Daniel 3–6

CHAPTER 3

Nebuchadnezzar’s Golden Image

¹Nebuchadnezzar the king made an ^aimage of gold, the height of which was ¹sixty cubits and its width six cubits; he set it up on the plain of Dura in the ^bprovince of Babylon.

²Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent word to assemble the ^asatraps, the prefects and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates and all the rulers of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

³Then the satraps, the prefects and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates and all the rulers of the provinces were assembled for the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they were standing before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

⁴Then the herald loudly called out: “To you it is said, ^aO peoples, nations, and men of every tongue,

⁵that at the time you ^ahear the sound of the horn, flute, ¹lyre, ²trigon, ³psaltery, bagpipe, and all kinds of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up.

⁶“But whoever does not fall down and worship shall ¹immediately be ^acast into the midst of a ^bfurnace of blazing fire.”

⁷Therefore at that time, when all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, flute, ¹lyre, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe, and all kinds of music, all the peoples, nations, and men of every tongue fell down and worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

We Will Not Serve Your Gods

⁸For this reason at that time certain ^aChaldeans came near and ^1bbrought charges against the Jews.

⁹They answered and said to Nebuchadnezzar the king: “^aO king, live forever!

¹⁰“You, O king, have ^amade a decree that every man who hears the sound of the horn, flute, ¹lyre, trigon, psaltery, and bagpipe and all kinds of music, is to ^bfall down and worship the golden image.

¹¹“But whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire.

¹²“There are certain Jews whom you have ^aappointed over the administration of the province of Babylon, namely Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. These men, O king, do not pay attention to you; they do not serve your gods and do not worship the golden image which you have set up.”

¹³Then Nebuchadnezzar in ^arage and wrath said to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego; then these men were brought before the king.

¹⁴Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, that you are not serving ^amy gods and do not worship the golden image that I have set up?

¹⁵“Now if you are ready, ^aat the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, ¹lyre, trigon, psaltery, and bagpipe and all kinds of music, then you shall fall down and worship the image that I have made. But if you do not worship, you will ²immediately be ^bcast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire; and ^cwhat god is there who can save you out of my hands?”

^16aShadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to respond to you with an answer concerning this matter.

¹⁷“¹If it be so, our ^aGod whom we serve is able to save us from the furnace of blazing fire; ²and ^bHe will save us out of your hand, O king.

¹⁸“^aBut if not, ^blet it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods, and we will not worship the golden image that you have set up.”

Daniel’s Friends Delivered

¹⁹Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with ^awrath, and the image of his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. He answered and said to heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated.

²⁰And he said to certain mighty men of valor who were in his military ¹host to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego in order to cast them into the furnace of blazing fire.

²¹Then these men were tied up in their ^1atrousers, their ²coats, their caps, and their other clothes and were cast into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire.

²²For this reason, because the king’s word was ^1aurgent and the furnace had been heated to an extraordinary degree, the flame of the fire killed those men who carried up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego.

²³But these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, ^afell into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire still tied up.

²⁴Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astounded and hurriedly stood up; he answered and said to his high officials, “Was it not three men we cast tied up into the midst of the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “Certainly, O king.”

²⁵He answered and said, “Look! I see four men loosed and ^awalking about in the midst of the fire ¹without harm, and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the ^bgods!”

²⁶Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the furnace of blazing fire; he answered and said, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, come out, you servants of the ^aMost High God, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego ^bcame out of the midst of the fire.

²⁷Then the ^asatraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king’s high officials gathered around and saw in regard to these men that the ^bfire had no power over ¹the bodies of these men, nor was the hair of their head singed, nor were their ^2ctrousers ³damaged, nor had the smell of fire even come upon them.

²⁸Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the ^aGod of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who has ^bsent His angel and saved His servants who put their ^ctrust in Him, ¹violating the king’s word, and gave up their bodies so as ^dnot to serve and not to worship any god except their own God.

²⁹“Therefore I ^amake a decree that any people, nation, or tongue that says anything offensive against the God of ^bShadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego shall be torn limb from limb and their ^chouses reduced to a rubbish heap, inasmuch as there is ^dno other god who is able to deliver in this way.”

