When they have accomplished the days, it shall be that on the eighth day, and forward, the priests shall make your burnt offerings on the altar, and your peace offerings; and I will accept you, says the Lord GOD."

But the Levites who went far from me, when Israel went astray, who went astray from me after their idols, they shall bear their iniquity.

Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the house, and ministering in the house: they shall kill the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister to them.

Because they ministered to them before their idols, and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel; therefore have I lifted up my hand against them, says the Lord GOD, and they shall bear their iniquity.

They shall not come near to me, to execute the office of priest to me, nor to come near to any of my holy things, to the things that are most holy; but they shall bear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed.

"'But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who performed the duty of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister to me; and they shall stand before me to offer to me the fat and the blood, says the Lord GOD:

they shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my instruction.

"'It shall be that, when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and no wool shall come on them, while they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within.

They shall have linen turbans on their heads, and shall have linen breeches on their waists; they shall not clothe themselves with anything that causes sweat.

When they go forth into the outer court, even into the outer court to the people, they shall put off their garments in which they minister, and lay them in the holy rooms; and they shall put on other garments, that they not sanctify the people with their garments.

"'Neither shall they shave their heads, nor allow their locks to grow long; they shall only cut off the hair of their heads.

Neither shall any of the priests drink wine, when they enter into the inner court.

Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her who is put away; but they shall take virgins of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest.

They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.

"'In a controversy they shall stand to judge; according to my ordinances shall they judge it: and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts; and they shall make my Sabbaths holy.

"'They shall go in to no dead person to defile themselves; but for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister who has had no husband, they may defile themselves.

After he is cleansed, they shall reckon to him seven days.

"'They shall have an inheritance: I am their inheritance; and you shall give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession.

They shall eat the meal offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; and every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs.

In the land it shall be to him for a possession in Israel: and my princes shall no more oppress my people; but they shall give the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.'

On the day of the new moon it shall be a young bull without blemish, and six lambs, and a ram; they shall be without blemish:

The prince, when they go in, shall go in with of them; and when they go out, he shall go out.

Thus shall they prepare the lamb, and the meal offering, and the oil, morning by morning, for a continual burnt offering.'

He said to me, "This is the place where the priests shall boil the trespass offering and the sin offering, and where they shall bake the meal offering; that they not bring them forth into the outer court, to sanctify the people."

Then he said to me, "These waters issue forth toward the eastern region, and shall go down into the Arabah; and they shall go toward the sea; into the sea shall the waters go which were made to issue forth; and the waters shall be healed.

But the miry places of it, and its marshes, shall not be healed; they shall be given up to salt.

It shall happen, that you shall divide it by lot for an inheritance to you and to the aliens who live among you, who shall father children among you; and they shall be to you as the native-born among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel.

"Now these are the names of the tribes: From the north end, beside the way of Hethlon to the entrance of Hamath, Hazar Enan at the border of Damascus, northward beside Hamath (and they shall have their sides east and west), Dan, one portion.

They shall sell none of it, nor exchange it, nor shall the first fruits of the land be alienated; for it is holy to the LORD.

The king appointed for them a daily portion of the king's royal food, and of the wine which he drank, and that they should be nourished three years; that at its end they should stand before the king.

So the steward took away their royal food, and the wine that they should drink, and gave them vegetables.

The king talked with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore they entered the king's service.

Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the enchanters, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king.

They answered the second time and said, "Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation."

So the decree went forth, and the wise men were to be killed; and they sought Daniel and his companions to be killed.

that they would seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his companions should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

Whereas you saw the iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mix with one another but they shall not hold together, even as iron does not mix with clay.

Then king Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, and worshiped Daniel, and commanded that they should present an offering and incense to him.

Then the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the magistrates, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

They answered Nebuchadnezzar the king, "O king, live for ever.

There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, have not regarded you: they do not serve your gods, nor worship the golden image which you have set up."

Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the king.

Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Therefore he spoke, and commanded that they should heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated.

Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up quickly. He spoke and said to his ministers, "Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?" They answered the king, "True, O king."

He answered, "Look, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are unharmed; and the aspect of the fourth is like a son of the gods."

Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel, and delivered his servants who trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and have yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.

Therefore I made a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream.

Then came in the magicians, the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the diviners; and I told the dream before them; but they did not make known to me its interpretation.

Whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the roots of the tree; your kingdom shall be restored to you. After that you shall have known that the heavens do rule.

Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king and his lords, his wives and his concubines, drank from them.

They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.

Then came in all the king's wise men; but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation.

Now the wise men, the enchanters, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and make known to me its interpretation; but they could not show the interpretation of the thing.

But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly, he was removed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him.

but have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven. And they have brought the vessels of his house before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines, have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see, nor hear, nor know. And the God in whose hand your breath is, and whose are all your ways, you have not glorified.

Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with purple, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.

