New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures Reference Bible
1
In the third year of
the kingship of Jehoiakim+
the king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon*
came to Jerusalem and proceeded to lay siege to it.+
2 In
time Jehovah*
gave into his hand Jehoiakim the king of Judah+
and a part of the utensils+
of the house of the [true] God,*
so that he brought them to the land of Shinar*+
to the house of his god; and the utensils he brought to the treasure-house of
his god.*+
3 Then
the king said to Ashpenaz his chief court official*+
to bring some of the sons of Israel and of the royal offspring*
and of the nobles,+
4 children
in whom there was no defect+
at all, but good in appearance and having insight into all wisdom+
and being acquainted with knowledge, and having discernment of what is known,+
in whom also there was ability to stand in the palace of the king;+
and to teach them the writing and the tongue of the Chaldeans.
5 Furthermore,
to them the king appointed a daily allowance from the delicacies+
of the king and from his drinking wine, even to nourish them for three years,
that at the end of these they might stand before the king.
6 Now
there happened to be among them some of the sons of Judah,
Daniel,+
Hananiah,
Mishael and
Azariah.+
7 And
to them the principal court official went assigning names.+
So he assigned to Daniel [the name of] Belteshazzar;+
and to Hananiah, Shadrach; and to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah,
Abednego.+
8 But
Daniel determined in his heart that he would not pollute+
himself with the delicacies of the king and with his drinking wine. And he kept
requesting of the principal court official that he might not pollute himself.+
9 Accordingly
the [true] God gave Daniel over to loving-kindness*
and to mercy before the principal court official.+
10 So
the principal court official said to Daniel: “I am in fear of my lord*
the king, who has appointed YOUR food and YOUR drink.+
Why, then, should he see YOUR faces dejected-looking in comparison with the
children who are of the same age as YOURS, and [why] should YOU have to make my
head guilty to the king?”
11 But
Daniel said to the guardian whom the principal court official+
had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah:
12 “Please,
put your servants to the test for ten days, and let them give us some vegetables+
that we may eat and water that we may drink;
13 and
let our countenances and the countenance of the children who are eating the
delicacies of the king appear before you, and according to what you see do with
your servants.”
14 Finally
he listened to them as regards this matter and put them to the test for ten
days.
15 And
at the end of ten days their countenances appeared better and fatter in flesh
than all the children who were eating the delicacies of the king.+
16 So
the guardian kept on taking away their delicacies and their drinking wine and
giving them vegetables.+
17 And
as for these children, the four of them, to them the [true] God gave knowledge
and insight in all writing and wisdom;+
and Daniel himself had understanding in all sorts of visions and dreams.+
18 And at the end of the days that the king had said to bring them in,+ the principal court official also proceeded to bring them in before Nebuchadnezzar. 19 And the king began to speak with them, and out of them all no one was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah;+ and they continued to stand before the king.+ 20 And as regards every matter of wisdom [and] understanding+ that the king inquired about from them, he even got to find them ten times better than all the magic-practicing priests+ [and] the conjurers+ that were in all his royal realm. 21 And Daniel continued on until the first year of Cyrus* the king.+
2
And in
the second year of the kingship of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar
dreamed dreams;+
and his spirit began to feel agitated,+
and his very sleep was made to be something beyond him.
2 So
the king said to call the magic-practicing priests+
and the conjurers and the sorcerers and the Chaldeans to tell the king his
dreams.+
And they proceeded to come in and to stand before the king.
3 Then
the king said to them: “There is a dream that I have dreamed, and my spirit is
agitated to know the dream.”
4 At
that the Chaldeans spoke to the king in the Aramaic language:*+
“O king, live on even for times indefinite.+
Say what the dream is to your servants, and we shall show the very
interpretation.”+
5 The
king was answering and saying to the Chaldeans: “The word is being promulgated
by me: If YOU men do not make the dream known to me, and its interpretation,
dismembered+
is what YOU will be, and into public privies YOUR own houses will be turned.+
6 But
if the dream and its interpretation YOU will show, gifts and a present and much
dignity YOU will receive on my part.+
Therefore show me the very dream and its interpretation.”
7 They
answered a second time and were saying: “Let the king say what the dream is to
his servants, and we shall show its very interpretation.”
8 The
king was answering and saying: “For a fact, I am aware that time is what YOU men
are trying to gain, forasmuch as YOU have perceived that the word is being
promulgated by me.
9 For
if YOU do not make known to me the very dream, this one and only sentence+
is upon YOU. But it is a lying and wrong word that YOU have agreed to say before
me,+
until the time itself is changed. Therefore tell me the very dream, and I shall
know that YOU can show the very interpretation of it.”
10 The
Chaldeans answered before the king, and they were saying: “There does not
exist a man on the dry land that is able to show the matter of the king,
forasmuch as no grand king or governor has asked such a thing as this of any
magic-practicing priest or conjurer or Chaldean.
11 But
the thing that the king himself is asking is difficult, and nobody else exists
who can show it before the king except the gods,*+
whose own dwelling does not exist with flesh at all.”+
12 Because
of this the king himself became angry and got very furious,+
and he said to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.*+
13 And
the order itself went out, and the wise men were about to be killed;*
and they looked for Daniel and his companions, for them to be killed.
14 At
that time Daniel,*
for his part, addressed himself with counsel and sensibleness+
to Arioch the chief of the king’s bodyguard, who had gone out to kill the wise
men of Babylon.
15 He
was answering and saying to Arioch the officer of the king: “For what reason
is there such a harsh order on the part of the king?” Then it was that Arioch
made known the matter itself to Daniel.+
16 So
Daniel himself went in and asked from the king that he should give him time
expressly to show the very interpretation to the king.+
17 After
that Daniel went to his own house; and to Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah
his companions he made known the matter,
18 even
[for them] to ask for mercies+
on the part of the God*
of heaven+
concerning this secret,*+
in order that they might not destroy Daniel and his companions with the
remainder of the wise men of Babylon.+
19 Then
it was that to Daniel in a night vision the secret was revealed.+
Consequently Daniel himself blessed+
the God of heaven.*
20 Daniel
was answering and saying: “Let the name of God*
become blessed+
from time indefinite even to time indefinite, for wisdom and mightiness—for they
belong to him.+
21 And
he is changing times*
and seasons,+
removing kings and setting up kings,+
giving wisdom to the wise ones and knowledge to those knowing discernment.+
22 He
is revealing the deep things and the concealed things,+
knowing what is in the darkness;+
and with him the light+
does dwell.
23 To
you, O God of my forefathers, I am giving praise and commendation,+
because wisdom+
and mightiness you have given to me. And now you have made known to me what we
requested of you, for you have made known to us the very matter of the king.”+
24 Because
of this Daniel himself went in to Arioch,+
whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon.+
He went, and this is what he said to him: “Do not destroy any wise men of
Babylon. Take me in before the king,+
that I may show the interpretation itself to the king.”
25 Then
it was that Arioch, in a hurry, took Daniel in before the king, and this is
what he said to him: “I have found an able-bodied man of the exiles*+
of Judah who can make known the interpretation itself to the king.”
26 The
king was answering and saying to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar:*+
“Are you competent enough to make known to me the dream that I beheld, and its
interpretation?”+
27 Daniel
was answering before the king and saying: “The secret that the king himself is
asking, the wise men, the conjurers, the magic-practicing priests [and] the
astrologers themselves are unable to show to the king.+
28 However,
there exists a God*
in the heavens who is a Revealer of secrets,+
and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar*
what is to occur in the final part of the days.+
Your dream and the visions of your head upon your bed—this it is:
29 “As
for you, O king, on your bed+
your own thoughts came up as regards what is to occur after this, and the One
who is the Revealer of secrets has made known to you what is to occur.+
30 And
as for me, it is not through any wisdom that exists in me more than in any
others alive that this secret is revealed to me,+
except to the intent that the interpretation may be made known to the king
himself and that the thoughts of your heart you may know.+
31 “You,
O king, happened to be beholding, and, look! a certain immense image. That
image, which was large and the brightness of which was extraordinary, was
standing in front of you, and its appearance was dreadful.
