Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

⁸ Lord God of virtues, hear thou my prayer; God of Jacob, perceive thou with ears. (Lord God of hosts, hear thou my prayer; God of Jacob, please listen thou to me.)

⁹ God, our defender, behold thou; and behold into the face of thy christ (and look upon the face of thy anointed king).

¹⁰ For why one day in thine halls is better; than a thousand (elsewhere). I choose to be abject, either an outcast, in the house of my God; more than to dwell in the tabernacles of sinners. (For one day in thy courtyards, is better than a thousand days elsewhere. I would rather choose to be a doorkeeper in the House of my God; than to live in the tents, or in the homes, of the sinners.)

¹¹ For God loveth mercy and truth; the Lord shall give grace and glory. He shall not deprive them from goods, that go in innocence; (For God loveth mercy and faithfulness; and the Lord giveth favour and glory. He will not hold back any good thing, from those who go in innocence/from those who do what is right.)

¹² Lord of virtues, blessed is the man, that hopeth in thee. (Lord of hosts, happy is the person, who trusteth in thee.)

¹³ Therefore Daniel was brought in before the king. To whom the foresaid king said, Art thou Daniel, of the sons of the captivity of Judah, whom my father, the king (whom my predecessor, the king), brought from Judah?

¹⁴ I have heard of thee, that thou hast in thee the spirit of (the) gods, and (that) more knowing, and understanding, and wisdom be found in thee.

¹⁵ And now wise men, astronomers, entered in my sight, to read this scripture, and to show to me the interpreting thereof; and they might not say to me the understanding of this word. (And now wise men, yea, the astrologers, have come before me, to read this writing, and to tell me its interpretation; but they could not say to me the understanding, or the meaning, of these words.)

¹⁶ Certainly I have heard of thee, that thou mayest interpret dark things, and unbind bound things; therefore if thou mayest read the scripture, and show to me the interpreting thereof, thou shalt be clothed in purple, and thou shalt have a golden band about thy neck, and thou shalt be the third prince in my realm. (Certainly I have heard of thee, that thou can interpret secret, or hidden, things, and unbind bound things; and so if thou can read this writing, and tell me its interpretation, thou shalt be clothed in purple, and thou shalt have a gold band around thy neck, and thou shalt be the third in power in all my kingdom.)

¹⁷ To which things Daniel answered, and said before the king, Thy gifts be to thee, and give thou to another man the gifts of thine house; forsooth, king, I shall read the scripture to thee, and I shall show to thee the interpreting thereof. (To which Daniel answered, and said to the king, Let thy gifts be to thee, and give thou to someone else the gifts of thy house; but, O king, I shall read this writing to thee, and I shall tell thee its interpretation.)

¹⁸ O! thou king, [the] highest God gave realm, and great worship, and glory, and honour, to Nebuchadnezzar, thy father. (O! thou king, the Most High God gave kingdom, and great worship, and glory, and honour, to Nebuchadnezzar, thy predecessor.)

¹⁹ And for [the] great worship which he had given to that Nebuchadnezzar, all peoples, lineages, and languages, trembled and dreaded him; he killed which he would, and he smote which he would, and he enhanced which he would, and he made low which he would. (And for the great power which he gave to that Nebuchadnezzar, all the peoples, and the tribes, or the nations, of every language, trembled and feared him; he killed whom he would, and he struck down whom he would, and he exalted, or he lifted up, whom he would, and he made low whom he would.)

²⁰ Forsooth when his heart was raised [up], and his spirit was made obstinate in pride, he was put down off the seat of his realm (he was taken down off the throne of his kingdom); and his glory was taken away,

²¹ and he was cast out from the sons of men; but also his heart was set with beasts, and his dwelling was with wild asses; also he ate hay as an ox doeth, and his body was coloured with the dew of heaven, till he knew, that the Highest hath power in the realm of men, and he shall raise on it whomever he will. (and he was thrown out from among people; and his mind became like that of the beasts, and his habitation was with the wild donkeys, or with the wild beasts; and he ate grass, like an ox doeth, and his body was sprinkled with the dew of heaven, until he acknowledged, that the Most High God hath power over the kingdom of people, and that he shall raise upon it whomever he will.)

²² And thou, Belshazzar, the son of him, meekedest not thine heart, when thou knewest all these things; (And thou, Belshazzar, his successor, hast not humbled, or made meek, thy heart, even though thou knewest all these things;)

²³ but thou were raised [up] against the Lord of heaven, and the vessels of his house were brought before thee, and thou, and thy best men, and thy wives, and thy concubines, drank wine in those vessels; and thou praisedest gods of silver, and of gold, and of brass, and of iron, and of tree, and of stone, that see not, neither hear, neither feel; certainly thou glorifiedest not God, that hath thy blast, and all thy ways in his hand. (but thou were raised up against the Lord of heaven, and the vessels of his House were brought before thee, and thou, and thy best men, and thy wives, and thy concubines, drank wine from those vessels; and thou praisedest gods made of silver, and gold, and bronze, and iron, and wood, and stone, that see not, neither hear, nor feel; certainly thou glorifiedest not God, who hath thy breath, and all thy ways, in his hands.)

²⁴ Therefore the finger of the hand was sent of him, which hand wrote this thing that is written. (And so the fingers of this hand were sent from him, which hand wrote this thing that is written.)

²⁵ Soothly this is the scripture which is described, Mene, Tekel, Peres. (Truly this is the writing that is written there, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin.)

²⁶ And this is the interpreting of the word. Mene, God hath numbered thy realm, and hath [ful]filled it; (And this is the interpretation of the words. Mene, God hath numbered the days of thy kingdom, and hath finished, or hath ended, it;)

²⁷ Tekel, thou art weighed in a balance, and thou art found having less; (Tekel, thou art weighed in a balance, and thou art found wanting;)

²⁸ Peres, thy realm is parted, and is given to Medes and Persians. (Peres, thy kingdom is parted, or divided, and it is given to the Medes and the Persians.)

²⁹ Then, for the king commanded, Daniel was clothed in purple, and a golden band was given about his neck; and it was preached of him, that he had power, and was the third in the realm. (Then, for the king commanded, Daniel was clothed in purple, and a gold band was put around his neck; and it was preached of him, that he had power, and was the third in the kingdom.)

³⁰ In the same night, Belshazzar, the king of Chaldees, was slain; (On that same night, Belshazzar, the king of the Chaldeans, was killed;)

³¹ and Darius of Media/and Darius of Medes was successor to the realm, and he was two and sixty years eld. (and Darius the Mede was his successor in the realm/and Darius the Mede took his kingdom, and he was sixty-two years old.)

²⁸ But what seemeth to you? A man had two sons [Some man had two sons]; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work this day [to day] in my vineyard.

²⁹ And he answered, and said, I will not; but afterward he repented, and went forth [but afterward he stirred by penance, or repenting, went].

³⁰ But he came to the other, and said in like manner. And he answered, and said, Lord, I go; and he went not.

³¹ Who of the twain did the father's will? They say to him, The first. Jesus saith to them, Truly I say to you, for publicans and whores shall go before you into the kingdom of God.

³² For John came to you in the way of rightwiseness, and ye believed not to him; but publicans and whores believed to him. But ye saw, and had no repenting after, that ye believed to him [But ye seeing, had not penance afterward, that ye should believe to him].