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 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 let our appearances and the appearance of the young men who are eating the fine food of the king be compared {before you}, and [then] deal with your servants {according to what you see}."

So he agreed to this proposal with them, and he tested them [for] ten days.

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

So the king said to call the magicians and the conjurers and the sorcerers and the {astrologers} to tell to the king his dreams. And they came in and they stood {before} the king.

for if you [do] not make the dream known to me, {your verdict is fixed}, and you have conspired to say lying and deceitful word to me until the {circumstances} will change. Therefore, tell me the dream, and I will know that you can tell me its explanation."

{He asked} and said to Arioch, the royal official of the king, "{Why} is the decree from the king [so] severe?" Then Arioch explained the matter to Daniel.

and [told them] to seek mercy {from the God of heaven} concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions, along with the remainder of the wise men of Babylon, would not be killed.

And fourth kingdom will be strong as iron, [and] {just as} iron crushes and smashes {everything}, and as iron shatters all of these [other metals], [so] it will crush and it will shatter [these nations].

{And just as} you saw the feet and the toes, {partly potter's clay} and {partly iron}, it will be a divided kingdom; and {some hardness} of the iron will be [in it], {just as} you have seen the iron mixed with the wet clay.

And [as] the toes of the feet [were] partly iron and partly clay, [so] part of the kingdom will be strong {and partly brittle}.

And [in] that you saw the iron was mixed with wet clay, [so] {they will mix in marriage} and they will not cling {to one another}, just as iron [does] not mix with clay.

{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."

Now if you are ready so that {when} you hear the sound of the horn, the flute, the lyre, [the] trigon, [the] harp and [the] drum and all kinds of music, you fall down and you worship the statue that I have made, [that will be good]. But if you do not worship it, {immediately} you will be thrown into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire, and {who is the god} who will rescue you from my hands?"

{If it is so}, our God, whom we serve, is able to rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire. And from your hand, O king, let him rescue us.

Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with anger and the image of his face was changed {toward} Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, [so he] {ordered and said} to heat up the one furnace seven times what was usual to heat [it] up.

{He answered}, saying, "Look, I see four men unbound walking in the midst of the fire and there is no damage to them, and the appearance of the fourth [man] resembles the son of a god."

And the satraps, the prefects, the governors and the advisors of the king [were] assembling, [and] they saw these men, that the fire had no power over their bodies, and the hair of their heads was not singed, and their garments were not harmed, and the smell of fire did not come from them.

Nebuchadnezzar {responded}, saying, "Blessed be their God, [the God] of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who sent his angel and rescued his servants who trusted in him, and the command of the king they disobeyed, and they gave their bodies so that they [did] not serve and [did] not worship any god except their God.

And I saw a dream and a revelation on my bed and it frightened me, and the visions of my head terrified me.

And a decree was {sent out}, [ordering that] all [the] wise men of Babylon [were] to be brought in before me [so] that they may make known to me [the] explanation of the dream.

" ' Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, I myself know that [the] spirit of [the] holy gods [is] in you, and {no mystery is too difficult} for you. [Now] tell [me] [the] visions of my dream that I saw, and its explanation.

He cried {aloud} and so he said: "Cut down the tree and chop off its branches; shake off its foliage and scatter its fruit. Let the animals flee from under it, and the birds from its branches.

" 'This [is] the dream [that] I, Nebuchadnezzar the king, saw. Now you, Belteshazzar, declare its explanation, {for} all of [the] wise men of my kingdom were not able to make the explanation known to me, but you are able because [the] spirit of holy gods [is] in you.'

The tree that you saw, which grew and became strong and its height reached to heaven and {it was visible to the end of the whole earth},

and its foliage [was] beautiful and its fruit abundant, and [so there was] provision for all in it, [and] the animals of the field lived under it and in its branches nest [the] birds of heaven,

--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 [inasmuch] that the king saw [the] watcher, a holy [one] coming down from heaven and he said, "Cut down the tree and destroy it, but the stump of its root in the earth leave with a band of iron and bronze in the grass of the field, and let it be watered with the dew of heaven and [let] his lot [be] with [the] animals of the field {until seven times have passed over him}."

{And in that} they said to leave alone the stump of the tree's root, so your kingdom [will be] restored for you {when} you acknowledge that heaven [is] sovereign.

{Immediately} the word was fulfilled {concerning} Nebuchadnezzar, and he was expelled from {human society} and he ate grass like oxen, and his body was bathed with the dew of heaven until his hair [was] like [the hair of] an eagle and his nails grew like bird's [claws].

{When he tasted the wine}, Belshazzar commanded [that they] bring [the] vessels of gold and silver that Nebuchadnezzar his {predecessor} had taken from the temple that [was] in Jerusalem, so that the king and his lords, his wives and his concubines may drink from them.

And now the wise men [and] the conjurers were brought in before me [so] that they could read this writing [in order to] make its explanation known to me, but they were not able to disclose the explanation of the matter.

But {when} his heart became arrogant and his spirit became hard [so as] to act proudly, he was deposed from the throne of his kingdom and the glory {was taken away from him}.

And [now] you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven, and the vessels of his temple you have brought in before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines, have been drinking wine from them, and you have praised the gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone that [do] not see and [do] not hear and [do] not know, but the God {who holds your life in his hand} and all of your ways {come from him}, you have not honored.

So then the palm of the hand was sent out from his presence and this writing was inscribed.

and over them [were] three administrators, [of] whom Daniel [was] one, [so] that these satraps were giving account to them, and the king would not be suffering loss.

Then Daniel {began distinguishing himself} above the administrators and the satraps {because} an exceptional spirit [was] in him, and [so] the king planned to appoint him over the whole kingdom.

So the administrators and the satraps conspired {with respect to} the king and so they said to him, "Darius, O king, live {forever}!

Now, O king, establish the edict and you must sign the document [so] that [it] cannot be changed, according to [the] law of [the] Medes and Persians which cannot be revoked."

{So} the king, Darius, signed the writing and the interdict.

And a stone was brought and it was put on the entrance of the pit, and the king sealed it with his signet [ring] and with the signet [rings] of his lords, so that nothing would be changed concerning Daniel.

So this Daniel prospered during the kingdom of Darius and during the kingdom of Cyrus the Persian.

In the first year of Belshazzar the king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions of his head [as he lay] on his bed; then he wrote down the dream [and] [the] {summary} of [the] words {as follows}:

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}.

And look, another beast, a second one, looking like a bear. And it was raised up on one side and three tusks [were] in its mouth between its teeth, and so {it was told}, "Arise, eat much flesh!"

[So] I approached one of the attendants and I asked him [about] the truth concerning all this; and he told me [that] he would make known to me the explanation of the matter.

And I saw in the vision, {and when I saw}, I [was] in Susa, the citadel that [was] in the province of Elam. And I saw in the vision, and {I myself} was at the stream of Ulai.

And I lifted up my eyes and I saw, and look! A ram standing {before} the stream, and {it had} two horns, and the horns [were] long, but the one [was] longer than the second, and the longer [one] came up {after the other one}.

I saw the ram charging westward and northward and southward, and {none of the beasts stood before it}, and there was no rescuing from {its power}, and it did {what it wanted} and it became strong.

Then it came toward the ram {that had the two horns} that I saw standing {before} the stream, and it ran at it with the rage of its power.

And I saw it approaching the ram and it was furious at it, and it struck the ram, and it broke its two horns, and {there was not strength in the ram to stand before him}, and he threw it down to the ground and trampled it, {and there was no one who could rescue the ram} from its power.

{And then} when I, Daniel, saw the vision, and I was seeking understanding, there was [one] standing before me with [the] appearance of a man.

"The ram that you saw {who had two horns} [represents] the kings of Media and Persia.

"And all Israel transgressed your law and turned aside [so as] not to listen to your voice, and [so] the curse and the oath which [was] written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, has been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him.

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.

Just as [it is] written in the law of Moses, all of this calamity has come upon us, and {we have not implored} the face of Yahweh our God [so as] to turn from our iniquities and to attend closely to your faithfulness.

So Yahweh [has] kept watch over the calamity, and [now] he [has] brought it upon us. Indeed, Yahweh our God [is] righteous concerning all his works that he has done, but we have not listened to his voice.

At the beginning of your pleas for mercy, a word went out, and [now] I have come to declare [it], for you [are] highly esteemed, and [so] consider the word and understand the vision.

And I lifted up my eyes and I saw, and there was a man, [and] he was dressed [in] linen, and his waist was girded with [the] gold of Uphaz.

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.

So {how am I, a servant of my lord} to speak with {you, my lord}, and I {just now} {have no strength in me}?"

And he will turn his face to [the] coastlands, and he will capture many, but a commander will end his insults to him {so that instead his insults will turn back upon him}.

And [then] he will pitch the tents of his palace between [the] sea [and] {the beautiful holy mountain}, and he will come to his end, and there is no one helping him."