Old/New Testament

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.

4 ¶ King Nebuchadnezzar, to all the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you.

² The signs and wonders that the high God has wrought with me are such that I must publish them.

³ How great are his signs! and how mighty are his wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation.

⁴ ¶ I Nebuchadnezzar was quiet in my house and flourishing in my palace;

⁵ I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the imaginations and visions of my head troubled me in my bed.

⁶ Therefore I made a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me that they might show me the interpretation of the dream.

⁷ Then the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the fortune-tellers came in and I told the dream before them; but they never showed me its interpretation.

⁸ But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name is Belteshazzar, who when I name him it seems to me that I name my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy God; and before him I told the dream, saying,

⁹ Belteshazzar, prince of the wise men, now that I have understood that the spirit of the holy God is in thee, and that no mystery is hidden from thee, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen and its interpretation.

¹⁰ Thus were the visions of my head in my bed: It seemed that I saw a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great.

¹¹ The tree grew and made itself strong, and its height reached unto heaven, and its sight to the end of all the earth:

¹² His leaves were fair, and his fruit abundant, and in him was food for all; underneath him the beasts of the field lay down in his shadow, and in his branches dwelt the fowls of the heaven, and all flesh was fed of him.

¹³ I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, behold, one who was a watchman and holy descended from heaven;

¹⁴ he cried aloud and said thus, Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit; let the beasts get away from under him and the fowls from his branches:

¹⁵ nevertheless leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and of brass shall he be bound in the green grass of the field; and let him be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth:

¹⁶ let his heart be changed from a man’s heart, and let a beast’s heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him.

¹⁷ By sentence of the watchmen is the matter resolved, and the case by the word of the holy ones to the intent that the living may know that the most High takes rule over the kingdom of men and gives it to whoever he will and sets up over it the man who is the lowest.

¹⁸ I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw this dream. Now thou, O Belteshazzar, shall declare its interpretation, forasmuch as all the wise men of my kingdom could never show me its interpretation; but thou art able, for the spirit of the holy God in thee.

¹⁹ ¶ Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was silent for almost one hour, and his thoughts troubled him. Then the king spoke and said, Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation trouble thee. Belteshazzar answered and said, My lord, let the dream be to thine enemies, and its interpretation to those that wish thee evil.

²⁰ The tree that thou didst see, which grew and made himself strong, whose height reached unto the heaven and the sight thereof to all the earth;

²¹ whose leaves were fair and his fruit abundant and in him was food for all, under whom the beasts of the field dwelt, and in whose branches the fowls of the heaven dwelt:

²² it is thou, O king, that grew and made thyself strong; for thy greatness has grown and has reached unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth.

²³ And regarding that which the king saw, one who was a watchman and holy who came down from heaven and said, Hew the tree down and destroy it; yet leave the stump of its roots in the earth, and with a band of iron and of brass let it remain bound in the green grass of the field, and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field until seven times pass over him:

²⁴ this is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the most High, which is come upon my lord the king:

²⁵ that they shall drive thee from among men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall feed thee with grass of the field as the oxen, and with the dew of heaven shalt thou be bathed, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou shalt understand that the most High takes rule over the kingdom of men and that he shall give it to whoever he will.

²⁶ And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots in the earth; thy kingdom shall remain sure unto thee, that thou shalt understand that the rule is in the heavens.

²⁷ Therefore, O king, approve my counsel and redeem thy sins with righteousness and thine iniquities with mercies unto the poor: behold the medicine for thy sin.

²⁸ ¶ All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar.

²⁹ At the end of twelve months as he was walking upon the palace of the kingdom of Babylon,

³⁰ the king spoke and said, Is this not the great Babylon that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power and for the glory of my greatness?

³¹ The word was yet in the king’s mouth when there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O King Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee;

³² and they drive thee from among men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field; and they shall feed thee as the oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee until thou know that the most High takes rule in the kingdom of men and gives it to whomever he will.

³³ The same hour the word was fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from among men and ate grass as the oxen, and his body was bathed with the dew of heaven until his hair grew like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.

³⁴ ¶ But at the end of the time I Nebuchad­nezzar lifted up my eyes unto heaven, and my understanding was returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and glorified him that lives for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is through all ages:

³⁵ and all the inhabitants of the earth are counted as nothing; and in the army of heaven and in the inhabitants of the earth, he does according to his will; nor is there anyone who can interfere with his hand and say unto him, What doest thou?

³⁶ In the same time my reason was returned unto me, and I turned to the majesty of my kingdom; my dignity and greatness returned unto me; and my governors and my great ones sought me; and I was restored in my kingdom, and more excellent greatness was added unto me.

³⁷ Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and build up and glorify the King of heaven because all his works are truth, and his ways judgment: and he is able to humble those that walk with arrogance.

5 ¶ Whosoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God; and anyone that loves him that begat also loves him that is born of him.

² In this we know that we love the sons of God, when we love God and keep his commandments.

³ For this is the charity of God, that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not grievous.

⁴ For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.

⁵ Who is he that overcomes the world, but he that believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

⁶ ¶ This is Jesus, the Christ, who came by water and blood; not by water only, but by water and blood. And the Spirit is he that bears witness, because the Spirit is the truth.

⁷ For there are three that bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.

⁸ And there are three that bear witness on earth, the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree in one.

⁹ If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he has testified of his Son.

¹⁰ ¶ He that believes in the Son of God has the witness of God in himself; he that does not believe God has made God a liar; because he does not believe the witness that God has testified of his Son.

¹¹ And this is the witness, that God has given eternal life to us, and this life is in his Son.

¹² He that has the Son has life; and he that does not have the Son of God does not have life.

¹³ These things I have written unto you that believe in the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life and that ye may believe in the name of the Son of God.

¹⁴ ¶ And this is the confidence that we have in God, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he hears us:

¹⁵ And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we also know that we have the petitions that we asked of him.

¹⁶ If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask God, and he shall give him life that is, unto those that do not sin unto death. There is sin unto death, for which I do not say that you should pray.

¹⁷ All unrighteousness is sin, but there is a sin not unto death.

¹⁸ ¶ We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he that is begotten of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.

¹⁹ And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in wickedness.

²⁰ But we know that the Son of God is come and has given us understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.

²¹ Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.