Now, lo, ye are ready, so that at the time that ye hear the voice of the cornet, the flute, the harp, the sackbut, the psaltery, and the symphony, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and do obeisance to the image that I have made! -- and lo, ye do no obeisance -- in that hour ye are cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; who is that God who doth deliver you out of my hands?'

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego have answered, yea, they are saying to the king Nebuchadnezzar, 'We have no need concerning this matter to answer thee.

Lo, it is; our God whom we are serving, is able to deliver us from a burning fiery furnace; and from thy hand, O king, He doth deliver.

And lo -- not! be it known to thee, O king, that thy gods we are not serving, and to the golden image thou hast raised up we do no obeisance.'

and to certain mighty men who are in his force he hath said to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, to cast into the burning fiery furnace.

Then Nebuchadnezzar the king hath been astonished, and hath risen in haste; he hath answered and said to his counsellors, 'Have we not cast three men into the midst of the fire -- bound?' They have answered and are saying to the king, 'Certainly, O king.'

and gathered together, the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, and the counsellors of the king, are seeing these men, that the fire hath no power over their bodies, and the hair of their head hath not been singed, and their coats have not changed, and the smell of fire hath not passed on them.

'Nebuchadnezzar the king to all peoples, nations, and languages, who are dwelling in all the earth: Your peace be great!

Then coming up are the scribes, the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers, and the dream I have told before them, and its interpretation they are not making known to me.

its leaves are fair, and its budding great, and food for all is in it: under it take shade doth the beast of the field, and in its boughs dwell do the birds of the heavens, and of it fed are all flesh.

This dream I have seen, I king Nebuchadnezzar; and thou, O Belteshazzar, the interpretation tell, because that all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to cause me to know the interpretation, and thou art able, for the spirit of the holy gods is in thee.

and its leaves are fair, and its budding great, and food for all is in it, under it dwell doth the beast of the field, and on its boughs sit do the birds of the heavens.

and they are driving thee away from men, and with the beast of the field is thy dwelling, and the herb as oxen they do cause thee to eat, and by the dew of the heavens they are wetting thee, and seven times do pass over thee, till that thou knowest that the Most High is ruler in the kingdom of men, and to whom He willeth He giveth it.

And that which they said -- to leave the stump of the roots of the tree; thy kingdom for thee abideth, after that thou knowest that the heavens are ruling.

While the word is in the king's mouth a voice from the heavens hath fallen: To thee they are saying: O Nebuchadnezzar the king, the kingdom hath passed from thee,

and from men they are driving thee away, and with the beast of the field is thy dwelling, the herb as oxen they do cause thee to eat, and seven times do pass over thee, till that thou knowest that the Most High is ruler in the kingdom of men, and to whom He willeth He giveth it.

and all who are dwelling on the earth as nothing are reckoned, and according to his will He is doing among the forces of the heavens and those dwelling on the earth, and there is none that doth clap with his hand, and saith to Him, What hast Thou done?

Now, I, Nebuchadnezzar, am praising and exalting and honouring the King of the heavens, for all His works are truth, and His paths judgment, and those walking in pride He is able to humble.'

In that hour come forth have fingers of a man's hand, and they are writing over-against the candlestick, on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace: and the king is seeing the extremity of the hand that is writing;

then the king's countenance hath changed, and his thoughts do trouble him, and the joints of his loins are loosed, and his knees are smiting one against another.

Then coming up are all the wise men of the king, and they are not able to read the writing, and the interpretation to make known to the king;

then the king Belshazzar is greatly troubled, and his countenance is changing in him, and his great men are perplexed.

'And now, caused to come up before me have been the wise men, the enchanters, that this writing they may read, and its interpretation to cause me to know: and they are not able to shew the interpretation of the thing:

and against the Lord of the heavens thou hast lifted up thyself; and the vessels of His house they have brought in before thee, and thou, and thy great men, thy wives, and thy concubines, are drinking wine with them, and gods of silver, and of gold, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone, that are not seeing, nor hearing, nor knowing, thou hast praised: and the God in whose hand is thy breath, and all thy ways, Him thou hast not honoured.

Then the presidents and satraps have been seeking to find a cause of complaint against Daniel concerning the kingdom, and any cause of complaint and corruption they are not able to find, because that he is faithful, and any error and corruption have not been found in him.

Then these men are saying, 'We do not find against this Daniel any cause of complaint, except we have found it against him in the law of his God.'

Then these presidents and satraps have assembled near the king, and thus they are saying to him: 'O king Darius, to the ages live!

then they have come near, yea, they are saying before the king concerning the king's interdict: 'Hast thou not signed an interdict, that any man who seeketh from any god and man until thirty days, save of thee, O king, is cast into a den of lions?' Answered hath the king, and said, 'The thing is certain as a law of Media and Persia, that doth not pass away.'

Then they have answered, yea, they are saying before the king, that, 'Daniel, who is of the sons of the Removed of Judah, hath not placed on thee, O king, any regard, nor on the interdict that thou hast signed, and three times in a day he is seeking his petition.'

