Chronological

1 ¶ In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came unto Jerusalem and besieged it.

² And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand with part of the vessels of the house of God which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god, and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god.

³ And the king spoke unto Ashpenaz the prince of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the sons of Israel of the royal lineage of the princes,

⁴ young men in whom there was no blemish whatsoever but who were good looking and taught in all wisdom and wise in knowledge and of good understanding, and that had strength in them to stand in the king’s palace, that they might be taught the letters and speech of the Chaldeans.

⁵ And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king’s food and of the wine which he drank, so nourishing them three years, that at the end thereof they might stand before the king.

⁶ Now among these of the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah:

⁷ unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names: for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abednego.

⁸ ¶ And Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s food, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.

⁹ (And God brought Daniel into grace and mercy with the prince of the eunuchs.)

¹⁰ And the prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who has appointed your food and your drink; for when he shall see your faces more downcast than the other young men who are like unto you, then ye shall condemn my head before the king.

¹¹ Then Daniel said to Melzar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,

¹² Prove, now, with thy slaves ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink.

¹³ Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenances of the young men that eat of the portion of the king’s food; and as thou seest, deal with thy slaves.

¹⁴ So he consented to them in this matter and proved them ten days.

¹⁵ And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than the young men who ate the portion of the king’s food.

¹⁶ Thus Melzar took the portion of their food and the wine that they should drink and gave them vegetables.

¹⁷ ¶ And unto these four young men, God gave them knowledge and intelligence in all letters and science; furthermore Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.

¹⁸ Now at the end of the days after which the king had said he should bring them in, the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar.

¹⁹ And the king communed with them, and none among them all was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; and therefore they stood before the king.

²⁰ And in all matters of wisdom and intelligence, that the king enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm.

²¹ And Daniel continued even unto the first year of King Cyrus.

2 ¶ And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, with which his spirit was troubled, and his sleep fled from him.

² Then the king commanded to call magicians, astrologers, enchanters, and Chaldeans, that they might show the king his dreams. So they came and presented themselves before the king.

³ And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream.

⁴ Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Syriack, O king, live for ever; tell thy servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.

⁵ The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from my memory; if ye will not make known unto me the dream with its interpretation, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill.

⁶ But if ye show the dream and its interpretation, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honour: therefore show me the dream, and its interpretation.

⁷ They answered the second time and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation of it.

⁸ The king answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would gain time because ye see the thing is gone from my memory.

⁹ But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, there is but one decree for you for ye certainly prepare lying and corrupt words to speak before me, until the time is changed; therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can show me its interpretation.

¹⁰ The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can show the king’s matter; furthermore there is no king, prince, nor lord that asked such a thing of any magician or astrologer or Chaldean.

¹¹ Finally, the thing that the king requires is singular, and there is no one that can show it before the king except the angels of God, whose dwelling is not with flesh.

¹² For this cause the king was angry and very furious and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.

¹³ And the decree went forth, and the wise men were taken to be slain, and they sought Daniel and his fellows to kill them.

¹⁴ ¶ Then Daniel spoke with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captain of the king’s guard, who was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon.

¹⁵ He spoke and said to Arioch the king’s captain, What is the reason for which this decree has gone forth from the king with such haste? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel.

¹⁶ And Daniel went in, and asked the king that he give him time and that he would show the king the interpretation.

¹⁷ Then Daniel went to his house and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions,

¹⁸ to petition mercies of the God of heaven concerning this mystery and that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

¹⁹ Then the mystery was revealed unto Daniel in a night vision for which Daniel blessed the God of heaven.

²⁰ And Daniel spoke and said, Blessed be the name of God from age to age for wisdom and might are his;

²¹ and it is he that changes the times and the opportunities; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom unto the wise and knowledge unto those that know understanding:

²² He reveals that which is deep and hidden; he knows what is in darkness, and the light dwells with him.

²³ Unto thee, O God of my fathers, do I confess and give thee praise that thou hast given me wisdom and might and now hast shown me what we asked of thee, for thou hast shown us the king’s matter.

²⁴ ¶ After this Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he went and said thus unto him, Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will show unto the king the interpretation.

²⁵ Then Arioch brought Daniel in before the king in haste and said thus unto him, I have found a man of the captives of Judah that will make known unto the king the interpretation.

²⁶ The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Art thou able to make me understand the dream which I have seen and its interpretation?

²⁷ Daniel answered in the presence of the king and said, The mystery which the king demands cannot be shown unto the king by wise men, astrologers, magicians, nor fortune-tellers.

²⁸ But there is a God in the heavens who reveals the mysteries, and he has made known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall happen at the end of days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, is this:

²⁹ Thou, O king, in thy bed, thy thoughts rose up to know what should come to pass in the future; and he that reveals the mysteries showed thee what shall come to pass.

³⁰ And unto me this mystery has been revealed, not for any wisdom that is in me more than in all those living but that I notify the interpretation to the king and that thou might understand the thoughts of thy heart.