32 As
regards that image, its head was of good gold,+
its breasts and its arms were of silver,+
its belly and its thighs were of copper,+
33 its
legs were of iron,+
its feet were partly of iron and partly of molded clay.+
34 You
kept on looking until a stone*
was cut out*
not by hands,+
and it struck the image on its feet of iron and of molded clay and crushed them.+
35 At
that time the iron, the molded clay, the copper, the silver and the gold were,
all together, crushed and became like the chaff from the summer threshing floor,+
and the wind*
carried them away so that no trace at all was found of them.+
And as for the stone that struck the image, it became a large mountain and
filled the whole earth.+
36 “This
is the dream, and its interpretation we shall say before the king.+
37 You,
O king, the king of kings, you to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom,+
the might, and the strength and the dignity,
38 and
into whose hand he has given,+
wherever the sons of mankind are dwelling, the beasts of the field and the
winged creatures of the heavens, and whom he has made ruler over all of them,
you yourself are the head of gold.+
39 “And
after you there will rise another kingdom+
inferior to you;*+
and another kingdom, a third one, of copper, that will rule over the whole
earth.+
40 “And
as for the fourth kingdom,+
it will prove to be strong like iron.+
Forasmuch as iron is crushing and grinding everything else, so, like iron that
shatters, it will crush and shatter even all these.+
41 “And
whereas you beheld the feet and the toes to be partly of molded clay of a potter
and partly of iron,+
the kingdom itself will prove to be divided,+
but somewhat of the hardness of iron will prove to be in it, forasmuch as you
beheld the iron mixed with moist clay.+
42 And
as for the toes of the feet being partly of iron and partly of molded clay, the
kingdom will partly prove to be strong and will partly prove to be fragile.
43 Whereas
you beheld iron mixed with moist clay, they will come to be mixed with the
offspring*
of mankind; but they will not prove to be sticking together, this one to that
one, just as iron is not mixing with molded clay.
44 “And
in the days of those kings*+
the God of heaven+
will set up a kingdom*+
that will never be brought to ruin.+
Matt.6:10
And the kingdom*
itself will not be passed on to any other people.+
It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms,+
and it itself will stand to times indefinite;+
45 forasmuch
as you beheld that out of the mountain a stone was cut not by hands,+
and [that] it crushed the iron, the copper, the molded clay, the silver and the
gold.+
The grand God*+
himself has made known to the king what is to occur after this.+
And the dream is reliable, and the interpretation of it is trustworthy.”+
46 At that time King Nebuchadnezzar himself fell down upon his face, and to Daniel he paid homage, and he said to offer even a present and incense to him.+ 47 The king was answering Daniel and saying: “Truly the God of YOU men* is a God of gods*+ and a Lord of kings+ and a Revealer of secrets, because you were able to reveal this secret.”+ 48 Consequently the king made Daniel someone great,+ and many big gifts he gave to him, and he made him the ruler over all the jurisdictional district of Babylon+ and the chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. 49 And Daniel, for his part, made a request of the king, and he appointed over the administration of the jurisdictional district of Babylon Shadrach,* Meshach* and Abednego,*+ but Daniel was in the court*+ of the king.
3
Nebuchadnezzar the king
made an image+
of gold, the height of which was sixty cubits [and] the breadth of which was six
cubits. He set it up in the plain of Dura in the jurisdictional district of
Babylon.+
2 And
Nebuchadnezzar himself as king sent to assemble the satraps, the prefects+
and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the police
magistrates+
and all the administrators of the jurisdictional districts to come to the
inauguration+
of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
3 At that time the satraps,+ the prefects and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the police magistrates and all the administrators of the jurisdictional districts were assembling themselves for the inauguration of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up, and they were standing in front of the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 4 And the herald*+ was crying out loudly: “To YOU it is being said, O peoples, national groups and languages,+ 5 that at the time that YOU hear the sound of the horn, the pipe, the zither, the triangular harp, the stringed instrument, the bagpipe and all sorts of musical instruments,+ YOU fall down and worship the image of gold that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up. 6 And whoever does not fall down and worship+ will at the same moment+ be thrown into the burning fiery furnace.”+ 7 Because of this, at the same time as all the peoples were hearing the sound of the horn, the pipe, the zither, the triangular harp, the stringed instrument and all sorts of musical instruments, all the peoples,+ national groups and languages were falling down [and] worshiping the image of gold that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
8 Because of this, at that same time certain Chaldeans* approached and accused the Jews.*+ 9 They answered, and they were saying to Nebuchadnezzar the king: “O king, live on even for times indefinite.+ 10 You yourself, O king, set forth the command that every man that hears the sound of the horn, the pipe, the zither, the triangular harp, the stringed instrument, and the bagpipe and all sorts of musical instruments,+ should fall down and worship the image of gold; 11 and that whoever would not fall down and worship should be thrown into the burning fiery furnace.+ 12 There exist certain Jews* whom you appointed over the administration of the jurisdictional district of Babylon,+ Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego; these able-bodied men have paid no regard to you, O king, they are not serving your own gods,* and the image of gold that you have set up they are not worshiping.”+
13 At that time Nebuchadnezzar, in a rage and fury,+ said to bring in Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.+ Consequently these able-bodied men were brought in before the king. 14 Nebuchadnezzar was answering and saying to them: “Is it really so, O Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that YOU are not serving my own gods,*+ and the image of gold that I have set up YOU are not worshiping?+ 15 Now if YOU are ready so that when YOU hear the sound of the horn, the pipe, the zither, the triangular harp, the stringed instrument, and the bagpipe and all sorts of musical instruments,+ YOU fall down and worship the image that I have made, [all right]. But if YOU do not worship, at that same moment YOU will be thrown into the burning fiery furnace. And who is that god* that can rescue YOU out of my hands?”+
16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego answered, and they were saying to the king: “O Nebuchadnezzar, we are under no necessity in this regard to say back a word to you.+ 17 If it is to be, our God* whom we are serving is able to rescue us. Out of the burning fiery furnace and out of your hand, O king, he will rescue [us].+ 18 But if not, let it become known to you, O king, that your gods* are not the ones we are serving, and the image of gold that you have set up we will not worship.”+
19 Then it was that Nebuchadnezzar himself got filled with fury, and the very expression of his face was changed toward Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. He was answering and saying to heat up the furnace seven times more than it was customary to heat it up. 20 And to certain able-bodied men of vital energy+ who were in his military force he said to bind Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, in order to throw [them] into the burning fiery furnace.+
21 Then it was that these able-bodied men were bound in their mantles, their garments and their caps and their other clothing and were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. 22 Just because the king’s word was harsh and the furnace was heated to excess, these able-bodied men that took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were the ones that the fiery flame killed. 23 But these [other] able-bodied men, the three of them, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, fell down bound in the midst of the burning fiery furnace.*+
24 At that time Nebuchadnezzar the king himself became frightened and he rose up in a hurry. He was answering and saying to his high royal officials: “Was it not three able-bodied men that we threw bound into the midst of the fire?”+ They were answering and saying to the king: “Yes, O king.” 25 He was answering and saying: “Look! I am beholding four able-bodied men walking about free in the midst of the fire, and there is no hurt to them, and the appearance of the fourth one is resembling a son of the gods.”*+
26 Then it was that Nebuchadnezzar approached the door of the burning fiery furnace.+ He was answering and saying: “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, YOU servants of the Most High God,*+ step out and come here!” At that time Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were stepping out from the midst of the fire. 27 And the satraps, the prefects and the governors and the high officials+ of the king that were assembled were beholding these able-bodied men, that the fire had had no power over their bodies,+ and not a hair of their head+ had been singed, and even their mantles had not been changed and the smell of fire itself had not come onto them.
