Daniel 1 - 4 — Legacy Standard Bible

Daniel Brought to Babylon

1In the third year of the reign of ^aJehoiakim king of Judah, ^bNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. ²And the ^aLord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the ^bvessels of the house of God; and he brought them to the land of ^cShinar, to the house of his ¹god, and he brought the vessels into the treasury of his ²^,^dgod.

³Then the king said for Ashpenaz, the chief of his ¹officials, to bring in some of the sons of Israel, including some of the royal ^aseed and of the nobles, ⁴youths in whom was ^ano defect, who were good in appearance, showing ^binsight in every branch of wisdom, being thoroughly ¹knowledgeable and discerning knowledge, and who had ability to stand in the king’s palace; and he said for him to teach them the ²literature and ^ctongue of the ^dChaldeans. ⁵And the king appointed for them a daily ration from the ^aking’s choice food and from the wine which he drank, and appointed that they should be ¹educated three years, at the end of which they were to ^bstand before the king. ⁶Now among them from the sons of Judah were ^aDaniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. ⁷Then the commander of the officials set names for them; and for Daniel he set the name ^aBelteshazzar, for Hananiah ^bShadrach, for Mishael ^cMeshach, and for Azariah ^dAbed-nego.

Daniel’s Heart

⁸But Daniel set in his heart that he would not ^adefile himself with the ^bking’s choice food or with the ^cwine which he drank; so he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself. ⁹Now God granted Daniel ^alovingkindness and compassion before the commander of the officials, ¹⁰and the commander of the officials said to Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has appointed your food and your drink; for why should he see your faces looking more haggard than the youths who are your own age? Then you would ¹make me forfeit my head to the king.” ¹¹But Daniel said to the overseer whom the commander of the officials had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, ¹²“Please test your servants for ten days, and let us be ^agiven some vegetables to eat and water to drink. ¹³“Then let our appearance be ¹observed before you and the appearance of the youths who are eating the king’s choice food; and deal with your servants according to what you see.”

¹⁴So he listened to them in this matter and tested them for ten days. ¹⁵At the end of ten days it was seen that their appearance was ^abetter and that ¹they were fatter than all the youths who had been eating the king’s choice food. ¹⁶So the overseer continued to ¹withhold their choice food and the wine they were to drink, and kept ^agiving them vegetables.

¹⁷And as for these four youths, ^aGod gave them knowledge and insight in every branch of ¹literature and wisdom; Daniel even understood all kinds of ^bvisions and dreams.

¹⁸Then at the end of the days which the king had spoken of for bringing them in, the commander of the officials brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. ¹⁹And the king talked with them, and out of them all not one was found like ^aDaniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; so they ^bstood in service before the king. ²⁰And as for every matter of ^awisdom in understanding which the king sought from them, he found them ^bten times ^cbetter than all the ¹^,^dmagicians and conjurers who were in all his kingdom. ²¹And Daniel ¹continued until the ^afirst year of Cyrus the king.

Nebuchadnezzar’s Troubling Dream

2Now in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar ¹^,^ahad dreams; and his spirit was troubled, and his ^bsleep ²left him. ²Then the king said to call in the ¹^,^amagicians, the conjurers, the sorcerers, and the ²Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king. ³Then the king said to them, “I ¹^,^ahad a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.”

⁴Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in ¹^,^aAramaic: “^bO king, live forever! ^cSay the dream to your servants, and we will declare the interpretation.” ⁵The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, “The word from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you will be ¹^,^atorn limb from limb, and your houses will be made a rubbish heap. ⁶“But if you declare the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me ^agifts and a reward and great glory; therefore declare to me the dream and its interpretation.” ⁷They answered a second time and said, “Let the king ^asay the dream to his servants, and we will declare the interpretation.” ⁸The king answered and said, “I know for certain that you are buying time, inasmuch as you have seen that the word from me is firm, ⁹that if you do not make the dream known to me, there is only ^aone law for you. Indeed, you have agreed together to speak lying and corrupt ¹words before me until the time is changed; therefore say the dream to me, that I may ^bknow that you can declare to me its interpretation.” ¹⁰The Chaldeans answered ¹the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who is able to declare the matter ²for the king, inasmuch as no great king or powerful ruler has ever asked about a matter like this of any ³^,^amagician, conjurer, or Chaldean. ¹¹“Moreover, the matter which the king asks is ¹difficult, and there is no one else who could declare it ²to the king except ^agods, whose ^bdwelling place is not with flesh.”

