Daniel 14:20-42
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
20 “I see the footprints of men, women, and children!” said the king. 21 [a]In his wrath the king arrested the priests, their wives, and their children. They showed him the secret door by which they used to enter to consume what was on the table. 22 The king put them to death, and handed Bel over to Daniel, who destroyed it and its temple.
23 There was a great dragon[b] which the Babylonians revered. 24 The king said to Daniel, “You cannot deny that this is a living god, so worship it.” 25 But Daniel answered, “I worship the Lord, my God, for he is the living God. 26 Give me permission, O king, and I will kill this dragon without sword or club.” “I give you permission,” the king said. 27 Then Daniel took some pitch, fat, and hair; these he boiled together and made into cakes. He put them into the mouth of the dragon, and when the dragon ate them, he burst. “This,” he said, “is what you revered.”
28 When the Babylonians heard this, they were angry and turned against the king. “The king has become a Jew,” they said; “he has destroyed Bel, killed the dragon, and put the priests to death.” 29 They went to the king and demanded: “Hand Daniel over to us, or we will kill you and your family.” 30 When he saw himself threatened with violence, the king was forced to hand Daniel over to them. 31 They threw Daniel into a lions’ den,[c] where he remained six days. 32 In the den were seven lions. Two carcasses and two sheep had been given to them daily, but now they were given nothing, so that they would devour Daniel.
33 The prophet Habakkuk was in Judea. He mixed some bread in a bowl with the stew he had boiled, and was going to bring it to the reapers in the field, 34 when an angel of the Lord told him, “Take the meal you have to Daniel in the lions’ den at Babylon.” 35 But Habakkuk answered, “Sir, I have never seen Babylon, and I do not know the den!” 36 The angel of the Lord seized him by the crown of his head and carried him by the hair;(A) with the speed of the wind, he set him down in Babylon above the den. 37 “Daniel, Daniel,” cried Habakkuk, “take the meal God has sent you.” 38 “You have remembered me, O God,” said Daniel; “you have not forsaken those who love you.” 39 So Daniel ate, but the angel of God at once brought Habakkuk back to his own place.
40 On the seventh day the king came to mourn for Daniel. As he came to the den and looked in, there was Daniel, sitting there. 41 The king cried aloud, “You are great, O Lord, the God of Daniel, and there is no other besides you!” 42 He brought Daniel out, but those who had tried to destroy him he threw into the den, and they were devoured in a moment before his eyes.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 14:21–22 These verses in the Septuagint Greek text read: “21 And he went to the house where the priests had come, and he found Bel’s food and the wine, and Daniel showed the king the false doors through which the priests entered and consumed what had been set before Bel. 22 The king led them out of the temple of Bel and gave them over to Daniel. He gave Daniel what was expended on him and destroyed Bel.”
- 14:23 Dragon: or “serpent,” and see v. 27. Sacred snakes are well attested in the ancient world (e.g., in the temple of the god of healing Asclepius at Epidaurus), though evidence for their veneration in Babylon is doubtful.
- 14:31 A lions’ den: this story provides a different account from chap. 6 as to why Daniel was associated with the lions’ den.
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