you are to tell them, "This is what the LORD says: "Watch me! I'm taking the baton that represents Joseph, which Ephraim is holding in his hand, along with his companions the tribes of Israel, and I'm going to join them with the baton that represents Judah. I'm making them a single baton, that is, a complete baton in my hand."

Then tell them, "This is what the Lord GOD says: "Watch me take the Israelis out of the nations where they've gone and return them from every direction. I'm going to bring them back into their own land.

This message from the LORD came to me:

"Son of Man, turn your attention toward Gog, from the land of Magog, leader of the head of Meshech, and of Tubal. Prophesy this against him:

"This is what the Lord GOD says: "Watch out! I'm coming after you, Gog, leader of the head of Meshech, and of Tubal.

"This is what the Lord GOD says: "This is what's going to happen on the very day that you begin your invasion: You'll be thinking, making evil plans,

"Therefore, Son of Man, prophesy to Gog and tell him, "This is what the Lord GOD says: "When the day comes when my people are living securely, won't you be aware of it?

"This is what the Lord GOD says: "Surely you're the one about whom I spoke years ago in the writings of my servants, Israel's prophets, aren't you? They predicted back then that I would bring you up after many years, didn't they?

"Now as for you, Son of Man, prophesy against Gog and tell him, "This is what the Lord GOD has to say: "Watch out, Gog, you leader of the head of Meshech and of Tubal!

You will fall dead in the open fields, because I have ordered this to happen,' declares the Lord GOD.

Pay attention! It's coming and will certainly happen,' declares the Lord GOD. "This will be the day about which I've spoken!'"'"

"After all this happens, the people who live in the cities of Israel will be kindling fires for seven years, using small shields, large shields, bows, arrows, clubs, personal weapons, and spears to do so.

"When all of this happens, I'm going to set aside a grave site for Gog in Israel's Traveler's Valley, near the approach to the Dead Sea. She will block off everyone who tries to bypass it. There they will bury Gog, and rename the area "Valley of Gog's Gang'.

Everyone in the land will be involved in the burials, and this will serve as a reminder for them that I have glorified myself," declares the Lord GOD.

"Now as for you, Son of Man, this is what the Lord GOD has to say: "Tell all of the birds and wild beasts, "Come! Gather together and participate in the sacrifice that I'm going to make for you. This great sacrifice will take place on the mountains of Israel, where you'll be eating flesh and drinking blood.

It was because of their defilement and transgression that I treated them this way by hiding my presence from them.'"

"Therefore this is what the Lord GOD has to say: "I'm going to restore the resources of Jacob and show mercy to the entire house of Israel. I'll be zealous for my own reputation and for my holiness.

This is what the man told me: "Son of Man, watch carefully, listen closely, and remember everything I'm going to be showing you, because you've been brought here to be shown what you're about to see. Be sure that you tell the house of Israel everything that you observe."

Double hooks, a single handbreadth in length, were installed all around in this portion of the temple area.

The angel told me, "This south-facing chamber is for the priests who maintain the Temple,

He measured its length at 20 cubits, its width at 20 cubits in front of the structure, and then he told me, "This is the most holy area."

The altar was made of wood, three cubits high and two cubits long. Its corners, base, and sides were of wood. He told me, "This table stands in the LORD's presence."

"Son of Man," the Lord GOD told me, "This is where my throne is, where I place the soles of my feet, and where I will live among the Israelis forever. The house of Israel will no longer defile my holy name neither they nor their kings by their unfaithfulness, by the lifeless idols of their kings on their funeral mounds,

This is to be the regulation for the Temple: the entire area on top of the mountain is to be considered wholly consecrated. This is to be the law of the Temple."

Then he told me, "This is what the Lord GOD says: "These are the regulations for the altar, starting the day that it is constructed for presenting burnt offerings and sprinkling blood.

When they will have completed this period, starting the next day, the priests are to offer your burnt offerings on the altar, along with your peace offerings, and I will accept you,' declares the Lord GOD."

The LORD told me, "This gate is to remain shut. It will not be opened. No man is to enter through it, because the LORD God of Israel entered through it, so it is to remain shut.

"You are to tell the Resistance that is, the house of Israel, "This is what the Lord GOD says: "I've had enough of all of your loathsome behavior, you house of Israel!

"This is what the Lord GOD says, "No foreigner who is both uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the Israelis is to enter my sanctuary.

"When you divide the land for an inheritance, you are to present a Terumah to the LORD, a consecrated portion of the land 25,000 cubits long and 20,000 cubits wide. Everything within this area is to be treated as holy.

A Holy Place is to be dedicated from this area in the form of a square measuring 500 by 500 cubits, with a 50 cubit buffer zone surrounding it.

