Daniel 14:26-42
New Catholic Bible
26 If you give me permission, O king, I shall kill this dragon without using either sword or club.” “I grant you permission,” said the king.
27 Then Daniel gathered some pitch, fat, and hair. He boiled them together and formed the mixture into cakes, which he placed into the mouth of the dragon. When the dragon swallowed them, he burst open. Daniel said, “Behold what you have been worshiping.”
28 When the Babylonians learned about this, they became enraged and turned their anger against the king. “The king has become a Jew,” they said. “He has destroyed Bel, slain the dragon, and put the priests to death.” 29 Therefore, they went to the king and demanded, “Hand Daniel over to us, or else we shall slay you and your family.” 30 Faced with this violent threat, the king was compelled to turn over Daniel to them.
31 They threw Daniel into the den of lions, and, he was left there for six days. 32 In that den there were seven lions, and each day two human carcasses and two sheep had usually been fed to them. Now, however, they were given nothing, to ensure that they would devour Daniel.
33 In Judea at that time, there was the prophet Habakkuk. Having prepared a stew and mixed it in a bowl with some bread, he was on his way to take it to the reapers in the field. 34 The angel of the Lord instructed him, “Take the meal you have prepared to Daniel who is in Babylon in the lions’ den. 35 Habakkuk replied, “Sir, I have never been to Babylon, and I do not have any idea where the den is.” 36 Thereupon the angel of the Lord grasped him by the crown of his head and, carrying him by his hair, with the speed of the wind, set him down in Babylon above the den.
37 Habakkuk shouted, “Daniel, Daniel, take the food that God has sent to you.” 38 Daniel said, “You have remembered me, O God. You have not abandoned those who love you.” 39 He then got up and began to eat. Meanwhile the angel of the Lord immediately carried Habakkuk back to his own country.
40 On the seventh day the king came to weep for Daniel. When he arrived at the den and looked in, he saw Daniel sitting there. 41 The king cried aloud, “You are great, O Lord, the God of Daniel, and there is no other god but you.” 42 He then had Daniel lifted out of the den and ordered those who had plotted Daniel’s destruction to be thrown into it. Those individuals were devoured before his eyes in an instant.
Read full chapter