达内尔-Daniel

圣经-旧约(天主教思高圣经)

不认识圣经,就是不认识基督,不认识基督,就是不认识基督所建立的天主教会。

 

旧约·达尼尔

共14章:

 

前编 历史叙述(1-6)

第一章(21)

耶路撒冷陷落
1:1 犹大王约雅金在位第三年,巴比伦王拿步高前来围攻耶路撒冷,
1:2 上主将犹大王约雅金和天主殿内的一部分器皿,交在拿步高手中,他便将这些器皿带到史纳尔地方,存放在他神殿的库房内。

达尼尔与三同伴被选入宫
1:3 君王吩咐他的宦官长阿市培纳次,要他由以色列子民中,选一些王室或贵族的青年,
1:4 他们应没有缺陷,容貌俊美,足智多才,富有知识,明察事理,适合在王宫内充当侍从,应教给他们加色丁文字和语言。
1:5 君王且给他们指定了,每天要吃君王所吃的食品和所饮的美酒,如此教养他们三年;期满以后,他们便可侍立在君王左右。
1:6 他们中为犹大后裔的,有达尼尔、阿纳尼雅、米沙耳和阿匝黎雅。
1:7 宦官长另给他们起了名字:给达尼尔起名叫贝特沙匝,阿纳尼雅叫沙得辣客,米沙耳叫默沙耳,阿匝黎雅叫阿贝得乃哥。

忠于教规
1:8 但是阿尼尔心中早已拿定主意,决不让自己为君王的食品和君王饮的美酒所玷污,所以他请求宦官长使自己免受此玷污。
1:9 天主赏达尼尔在宦官长眼中获得宠遇和同情。
1:10 宦官长对达尼尔说:「我害怕我的主上君王,他原给你们指定了饮食,若见你们的面容比你们同年的青年消瘦,这样你们岂不是将我的头断送给君王!」
1:11 达尼尔对宦官长派来照管达尼尔、阿纳尼雅、米沙耳和阿匝黎雅的人说:「
1:12 请你一连十天试一试你的仆人们,只给我们蔬菜吃,清水喝;
1:13 然后,你亲自观察我们的容貌,和那些吃君王食品的青年的容貌,就照你所观察的,对待你的仆人们罢!」
1:14 他答应了他们的要求,试验了他们十天。
1:15 十天以后,他们的容貌比那些吃君王食品的青年显得更为美丽,肌肉更为丰满。
1:16 负责照管的人,遂将他们的食品和应喝的美酒撤去,祇给他们蔬菜。

四青年获得宠遇
1:17 至于这四个青年,天主赐给了他们精通各种文字和学问的才智与聪明,而且达尼尔还通晓各种神视和梦兆。
1:18 君王规定带他们进宫的期限一满,宦官长就领他们进见拿步高。
1:19 君王和他们交谈,发现其中没有一个能及得上达尼尔、阿纳尼雅、米沙耳和阿匝黎雅的,于是他们随侍在君王前,
1:20 君王无论询问他们什么智识和学问,发现他们都十倍于自己全国所有的巫师和术士。
1:21 达尼尔就这样一直到居鲁士王元年。

 

 

第二章(49)

拿步高做梦
2:1 拿步高在位第十二年,拿步高一连做了几个梦,遂心神不宁,不能入睡。
2:2 于是君王下令召巫师、术士、方士和占星者前来给君王详梦;他们前来了,站在君王前,
2:3 君王对他们说:「我做了一个梦,心神不宁,急于要知道这梦的究竟。」
2:4 占星者用【阿剌美语】回答君王说:「大王万岁!请大王给你的仆人们说出梦来,我们好给大王解释那梦的意义。」
2:5 君王答复占星者说:「我是言出必行的,如果你们不告诉我那梦和梦的意义,你们必被万刮凌迟,你们的家必成为废墟。
2:6 但若你们告知我那梦和梦的意义,你们必获得我的礼物、赏报和崇高的尊荣;为此你们告诉我那梦和梦的意义罢!」
2:7 他们又回答说:「请大王给你的仆人们说出梦来,好让我们给大王解释。」
2:8 君王回答说:「我明知你们是在想争取时间,因为你们明知我是言出必行的;
2:9 如果你们不告诉我那梦,为你们只有一个判决。那么,你们是想在我面前说谎欺骗,专待时机的转变。现在你们要告诉我那梦,好使我知道你们能为我解释那梦的意义。」
2:10 占星者在君王面前回答说:「世上没有一个人能说出大王所问的事,从来也没有一位君王,不论他如何伟大,有势力,向任何巫师、术士和占星者询问过这样的事。
2:11 大王询问的,确是件难事,没有谁能告诉大王,除非那不与血肉之躯同居的神祇。」
2:12 君王因此生气,大发雷霆,下令消灭巴比伦所有的智者。
2:13 要杀智者的谕令发出之后,人们就搜索达尼尔和他的同伴,要将他们杀死。