Then the administrators and the satraps sought to find a charge against Daniel regarding the kingdom; but they could find no charge or fault, because he was faithful. Neither was there any error or fault found in him.

Then they came near, and spoke before the king concerning the king's decree. "Haven't you signed a decree, that every man who shall make petition to any god or man within thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?" The king answered, "The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be changed."

Then they answered and said before the king, "That Daniel, who is of the children of the captivity of Judah, doesn't regard you, O king, nor the decree that you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day."

Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spoke and said to Daniel, "Your God whom you serve continually, he will deliver you."

My God has sent his angel, and has shut the lions' mouths, and they have not hurt me; because before him innocence was found in me; and also before you, O king, have I done no wrong."

Then was the king exceedingly glad, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.

The king commanded, and they brought those men who had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions overpowered them, and broke all their bones in pieces, before they came to the bottom of the den.

And behold, another animal, a second one, like a bear; and it was raised up on one side, and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth. And they said this to it, 'Arise, devour much flesh.'

I saw in the night visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of the sky one like a son of man, and he came even to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him.

He shall speak words against the Most High, and shall oppress the holy ones of the Most High; and he shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given over to him until a time and times and half a time.

And the court shall sit in judgment, and they shall take away his dominion, consumed and completely destroyed forever.

The ram which you saw, that had the two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia.

Lord, righteousness belongs to you, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, who are near, and who are far off, through all the countries where you have driven them, because of their unfaithful deeds that they have committed against you.

I, Daniel, alone saw the vision; for the men who were with me did not see the vision; but a great trembling fell on them, and they fled to hide themselves.

At the end of years they shall join themselves together; and the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement: but she shall not retain her power; neither shall his strength endure; but she shall be surrendered, and her attendants, and he who became the father of her, and he who supported her in those times.

And his sons shall wage war, and shall assemble a multitude of great forces, which shall advance and overflow and pass through, and they shall return and wage war, as far as his fortress.

And in those times many shall rise up against the king of the south: also the violent ones among your people shall rise up in confirmation of the vision; but they shall fail.

And he shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army; and the king of the south shall wage war in battle with an extremely large and powerful army; but he shall not stand; for they shall devise plans against him.

As for both these kings, their minds shall be fixed on evil, and they shall speak lies at the table; but it shall not succeed; for still the end shall be at the appointed time.

Forces shall come at his order, and they shall profane the sanctuary and the fortress, and shall take away the daily burnt offering, and they shall set up the abomination that causes desolation.

And those who are wise among the people shall instruct many; yet they shall fall by the sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder for some time.

Now when they shall fall, they shall receive a little help. And many shall join with them insincerely.

I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by him who lives forever that it shall be for a time, times, and a half; and when they have made an end of breaking in pieces the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.

Yet the number of the children of Israel will be as the sand of the sea, which can't be measured nor numbered; and it will come to pass that, in the place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' they will be called 'sons of the living God.'

The children of Judah and the children of Israel will be gathered together, and they will appoint themselves one head, and will go up from the land; for great will be the day of Jezreel.

Indeed, on her children I will have no mercy; for they are children of unfaithfulness;

For she did not know that I gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil, and multiplied to her silver and gold, which they used for Baal.

For I will take away the names of the Baals out of her mouth, and they will no longer be mentioned by name.

It will happen in that day, I will respond," says the LORD, "I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth;

and the earth will respond to the grain, and the new wine, and the oil; and they will respond to Jezreel.

I will sow her to me in the earth; and I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; and I will tell those who were not my people, 'You are my people;' and they will say, 'My God.'"

The LORD said to me, "Go again, love a woman loved by another, and an adulteress, even as the LORD loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods, and love cakes of raisins."

There is cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break boundaries, and bloodshed causes bloodshed.

As they were multiplied, so they sinned against me. I will change their glory into shame.

They feed on the sin of my people, and set their heart on their iniquity.

They will eat, and not have enough. They will play the prostitute, and will not increase; because they have abandoned giving to the LORD.

My people consult with their wooden idol, and answer to a stick of wood. Indeed the spirit of prostitution has led them astray, and they have been unfaithful to their God.

They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains, and burn incense on the hills, under oaks and poplars and terebinths, because its shade is good. Therefore your daughters play the prostitute, and your brides commit adultery.

I will not punish your daughters when they play the prostitute, nor your brides when they commit adultery; because the men consort with prostitutes, and they sacrifice with the shrine prostitutes; so the people without understanding will come to ruin.

Their drink has become sour. They play the prostitute continually. Her rulers dearly love their shameful way.

The wind has wrapped her up in its wings; and they shall be disappointed because of their sacrifices.

Their deeds won't allow them to turn to their God; for the spirit of prostitution is within them, and they do not know the LORD.

They will go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the LORD; but they won't find him. He has withdrawn himself from them.

They are unfaithful to the LORD; for they have borne illegitimate children. Now the new moon will devour them with their fields.