¹²Because of this the king became ^aindignant and very furious and said for them to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. ¹³So the law went forth that the wise men were to be killed; and they sought out ^aDaniel and his friends to ¹kill them.

¹⁴Then Daniel replied with discretion and discernment to ^aArioch, the captain of the king’s ¹bodyguard, who had gone forth to kill the wise men of Babylon; ¹⁵he answered and said to Arioch, a powerful ¹official for the king, “For what reason is the law from the king so ²urgent?” Then Arioch made the matter known to Daniel. ¹⁶So Daniel went in and sought from the king that he would ¹give him time, in order that he might declare the interpretation to the king.

God Reveals Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream

¹⁷Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to his friends, to ^aHananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, ¹⁸so that they might ^aseek compassion from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his friends would not be ^bdestroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. ¹⁹Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a night ^avision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven; ²⁰Daniel answered and said, “Let the name of God be ^ablessed forever and ever,For ^bwisdom and might belong to Him.

²¹“And He ^achanges the times and the seasons;He ^bremoves kings and ¹establishes kings;He gives ^cwisdom to wise menAnd knowledge to ²men of understanding.²²“He ^areveals the deep and hidden things;^bHe knows what is in the darkness,And the ^clight dwells with Him.²³“To You, O ^aGod of my fathers, I give thanks and praise,For You have given me ^bwisdom and might;Even now You have made known to me what we ^csought from You,For You have made known to us the king’s matter.”

²⁴Therefore, Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he went and said thus to him: “^aDo not destroy the wise men of Babylon! Bring me before the king, and I will declare the interpretation to the king.”

²⁵Then Arioch hurriedly ^abrought Daniel before the king and said thus to him: “I have found a man among the ¹^,^bexiles from Judah who can make the interpretation known to the king!” ²⁶The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was ^aBelteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen and its interpretation?” ²⁷Daniel answered before the king and said, “As for the mystery about which the king is asking, neither ^awise men, conjurers, ¹magicians, nor diviners are able to declare it to the king. ²⁸“However, there is a ^aGod in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the ¹^,^blast days. This was your dream and the ^cvisions of your head while on your bed. ²⁹“As for you, O king, while on your bed your thoughts ¹turned to what would happen ²in the future; and ^aHe who reveals mysteries has made known to you what will happen. ³⁰“But as for me, this mystery has not been revealed to me by any ^awisdom which is in me more than in any other living man, but for the purpose of making the interpretation known to the king, and that you may know the ^bthoughts of your heart.

Daniel Interprets the Dream

³¹“You, O king, were looking, and behold, there was a single great ¹image; that image, which was large and ²of extraordinary splendor, was rising up in front of you, and its appearance was ³^,^aawesome. ³²“The ^ahead of that image was made of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, ³³its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. ³⁴“You ¹continued looking until a ^astone was cut out ^bwithout hands, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay and ^ccrushed them. ³⁵“Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed ¹all at the same time and became ^alike chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that ^bnot a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the image became a great ^cmountain and filled the whole earth.

