In [the] third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.

Because of this the king became angry, and he became very much enraged, and he said [that] all the wise men of Babylon [are] to be destroyed.

Then Daniel responded prudently and discretely to Arioch, the commander of the imperial guard of the king, who had gone out to execute the wise men of Babylon.

and [told them] to seek mercy {from the God of heaven} concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions, along with the remainder of the wise men of Babylon, would not be killed.

{Therefore} Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he went and thus he said to him: "You must not destroy the wise men of Babylon; take me in before the king and I will give the explanation to the king."

Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and the chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon.

And Daniel made a request from the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon, while Daniel [remained] in the court of the king.

Nebuchadnezzar the king made a statue of gold. Its height [was] sixty cubits [and] its width [was] six cubits; he set it up in the valley of Dura in the province of Babylon.

[However] there are Judean men whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon--Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego--these men, O king, {pay you no heed} [and] [were] not serving your god, and the statue of gold that you set up they are not worshiping."

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

And a decree was {sent out}, [ordering that] all [the] wise men of Babylon [were] to be brought in before me [so] that they may make known to me [the] explanation of the dream.

At the end of twelve months he was walking on the [roof of] {the royal palace} of Babylon.

And the king answered and said, "Is this not the great Babylon which I have built as a royal palace by the strength of my own power, and for the glory of my own majesty?"

The king cried {aloud} to bring [in] the conjurers, the {astrologers} and the diviners; the king {spoke} and said to [the] wise men of Babylon, "Any man that can read this writing and can tell me its explanation will be clothed [in] purple and [will have] necklace of gold [hung] around his neck and he will rule [as] third [in authority] in the kingdom."

In the first year of Belshazzar the king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions of his head [as he lay] on his bed; then he wrote down the dream [and] [the] {summary} of [the] words {as follows}: