They spoke and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live for ever. ... You, O king, have made a decree that every man that shall hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image; and whoever falls not down and worships, that he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. ... These men, O king, have not regarded you; they serve not your gods, nor worship the golden image which you have set up.
Then they brought these men before the king. ... Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not anxious to answer you in this matter. ... If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. ... But if not, be it known unto you, O king, that we will not serve your gods, nor worship the golden image which you have set up.
Therefore, because the king’s commandment was urgent and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste and spoke, and said unto his counselors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? ... They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. ... And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king’s counselors, being gathered together, saw these men upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was a hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor had the smell of fire passed on them. ... Then Nebuchadnezzar spoke, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king’s word and yielded their bodies that they might not serve nor worship any god except their own God. ... Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.
Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied unto you.
This dream, I, king Nebuchadnezzar, have seen.
The king spoke and said, Belteshazzar, let not the dream or the interpretation thereof trouble you. ... The tree that you saw, which grew and was strong, whose height reached unto the heaven and the sight thereof to all the earth, whose leaves were fair and the fruit thereof much, and in it was food for all, under which the beasts of the field dwelled, and upon whose branches the fowls of the heaven had their habitation — it is you, O king, that are grown and become strong; for your greatness is grown and reaches unto heaven, and your dominion to the end of the earth.
And whereas the king saw a watcher and a holy one coming down from Heaven and saying, Hew the tree down and destroy it, yet leave the stump of the roots thereof in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass in the tender grass of the field, and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field until seven times pass over him — this is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the Most High which has come upon my lord the king: that they shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field; and they shall make you eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet you with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over you until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men and gives it to whomever he will.
Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto you, and break off your sins by righteousness and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, if it may be a lengthening of your tranquility.
All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar. ... The king spoke and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power and for the honor of my majesty? ... While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from Heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken, The kingdom is departed from you, and they shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field.
Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of Heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment; and those that walk in pride, he is able to abase.
Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand. ... Belshazzar, while he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem, that the king and his princes, his wives, and his concubines might drink therein. ... Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the House of God which was at Jerusalem, and the king and his princes, his wives, and his concubines drank in them.
In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote opposite the candlestick, upon the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. ... Then the king’s countenance was changed and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosened and his knees smote one against another. ... The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the fortune-tellers. ... Then came in all the king’s wise men, but they could not read the writing nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof. ... Then was king Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were astonished.
Now the queen, by reason of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banquet house. ... And the queen spoke and said, O king, live for ever; let not your thoughts trouble you, nor let your countenance be changed. ... And in the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods was found in him, whom the king, Nebuchadnezzar your father — the king, I say, your father — made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and fortune-tellers. ... Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and showing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts were found in the same Daniel — whom the king named Belteshazzar — now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation.
Then was Daniel brought in before the king. ... And the king spoke and said unto Daniel, Are you that Daniel who are of the children of the captivity of Judah, whom the king my father brought out of Jewry?
Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let your gifts be to yourself and give your rewards to another; yet I will read the writing unto the king and make known to him the interpretation.
O you king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honor.
In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain, and Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.
It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom a hundred twenty princes who should be over the whole kingdom, and over these, three presidents — of whom Daniel was first — that the princes might give accounts unto them and the king should have no damage. ... Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes because an excellent spirit was in him, and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.
Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king and said thus unto him: King Darius, live for ever. ... All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counselors, and the captains have consulted together to establish a royal statute and to make a firm decree, that whoever shall ask a petition of any god or man for thirty days — save of you, O king — he shall be cast into the den of lions. ... Now, O king, establish the decree and sign the writing that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which alters not. ... Wherefore, king Darius signed the writing and the decree.
Then they came near and spoke before the king concerning the king’s decree, Have you not signed a decree that every man that shall ask a petition of any god or man within thirty days, save of you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? ... The king answered and said, The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which alters not. ... Then they answered and said before the king, That Daniel who is of the children of the captivity of Judah regards not you, O king, nor the decree that you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day. ... Then the king, when he heard these words, was severely displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him; and he labored until the going down of the sun to deliver him.
Then these men assembled unto the king and said unto the king, Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is that no decree nor statute which the king establishes may be changed. ... Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions. ... Now the king spoke and said unto Daniel, Your God whom you serve continually, he will deliver you. ... And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel.
Then the king went to his palace and passed the night fasting, neither were instruments of music brought before him, and his sleep went from him. ... Then the king arose very early in the morning and went in haste unto the den of lions. ... Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever. ... My God has sent his angel and has shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me, forasmuch as before him innocence was found in me; and also before you, O king, have I done no hurt. ... Then was the king exceedingly glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den.
And the king commanded, and they brought those men who had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions — them, their children, and their wives — and the lions had the mastery of them, and broke all their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den.
Then king Darius wrote unto all people, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied unto you.