Then these men have assembled near the king, and are saying to the king, 'know, O king, that the law of Media and Persia is: That any interdict and statute that the king doth establish is not to be changed.'

Then Darius the king hath written to all the peoples, nations, and languages, who are dwelling in all the land: 'Your peace be great!

From before me is made a decree, that in every dominion of my kingdom they are trembling and fearing before the God of Daniel, for He is the living God, and abiding to the ages, and His kingdom that which is not destroyed, and His dominion is unto the end.

Answered hath Daniel and said, 'I was seeing in my vision by night, and lo, the four winds of the heavens are coming forth to the great sea;

and four great beasts are coming up from the sea, diverse one from another.

And lo, another beast, a second, like to a bear, and to the same authority it hath been raised, and three ribs are in its mouth, between its teeth, and thus they are saying to it, Rise, consume much flesh.

After this I was seeing in the visions of the night, and lo, a fourth beast, terrible and fearful, and exceedingly strong; and it hath iron teeth very great, it hath consumed, yea, it doth break small, and the remnant with its feet it hath trampled; and it is diverse from all the beasts that are before it; and it hath ten horns.

I was considering about the horns, and lo, another horn, a little one, hath come up between them, and three of the first horns have been eradicated from before it, and lo, eyes as the eyes of man are in this horn, and a mouth speaking great things.

These great beasts, that are four, are four kings, they rise up from the earth;

and concerning the ten horns that are in its heads, and of the other that came up, and before which three have fallen, even of that horn that hath eyes, and a mouth speaking great things, and whose appearance is great above its companions.

And the ten horns out of the kingdom are ten kings, they rise, and another doth rise after them, and it is diverse from the former, and three kings it humbleth;

and words as an adversary of the Most High it doth speak, and the saints of the Most High it doth wear out, and it hopeth to change seasons and law; and they are given into its hand, till a time, and times, and a division of a time.

And I lift up mine eyes, and look, and lo, a certain ram is standing before the stream, and it hath two horns, and the two horns are high; and the one is higher than the other, and the high one is coming up last.

The ram that thou hast seen possessing two horns, are the kings of Media and Persia.

To Thee, O Lord, is the righteousness, and to us the shame of face, as at this day, to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, who are near, and who are far off, in all the lands whither Thou hast driven them, in their trespass that they have trespassed against Thee.

To the Lord our God are the mercies and the forgivenesses, for we have rebelled against Him,

O Lord, according to all Thy righteous acts, let turn back, I pray Thee, Thine anger and Thy fury from Thy city Jerusalem, Thy holy mount, for by our sins, and by the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Thy people are for a reproach to all our neighbours;

Incline, O my God, Thine ear, and hear, open Thine eyes and see our desolations, and the city on which Thy name is called; for not for our righteous acts are we causing our supplications to fall before Thee, but for Thy mercies that are many.

'Seventy weeks are determined for thy people, and for thy holy city, to shut up the transgression, and to seal up sins, and to cover iniquity, and to bring in righteousness age-during, and to seal up vision and prophet, and to anoint the holy of holies.

And after the sixty and two weeks, cut off is Messiah, and the city and the holy place are not his, the Leader who hath come doth destroy the people; and its end is with a flood, and till the end is war, determined are desolations.

and, now, truth I declare to thee, Lo, yet three kings are standing for Persia, and the fourth doth become far richer than all, and according to his strength by his riches he stirreth up the whole, with the kingdom of Javan.

And the arms of the flood are overflowed from before him, and are broken; and also the leader of the covenant.

And both of the kings' hearts are to do evil, and at one table they speak lies, and it doth not prosper, for yet the end is at a time appointed.

And those acting wickedly against the covenant, he defileth by flatteries; and the people knowing their God are strong, and have wrought.

And in their stumbling, they are helped -- a little help, and joined to them have been many with flatteries.

and he hath ruled over treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the desirable things of Egypt, and Lubim and Cushim are at his steps.

And I have looked -- I, Daniel -- and lo, two others are standing, one here at the edge of the flood, and one there at the edge of the flood,

And I hear the one clothed in linen, who is upon the waters of the flood, and he doth lift up his right hand and his left unto the heavens, and sweareth by Him who is living to the age, that, 'After a time, times, and a half, and at the completion of the scattering of the power of the holy people, finished are all these.'

And he saith, 'Go, Daniel; for hidden and sealed are the things till the time of the end;

Purify themselves, yea, make themselves white, yea, refined are many: and the wicked have done wickedly, and none of the wicked understand, and those acting wisely do understand;

and from the time of the turning aside of the perpetual sacrifice, and to the giving out of the desolating abomination, are days a thousand, two hundred, and ninety.

and He saith, 'Call his name Lo-Ammi, for ye are not My people, and I am not for you;

and the number of the sons of Israel hath been as the sand of the sea, that is not measured nor numbered, and it hath come to pass in the place where it is said to them, Ye are not My people, it is said to them, Sons of the Living God;

And her sons I do not pity, For sons of whoredoms are they,

And made desolate her vine and her fig-tree, Of which she said, A gift they are to me, That my lovers have given to me, And I have made them for a forest, And consumed them hath a beast of the field.