From this area a measure is to be made 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits wide, which is to contain the sanctuary, the holiest of holy objects.

This property in Israel is to belong to the Regent Prince, so my regent princes will no longer mistreat my nation. The remaining portion of the land is to be allotted to the house of Israel, that is, to its tribes."

"This is what the Lord GOD says, "Enough of you, you regent princes of Israel! Abandon your violence and destruction. Practice what is just and right instead! Stop confiscating property from my people!' declares the Lord GOD.

"The entire nation living in the land is to present this offering to the Regent Prince in Israel.

"This is what the Lord GOD says, "On the first day of the first month, you are to present a young bull without defect in order to cleanse the sanctuary.

You are also to do this on the seventh day of the month, to make atonement for any person who wanders away or who sins through ignorance in order to make atonement for the Temple.

"This is what the Lord GOD says: "The inner, east-facing courtyard is to remain shut during the six working days of the week, but on the Sabbath day it is to be opened, as well as on the day of the New Moon.

In addition, he is to present a grain offering with it every morning, consisting of a sixth of an ephah mixed with one third of a hin of oil. This grain offering is to be offered to the LORD as a permanent ordinance.

"This is what the Lord GOD says: "If the Regent Prince gives a gift to someone, it is to remain with the man's descendants as their own inheritance.

about which he said, "This is where the priests will be boiling the guilt and sin offerings and baking the grain offerings so they don't bring them through the outer courtyard, thus diminishing the people's holiness."

He told me, "This is where the ministers of the Temple will be preparing the sacrifices that will be presented by the people.

After this, he brought me back to the doorway to the Temple. To my amazement, there was water flowing out toward the east from beneath the threshold of the Temple! (The Temple faced eastward.) The water flowed down from beneath the right side of the Temple, that is, from the south-facing side where the altar was located.

Then, as he was bringing me back along the river bank, he asked me, "Son of Man, did you see all of this?"

He told me, "This river flows toward the eastern territories all the way down into the Arabah, and from there its water flows toward the Dead Sea, where the sea water turns fresh.

It will support all kinds of living creatures that will thrive abundantly wherever the river flows. There will be a great many fish, because this water will flow there and turn the salt water fresh. As a result, everything will live wherever the river flows.

This is what the Lord GOD says: "This is to be the territorial border by which you apportion the land for an inheritance among the twelve tribes of Israel, with Joseph double-portioned.

Apportion it for their inheritances, distributing everything equally as if you were distributing things to your own brother, which is how I promised to give it to your ancestors. This way, the land will fall to you as an inheritance.

"This is to be the border for the land: on the north side, from the Mediterranean Sea by the Hethlon Road to the entrance of Zedad,

The border is to proceed from the Mediterranean Sea to Hazer-enan (a border of Damascus), and on the north facing north is to be the border of Hamath. This is to be the north side.

"The eastern extremity is to proceed from between Hauran and Damascus, then between Gilead, and then through the land of Israel the Jordan River. You are to measure from the northern border to the Dead Sea. This is to be the eastern perimeter.

"You are to determine the southern extremity running from Tamar as far as the waters of Meribath-kadesh, then from there proceeding to the Wadi, and then to the Mediterranean Sea. This is to be the southern perimeter.

"The western perimeter is to be the Mediterranean Sea, from the southernmost border to a location opposite the entrance to Hamath. This is to be the western perimeter.

"You are to apportion this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel,

This is the land that you are to allocate by lottery to the tribes of Israel as their inheritance, and these are their respective divisions," declares the Lord GOD.

At this point, the king flew into a rage and issued an order to destroy all the advisors of Babylon.

Daniel was seeking mercy, in order to ask about this mystery in the presence of the God of heaven, so that Daniel and his friends might not be executed along with the rest of the advisors of Babylon.

After this, Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to execute the advisors of Babylon. He told him, "Don't destroy the advisors of Babylon. Bring me before the king and I'll explain the meaning to him."

As for me, this secret was made known to me, not because my own wisdom is greater than anyone else alive, but in order that the meaning may be made known to the king, and that you might understand the thoughts of your heart.

"Your majesty, while you were watching, you observed an enormous statue. This magnificent statue stood before you with extraordinary brilliance. Its appearance was terrifying.

"This was the dream, and we'll now relate its meaning to the king.

Now, just as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without human hands and that it crushed the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold to pieces so also the great God has revealed to the king what will take place after this. Your dream will come true, and its meaning will prove trustworthy."

The king told Daniel, "Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and the Revealer of Secrets, because you were able to reveal this mystery."

Just then, certain influential Chaldeans took this opportunity to come forward and denounce the Jews.

