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

For this cause the king was enraged and angered, and commanded all the wise men of Babylon to be destroyed.

Then Daniel answered with counsel and insight to Arioch the chief of the king's executioners, who had gone forth to kill the wise men of Babylon.

that they might pray for the mercies of God in Heaven concerning this secret, that Daniel and his companions should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

Then Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had chosen to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said this to him; Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon. Bring me in before the king, and I will declare the meaning to the king.

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

And Daniel asked the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon. But Daniel sat in the gate of the king.

Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image 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.

There are men, Jews, whom you have set over the business of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, do not heed you. They do not serve your gods nor worship the golden image which you have set up.

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

So I made a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known to me the meaning of the dream.

At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon.

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

The king cried aloud to bring in the conjurers, the Chaldeans, and the fortune-tellers. The king spoke and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whoever shall read this writing, and show me its meaning, shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold around his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.

In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head on his bed. Then he wrote the dream and gave the sum of the matters.