lads in whom there is no blemish, and of good appearance, and skilful in all wisdom, and possessing knowledge, and teaching thought, and who have ability to stand in the palace of the king, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans.

And the king doth appoint for them a rate, day by day, of the king's portion of food, and of the wine of his drinking, so as to nourish them three years, that at the end thereof they may stand before the king.

'Try, I pray thee, thy servants, ten days; and they give to us of the vegetables, and we eat, and water, and we drink;

and our appearance is seen before thee, and the appearance of the lads who are eating the king's portion of food, and as thou seest -- deal with thy servants.'

And the Meltzar is taking away their portion of food, and the wine of their drink, and is giving to them vegetables.

As to these four lads, God hath given to them knowledge and understanding in every kind of literature, and wisdom; and Daniel hath given instruction about every kind of vision and dreams.

And Daniel is unto the first year of Cyrus the king.

and the king saith to them, 'A dream I have dreamed, and moved is my spirit to know the dream.'

The king hath answered and said to the Chaldeans, 'The thing from me is gone; if ye do not cause me to know the dream and its interpretation, pieces ye are made, and your houses are made dunghills;

The king hath answered and said, 'Of a truth I know that time ye are gaining, because that ye have seen that the thing is gone from me,

so that, if the dream ye do not cause me to know -- one is your sentence, seeing a word lying and corrupt ye have prepared to speak before me, till that the time is changed, therefore the dream tell ye to me, then do I know that its interpretation ye do shew me.'

The Chaldeans have answered before the king, and are saying, 'There is not a man on the earth who is able to shew the king's matter; therefore, no king, chief, and ruler, hath asked such a thing as this of any scribe, and enchanter, and Chaldean;

and the thing that the king is asking is precious, and others are there not that do shew it before the king, save the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.'

Therefore the king hath been angry and very wroth, and hath said to destroy all the wise men of Babylon;

And the sentence hath gone forth, and the wise men are being slain, and they have sought Daniel and his companions to be slain.

Then Daniel hath replied with counsel and discretion to Arioch chief of the executioners of the king, who hath gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon.

He hath answered and said to Arioch the king's captain, 'Wherefore is the sentence so urgent from before the king?' Then Arioch hath made the thing known to Daniel,

and to seek mercies from before the God of the heavens concerning this secret, that they destroy not Daniel and his companions with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

And He is changing times and seasons, He is causing kings to pass away, and He is raising up kings; He is giving wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to those possessing understanding.

He is revealing deep and hidden things; He hath known what is in darkness, and light with Him hath dwelt.

Thee, O God of my fathers, I am thanking and praising, for wisdom and might Thou hast given to me; and now, Thou hast caused me to know that which we have sought from Thee, for the king's matter Thou hast caused us to know.'

Therefore Daniel hath gone up unto Arioch, whom the king hath appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he hath gone, and thus hath said to him, 'The wise men of Babylon thou dost not destroy, bring me up before the king, and the interpretation to the king I do shew.'

The king hath answered and said to Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar, 'Art thou able to cause me to know the dream that I have seen, and its interpretation?'

Daniel hath answered before the king and said, 'The secret that the king is asking, the wise men, the enchanters, the scribes, the soothsayers, are not able to shew to the king;

but there is a God in the heavens, a revealer of secrets, and He hath made known to king Nebuchadnezzar that which is to be in the latter end of the days. 'Thy dream and the visions of thy head on thy bed are these:

Thou, O king, thy thoughts on thy bed have come up concerning that which is to be after this, and the Revealer of secrets hath caused thee to know that which is to be.

As to me -- not for any wisdom that is in me above any living hath this secret been revealed to me; but for the intent that the interpretation to the king they make known, and the thoughts of thy heart thou dost know.

Thou, O king, wast looking, and lo, a certain great image. This image is mighty, and its brightness excellent; it is standing over-against thee, and its appearance is terrible.

This image! its head is of good gold, its breasts and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of brass;

then broken small together have been the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, and they have been as chaff from the summer threshing-floor, and carried them away hath the wind, and no place hath been found for them: and the stone that smote the image hath become a great mountain, and hath filled all the land.