³⁶“This was the dream; now we will say ^aits interpretation before the king. ³⁷“You, O king, are the ^aking of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the ¹kingdom, the ^bpower, the strength, and the glory; ³⁸and wherever the sons of men inhabit, or the ^abeasts of the field, or the birds of the sky, He has given them into your hand and has made you rule with power over them all. You are the head of gold. ³⁹“But after you there will arise another kingdom inferior to you, then another third kingdom of bronze, which will rule with power over all the earth. ⁴⁰“Then there will be a ^afourth kingdom as strong as iron; inasmuch as iron crushes and shatters all things, so, like iron that breaks in pieces, it will crush and break all these in pieces. ⁴¹“Now in that you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron; it will be a divided kingdom; but it will have in it the toughness of iron, inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with ¹common clay. ⁴²“And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle. ⁴³“And in that you saw the iron mixed with ¹common clay; they will combine with one another ²in the seed of men; but they will not cling to one another, even as iron does not combine with clay. ⁴⁴“And in the days of those kings the ^aGod of heaven will ^bcause a ^ckingdom to rise up which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be ¹left for another people; it will ^dcrush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself stand forever. ⁴⁵“Inasmuch as you saw that a ^astone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the ^bgreat God has made known to the king what ^cwill happen ¹in the future; so the dream is certain, and its interpretation is trustworthy.”

Daniel and Friends Promoted

⁴⁶Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and did ^ahomage to Daniel and said for them to present to him an offering and ¹^,^bfragrant incense. ⁴⁷The king answered Daniel and said, “Truly ^ayour God is a ^bGod of gods and a Lord of kings and a ^crevealer of mysteries since you have been able to reveal this mystery.” ⁴⁸Then the king ¹^,^apromoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts, and he made him rule with power over the whole ^bprovince of Babylon and chief ²prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. ⁴⁹And Daniel sought of the king, and he ^aappointed ^bShadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego over the administration of the province of Babylon, while Daniel was at the king’s ¹^,^ccourt.

Nebuchadnezzar’s Golden Image

3Nebuchadnezzar the king made an ^aimage of gold, the height of which was ¹sixty cubits and its width six cubits; he set it up on the plain of Dura in the ^bprovince of Babylon. ²Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent word to assemble the ^asatraps, the prefects and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates and all the rulers of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. ³Then the satraps, the prefects and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates and all the rulers of the provinces were assembled for the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they were standing before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. ⁴Then the herald loudly called out: “To you it is said, ^aO peoples, nations, and men of every tongue, ⁵that at the time you ^ahear the sound of the horn, flute, ¹lyre, ²trigon, ³psaltery, bagpipe, and all kinds of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up. ⁶“But whoever does not fall down and worship shall ¹immediately be ^acast into the midst of a ^bfurnace of blazing fire.” ⁷Therefore at that time, when all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, flute, ¹lyre, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe, and all kinds of music, all the peoples, nations, and men of every tongue fell down and worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

We Will Not Serve Your Gods

⁸For this reason at that time certain ^aChaldeans came near and ¹^,^bbrought charges against the Jews. ⁹They answered and said to Nebuchadnezzar the king: “^aO king, live forever! ¹⁰“You, O king, have ^amade a decree that every man who hears the sound of the horn, flute, ¹lyre, trigon, psaltery, and bagpipe and all kinds of music, is to ^bfall down and worship the golden image. ¹¹“But whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire. ¹²“There are certain Jews whom you have ^aappointed over the administration of the province of Babylon, namely Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. These men, O king, do not pay attention to you; they do not serve your gods and do not worship the golden image which you have set up.”

¹³Then Nebuchadnezzar in ^arage and wrath said to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego; then these men were brought before the king. ¹⁴Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, that you are not serving ^amy gods and do not worship the golden image that I have set up? ¹⁵“Now if you are ready, ^aat the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, ¹lyre, trigon, psaltery, and bagpipe and all kinds of music, then you shall fall down and worship the image that I have made. But if you do not worship, you will ²immediately be ^bcast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire; and ^cwhat god is there who can save you out of my hands?”

¹⁶^aShadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to respond to you with an answer concerning this matter. ¹⁷“¹If it be so, our ^aGod whom we serve is able to save us from the furnace of blazing fire; ²and ^bHe will save us out of your hand, O king. ¹⁸“^aBut if not, ^blet it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods, and we will not worship the golden image that you have set up.”