28 Nebuchadnezzar was answering and saying: “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego,+ who sent his angel+ and rescued his servants that trusted in him+ and that changed* the very word of the king and gave over their bodies, because they would not serve+ and would not worship+ any god at all except their own God.*+ 29 And from me an order is being put through,+ that any people, national group or language that says anything wrong against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego should be dismembered,+ and its house should be turned into a public privy;+ forasmuch as there does not exist another god* that is able to deliver like this one.”+
30 At that time the king himself caused Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to prosper in the jurisdictional district of Babylon.*+
4
“Nebuchadnezzar the king, to
all the peoples, national groups and languages that are dwelling in all the
earth:+
May YOUR
peace grow great.+
2 The
signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed with me, it has seemed
good to me to declare.+
3 How
grand his signs are, and how mighty his wonders are!+
His kingdom is a kingdom to time indefinite,+
and his rulership is for generation after generation.+
4* “I, Nebuchadnezzar, happened to be at ease+ in my house and flourishing in my palace.+ 5 There was a dream that I beheld, and it began to make me afraid.+ And there were mental images upon my bed and visions of my head that began to frighten me.+ 6 And from me an order was being put through to bring in before me all the wise men of Babylon, that they might make known to me the very interpretation of the dream.+
7 “At that time the magic-practicing priests, the conjurers, the Chaldeans+ and the astrologers+ were entering; and I was saying before them what the dream was, but its interpretation they were not making known to me.+ 8 And at last there came in before me Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar+ according to the name of my god+ and in whom there is the spirit of the holy gods;*+ and before him I said what the dream was:
9 “‘O Belteshazzar the chief of the magic-practicing priests,+ because I myself well know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you+ and that there is no secret* at all that is troubling you,+ tell [me] the visions of my dream that I have beheld and its interpretation.+
10 “‘Now the visions of my head upon my bed I happened to be beholding,+ and, look! a tree+ in the midst of the earth, the height of which was immense.+ 11 The tree grew up and became strong, and its very height finally reached the heavens, and it was visible* to the extremity of the whole earth.+ 12 Its foliage was fair, and its fruit was abundant, and there was food for all on it. Under it the beast+ of the field would seek shade,+ and on its boughs the birds of the heavens would dwell,+ and from it all flesh would feed itself.
13 “‘I continued beholding in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, look! a watcher,*+ even a holy one,+ coming down from the heavens themselves. 14 He was calling out loudly,* and this is what he was saying: “CHOP the tree down,+ and cut off its boughs. SHAKE off its foliage, and scatter its fruitage. Let the beast flee from under it, and the birds from its boughs.+ 15 However, LEAVE its rootstock itself in the earth, even with a banding of iron and of copper, among the grass of the field; and with the dew of the heavens let it be wet, and with the beast let its portion be among the vegetation of the earth.+ 16 Let its heart be changed from that of mankind, and let the heart of a beast be given to it,+ and let seven times*+ pass over it. 17 By the decree of watchers*+ the thing is, and [by] the saying of holy ones the request is, to the intent that people living may know that the Most High is Ruler* in the kingdom of mankind*+ and that to the one whom he wants to, he gives it+ and he sets up over it even the lowliest one of mankind.”*+
18 “‘This was the dream that I myself, King Nebuchadnezzar, beheld; and you yourself, O Belteshazzar, say what the interpretation is, forasmuch as all the [other] wise men of my kingdom are unable to make known to me the interpretation itself.+ But you are competent, because the spirit of holy gods* is in you.’+
19 “At
that time Daniel himself, whose name is Belteshazzar,+
was astonished for a moment, and his very thoughts began to frighten him.+
“The king was answering and saying, ‘O Belteshazzar,
do not let the dream and the interpretation themselves frighten you.’+
“Belteshazzar was answering and saying, ‘O my lord,*
may the dream [apply] to those hating you, and its interpretation to your
adversaries.+
20 “‘The tree that you beheld, that grew great and became strong and the height of which finally reached the heavens and which was visible to all the earth,+ 21 and the foliage of which was fair, and the fruit of which was abundant, and on which there was food for all; under which the beasts of the field would dwell, and on the boughs of which the birds of the heavens would reside,+ 22 it is you, O king,+ because you have grown great and become strong, and your grandeur has grown great and reached to the heavens,+ and your rulership to the extremity of the earth.+
23 “‘And because the king beheld a watcher,* even a holy one,+ coming down from the heavens, who was also saying: “CHOP the tree down, and RUIN it. However, LEAVE its rootstock itself in the earth, but with a banding of iron and of copper, among the grass of the field, and with the dew of the heavens let it become wet, and with the beasts of the field let its portion be until seven times* themselves pass over it,”+ 24 this is the interpretation, O king, and the decree+ of the Most High+ is that which must befall my lord* the king.+ 25 And you they will be driving away from men, and with the beasts of the field your dwelling will come to be,+ and the vegetation is what they will give even to you to eat just like bulls;+ and with the dew of the heavens you yourself will be getting wet, and seven times*+ themselves will pass over you, until you know that the Most High is Ruler* in the kingdom of mankind,*+ and that to the one whom he wants to he gives it.+
26 “‘And because they said to leave the rootstock of the tree,+ your kingdom will be sure to you after you know that the heavens are ruling.+ 27 Therefore, O king, may my counsel seem good to you,+ and remove your own sins by righteousness,+ and your iniquity by showing mercy to the poor ones.+ Maybe there will occur a lengthening of your prosperity.’”+
28 All this befell Nebuchadnezzar the king.+
29 At the end of twelve lunar months he happened to be walking upon the royal palace of Babylon. 30 The king was answering and saying:+ “Is not this Babylon the Great, that I myself have built for the royal house with the strength of my might+ and for the dignity of my majesty?”+
31 While the word was yet in the king’s mouth, there was a voice that fell from the heavens: “To you it is being said, O Nebuchadnezzar the king, ‘The kingdom itself has gone away from you,+ 32 and from mankind they are driving even you away, and with the beasts of the field your dwelling will be.+ Vegetation they will give even to you to eat just like bulls, and seven times* themselves will pass over you, until you know that the Most High is Ruler* in the kingdom of mankind,* and that to the one whom he wants to he gives it.’”+
33 At that moment+ the word itself was fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar, and from mankind he was being driven away, and vegetation he began to eat just like bulls, and with the dew of the heavens his own body got to be wet, until his very hair grew long just like eagles’ [feathers] and his nails like birds’ [claws].+
34 “And at the end of the days+ I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up to the heavens my eyes,+ and my own understanding began to return to me; and I blessed the Most High himself,+ and the One living to time indefinite I praised and glorified,+ because his rulership is a rulership to time indefinite and his kingdom is for generation after generation.+ 35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are being considered as merely nothing,+ and he is doing according to his own will* among the army of the heavens and the inhabitants of the earth.+ And there exists no one that can check his hand+ or that can say to him, ‘What have you been doing?’+
36 “At the same time my understanding itself began to return to me, and for the dignity of my kingdom my majesty and my brightness themselves began to return to me;+ and for me even my high royal officers and my grandees began eagerly searching, and I was reestablished upon my own kingdom, and greatness extraordinary was added to me.+
37 “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, am praising and exalting and glorifying the King of the heavens,+ because all his works are truth and his ways are justice,*+ and because those who are walking in pride he is able to humiliate.”+
5
As regards Belshazzar*+
the king, he made a big feast*
for a thousand of his grandees, and in front of the thousand he was drinking
wine.+
2 Belshazzar,
under the influence of the wine,+
said to bring in the vessels of gold and of silver+
that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken away from the temple*
that was in Jerusalem, that from them the king and his grandees, his concubines
and his secondary wives might drink.+
3 At
that time they brought in the vessels of gold that they had taken away from the
temple of the house of God*
that was in Jerusalem, and from them the king and his grandees, his concubines
and his secondary wives drank.
