And the king {ordered} Ashpenaz, the commander of his court officials, to bring {some of the Israelites} from {the royal family} and from the lords,

And the commander of the court officials gave them names, and he called Daniel, Belteshazzar; and Hananiah, Shadrach; and Mishael, Meshach; and Azariah, Abednego.

Now {Daniel resolved} that he would not defile himself with the fine food of the king, and with {the wine that he drank}, and [so] he requested from the commander of the court officials [permission so] that he would not defile himself.

And God gave Daniel favor and compassion {before} the commander of the court officials,

and the commander of the court officials said to Daniel, "I [am] afraid [of] my lord, the king, who has determined your food and your drink, for {why should} he see your face having a worse appearance than the young men who {are your age}? Then you will endanger my head with the king."

Then Daniel asked the guard whom the commander of the court officials [had] appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,

{So} the guard {continued to withhold} their fine food and the wine of their drink, and he gave them vegetables.

And at the end of the time the king had set to bring them, the commander of the court officials brought them in {before} Nebuchadnezzar.

But if you tell me the dream and its explanation, you will receive gifts and rewards and great honor from me. Therefore, tell me the dream and its explanation."

The {astrologers} answered the king and said, "There is not a man on earth that is able to reveal the word of the king; {in fact}, no great and powerful king has [ever] asked a thing like this of any magician or conjurer or {astrologer}.

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.

"You, O king, were looking and, look, there was one great statue. This statue [was] huge and its brilliance extraordinary, standing [there] before you, and its appearance [was] frightening.

Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold {all at once} broke into pieces and they became like chaff from the summer threshing floor, and the wind carried them away and any trace of them could not be found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and it filled the whole earth.

{Inasmuch as} you saw that a stone from the mountain was chiseled out [but] not by hands, and [that] it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold, [thereby] the great God made known to the king what will be {in the future}, and the dream is certain and its explanation trustworthy."

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.

How great [are] his signs and wonders, how strong [is] his kingdom, {an everlasting kingdom}; and his sovereignty is from generation to generation.

--it is you, O king, who have grown [great] and you have grown strong, and [so] your greatness has increased and it has reached to heaven and your sovereignty to the end of the earth.

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?"

Belshazzar the king made a great festival for thousand [of] his lords, and {in the presence of} the thousand [lords] he was drinking wine.

Then Darius the king wrote to all the people, the nations, and the languages living in the whole earth, "May your prosperity become great!

Daniel {explained} and said, "I was looking in my vision in the night, and look, the four winds of heaven were stirring [up] the great sea.

And four great beasts [were] coming up from the sea, differing {from one another}.

After this in the visions of the night I was looking and there was a fourth beast, terrifying and frightful and exceedingly strong, and {it had} {great iron teeth}, [and it was] devouring and crushing, and it stamped the remainder with its feet; and it was different from all [the other] beasts {that preceded it} {and it had ten horns}.

'These great beasts which are four [in number] [are] four kings [who] will arise from the earth.

Then the court will sit, and his dominion will be removed, to be eradicated and to be destroyed {totally}.

And the he-goat grew {exceedingly great}, and {at the height of its power} the great horn was broken, and four conspicuous horns came up in place of it toward the four winds of heaven.

"And the hairy he-goat [is] the {kingdom} of Greece, and the great horn that [is] between his eyes--he [is] the first king.

And I prayed to Yahweh my God, and I made confession and I said, "O Lord, the great and awesome God, keeping the covenant and loyal love with [those who] love him and with [those who] keep his commandments,

And [so] he [has] carried out his words which he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us, to bring upon us great calamity which was not done under all [of] heaven as it was done in Jerusalem.

Incline your ear, my God, and listen; open your eyes and look at our desolation and the city that is called [by] your name, for we [are] not presenting our pleas for mercy {before you} because of our righteousness, but [rather] because of your great compassion.

In the third year of Cyrus [the] king of [the] Persians, a word was revealed to Daniel, who was called [by] his name Belteshazzar, and the word [was] reliable and [it concerned] a great tribulation, and he understood the word and {he received understanding}.

And [then] on [the] twenty-fourth day of the first month, I [myself] was on the bank of the great river; that is, [the] Tigris.

And I saw, I, Daniel {alone}, the vision; and the people who were with me {did not see} the vision; nevertheless, a great trembling fell upon them and they fled [in order] to hide themselves.

And I myself, Daniel, alone saw this great vision, and [as a result] {no strength was left in me} and {my complexion grew deathly pale}, and I did not retain any strength.

And now I will reveal [the] truth to you. Look! Still three kings will arise in Persia, and the fourth will get abundance [and] great wealth, [even] more than all [of them], and {when he becomes strong} through his wealth, [then] he will stir up {everyone} against [the] kingdom of Javan.

And a mighty king will arise, and he will rule [with] great dominion, and he will do {as he pleases}.

"But his sons will wage war and they will gather a multitude of great forces and {he will advance with great force}, and he will overflow [like a flood] and he will pass through and he will return, and they will wage war up to his fortress.

And the king of the south will become furious, and he will go and he will battle against him, against the king of the north; and he will muster a great multitude, and the multitude will be given into his hand.

And the king of the north will again raise a multitude, greater than the former, and {at the end of some years} he will surely come with great army and with great supplies.

He will not pay respect to the gods of his ancestors, or to [the] darling of women, and not to any god will he pay respect, for he will consider himself great over all [gods].

But reports will terrify him from [the] east and from [the] north, and he will go out with great fury to destroy and [to] exterminate many.

"Now at that time, Michael, the great prince, will arise, {the protector} over the sons of your people, and it will be a time of distress that has not been since [your people] {have been} a nation until that time. And at that time your people will escape, {everyone who is found} written in the scroll.