Daniel’s Friends Delivered

¹⁹Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with ^awrath, and the image of his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. He answered and said to heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. ²⁰And he said to certain mighty men of valor who were in his military ¹host to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego in order to cast them into the furnace of blazing fire. ²¹Then these men were tied up in their ¹^,^atrousers, their ²coats, their caps, and their other clothes and were cast into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire. ²²For this reason, because the king’s word was ¹^,^aurgent and the furnace had been heated to an extraordinary degree, the flame of the fire killed those men who carried up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. ²³But these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, ^afell into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire still tied up.

²⁴Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astounded and hurriedly stood up; he answered and said to his high officials, “Was it not three men we cast tied up into the midst of the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “Certainly, O king.” ²⁵He answered and said, “Look! I see four men loosed and ^awalking about in the midst of the fire ¹without harm, and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the ^bgods!” ²⁶Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the furnace of blazing fire; he answered and said, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, come out, you servants of the ^aMost High God, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego ^bcame out of the midst of the fire. ²⁷Then the ^asatraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king’s high officials gathered around and saw in regard to these men that the ^bfire had no power over ¹the bodies of these men, nor was the hair of their head singed, nor were their ²^,^ctrousers ³damaged, nor had the smell of fire even come upon them.

²⁸Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the ^aGod of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who has ^bsent His angel and saved His servants who put their ^ctrust in Him, ¹violating the king’s word, and gave up their bodies so as ^dnot to serve and not to worship any god except their own God. ²⁹“Therefore I ^amake a decree that any people, nation, or tongue that says anything offensive against the God of ^bShadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego shall be torn limb from limb and their ^chouses reduced to a rubbish heap, inasmuch as there is ^dno other god who is able to deliver in this way.” ³⁰Then the king ^acaused Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego to succeed in the province of Babylon.

Nebuchadnezzar Declares the Most High God

4¹Nebuchadnezzar the king to all the peoples, nations, and men of every tongue that inhabit all the earth: “May your ²^,^apeace abound! ²“It has seemed good to me to declare the signs and wonders which the ^aMost High God has done for me.

³“How great are His ^asigns,And how strong are His wonders!His ^bkingdom is an everlasting kingdom,And His ¹dominion is from generation to generation.

Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream of a Great Tree

⁴“¹I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house and ^aflourishing in my palace. ⁵“I saw a ^adream, and it made me fearful; and these fantasies as I lay on my bed and the ^bvisions in my head kept alarming me. ⁶“So I gave a decree to ^abring into my presence all the wise men of Babylon, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream. ⁷“Then the ¹^,^amagicians, the conjurers, the ²Chaldeans, and the diviners came in, and I said the dream ³to them, but they could not make its ^binterpretation known to me. ⁸“But at last Daniel came in before me, whose name is ^aBelteshazzar according to the name of my god, and in whom is ¹^,^ba spirit of the holy gods; and I said the dream ²to him: ⁹‘O Belteshazzar, ^achief of the magicians, since I know that ^ba spirit of the holy gods is in you, and ^cno mystery is difficult for you, ^dsay to me the visions of my dream which I have seen, along with its interpretation.

¹⁰‘Now these were the ^avisions in my head as I lay on my bed: I was looking, and behold, there was a ^btree in the midst of the ¹earth, and its height was great.

¹¹‘The tree grew large and became strong,And its height ^areached to the sky,And it was visible to the end of the whole earth.¹²‘Its foliage was ^abeautiful and its fruit abundant,And in it was food for all.The ^bbeasts of the field found ^cshade under it,And the ^dbirds of the sky inhabited its branches,And all flesh fed itself from it.

¹³‘I was looking in the ^avisions in my head as I lay on my bed, and behold, ^ba ¹watcher, a ^choly one, descended from heaven.

¹⁴‘He called out loudly and said thus:“^aChop down the tree and cut off its branches,Strip off its foliage and scatter its fruit;Let the ^bbeasts flee from under itAnd the birds from its branches.¹⁵“Yet ^aleave the stump ¹with its roots in the earth,But with a band of iron and bronze around itIn the new grass of the field;And let him be drenched with the dew of heaven,And let ²him share with the beasts in the grass of the earth.¹⁶“Let his heart be changed from that of a man,And let the heart of a beast be given to him,And let ^aseven ¹periods of time pass over him.¹⁷“This edict is by the resolution of the watchers,And the decision is a command of the holy ones,In order that the living may ^aknowThat the Most High is the powerful ruler over the kingdom of mankindAnd ^bgives it to whom He wishesAnd sets up over it the ^clowliest of men.”