4 They
drank wine, and they praised the gods*
of gold and of silver, copper, iron, wood and stone.+
5 At that moment the fingers of a man’s hand came forth and were writing in front of the lampstand upon the plaster of the wall of the palace of the king,+ and the king was beholding the back of the hand that was writing. 6 At that time, as regards the king, his very complexion was changed in him, and his own thoughts began to frighten him,+ and his hip joints were loosening+ and his very knees were knocking each other.+
7 The king was calling out loudly to bring in the conjurers, the Chaldeans and the astrologers.+ The king was answering and saying to the wise men of Babylon: “Any man that will read this writing and show me its very interpretation, with purple he will be clothed,+ with a necklace of gold about his neck, and as the third one in the kingdom he will rule.”+
8 At that time all the wise men of the king were coming in, but they were not competent enough to read the writing itself or to make known to the king the interpretation.+ 9 Consequently King Belshazzar was very much frightened and his complexion was changing within him; and his grandees were perplexed.+
10 As regards the queen, because of the words of the king and his grandees she entered right into the banqueting hall. The queen answered and said: “O king, keep living even to times indefinite.+ Do not let your thoughts frighten you, nor let your complexion be changed. 11 There exists a capable man in your kingdom in whom there is the spirit of holy gods;*+ and in the days of your father illumination and insight and wisdom like the wisdom of gods were found in him, and King Nebuchadnezzar your father himself set him up as chief+ of the magic-practicing priests, the conjurers, the Chaldeans [and] the astrologers, [even] your father, O king; 12 forasmuch as an extraordinary spirit and knowledge and insight to interpret dreams+ and the explanation of riddles and the untying of knots had been found in him,+ in Daniel, whom the king himself named Belteshazzar.+ Now let Daniel himself be called, that he may show the very interpretation.”
13 Accordingly Daniel himself was brought in before the king. The king was speaking up and saying to Daniel: “Are you the Daniel that is of the exiles* of Judah,+ whom the king my father brought out of Judah?+ 14 I have also heard concerning you that the spirit of gods* is in you,+ and illumination and insight and wisdom+ extraordinary have been found in you. 15 And now there have been brought in before me the wise men [and] the conjurers, that they may read this very writing, even to make known to me its interpretation; but they are not competent enough to show the very interpretation of the word.+ 16 And I myself have heard concerning you, that you are able to furnish interpretations+ and to untie knots themselves. Now, if you are able to read the writing and to make known to me its very interpretation, with purple you will be clothed, with a necklace of gold around your neck, and as the third one in the kingdom you will rule.”+
17 At that time Daniel was answering and saying before the king: “Let your gifts prove to be to you yourself, and your presents do you give to others.+ However, I shall read the writing itself to the king, and the interpretation I shall make known to him.+ 18 As for you, O king, the Most High God*+ himself gave to Nebuchadnezzar your father+ the kingdom and the greatness and the dignity and the majesty.+ 19 And because of the greatness that He gave him, all peoples, national groups and languages proved to be quaking and showing fear before him.+ Whom he happened to want to, he was killing; and whom he happened to want to, he was striking;* and whom he happened to want to, he was exalting; and whom he happened to want to, he was humiliating.+ 20 But when his heart became haughty and his own spirit became hard, so as to act presumptuously,+ he was brought down from the throne of his kingdom, and his own dignity was taken away from him.+ 21 And from the sons of mankind* he was driven away, and his very heart was made like that of a beast, and with the wild asses his dwelling was.+ Vegetation they would give him to eat just like bulls, and with the dew of the heavens his own body got to be wet,+ until he knew that the Most High God is Ruler* in the kingdom of mankind, and that the one whom he wants to, he sets up over it.+
22 “And as for you, his son Belshazzar,+ you have not humbled your heart,+ although you knew all this.+ 23 But against the Lord of the heavens* you exalted yourself,+ and they brought before you even the vessels of his house;+ and you yourself and your grandees, your concubines and your secondary wives have been drinking wine from them, and you have praised mere gods* of silver and of gold, copper, iron, wood and stone,+ that are beholding nothing or hearing nothing or knowing nothing;+ but the God* in whose hand your breath* is+ and to whom all your ways belong+ you have not glorified.+ 24 Consequently from before him there was being sent the back of a hand, and this very writing was inscribed.+ 25 And this is the writing that was inscribed: MENE, MENE, TEKEL and PARSIN.*
26 “This
is the interpretation of the word: MENE, God has numbered*
[the days of] your kingdom and has finished*
it.+
27 “TEKEL,
you have been weighed*
in the balances and have been found deficient.+
28 “PERES,
your kingdom has been divided*
and given to the Medes and the Persians.”*+
29 At that time Belshazzar commanded,* and they clothed Daniel with purple, with a necklace of gold about his neck; and they heralded* concerning him that he was to become the third ruler in the kingdom.+
30 In that very night* Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed+ 31* and Darius*+ the Mede himself received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.
6
It seemed good to Darius,
and he set up over the kingdom one hundred and twenty satraps, who were to be
over the whole kingdom;+
2 and
over them three high officials, of whom Daniel was one,+
in order that these satraps+
might continually be giving to them the report and the king himself might not
become the loser.+
3 Then
it was that this Daniel was steadily distinguishing himself+
over the high officials and the satraps, forasmuch as an extraordinary spirit*
was in him;+
and the king was intending to elevate him over all the kingdom.
4 At that time the high officials and the satraps themselves were constantly seeking to find some pretext against Daniel respecting the kingdom;+ but there was no pretext or corrupt thing at all that they were able to find, forasmuch as he was trustworthy and no negligence or corrupt thing at all was found in him.+ 5 Consequently these able-bodied men were saying: “We shall find in this Daniel no pretext at all, except we have to find [it] against him in the law of his God.”*+
6 Accordingly these high officials and satraps themselves entered as a throng to the king,+ and this is what they were saying to him: “O Darius the king, live on even for times indefinite.+ 7 All the high officials of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the high royal officers and the governors, have taken counsel together to establish a royal statute+ and to enforce an interdict, that whoever makes a petition to any god or man* for thirty days except to you, O king, should be thrown to the lions’ pit.+ 8 Now, O king, may you establish the statute and sign the writing,+ in order for [it] not to be changed, according to the law of the Medes and the Persians,+ which is not annulled.”+
9 In accord with this, King Darius himself signed the writing and the interdict.+
10 But Daniel, as soon as he knew that the writing had been signed, entered into his house, and, the windows in his roof chamber being open for him toward Jerusalem,+ even three times in a day+ he was kneeling on his knees and praying+ and offering praise before his God,*+ as he had been regularly doing prior to this.+ 11 At that time these able-bodied men themselves crowded in and found Daniel petitioning and imploring favor before his God.+
12 Then it was that they approached and were saying before the king concerning the interdict of the king: “Is there not an interdict that you have signed that any man that asks a petition from any god or man for thirty days except from you, O king, he should be thrown to the lions’ pit?”+ The king was answering and saying: “The matter is well established according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which is not annulled.”+ 13 Immediately they answered, and they were saying before the king: “Daniel,+ who is of the exiles* of Judah,+ has paid no regard to you, O king, nor to the interdict that you signed, but three times in a day he is making his petition.”+ 14 Consequently the king, as soon as he heard the word, it was very displeasing to him,+ and toward Daniel he set [his] mind in order to rescue him;+ and till the setting of the sun he kept on striving to deliver him. 15 Finally these able-bodied men themselves entered as a throng to the king, and they were saying to the king: “Take note, O king, that the law belonging to the Medes and the Persians is that any interdict+ or statute that the king himself establishes is not to be changed.”+
16 Accordingly the king himself commanded,* and they brought Daniel and threw him into the pit of the lions.+ The king was answering and saying to Daniel: “Your God* whom you are serving with constancy, he himself will rescue you.”+ 17 And a stone was brought and placed on the mouth of the pit, and the king sealed it with his signet ring and with the signet ring of his grandees, in order that nothing should be changed in the case of Daniel.+
18 At that time the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting,+ and no musical instruments* were brought in before him, and his very sleep fled from him.+ 19 Finally the king himself, at dawn, proceeded to get up in the daylight, and in a hurry he went right to the lions’ pit. 20 And as he got near to the pit, he cried out with a sad voice even to Daniel. The king was speaking up and saying to Daniel: “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God* whom you are serving with constancy+ been able to rescue you from the lions?”+ 21 Immediately Daniel himself spoke even with the king: “O king, live on even to times indefinite. 22 My own God+ sent his angel+ and shut the mouth of the lions,+ and they have not brought me to ruin, forasmuch as before him innocence itself was found in me;+ and also before you, O king, no hurtful act have I done.”+
23 Then it was that the king himself became very glad,+ and Daniel himself he commanded to be lifted up out of the pit. And Daniel was lifted up out of the pit, and there was no hurt at all found on him, because he had trusted in his God.+
24 And the king commanded, and they brought these able-bodied men who had accused* Daniel,+ and into the lions’ pit they threw them,+ their sons and their wives;+ and they had not reached the bottom of the pit before the lions had got the mastery over them, and all their bones they crushed.+
25 Then it was that Darius* the king himself wrote to all the peoples, the national groups and the tongues that are dwelling in all the earth:+ “May YOUR peace grow very much!+ 26 From before me there has been put through an order+ that, in every dominion of my kingdom, people are to be quaking and fearing before the God of Daniel.+ For he is the living God and One enduring to times indefinite,+ and his kingdom+ is one that will not be brought to ruin,+ and his dominion* is forever.*+ 27 He is rescuing and delivering+ and performing signs and wonders in the heavens+ and on the earth,+ for he has rescued Daniel from the paw of the lions.”