³¹ ¶ Thou, O king, didst see and behold a great image. This image, which was very large and whose glory was very sublime, stood before thee, and its form was terrible.

³² The head of this image was of fine gold, its breasts and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of brass,

³³ its legs of iron, its feet part of iron and part of baked clay.

³⁴ Thou didst see until a stone was cut out, not with hands, which smote the image upon its feet that were of iron and baked clay and broke them to pieces.

³⁵ Then was the iron, the baked clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold broken to pieces together and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away that no place was found for them again; and the stone that smote the image was made into a great mountain that filled the whole earth.

³⁶ This is the dream, and we will tell its interpretation before the king.

³⁷ Thou, O king, art king of kings, for the God of heaven has given thee the kingdom, the power, and the strength, and the majesty.

³⁸ And everything that is inhabited by children of men, beasts of the field, and fowls of the heaven, he has given into thine hand, and has made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.

³⁹ And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the land.

⁴⁰ And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron; and as iron breaks in pieces and subdues all things, and as iron that breaks all these things, it shall break in pieces and bruise.

⁴¹ And whereas thou didst see the feet and toes, part of baked potters’ clay and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divisive; but there shall be in it some of the strength of the iron, such as thou didst see the iron mixed with baked clay.

⁴² And as the toes of the feet were part of iron and part of baked clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly fragile.

⁴³ Concerning that which thou didst see, the iron mixed with baked clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men, but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron does not mix with clay.

⁴⁴ And in the days of those kings the God of heaven shall raise up a kingdom which eternally shall never become corrupted, and this kingdom shall not be left to another people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

⁴⁵ In the manner which thou didst see that out of the mountain was cut one stone, not with hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God has shown the king what shall come to pass hereafter; and the dream is true, and its interpretation sure.

⁴⁶ ¶ Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face and humbled himself before Daniel and commanded that they should sacrifice presents and sweet odours unto him.

⁴⁷ The king answered unto Daniel and said, Certainly the God that is your God is God of gods and the Lord of the kings and the revealer of the mysteries, seeing thou could reveal this mystery.

⁴⁸ Then the king magnified Daniel and gave him many and great gifts and made him governor over the whole province of Babylon and prince of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon.

⁴⁹ And Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon; but Daniel was at the gate of the king.

3 ¶ Nebuchadnezzar the king made a statue of gold, whose height was sixty cubits and its breadth six cubits; he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.

² Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the great ones, the assistants and captains, the judges, the treasurers, those of the council, presidents, and all the governors of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the statue which Nebuchadnezzar the king had raised up.

³ Then the great ones, the assistants and captains, the judges, the treasurers, those of the council, presidents, and all the governors of the provinces, were gathered together unto the dedication of the statue that Nebuchadnezzar the king had raised up; and they stood before the statue that Nebuchadnezzar the king had raised up.

⁴ Then a herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages,

⁵ that when ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and of every musical instrument, ye are to fall down and worship the statue of gold that Nebuchadnezzar the king has raised up:

⁶ and whoever does not fall down and worship shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.

⁷ Therefore, when all the peoples heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and every musical instrument, all the peoples, nations, and languages, fell down and worshipped the statue of gold that Nebuchadnezzar the king had raised up.

⁸ ¶ Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and accused the Jews.

⁹ They spoke and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live for ever.

¹⁰ Thou, O king, hast made a law that every man upon hearing the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and every musical instrument, shall fall down and worship the statue of gold;

¹¹ and whoever does not fall down and worship that he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.

¹² There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee; they do not worship thy gods, nor do they worship the statue of gold which thou hast raised up.

¹³ Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the king.

¹⁴ Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that ye do not honour my gods, nor worship the statue of gold which I have set up?

¹⁵ Now, are ye ready when ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and of every musical instrument to fall down and worship the statue which I made? For if ye do not worship, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that god that shall deliver you out of my hands?

¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to King Nebuchadnezzar, We are not careful to answer thee in this matter.

¹⁷ Behold, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.

¹⁸ But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not worship thy god, nor honour the statue which thou hast raised up.

¹⁹ ¶ Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; therefore he spoke, and commanded that they should heat the furnace seven times more than it was customary to be heated.

²⁰ And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.

²¹ Then these men were bound in their coats, their undergarments, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

²² Therefore because the king’s commandment was urgent and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

²³ And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

²⁴ Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste and spoke and said unto his counsellors, Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.

²⁵ He answered and said, Behold, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.

²⁶ Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spoke and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth and come here. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire.

²⁷ And the great ones, the governors and the captains and the king’s counsellors gathered together to see these men upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was a hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.

²⁸ ¶ Then Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said, Blessed be the God of these, of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants that trusted in him and have changed the king’s word and yielded their bodies that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God

²⁹ Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, or language which speak blasphemy against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill because there is no other god that can deliver after this sort.

³⁰ Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the province of Babylon.