¹⁸‘This is the dream which I, King Nebuchadnezzar, have seen. Now you, Belteshazzar, say to me its interpretation, inasmuch as none of the ^awise men of my kingdom is able to make known to me the interpretation; but you are able, for a ^bspirit of the holy gods is in you.’

Daniel Interprets the Dream

¹⁹“Then Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar, was appalled for a while as his ^athoughts were alarming him. The king answered and said, ‘Belteshazzar, do not ^blet the dream or its interpretation alarm you.’ Belteshazzar answered and said, ‘^cMy lord, if only the dream applied to those who hate you and its interpretation to ^dyour adversaries! ²⁰‘The ^atree that you saw, which became large and grew strong, whose height reached to the sky and was visible to all the earth, ²¹and whose foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in which was food for all, under which the beasts of the field inhabited, and in whose branches the birds of the sky dwelt— ²²it is ^ayou, O king; for you have become great and grown strong, and your greatness has become even greater and reached to the sky and your ¹^,^bdominion to the end of the earth. ²³‘But in that the king saw a watcher, a holy one, descending from heaven and saying, “^aChop down the tree and destroy it; yet leave the stump ¹with its roots in the earth, but with a band of iron and bronze around it in the new grass of the field, and let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and let ²him share with the beasts of the field until ^bseven ³periods of time pass over him,” ²⁴this is the interpretation, O king, and this is the resolution of the Most High, which has ^areached my lord the king: ²⁵that you be ^adriven away from mankind and your place of habitation be with the beasts of the field, and you be given grass to eat like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven; and seven ¹periods of time will pass over you, until you know that the ^bMost High is the powerful ruler over the kingdom of mankind and ^cgives it to whomever He wishes. ²⁶‘And in that they said to ^aleave the stump ¹with the roots of the tree, your kingdom will endure for you after you know that it is ^bHeaven that rules with power. ²⁷‘Therefore, O king, may my ^aadvice seem good to you: ¹^,^bbreak away now from your sins by doing righteousness and from your iniquities by ^cshowing mercy to the poor, in case there may be a ^dprolonging of your prosperity.’

The Dream Is Accomplished

²⁸“All this ^areached Nebuchadnezzar the king. ²⁹“^aAt the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon. ³⁰“The king answered and said, ‘Is this not Babylon the ^agreat, which I myself have built as a royal house by the strength of my power and for the glory of my majesty?’ ³¹“While the word was in the king’s mouth, a voice ¹came from heaven, saying, ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is said: the kingdom has been removed from you, ³²and ^ayou will be driven away from mankind, and your place of habitation will be with the beasts of the field. You will be given grass to eat like cattle, and ^bseven ¹periods of time will pass over you until you know that the ^cMost High is the powerful ruler over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whomever He wishes.’ ³³“Immediately the word concerning Nebuchadnezzar was accomplished; and he was ^adriven away from mankind and began eating grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.

³⁴“But at the end of those days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes toward heaven, and my knowledge returned to me, and I blessed the ^aMost High and praised and honored ^bHim who lives forever; For His ¹dominion is an ^ceverlasting ²dominion,And His kingdom endures from generation to generation.

³⁵“^aAnd all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing,But ^bHe does according to His will in the host of heavenAnd among the inhabitants of earth;And ^cno one can strike against His handOr say to Him, ‘^dWhat have You done?’

³⁶“At that time my ^aknowledge returned to me. And my majesty and ^bsplendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom, and my high officials and my nobles began seeking me out; so I was reestablished in my kingdom, and extraordinary ^cgreatness was added to me. ³⁷“Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt, and honor the King of ^aheaven, for ^ball His works are ¹true and His ways ²just, and He is able to humble those who ^cwalk in pride.”