28 And as for this Daniel, he prospered in the kingdom of Darius*+ and in the kingdom of Cyrus* the Persian.+
7
In the first year of Belshazzar*+
the king of Babylon,*
Daniel himself beheld a dream and visions of his head upon his bed.+
At that time he wrote down the dream itself.+
The complete account of the matters he told.
2 Daniel
was speaking up and saying:
“I happened to be beholding in my visions during the night, and, see there! the four winds*+ of the heavens were stirring up the vast sea.+ 3 And four huge beasts+ were coming up out of the sea,+ each one being different+ from the others.
4 “The first one was like a lion,+ and it had the wings of an eagle.+ I kept on beholding until its wings were plucked out, and it was lifted up from the earth+ and was made to stand up on two feet just like a man, and there was given to it the heart of a man.+
5 “And, see there! another beast, a second one, it being like a bear.+ And on one side it was raised up,+ and there were three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and this is what they were saying to it, ‘Get up, eat much flesh.’+
6 “After this I kept on beholding, and, see there! another [beast],* one like a leopard,+ but it had four wings of a flying creature on its back.* And the beast had four heads,+ and there was given to it rulership indeed.
7 “After this I kept on beholding in the visions of the night, and, see there! a fourth beast, fearsome and terrible and unusually strong.+ And it had teeth of iron, big ones. It was devouring and crushing, and what was left it was treading down with its feet. And it was something different from all the [other] beasts that were prior to it, and it had ten horns.+ 8 I kept on considering the horns, and, look! another horn, a small one,+ came up in among them, and there were three of the first horns that were plucked up from before it. And, look! there were eyes like the eyes of a man in this horn, and there was a mouth speaking grandiose things.+
9 “I kept on beholding until there were thrones* placed+ and the Ancient of Days*+ sat down. His clothing was white just like snow,+ and the hair of his head was like clean wool.+ His throne was flames of fire;+ its wheels were a burning fire.+ 10 There was a stream of fire flowing and going out from before him.+ There were a thousand thousands that kept ministering to him,*+ and ten thousand times ten thousand that kept standing right before him.+ The Court*+ took its seat, and there were books that were opened.
11 “I kept on beholding at that time because of the sound of the grandiose words that the horn was speaking;+ I kept on beholding until the beast was killed and its body was destroyed and it was given to the burning fire.+ 12 But as for the rest of the beasts,+ their rulerships were taken away, and there was a lengthening in life given to them for a time and a season.*+
13 “I kept on beholding in the visions of the night, and, see there! with the clouds+ of the heavens someone like a son of man*+ happened to be coming; and to the Ancient of Days+ he gained access, and they brought him up close even before that One.+ 14 And to him there were given rulership+ and dignity+ and kingdom,*+ that the peoples, national groups and languages should all serve even him.+ His rulership is an indefinitely lasting rulership that will not pass away, and his kingdom one that will not be brought to ruin.+ Matt.25:31
15 “As
for me, Daniel, my spirit*
was distressed within on account of it, and the very visions of my head began to
frighten me.+
16 I
went up close to one of those who were standing, that I might request from him
reliable information on all this.+
And he said to me, as he went on to make known to me the very interpretation of
the matters,
17 “‘As
for these huge beasts, because they are four,+
there are four kings that will stand up from the earth.+
18 But
the holy ones+
of the Supreme One*+
will receive the kingdom, and they will take possession of the kingdom+
for time indefinite, even for time indefinite upon times indefinite.’
19 “Then it was that I desired to make certain concerning the fourth beast, which proved to be different from all the others, extraordinarily fearsome, the teeth of which were of iron and the claws of which were of copper, which was devouring [and] crushing, and which was treading down even what was left with its feet;+ 20 and concerning the ten horns that were on its head,+ and the other [horn]+ that came up and before which* three fell,+ even that horn that had eyes and a mouth speaking grandiose things+ and the appearance of which was bigger than that of its fellows.
21 “I kept on beholding when that very horn made war upon the holy ones, and it was prevailing against them,+ 22 until the Ancient of Days+ came and judgment itself was given in favor of the holy ones of the Supreme One,+ and the definite time arrived that the holy ones took possession of the kingdom itself.+
23 “This is what he said, ‘As for the fourth beast, there is a fourth kingdom that will come to be on the earth, that will be different from all the [other] kingdoms; and it will devour all the earth and will trample it down and crush it.+ 24 And as for the ten horns, out of that kingdom there are ten kings that will rise up;+ and still another one will rise up after them, and he himself will be different from the first ones,+ and three kings he will humiliate.+ 25 And he will speak even words against the Most High,*+ and he will harass continually* the holy ones themselves of the Supreme One.*+ And he will intend to change times*+ and law,+ and they* will be given into his hand for a time, and times and half a time.*+ 26 And the Court* itself proceeded to sit,+ and his own rulership they finally took away, in order to annihilate [him] and to destroy [him] totally.*+
27 “‘And the kingdom and the rulership and the grandeur of the kingdoms under all the heavens were given to the people who are the holy ones of the Supreme One.*+ Their* kingdom is an indefinitely lasting kingdom,+ and all the rulerships will serve and obey even them.’+
28 “Up to this point is the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my own thoughts kept frightening me a great deal, so that my very complexion changed in me; but the matter itself I kept in my own heart.”*+
8
In the third year of the kingship
of Belshazzar+
the king, there was a vision that appeared to me, even me, Daniel, after the one
appearing to me at the start.+
2 And
I began to see in the vision; and it came about, while I was seeing, that I was
in Shushan+
the castle, which is in Elam+
the jurisdictional district; and I proceeded to see in the vision, and I myself
happened to be by the watercourse*
of Ulai.+
3 When
I raised my eyes, then I saw, and, look! a ram+
standing before the watercourse, and it had two horns. And the two horns were
tall, but the one was taller than the other,*
and the taller was the one that came up afterward.+
4 I
saw the ram making thrusts to the west*
and to the north and to the south,*
and no wild beasts kept standing before it, and there was no one doing any
delivering out of its hand.+
And it did according to its will,*
and it put on great airs.