³⁰Then the king ^acaused Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego to succeed in the province of Babylon.

CHAPTER 4

Nebuchadnezzar Declares the Most High God

¹¹Nebuchadnezzar the king to all the peoples, nations, and men of every tongue that inhabit all the earth: “May your ^2apeace abound!

²“It has seemed good to me to declare the signs and wonders which the ^aMost High God has done for me.

³“How great are His ^asigns,

And how strong are His wonders!

His ^bkingdom is an everlasting kingdom,

And His ¹dominion is from generation to generation.

Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream of a Great Tree

⁴“¹I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house and ^aflourishing in my palace.

⁵“I saw a ^adream, and it made me fearful; and these fantasies as I lay on my bed and the ^bvisions in my head kept alarming me.

⁶“So I gave a decree to ^abring into my presence all the wise men of Babylon, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream.

⁷“Then the ^1amagicians, the conjurers, the ²Chaldeans, and the diviners came in, and I said the dream ³to them, but they could not make its ^binterpretation known to me.

⁸“But at last Daniel came in before me, whose name is ^aBelteshazzar according to the name of my god, and in whom is ^1ba spirit of the holy gods; and I said the dream ²to him:

⁹‘O Belteshazzar, ^achief of the magicians, since I know that ^ba spirit of the holy gods is in you, and ^cno mystery is difficult for you, ^dsay to me the visions of my dream which I have seen, along with its interpretation.

¹⁰‘Now these were the ^avisions in my head as I lay on my bed: I was looking, and behold, there was a ^btree in the midst of the ¹earth, and its height was great.

¹¹‘The tree grew large and became strong,

And its height ^areached to the sky,

And it was visible to the end of the whole earth.

¹²‘Its foliage was ^abeautiful and its fruit abundant,

And in it was food for all.

The ^bbeasts of the field found ^cshade under it,

And the ^dbirds of the sky inhabited its branches,

And all flesh fed itself from it.

¹³‘I was looking in the ^avisions in my head as I lay on my bed, and behold, ^ba ¹watcher, a ^choly one, descended from heaven.

¹⁴‘He called out loudly and said thus:

“^aChop down the tree and cut off its branches,

Strip off its foliage and scatter its fruit;

Let the ^bbeasts flee from under it

And the birds from its branches.

¹⁵“Yet ^aleave the stump ¹with its roots in the earth,

But with a band of iron and bronze around it

In the new grass of the field;

And let him be drenched with the dew of heaven,

And let ²him share with the beasts in the grass of the earth.

¹⁶“Let his heart be changed from that of a man,

And let the heart of a beast be given to him,

And let ^aseven ¹periods of time pass over him.

¹⁷“This edict is by the resolution of the watchers,

And the decision is a command of the holy ones,

In order that the living may ^aknow

That the Most High is the powerful ruler over the kingdom of mankind

And ^bgives it to whom He wishes

And sets up over it the ^clowliest of men.”

¹⁸‘This is the dream which I, King Nebuchadnezzar, have seen. Now you, Belteshazzar, say to me its interpretation, inasmuch as none of the ^awise men of my kingdom is able to make known to me the interpretation; but you are able, for a ^bspirit of the holy gods is in you.’

Daniel Interprets the Dream

¹⁹“Then Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar, was appalled for a while as his ^athoughts were alarming him. The king answered and said, ‘Belteshazzar, do not ^blet the dream or its interpretation alarm you.’ Belteshazzar answered and said, ‘^cMy lord, if only the dream applied to those who hate you and its interpretation to ^dyour adversaries!

²⁰‘The ^atree that you saw, which became large and grew strong, whose height reached to the sky and was visible to all the earth,

²¹and whose foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in which was food for all, under which the beasts of the field inhabited, and in whose branches the birds of the sky dwelt—

²²it is ^ayou, O king; for you have become great and grown strong, and your greatness has become even greater and reached to the sky and your ^1bdominion to the end of the earth.

²³‘But in…