soothsayers, shew unto the king; ²⁸But there is ^aa God in heaven that revealeth ^bsecrets, and ^†maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be ^bin the latter days. ^bbThy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these; ²⁹As for thee, O king, thy thoughts ^†came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and ^ahe that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass. ³⁰But ^cas for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, ^||but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.

³¹Thou, O king, ^†sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose ^ddbrightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. ^32eThis image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his ^||thighs of brass, ³³His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. ³⁴Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out ^||fwithout hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and ^gbrake them to pieces. ³⁵Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became ^hlike the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that ⁱno place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image ⁱⁱbecame a great mountain, and ^jfilled the whole earth.

³⁶This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. ³⁷Thou, O king, art ^ka king of kings: for ^lmthe God of heaven ^mhath given thee a kingdom, ⁿpower, and ^ostrength, and ⁿglory. ³⁸And wheresoever the children of men dwell, ^othe beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. ^pThou art this head of gold. ³⁹And after thee shall arise ^qanother kingdom ^pinferior to thee, and ^ranother third kingdom ^pof brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. ⁴⁰And ^sthe fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: ^tforasmuch as iron ^gbreaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it ^gbreak in pieces and bruise. ⁴¹And whereas thou sawest ^uthe feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but ^sthere shall be in it…