5 And I, for my part, kept on considering, and, look! there was a male of the goats+ coming from the sunset upon the surface of the whole earth,* and it was not touching the earth. And as regards the he-goat, there was a conspicuous horn between its eyes.+ 6 And it kept coming all the way to the ram possessing the two horns, which I had seen standing before the watercourse;* and it came running toward it in its powerful rage.
7 And I saw it coming into close touch with the ram, and it began showing bitterness toward it, and it proceeded to strike down the ram and to break its two horns, and there proved to be no power in the ram to stand before it. So it threw it to the earth and trampled it down, and the ram proved to have no deliverer out of its hand.+
8 And the male of the goats, for its part, put on great airs+ to an extreme; but as soon as it became mighty, the great horn was broken, and there proceeded to come up conspicuously four instead of it, toward the four winds* of the heavens.+
9 And out of one of them there came forth another horn, a small one,+ and it kept getting very much greater toward the south* and toward the sunrising and toward the Decoration.*+ 10 And it kept getting greater all the way to the army of the heavens,+ so that it caused some of the army and some of the stars+ to fall to the earth, and it went trampling them down.+ 11 And all the way to the Prince+ of the army it put on great airs, and from him the constant [feature]*+ was taken away, and the established place of his sanctuary was thrown down.+ 12 And an army itself was gradually given over,+ together with the constant [feature],+ because of transgression;+ and it kept throwing truth+ to the earth,+ and it acted and had success.+
13 And I got to hear a certain holy one+ speaking, and another holy one proceeded to say to the particular one who was speaking: “How long will the vision be of the constant [feature]+ and of the transgression causing desolation,*+ to make both [the] holy place and [the] army things to trample on?”+ 14 So he said to me: “Until two thousand three hundred evenings [and] mornings; and [the] holy place will certainly be brought into its right condition.”*+
15 Then it came about that, while I myself, Daniel, was seeing the vision and seeking an understanding,+ why, look! there was standing in front of me someone in appearance like an able-bodied man.*+ 16 And I began to hear the voice of an earthling man in the midst of the Ulai,*+ and he proceeded to call out and say: “Gabriel,*+ make that one there understand the thing seen.”+ 17 So he came beside where I was standing, but when he came I got terrified so that I fell upon my face. And he proceeded to say to me: “Understand,+ O son of man,*+ that* the vision is for the time of [the] end.”+ 18 And while he was speaking with me, I had become fast asleep on my face on the earth.+ So he touched me and made me stand up where I had been standing.+ 19 And he went on to say: “Here I am causing you to know what will occur in the final part of the denunciation, because it is for the appointed time* of [the] end.+
20 “The ram that you saw possessing the two horns [stands for] the kings of Media and Persia.+ 21 And the hairy he-goat [stands for] the king of Greece;*+ and as for the great horn that was between its eyes, it [stands for] the first king.+ 22 And that one having been broken, so that there were four that finally stood up instead of it,+ there are four kingdoms from [his]* nation that will stand up, but not with his power.
23 “And in the final part of their kingdom, as the transgressors act to a completion, there will stand up a king fierce in countenance and understanding ambiguous sayings.*+ 24 And his power must become mighty, but not by his own power.+ And in a wonderful way he will cause ruin,+ and he will certainly prove successful and do effectively. And he will actually bring mighty ones to ruin, also the people made up of [the] holy ones.+ 25 And according to his insight* he will also certainly cause deception to succeed in his hand.+ And in his heart he will put on great airs,+ and during a freedom from care+ he will bring many to ruin. And against the Prince of princes+ he will stand up, but it will be without hand that he will be broken.+
26 “And the thing seen concerning the evening and the morning, which has been said, it is true.*+ And you, for your part, keep secret the vision, because it is yet for many days.”+
27 And as for me, Daniel, I felt exhausted and was made sick for [some] days.+ Then I got up and did the work of the king;+ but I kept showing myself numbed on account of the thing seen, and there was nobody understanding [it].+
9
In the first year of
Darius+
the son of Ahasuerus*
of the seed of the Medes,+
who had been made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans;+
2 in
the first year of his reigning I myself, Daniel, discerned by the books the
number of the years concerning which the word of Jehovah*
had occurred to Jeremiah the prophet,+
for fulfilling the devastations of Jerusalem,+
[namely,] seventy years.+
Jer.25:11; 29:10;
2Chr.36:21;
Zech.1:12
3 And
I proceeded to set my face+
to Jehovah*
the [true] God,*
in order to seek [him] with prayer+
and with entreaties, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.+
4 And
I began to pray to Jehovah my God and to make confession and to say:+
“Ah Jehovah* the [true] God,* the great One+ and the fear-inspiring One, keeping the covenant+ and the loving-kindness*+ to those loving him and to those keeping his commandments,+ 5 we have sinned+ and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled;+ and there has been a turning aside from your commandments and from your judicial decisions.+ 6 And we have not listened to your servants the prophets,+ who have spoken in your name to our kings, our princes and our forefathers and to all the people of the land.*+ 7 To you, O Jehovah,* there belongs the righteousness, but to us the shame of face as at this day,+ to the men* of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to all those of Israel, those nearby and those far away in all the lands to which you dispersed them because of their unfaithfulness with which they acted against you.+
8 “O Jehovah,* to us belongs the shame of face, to our kings, to our princes and to our forefathers, because we have sinned against you.+ 9 To Jehovah* our God* belong the mercies+ and the acts of forgiveness,+ for we have rebelled against him.+ 10 And we have not obeyed* the voice of Jehovah our God by walking in his laws that he set before us by the hand of his servants the prophets.+ 11 And all those of Israel have overstepped your law, and there has been a turning aside by not obeying your voice,+ so that you poured out upon us the curse and the sworn oath+ that is written in the law of Moses the servant of the [true] God, for we have sinned against Him.* 12 And he proceeded to carry out his words that he had spoken against us+ and against our judges who judged us,+ by bringing upon us great calamity, such as was not done under the whole heavens as what has been done in Jerusalem.+ 13 Just as it is written in the law of Moses,+ all this calamity—it has come upon us,+ and we have not softened the face of Jehovah our God* by turning back from our error+ and by showing insight into your trueness.+
14 “And Jehovah kept alert to the calamity and finally brought it upon us,+ for Jehovah our God is righteous in all his works that he has done; and we have not obeyed* his voice.+
15 “And now, O Jehovah* our God, you who brought your people out from the land of Egypt by a strong hand+ and proceeded to make a name for yourself as at this day,+ we have sinned,+ we have acted wickedly. 16 O Jehovah,* according to all your acts of righteousness,+ please, may your anger and your rage turn back from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain;+ for, because of our sins and because of the errors of our forefathers,+ Jerusalem and your people are an object of reproach to all those round about us.+ 17 And now listen, O our God,* to the prayer of your servant and to his entreaties, and cause your face to shine+ upon your sanctuary that is desolated,+ for the sake of Jehovah.* 18 Incline your ear, O my God, and hear.+ Do open your eyes and see our desolated conditions and the city that has been called by your name;*+ for not according to our righteous acts are we letting our entreaties fall before you,+ but according to your many mercies.+ 19 O Jehovah,* do hear.+ O Jehovah,* do forgive.+ O Jehovah,* do pay attention and act.+ Do not delay,+ for your own sake, O my God, for your own name has been called upon your city and upon your people.”+
20 While I was yet speaking and praying and confessing my sin+ and the sin of my people Israel+ and letting my request for favor fall before Jehovah my God concerning the holy mountain+ of my God, 21 and [while] I was yet speaking in the prayer, why, the man* Gabriel,*+ whom I had seen in the vision at the start,+ having been made weary with tiredness,* was arriving by me at the time of the evening gift offering.+ 22 And he proceeded to impart understanding and speak with me and say:
“O Daniel, now I have come forth to make you have insight with understanding.+ 23 At the start of your entreaties a word went forth, and I myself have come to make report, because you are someone very desirable.+ So give consideration+ to the matter, and have understanding in the thing seen.