This is the dream, and its interpretation we do tell before the king.

And the fourth kingdom is strong as iron, because that iron is breaking small, and making feeble, all things, even as iron that is breaking all these, it beateth small and breaketh.

As to that which thou hast seen: the feet and toes, part of them potter's clay, and part of them iron, the kingdom is divided: and some of the standing of the iron is to be in it, because that thou hast seen the iron mixed with miry clay.

As to the toes of the feet, part of them iron, and part of them clay: some part of the kingdom is strong, and some part of it is brittle.

Because thou hast seen iron mixed with miry clay, they are mixing themselves with the seed of men: and they are not adhering one with another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.

And in the days of these kings raise up doth the God of the heavens a kingdom that is not destroyed -- to the age, and its kingdom to another people is not left: it beateth small and endeth all these kingdoms, and it standeth to the age.

Because that thou hast seen that out of the mountain cut hath been a stone without hands, and it hath beaten small the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king that which is to be after this; and the dream is true, and its interpretation stedfast.

The king hath answered Daniel and said, 'Of a truth it is that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since thou hast been able to reveal this secret.'

Then the king hath made Daniel great, and many great gifts he hath given to him, and hath caused him to rule over all the province of Babylon, and chief of the perfects over all the wise men of Babylon.

And Daniel hath sought from the king, and he hath appointed over the work of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, and Daniel is in the gate of the king.

And a crier is calling mightily: 'To you they are saying: O peoples, nations, and languages!

and whoso doth not fall down and do obeisance, in that hour he is cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.'

and whoso doth not fall down and do obeisance, is cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.

Nebuchadnezzar hath answered and said to them, 'Is it a laid plan, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego -- my gods ye are not serving, and to the golden image that I have raised up ye are not doing obeisance?

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?'

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.

Then Nebuchadnezzar hath been full of fury, and the expression of his face hath been changed concerning Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego; he answered and said to heat the furnace seven times above that which it is seen to be heated;

Therefore, because that the word of the king is urgent, and the furnace heated exceedingly, those men who have taken up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego -- killed them hath the spark of the fire.

He answered and hath said, 'Lo, I am seeing four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like to a son of the gods.'

Nebuchadnezzar hath answered and hath said, 'Blessed is the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who hath sent His messenger, and hath delivered His servants who trusted on Him, and the word of the king changed, and gave up their bodies that they might not serve nor do obeisance to any god except to their own God.

And by me a decree is made, that any people, nation, and language, that doth speak erroneously concerning the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, pieces he is made, and its house is made a dunghill, because that there is no other god who is able thus to deliver.'

The signs and wonders that God Most High hath done with me, it is good before me to shew.

His signs how great! and His wonders how mighty! His kingdom is a kingdom age-during, and His rule is with generation and generation.

And by me a decree is made, to cause all the wise men of Babylon to come up before me, that the interpretation of the dream they may cause me to know.

And at last come up before me hath Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar -- according to the name of my god -- and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods, and the dream before him I have told:

O Belteshazzar, master of the scribes, as I have known that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret doth press thee, the visions of my dream that I have seen, and its interpretation, tell.

As to the visions of my head on my bed, I was looking, and lo, a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height is great:

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.

'I was looking, in the visions of my head on my bed, and lo, a sifter, even a holy one, from the heavens is coming down.

He is calling mightily, and thus hath said, Cut down the tree, and cut off its branches, shake off its leaves, and scatter its budding, move away let the beast from under it, and the birds from off its branches;

but the stump of its roots leave in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field, and with the dew of the heavens is it wet, and with the beasts is his portion in the herb of the earth;

his heart from man's is changed, and the heart of a beast is given to him, and seven times pass over him;

by the decree of the sifters is the sentence, and by the saying of the holy ones the requirement, to the intent that the living may know that the Most High is ruler in the kingdom of men, and to whom He willeth He giveth it, and the lowest of men He doth raise up over it.

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.

