Daniel 5-6

Daniel 5

¹Belshazzar the king hath made a great feast to a thousand of his great men, and before the thousand he is drinking wine;

²Belshazzar hath said -- while tasting the wine -- to bring in the vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple that is in Jerusalem, that drink with them may the king, and his great men, his wives, and his concubines.

³Then they have brought in the vessels of gold that had been taken out of the temple of the house of God that is in Jerusalem, and drunk with them have the king and his great men, his wives and his concubines;

⁴they have drunk wine, and have praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.

⁵In that hour come forth have fingers of a man's hand, and they are writing over-against the candlestick, on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace: and the king is seeing the extremity of the hand that is writing;

⁶then the king's countenance hath changed, and his thoughts do trouble him, and the joints of his loins are loosed, and his knees are smiting one against another.

⁷Call doth the king mightily, to bring up the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. Answered hath the king, and said to the wise men of Babylon, that, ‘Any man who doth read this writing, and its interpretation doth shew me, purple he putteth on, and a bracelet of gold is on his neck, and third in the kingdom he doth rule.'

⁸Then coming up are all the wise men of the king, and they are not able to read the writing, and the interpretation to make known to the king;

⁹then the king Belshazzar is greatly troubled, and his countenance is changing in him, and his great men are perplexed.

¹⁰The queen, on account of the words of the king and his great men, to the banquet-house hath come up. Answered hath the queen, and said, ‘O king, to the ages live; let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor thy countenance be changed:

¹¹there is a man in thy kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods: and, in the days of thy father, light, and understanding, and wisdom -- as the wisdom of the gods -- was found in him; and king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, chief of the scribes, enchanters, Chaldeans, soothsayers, established him -- thy father, O king --

¹²because that an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and showing of enigmas, and loosing of knots was found in him, in Daniel, whose name the king made Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and the interpretation he doth show.'

¹³Then Daniel hath been caused to come up before the king; answered hath the king, and said to Daniel, ‘Thou art that Daniel who art of the sons of the Removed of Judah, whom the king my father brought in out of Judah?

¹⁴And I have heard of thee, that the spirit of the gods is in thee, and light, and understanding, and excellent wisdom have been found in thee.

¹⁵‘And now, caused to come up before me have been the wise men, the enchanters, that this writing they may read, and its interpretation to cause me to know: and they are not able to shew the interpretation of the thing:

¹⁶and I -- I have heard of thee, that thou art able to give interpretations, and to loose knots: now, lo -- thou art able to read the writing, and its interpretation to cause me to know -- purple thou dost put on, and a bracelet of gold is on thy neck, and third in the kingdom thou dost rule.'

¹⁷Then hath Daniel answered and said before the king, ‘Thy gifts be to thyself, and thy fee to another give; nevertheless, the writing I do read to the king, and the interpretation I cause him to know;

¹⁸thou, O king, God Most High, a kingdom, and greatness, and glory, and honour, gave to Nebuchadnezzar thy father:

¹⁹and because of the greatness that He gave to him, all peoples, nations, and languages were trembling and fearing before him: whom he willed he was slaying, and whom he willed he was keeping alive, and whom he willed he was raising up, and whom he willed he was making low;

²⁰and when his heart was high, and his spirit was strong to act proudly, he hath been caused to come down from the throne of his kingdom, and his glory they have caused to pass away from him,

²¹and from the sons of men he is driven, and his heart with the beasts hath been like, and with the wild asses is his dwelling; the herb like oxen they cause him to eat, and by the dew of the heavens is his body wet, till that he hath known that God Most High is ruler in the kingdom of men, and whom He willeth He raiseth up over it.

²²‘And thou, his son, Belshazzar, hast not humbled thy heart, though all this thou hast known;

²³and against the Lord of the heavens thou hast lifted up thyself; and the vessels of His house they have brought in before thee, and thou, and thy great men, thy wives, and thy concubines, are drinking wine with them, and gods of silver, and of gold, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone, that are not seeing, nor hearing, nor knowing, thou hast praised: and the God in whose hand is thy breath, and all thy ways, Him thou hast not honoured.

²⁴‘Then from before Him sent is the extremity of the hand, and the writing is noted down;

²⁵and this is the writing that is noted down: Numbered, Numbered, Weighed, and Divided.

²⁶This is the interpretation of the thing: Numbered -- God hath numbered thy kingdom, and hath finished it.

²⁷Weighed -- Thou art weighed in the balances, and hast been found lacking.

²⁸Divided -- Divided is thy kingdom, and it hath been given to the Medes and Persians.'

²⁹Then hath Belshazzar said, and they have clothed Daniel with purple, and a bracelet of gold is on his neck, and they have proclaimed concerning him that he is the third ruler in the kingdom.