24 “There are seventy weeks* that have been determined* upon your people+ and upon your holy city,+ in order to terminate the transgression,+ and to finish off sin,+ and to make atonement* for error,+ and to bring in righteousness for times indefinite,+ and to imprint a seal+ upon* vision and prophet,* and to anoint the Holy of Holies.*+ 25 And you should know and have the insight [that] from the going forth of [the] word+ to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem+ until Messiah*+ [the] Leader,+ there will be seven weeks, also sixty-two weeks.+ She will return and be actually rebuilt, with a public square and moat, but in the straits of the times.
26 “And
after the sixty-two weeks Messiah*
will be cut off,+
with nothing*
for himself.+
“And the city and the holy place+
the people of a leader that is coming will bring to their ruin.+
And the end of it*
will be by the flood. And until [the] end there will be war; what is decided
upon is desolations.+
27 “And
he must keep [the] covenant+
in force*
for the many*
for one week;+
and at the half of the week he will cause sacrifice and gift offering to cease.+
“And upon the
wing*
of disgusting things there will be the one causing desolation;+
and until an extermination, the very thing decided upon will go pouring out*
also upon the one lying desolate.”*+
10 In the third year of
Cyrus*+
the king of Persia there was a matter revealed to Daniel, whose name was called
Belteshazzar;+
and the matter was true,*
and there was a great military service.+
And he understood the matter, and he had understanding in the thing seen.+
2 In those days I myself, Daniel, happened to be mourning+ for three full weeks.* 3 Dainty bread I did not eat, and no flesh or wine entered into my mouth, and in no way did I grease myself until the completing of the three full weeks.+ 4 And on the twenty-fourth day of the first month, while I myself happened to be on the bank of the great river, that is, Hiddekel,*+ 5 I also proceeded to raise my eyes and see, and here was a certain man* clothed in linen,+ with his hips+ girded with gold* of Uphaz.*+ 6 And his body was like chrysolite,+ and his face like the appearance of lightning,+ and his eyes like fiery torches,+ and his arms and the place of his feet were like the sight of burnished copper,+ and the sound of his words was like the sound of a crowd. 7 And I saw, I Daniel by myself, the appearance; but as for the men* that happened to be with me, they did not see the appearance.+ However, there was a great trembling that fell upon them, so that they went running away in hiding themselves.
8 And I—I was left remaining by myself, so that I saw this great appearance. And there was left remaining in me no power, and my own dignity became changed upon me to ruination, and I retained no power.+ 9 And I began hearing the sound of his words; and while I was hearing the sound of his words, I myself also happened to be fast asleep+ upon my face, with my face to the earth.+ 10 And, look! there was a hand that touched me,+ and it gradually stirred me up to [get] upon my knees and the palms of my hands. 11 And he proceeded to say to me:
“O Daniel, you very desirable man,*+ have understanding in the words that I am speaking to you,+ and stand up where you were standing, for now I have been sent to you.”
And when he spoke with me this word, I did stand up, shivering.
12 And he went on to say to me: “Do not be afraid,+ O Daniel, for from the first day that you gave your heart to understanding+ and humbling yourself before your God*+ your words have been heard, and I myself have come because of your words.+ 13 But the prince*+ of the royal realm of Persia+ was standing in opposition+ to me for twenty-one days, and, look! Michael,*+ one of the foremost* princes,+ came to help me; v.21; 12:1; and I, for my part, remained* there beside the kings of Persia.+ 14 And I have come to cause you to discern what will befall your people+ in the final part of the days,+ because it is a vision+ yet for the days [to come].”+
15 Now when he spoke with me words like these, I had set my face to the earth+ and had become speechless. 16 And, look! one similar to the likeness of the sons of mankind* was touching my lips,+ and I began to open my mouth and speak+ and say to the one who was standing in front of me: “O my lord,*+ because of the appearance my convulsions were turned within me, and I did not retain any power.+ 17 So how was the servant of this my lord able to speak with this my lord?+ And as for me, up to now there kept standing in me no power, and no breath at all was left remaining in me.”+
18 And the one like the appearance of an earthling man* proceeded to touch me again and strengthen me.+ 19 Then he said: “Do not be afraid,+ O very desirable man.*+ May you have peace.+ Be strong, yes, be strong.”+ And as soon as he spoke with me I exerted my strength and finally said: “Let my lord speak,+ because you have strengthened me.”+ 20 So he went on to say:
“Do you really know why I have come to you? And now I shall go back to fight with the prince* of Persia.+ When I am going forth, look! also the prince of Greece* is coming.+ 21 However, I shall tell you the things noted down in the writing of truth,+ and there is no one holding strongly with me in these [things] but Michael,*+ the prince of YOU people.+ v13; 12:1; Jude9; Rev.12:7-9 ■
11
“And
as for me, in the first year of Darius*
the Mede+
I stood up as a strengthener and as a fortress to him.
2 And
now what is truth I shall tell to you:+
“Look! There will yet be three kings standing up for
Persia,+
and the fourth one+
will amass greater riches than all [others].+
And as soon as he has become strong in his riches, he will rouse up everything
against the kingdom of Greece.*+
3 “And
a mighty*
king will certainly stand up and rule with extensive dominion*+
and do according to his will.*+
4 And
when he will have stood up,+
his kingdom will be broken and be divided toward the four winds*+
of the heavens,+
but not to his posterity+
and not according to his dominion with which he had ruled; because his kingdom
will be uprooted, even for others than these.
5 “And
the king of the south*
will become strong, even [one] of his princes; and he will prevail against him
and will certainly rule with extensive dominion [greater than] that one’s ruling
power.
6 “And
at the end of [some] years they will ally themselves with each other, and the
very daughter of the king of the south will come to the king of the north*
in order to make an equitable arrangement. But she will not retain the power of
her arm;+
and he will not stand, neither his arm; and she will be given up, she herself,
and those bringing her in, and he who caused her birth, and the one making her
strong in [those] times.
7 And
one from the sprout+
of her roots will certainly stand up in his position, and he will come to the
military force and come against the fortress of the king of the north and will
certainly act against them and prevail.
8 And
also with their gods,*+
with their molten images, with their desirable articles of silver and of gold,
[and] with the captives he will come to Egypt. And he himself will for [some]
years stand off from the king of the north.
9 “And
he will actually come into the kingdom of the king of the south and go back to
his own soil.
10 “Now
as for his sons,*
they will excite themselves and actually gather together a crowd of large
military forces. And in coming he will certainly come and flood over and pass
through. But he will go back, and he*
will excite himself all the way to his fortress.
11 “And
the king of the south will embitter himself and will have to go forth and fight
with him, [that is,] with the king of the north; and he will certainly have a
large crowd stand up, and the crowd will actually be given into the hand of that
one.+
12 And
the crowd will certainly be carried away. His heart will become exalted,+
and he will actually cause tens of thousands to fall; but he will not use his
strong position.
13 “And
the king of the north must return and set up a crowd larger than the first; and
at the end of the times, [some] years, he will come, doing so with a great
military+
force and with a great deal of goods.+
14 And
in those times there will be many who will stand up against the king of the
south.
“And the sons of the robbers
belonging to your people will, for their part, be carried along to try making a
vision come true;+
and they will have to stumble.+
15 “And
the king of the north will come and throw up*
a siege rampart+
and actually capture a city with fortifications. And as for the arms of the
south, they will not stand, neither the people of his picked ones; and there
will be no power to keep standing.
