Now the Lord delivered King Jehoiakim of Judah into his power, along with some of the vessels of the temple of God. He brought them to the land of Babylonia to the temple of his god and put the vessels in the treasury of his god.

Now as for these four young men, God endowed them with knowledge and skill in all sorts of literature and wisdom -- and Daniel had insight into all kinds of visions and dreams.

When the time appointed by the king arrived, the overseer of the court officials brought them into Nebuchadnezzar's presence.

So Arioch quickly ushered Daniel into the king's presence, saying to him, "I have found a man from the captives of Judah who can make known the interpretation to the king."

Wherever human beings, wild animals, and birds of the sky live -- he has given them into your power. He has given you authority over them all. You are the head of gold.

You saw that a stone was cut from a mountain, but not by human hands; it smashed the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold into pieces. The great God has made known to the king what will occur in the future. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is reliable."

Whoever does not bow down and pay homage will immediately be thrown into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire!"

And whoever does not bow down and pay homage must be thrown into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire.

Now if you are ready, when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, trigon, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, you must bow down and pay homage to the statue that I had made. If you don't pay homage to it, you will immediately be thrown into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire. Now, who is that god who can rescue you from my power?"

He ordered strong soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and to throw them into the furnace of blazing fire.

So those men were tied up while still wearing their cloaks, trousers, turbans, and other clothes, and were thrown into the furnace of blazing fire.

But those three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell into the furnace of blazing fire while still securely bound.

Then King Nebuchadnezzar was startled and quickly got up. He said to his ministers, "Wasn't it three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?" They replied to the king, "For sure, O king."

The tree grew large and strong. Its top reached far into the sky; it could be seen from the borders of all the land.

To all the supervisors of the kingdom, the prefects, satraps, counselors, and governors it seemed like a good idea for a royal edict to be issued and an interdict to be enforced. For the next thirty days anyone who prays to any god or human other than you, O king, should be thrown into a den of lions.

So they approached the king and said to him, "Did you not issue an edict to the effect that for the next thirty days anyone who prays to any god or human other than to you, O king, would be thrown into a den of lions?" The king replied, "That is correct, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be changed."

So the king gave the order, and Daniel was brought and thrown into a den of lions. The king consoled Daniel by saying, "Your God whom you continually serve will rescue you!"

The king gave another order, and those men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the lions' den -- they, their children, and their wives. They did not even reach the bottom of the den before the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.

"Then I kept on watching because of the arrogant words of the horn that was speaking. I was watching until the beast was killed and its body destroyed and thrown into the flaming fire.

He will speak words against the Most High. He will harass the holy ones of the Most High continually. His intention will be to change times established by law. They will be delivered into his hand For a time, times, and half a time.

I saw it approaching the ram. It went into a fit of rage against the ram and struck it and broke off its two horns. The ram had no ability to resist it. The goat hurled the ram to the ground and trampled it. No one could deliver the ram from its power.

As he spoke with me, I fell into a trance with my face to the ground. But he touched me and stood me upright.

I listened to his voice, and as I did so I fell into a trance-like sleep with my face to the ground.

He will also take their gods into captivity to Egypt, along with their cast images and prized utensils of silver and gold. Then he will withdraw for some years from the king of the north.

"Then the king of the south will be enraged and will march out to fight against the king of the north, who will also muster a large army, but that army will be delivered into his hand.

After entering into an alliance with him, he will behave treacherously; he will ascend to power with only a small force.