he said to Arioch, the king’s captain, “Why is the decree from the king so harsh and urgent?” Then Arioch explained the matter to Daniel.

I thank thee, and I praise thee, O God of my fathers, Who hast given me wisdom and might, And hast made known unto me already what we desired of thee; For thou hast made known unto us the king's matter.

Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said thus unto him: I have found a man of the sons of the captivity of Judah that will make known unto the king the interpretation.

Only God in heaven can open secrets; and he it is, that showeth the king Nebuchadnezzar what is for to come in the latter days. Thy dream, and that which thou hast seen in thine head upon thy bed, is this:

Whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of earth and part of iron: that is a divided kingdom, which nevertheless shall have some of the iron ground mixed with it, forsomuch as thou hast seen the iron mixed with the clay.

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.

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 answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth your God is the God of gods, and the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou hast been able to reveal this secret.

Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, pipe, lute, sambuca, psaltery, and bagpipe, and all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image;

There are certain Jews whom thou hast appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego: these men, O king, regard thee not; they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image that thou hast set up.

But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image that thou hast set up.

Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste; he spoke and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said to the king, True, O king.

"O Balteshazzar, thou prince of soothsayers: Forsomuch as I know that thou hast the spirit of the holy gods, and no secret is hid from thee. Tell me therefore, what the vision of my dream that I have seen may signify.

The tree that thou hast seen, that hath become great and strong, and its height doth reach to the heavens, and its vision to all the land,

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;

Moreover, whereas it was said that the root of the tree should be left still in the ground: it betokeneth that thy kingdom shall remain whole unto thee, after thou hast learned to know that the power cometh from heaven.

And, all the inhabitants of the earth, as nothing, are accounted, and, according to his own pleasure, dealeth he - with the army of the heavens, and the inhabitants of the earth, - and none there is who can smite upon his hand, or say to him, What hast thou done?

I have heard speak of thee, that thou hast the spirit of the holy gods, experience and understanding, and that there hath been great wisdom found in thee.

And thou, Belshazzar, his son, hast not humbled thy heart, although thou knewest all this;

but hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of the heavens; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou and thy nobles, thy wives and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know; and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified:

Weighed -- Thou art weighed in the balances, and hast been found lacking.

Then they came near, and spoke before the king concerning the king's decree: Hast thou not signed a decree, that every man that shall ask anything of any god or man within thirty days, except of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which may not be revoked.

Then they answered and said before the king, That Daniel, who is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times a day.

Then the king arose with the light at break of day, and went in haste unto the den of lions.

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

To thee, O Lord, belongeth righteousness, but, to us, the shame of faces, as at this day, - to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, the near and the far off, throughout all the lands whither thou hast driven them, in their treachery, wherewith they had been treacherous against thee.

Therefore hath the LORD made haste, to bring this plague upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doth. For why? We would not hearken unto his voice.

And now, O Lord our God, who hast brought forth Thy people from the land of Egypt by a strong hand, and dost make for Thee a name as at this day, we have sinned, we have done wickedly.

And he said, Do not fear, O man greatly delighted in! peace to thee, be strong, yea be strong! And, as he spake with me, I gained strength, and said, Let my lord speak, for thou hast strengthened me.

And he saith, Hast thou known why I have come unto thee? and now I turn back to fight with the head of Persia; yea, I am going forth, and lo, the head of Javan hath come;