16 And
the one coming against him will do according to his will, and there will be no
one standing before him. And he will stand in the land of the Decoration,+
and there will be extermination*
in his hand.+
17 And
he will set his face+
to come with the forcefulness of his entire kingdom, and there will be equitable+
[terms] with him; and he will act effectively.+
And as regards the daughter of womankind,*
it will be granted to him to bring her to ruin. And she will not stand, and she
will not continue to be his.+
18 And
he will turn his face back to the coastlands*+
and will actually capture many. And a commander will have to make the reproach
from him cease for himself, [so that] his reproach will not be. He will make it
turn back upon that one.
19 And
he will turn his face back to the fortresses of his [own] land, and he will
certainly stumble and fall, and he will not be found.+
20 “And
there must stand up in his position one+
who is causing an exactor*+
to pass through the splendid kingdom,*
and in a few days*
he will be broken, but not in anger nor in warfare.
21 “And
there must stand up in his position one who is to be despised,+
and they will certainly not set upon him the dignity of [the] kingdom; and he
will actually come in during a freedom from care+
and take hold of [the] kingdom by means of smoothness.*+
22 And
as regards the arms+
of the flood, they will be flooded over on account of him, and they will be
broken;+
as will also+
the Leader+
of [the] covenant.+
23 And
because of their allying themselves with him he will carry on deception and
actually come up and become mighty by means of a little nation.*+
24 During
freedom from care,+
even into the fatness of the jurisdictional district he will enter in and
actually do what his fathers and the fathers of his fathers have not done.
Plunder and spoil and goods he will scatter among them; and against fortified
places he will scheme out his schemes,+
but only until a time.
25 “And he will arouse his power and his heart against the king of the south with a great military force; and the king of the south, for his part, will excite himself for the war with an exceedingly great and mighty military force. And he will not stand, because they will scheme out against him schemes. 26 And the very ones eating his delicacies* will bring his breakdown.
“And as for his military
force, it will be flooded away,*
and many will certainly fall down slain.
27 “And
as regards these two kings, their heart will be inclined to doing what is bad,
and at one table+
a lie is what they will keep speaking.+
But nothing will succeed,+
because [the] end is yet for the time appointed.+
28 “And
he will go back to his land with a great amount of goods, and
his heart will be against the holy
covenant.+
And he will act effectively+
and certainly go back to his land.
29 “At the time appointed*+ he will go back, and he will actually come against the south;*+ but it will not prove to be at the last the same as at the first. 30 And there will certainly come against him the ships of Kittim,*+ and he will have to become dejected.
“And he will actually go back and hurl denunciations+ against the holy covenant+ and act effectively; and he will have to go back and will give consideration to those leaving the holy covenant. 31 And there will be arms* that will stand up, proceeding from him; and they will actually profane the sanctuary,*+ the fortress,* and remove the constant [feature].*+
“And
they will certainly put in place*
the disgusting thing+
that is causing desolation.*+
32 “And
those who are acting wickedly against
[the] covenant,+
he will lead into apostasy+
by means of smooth words.+
But as regards the people who are knowing their God,*+
they will prevail*+
and act effectively.
33 And
as regards those having insight+
among the people, they will impart understanding to the many.+
And they will certainly be made to stumble by sword and by flame, by captivity
and by plundering,+
for [some] days.*
34 But
when they are made to stumble they will be helped with a little help;+
and many will certainly join themselves to them by means of smoothness.*+
35 And
some of those having insight will be
made to stumble,+
in order to do a refining work because of them and to do a cleansing and to do a
whitening,+
until the time of [the] end;+
because it is yet for the time appointed.*+
36 “And
the king will actually do according to his own will,*
and he will exalt himself and magnify himself*
above every god;*+
and against the God of gods*+
he will speak marvelous things. And he will certainly prove successful until
[the] denunciation will have come to a finish;+
because the thing decided upon must be done.
37 And
to the God*
of his fathers he will give no consideration; and to the desire of women and to
every other god he will give no consideration, but over everyone he will magnify
himself.+
38 But
to the god of fortresses,*
in his position he will give glory; and to a god that his fathers did not know
he will give glory by means of gold and by means of silver and by means of
precious stone and by means of desirable things.
39 And
he will act effectively against the most fortified strongholds, along with a
foreign god. Whoever has given [him] recognition he will make abound with glory,
and he will actually make them rule among many; and [the] ground he will
apportion out for a price.
40 “And
in the time of [the] end the king of the south*+
will engage with him in a pushing, and against him the king of the north*
will storm with chariots and with horsemen and with many ships; and he will
certainly enter into the lands and flood over and pass through.
41 He
will also actually enter+
into the land of the Decoration,*+
and there will be many*
[lands] that will be made to stumble.+
But these are the ones that will escape out of his hand, Edom and Moab+
and the main part*
of the sons of Ammon.
42 And
he will keep thrusting out his hand against the lands; and as regards the land
of Egypt,+
she will not prove to be an escapee.
43 And
he will actually rule over the hidden treasures of the gold and the silver and
over all the desirable things of Egypt. And the Libyans*
and the Ethiopians*
will be at his steps.
44 “But there will be reports* that will disturb him,+ out of the sunrising+ and out of the north, and he will certainly go forth in a great rage in order to annihilate and to devote many to destruction.+ 45 And he will plant his palatial tents between [the] grand sea* and the holy mountain of Decoration;*+ and he will have to come all the way to his end,+ and there will be no helper for him.+
12 “And
during that time Michael*+
will stand up,+
the great prince*+
who is standing in behalf of the sons of your people.+
10:21;
Jude9;
Rev.12:7-9
■
And there will
certainly occur a time of distress such as has not been made to occur since
there came to be a nation until that time.+
And during that time your people will escape,+
every one who is found written down in the book.+
2 And
there will be many of those asleep in the ground of dust who will wake up,+
these to indefinitely lasting life+
and those to reproaches [and] to indefinitely lasting abhorrence.+
3 “And the ones having insight will shine like the brightness* of the expanse;+ v.10; Matt.13:43 and those who are bringing the many to righteousness,+ like the stars to time indefinite, even forever.
4 “And as for you, O Daniel, make secret the words and seal up the book,+ until the time of [the] end.*+ v.9 Many will rove about, and the [true] knowledge* will become abundant.”+
5 And I saw, I Daniel, and, look! there were two others standing,+ one on the bank here of the stream* and the other on the bank there of the stream.+ 6 Then one said to the man clothed with the linen,+ who was up above the waters of the stream: “How long will it be to the end of the wonderful things?”+ 7 And I began to hear the man* clothed with the linen, who was up above the waters of the stream, as he proceeded to raise his right [hand] and his left [hand] to the heavens and to swear+ by the One who is alive for time indefinite:+ “It will be for an appointed time, appointed times and a half.*+ And as soon as there will have been a finishing of the dashing of the power* of the holy people to pieces,+ all these things will come to their finish.”
8 Now as for me, I heard, but I could not understand;+ so that I said: “O my lord,* what will be the final part of these things?”+
9 And he went on to say: “Go, Daniel, because the words are made secret and sealed up until the time of [the] end.+ v.4; Acts1:7 10 Many will cleanse themselves+ and whiten themselves+ and will be refined.+ And the wicked ones will certainly act wickedly,+ and no wicked ones at all will understand;+ Mal.3:15, 18 but the ones having insight will understand.+
11 “And from the time that the constant [feature]*+ has been removed+ and there has been a placing of the disgusting thing+ that is causing desolation,* there will be one thousand two hundred and ninety days.
12 “Happy+ is* the one who is keeping in expectation and who arrives at the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days!
13 “And
as for you yourself, go toward the end;*+
and you will rest,+
but you will stand up for your lot at the end*
of the days.”+