You, your majesty, issued this decree:

Now, if you are ready at this very moment to obey "the sound of the trumpet, the flute, the lyre, the four-stringed lyre, and the harp,' and worship the image that I have made" If you do not so worship, you will immediately have cast yourselves into the middle of the blazing fire, and what god is there who can deliver you from my power?"

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar, "It's not necessary for us to respond in this matter.

"Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego! He sent his angel to deliver his servants who trusted in him. They disobeyed the king's command and were willing to risk their lives in order not to serve or worship any god except their own God. So I decree that people from any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego will be destroyed and their house reduced to rubble, because there is no other god who can save like this."

This is what I saw in the visions of my head while I was in bed: I was looking and listen carefully! I saw a tree in the middle of the earth, the height of which was very great.

This order is announced by the observers, and the holy ones declare the verdict, so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over human kingdoms and grants them to whomever he desires, and he places the least important of men over them.'

"This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. Belteshazzar, tell me its meaning, since none of the advisors in my kingdom can tell me its interpretation. But you are able to do so because the spirit of the holy gods is in you."

"This is the meaning, your majesty, and this is the decree that the Most High has issued against his majesty, the king:

All of this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar.

As these words were being spoken by the king, a voice came out of heaven: "King Nebuchadnezzar, this is declared to you:

The king cried out to bring in enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers. He announced to the advisors of Babylon, "Whoever can read this writing and tell me its meaning will be clothed in purple, have a gold chain placed around his neck, and will become the third highest ruler in the kingdom."

At this, Daniel answered, speaking directly to the king, "Let your gifts and rewards be given to someone else. However, I'll read the writing for the king and tell him its meaning.

"But you, Belshazzar, his grandson, haven't humbled yourself, even though you knew all of this.

"Therefore, the hand that wrote this inscription was sent from his presence.

This is the written inscription: MENE, MENE, TEKEL AND PARSIN

Because of this, the administrators and regional authorities tried to bring allegations of dereliction of duty in government affairs against Daniel, but they were unable to find any charges of corruption. Daniel was trustworthy, and no evidence of negligence or corruption could be found against him.

Then these administrators and regional authorities went as a group to the king and said this, "Your majesty, live forever!

When the king heard this, he was greatly upset, because he was determined to make every effort to save Daniel before the sun set.

At this point, the king ordered Daniel brought in and thrown into the lions' pit. The king spoke to Daniel, "Your God, whom you serve constantly, will deliver you himself."

In the first year of the reign of King Belshazzar of Babylon, Daniel dreamed a dream, receiving visions in his mind while in bed, after which he recorded the dream, relating this summary of events.

"After this, I continued to watch and look! there was another one, resembling a leopard with four birds' wings on its back. The animal also had four heads, and authority was imparted to it.

"After this, I continued to observe the night visions. And look! there was a fourth awe-inspiring, terrifying, and viciously strong animal! It had large, iron teeth. It devoured and crushed things, and trampled under its feet whatever remained. Different from all of the other previous animals, it had ten horns.

"While I was thinking about the horns look another horn, this time a little one, grew up among them. Three of the first horns were yanked up by their roots right in front of it. Look! It had eyes like those of a human being and a mouth that boasted with audacious claims."

So I approached one of those who was standing nearby and began to ask the meaning of all of this. He spoke to me and caused me to understand the interpretation of these things.

"The fourth animal will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, different from all the kingdoms. It will devour the entire earth, trampling it down and crushing it. Now as to the ten horns, ten kings will rise to power from this kingdom, and another king will rise to power after them. He will be different from the previous kings, and will defeat three kings.

"At this point the vision ended. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts continued to alarm me, and I lost my natural color, but I kept quiet about the matter."

"To you, Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us, open humiliation even to this day, to the men of Judah, the residents of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, both those who are nearby and those who are far away in all the lands to which you drove them because of their unfaithful acts that they committed against you.

As it's written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has befallen us, but we still haven't sought the LORD our God by turning from our lawlessness to pay attention to your truth.

"And now, Lord our God, who brought your people from the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made a name for yourself that remains to this day we've sinned. We've acted wickedly.

He gave instructions, and this is what he spoke to me:

and I was left alone to observe this magnificent vision. Nevertheless, no strength remained in me my face lost its color, and I became weak.

He told me, "Daniel, man highly regarded, understand the message that I'm about to relate to you. Stand up, because I've been sent to you.' When he spoke this statement to me, I stood there trembling.

"After he had spoken to me like this, I bowed my face to the ground, unable to speak.

But suddenly someone who resembled a human being touched my lips, so addressing the one who was standing in front of me, I opened my mouth and said, "Sir, I'm overwhelmed with anguish by this vision. I have no strength left.

"Then this person who looked like a man touched me again and strengthened me

""During those years, many will rebel against the southern king. The more violent ones among your people will rebel in order to fulfill this vision, but they will fail.