P'res, - snatched away is thy kingdom, and given to the Medes and Persians.

And, Darius the Mede, received the kingdom, - when about sixty-two years of age.

Now, O king! wilt thou establish the interdict, and sign the writing, that it may not be changed - according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which may not be abolished,

Then drew they near, and began to speak before the king, concerning the royal interdict, Didst thou not sign, an interdict, that, any man who should petition of any God or man, for thirty days, save of thee, O king, should be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, Certain is the thing - according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which may not be abolished.

Then, these men, crowded unto the king, - and were saying to the king, Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is, that, no interdict nor statute which the king establisheth, may be changed.

In the first year of Darius son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, - who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans:

I, therefore, in the first year of Darius the Mede, was at my station to strengthen and embolden him;