³⁰In that night Belshazzar king of the Chaldeans is slain,

³¹and Darius the Mede hath received the kingdom, when a son of sixty and two years.

Daniel 6

¹It hath been good before Darius, and he hath established over the kingdom satraps -- a hundred and twenty -- that they may be throughout the whole kingdom,

²and higher than they three presidents, of whom Daniel is first, that these satraps may give to them an account, and the king have no loss.

³Then this Daniel hath been overseer over the presidents and satraps, because that an excellent spirit is in him, and the king hath thought to establish him over the whole kingdom.

⁴Then the presidents and satraps have been seeking to find a cause of complaint against Daniel concerning the kingdom, and any cause of complaint and corruption they are not able to find, because that he is faithful, and any error and corruption have not been found in him.

⁵Then these men are saying, ‘We do not find against this Daniel any cause of complaint, except we have found it against him in the law of his God.'

⁶Then these presidents and satraps have assembled near the king, and thus they are saying to him: ‘O king Darius, to the ages live!

⁷Taken counsel have all the presidents of the kingdom, the prefects, and the satraps, the counsellors, and the governors, to establish a royal statute, and to strengthen an interdict, that any who seeketh a petition from any god and man until thirty days, save of thee, O king, is cast into a den of lions.

⁸Now, O king, thou dost establish the interdict, and sign the writing, that it is not to be changed, as a law of Media and Persia, that doth not pass away.'

⁹Therefore king Darius hath signed the writing and interdict.

¹⁰And Daniel, when he hath known that the writing is signed, hath gone up to his house, and the window being opened for him, in his upper chamber, over-against Jerusalem, three times in a day he is kneeling on his knees, and praying, and confessing before his God, because that he was doing it before this.

¹¹Then these men have assembled, and found Daniel praying and entreating grace before his God;

¹²then they have come near, yea, they are saying before the king concerning the king's interdict: ‘Hast thou not signed an interdict, that any man who seeketh from any god and man until thirty days, save of thee, O king, is cast into a den of lions?' Answered hath the king, and said, ‘The thing is certain as a law of Media and Persia, that doth not pass away.'

¹³Then they have answered, yea, they are saying before the king, that, ‘Daniel, who is of the sons of the Removed of Judah, hath not placed on thee, O king, any regard, nor on the interdict that thou hast signed, and three times in a day he is seeking his petition.'

¹⁴Then the king, when he hath heard the matter, is greatly displeased at himself, and on Daniel he hath set the heart to deliver him, and till the going up of the sun he was arranging to deliver him.

¹⁵Then these men have assembled near the king, and are saying to the king, ‘know, O king, that the law of Media and Persia is: That any interdict and statute that the king doth establish is not to be changed.'

¹⁶Then the king hath said, and they have brought Daniel, and have cast him into a den of lions. The king hath answered and said to Daniel, ‘Thy God, whom thou art serving continually, Himself doth deliver thee.'

¹⁷And a stone hath been brought and placed at the mouth of the den, and the king hath sealed it with his signet, and with the signet of his great men, that the purpose be not changed concerning Daniel.

¹⁸Then hath the king gone to his palace, and he hath passed the night fasting, and dahavan have not been brought up before him, and his sleep hath fled from off him.

¹⁹Then doth the king rise in the early morning, at the light, and in haste to the den of lions he hath gone;

²⁰and at his coming near to the den, to Daniel, with a grieved voice, he crieth. The king hath answered and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, thy God, whom thou art serving continually, is He able to deliver thee from the lions?'

²¹Then Daniel hath spoken with the king: ‘O king, to the ages live:

²²my God hath sent His messenger, and hath shut the lions' mouths, and they have not injured me: because that before Him purity hath been found in me; and also before thee, O king, injury I have not done.'

²³Then was the king very glad for him, and he hath commanded Daniel to be taken up out of the den, and Daniel hath been taken up out of the den, and no injury hath been found in him, because he hath believed in his God.

²⁴And the king hath said, and they have brought those men who had accused Daniel, and to the den of lions they have cast them, they, their sons, and their wives; and they have not come to the lower part of the den till that the lions have power over them, and all their bones they have broken small.

²⁵Then Darius the king hath written to all the peoples, nations, and languages, who are dwelling in all the land: ‘Your peace be great!

²⁶From before me is made a decree, that in every dominion of my kingdom they are trembling and fearing before the God of Daniel, for He is the living God, and abiding to the ages, and His kingdom that which is not destroyed, and His dominion is unto the end.

²⁷A deliverer, and rescuer, and doer of signs and wonders in the heavens and in earth is He who hath delivered Daniel from the paw of the lions.'

²⁸And this Daniel hath prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.