And I have turned aside the names of the lords from her mouth, And they are not remembered any more by their name.

And Jehovah saith unto me: 'Again, go, love a woman, loved of a friend, and an adulteress, like the loved of Jehovah, the sons of Israel, and they are turning unto other gods, and are lovers of grape-cakes.'

Therefore mourn doth the land, And weak is every dweller in it, With the beast of the field, And with the fowl of the heavens, And the fishes of the sea -- they are removed.

Only, let no one strive, nor reprove a man, And thy people are as those striving with a priest.

And they have eaten, and are not satisfied, They have gone a-whoring, and increase not, For they have left off taking heed to Jehovah.

Therefore commit whoredom do your daughters, And your spouses commit adultery, I do not see after your daughters when they commit whoredom, And after your spouses when they commit adultery, For they with the harlots are separated, And with the whores they do sacrifice, A people that doth not understand kicketh.

Distressed her hath wind with its wings, And they are ashamed of their sacrifices!

I go -- I turn back unto My place, Till that they are desolate, and have sought My face. In their distress they do seek Me speedily!'

All of them are adulterers, Like a burning oven of a baker, He ceaseth from stirring up after kneading the dough, till its leavening.

All of them are warm as an oven, And they have devoured their judges, All their kings have fallen, There is none calling unto Me among them.

They have made kings, and not by Me, They have made princes, and I have not known, Their silver and their gold they have made to them idols, So that they are cut off.

Cast off hath thy calf, O Samaria, Burned hath Mine anger against them, Till when are they not capable of purity?

Also though they hire among nations, Now I gather them, and they are pained a little, From the burden of a king of princes.

They pour not out wine to Jehovah, Nor are they sweet to Him, Their sacrifices are as bread of mourners to them, All eating it are unclean: For their bread is for themselves, It doth not come into the house of Jehovah.

As grapes in a wilderness I found Israel, As the first-fruit in a fig-tree, at its beginning, I have seen your fathers, They -- they have gone in to Baal-Peor, And are separated to a shameful thing, And are become abominable like their love.

All their evil is in Gilgal, Surely there I have hated them, Because of the evil of their doings, Out of My house I do drive them, I add not to love them, all their heads are apostates.

Reject them doth my God, Because they have not hearkened to Him, And they are wanderers among nations!

Their heart hath been divided, now they are guilty, He doth break down their altars, He doth destroy their standing-pillars.

And rise doth a tumult among thy people, And all thy fortresses are spoiled, As the spoiling of Shalman of Beth-Arbel, In a day of battle, Mother against sons dashed in pieces.

And My people are hanging in suspense, about My returning, And unto the Most High they do call, Together they exalt not.

Canaan! in his hand are balances of deceit! To oppress he hath loved.

Surely Gilead is iniquity, Only, vanity they have been, In Gilead bullocks they have sacrificed, Also their altars are as heaps, on the furrows of a field.

And now do they add to sin, And make to them a molten image of their silver, By their own understanding -- idols, A work of artisans -- all of it, Of them they say, who are sacrificers among men, 'The calves let them kiss.'

Therefore they are as a cloud of the morning, And as dew, rising early, going away, As chaff tossed about out of a floor, And as smoke out of a window.

According to their feedings they are satiated, They have been satiated, And their heart is lifted up, Therefore they have forgotten Me,

Become desolate doth Samaria, Because she hath rebelled against her God, By sword they do fall, Their sucklings are dashed in pieces, And its pregnant ones are ripped up!

Who is wise, and doth understand these? Prudent, and knoweth them? For upright are the ways of Jehovah, And the righteous go on in them, And the transgressors stumble therein!

For a nation hath come up on my land, Strong, and there is no number, Its teeth are the teeth of a lion, And it hath the jaw-teeth of a lioness.

From its face pained are peoples, All faces have gathered paleness.

And each his brother they press not, Each in his way they go on, If by the missile they fall, they are not cut off.

And ye have eaten, eating and being satisfied, And have praised the name of Jehovah your God, Who hath dealt with you wonderfully, And not ashamed are My people to the age.

And ye have known that in the midst of Israel am I, And I am Jehovah your God, and there is none else, And not ashamed are My people to the age.

And also, what are ye to Me, O Tyre and Zidon, And all circuits of Philistia? Recompence are ye rendering unto Me? And if ye are giving recompence to Me, Swiftly, hastily, I turn back your recompence on your head.

In that My silver and My gold ye took, And My desirable things that are good, Ye have brought in to your temples.

Multitudes, multitudes are in the valley of decision, For near is the day of Jehovah in the valley of decision.

Who are panting for the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, And the way of the humble they turn aside, And a man and his father go unto the damsel, So as to pollute My holy name.