Then Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar, hath been astonished about one hour, and his thoughts do trouble him; the king hath answered and said, O Belteshazzar, let not the dream and its interpretation trouble thee. Belteshazzar hath answered and said, My lord, the dream -- to those hating thee, and its interpretation -- to thine enemies!

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.

Thou it is, O king, for thou hast become great and mighty, and thy greatness hath become great, and hath reached to the heavens, and thy dominion to the end of the earth;

and that which the king hath seen -- a sifter, even a holy one, coming down from the heavens, and he hath said, Cut down the tree, and destroy it; but the stump of its roots leave in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field, and with the dew of the heavens it is wet, and with the beast of the field is his portion, till that seven times pass over him.

This is the interpretation, O king, and the decree of the Most High it is that hath come against my lord the king:

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.

'Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and thy sins by righteousness break off, and thy perversity by pitying the poor, lo, it is a lengthening of thine ease.

the king hath answered and said, Is not this that great Babylon that I have built, for the house of the kingdom, in the might of my strength, and for the glory of mine honour?

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.

'In that hour the thing hath been fulfilled on Nebuchadnezzar, and from men he is driven, and the herb as oxen he eateth, and by the dew of the heavens his body is wet, till that his hair as eagles' hath become great, and his nails as birds.'

And at the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, mine eyes to the heavens have lifted up, and mine understanding unto me returneth, and the Most High I have blessed, and the Age-during Living One I have praised and honoured, whose dominion is a dominion age-during, and His kingdom with generation and generation;

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.'

Belshazzar the king hath made a great feast to a thousand of his great men, and before the thousand he is drinking wine;

Belshazzar hath said -- while tasting the wine -- to bring in the vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple that is in Jerusalem, that drink with them may the king, and his great men, his wives, and his concubines.

Then they have brought in the vessels of gold that had been taken out of the temple of the house of God that is in Jerusalem, and drunk with them have the king and his great men, his wives and his concubines;

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;

Call doth the king mightily, to bring up the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. Answered hath the king, and said to the wise men of Babylon, that, 'Any man who doth read this writing, and its interpretation doth shew me, purple he putteth on, and a bracelet of gold is on his neck, and third in the kingdom he doth rule.'

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.

there is a man in thy kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods: and, in the days of thy father, light, and understanding, and wisdom -- as the wisdom of the gods -- was found in him; and king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, chief of the scribes, enchanters, Chaldeans, soothsayers, established him -- thy father, O king --

because that an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and showing of enigmas, and loosing of knots was found in him, in Daniel, whose name the king made Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and the interpretation he doth show.'

And I have heard of thee, that the spirit of the gods is in thee, and light, and understanding, and excellent wisdom have been found in thee.

'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 I -- I have heard of thee, that thou art able to give interpretations, and to loose knots: now, lo -- thou art able to read the writing, and its interpretation to cause me to know -- purple thou dost put on, and a bracelet of gold is on thy neck, and third in the kingdom thou dost rule.'

and from the sons of men he is driven, and his heart with the beasts hath been like, and with the wild asses is his dwelling; the herb like oxen they cause him to eat, and by the dew of the heavens is his body wet, till that he hath known that God Most High is ruler in the kingdom of men, and whom He willeth He raiseth up over it.

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 from before Him sent is the extremity of the hand, and the writing is noted down;

and this is the writing that is noted down: Numbered, Numbered, Weighed, and Divided.

This is the interpretation of the thing: Numbered -- God hath numbered thy kingdom, and hath finished it.

Divided -- Divided is thy kingdom, and it hath been given to the Medes and Persians.'

Then hath Belshazzar said, and they have clothed Daniel with purple, and a bracelet of gold is on his neck, and they have proclaimed concerning him that he is the third ruler in the kingdom.

In that night Belshazzar king of the Chaldeans is slain,

and higher than they three presidents, of whom Daniel is first, that these satraps may give to them an account, and the king have no loss.

Then this Daniel hath been overseer over the presidents and satraps, because that an excellent spirit is in him, and the king hath thought to establish him over the whole kingdom.