达尼尔要求缓刑
2:14 君王的卫队长阿黎约客出发,要杀巴比伦的智者之时,达尼尔机警明智地应付了他。
2:15 达尼尔问君王的全权大臣阿黎约客说:「君王发出的谕令,为什么这样迫切﹖」阿黎约客遂将事情告诉了达尼尔。
2:16 达尼尔进去要求君王给他延长限期,好为君王详解梦兆。
2:17 然后回到家里,把事情告诉了自己的同伴阿纳尼雅、米沙耳和阿匝黎雅,
2:18 要他们为这秘密事,恳求上天的大主施恩,挽救达尼尔和他的同伴与巴比伦其余的智者,免被杀害。
2:19 于是在夜间的神视中,这个秘密就启示给达尼尔了;达尼尔遂赞美上天的大主,
2:20 说:「愿天主的名,从永远直到永远受赞美,因为智慧和能力都属于他。
2:21 是他变更四时季节,是他废黜君王,也兴立君王,赐智者以智慧,赐识者以聪敏;
2:22 是他启示隐秘深奥之事,洞悉暗中的事,因为光明居于他内。
2:23 我祖先的天主,我称谢赞颂你,因为你赐给了我智慧和能力。我们祈求你的事,现在你已晓谕了我们,使我们知道了君王的秘密。」

达尼尔去见拿步高王
2:24 达尼尔遂去见君王委派杀戮巴比伦智者的阿黎约客,对他这样说:「请暂且先不要杀害巴比伦的智者,带我去见君王,我要给君王解梦。」
2:25 于是阿黎约客立刻引达尼尔去见君王,对君王说:「我从犹大被掳的子民中找得一人,他会给大王解梦。」
2:26 君王对名叫贝耳特沙匝的达尼尔说道:「你能告诉我,我所见的梦和梦的意义吗﹖」
2:27 达尼尔回答君王说:「大王所问的奥秘,不是智者、术士、巫师和占卜者所能告诉大王的;
2:28 但是,在天上有一位启示奥秘的大主!他已将那日后要发生的事晓谕给大王。大王!你在床上脑中所得的梦,所见的神视是这样:
2:29 大王你睡在床上忽然想到日后所要发生的事,启示奥秘的那位,把要发生的事已晓谕给你。
2:30 这奥秘已启示给我,并非因为我比任何活人更有智慧,而只是为把梦兆告诉大王,叫你知道你心中的思念。」

详述梦境
2:31 「大王!你梦见一尊巨大的立像。这尊立像异常高大,非常光辉灿烂,立在君王面前,相貌可怕。
2:32 这尊立像,头是纯金的,胸和臂是银的,腹和股是铜的。
2:33 胫是铁的,脚一部份是铁,一部份是泥的。
2:34 大王,你在观望,忽有一块石头,未经手凿即滚下,击中了立像,把铁泥的脚,打得粉碎;
2:35 同时铁、泥、铜、银和金立即完全粉碎,有如夏天禾场上的糠秕,被风吹去,无踪无影;那块击碎立像的石头却变成了一座大山,占据了全地。」

详解梦兆
2:36 「梦是这样的,现在我们要给大王解释梦兆。
2:37 大王!你是王中之王,上天大主赐给了你领土、势力、权威和尊荣,
2:38 凡有人居住的地方,田野的走兽,天空的飞鸟,都交在你手中,由你统治这一切,你便是那属金的头。
2:39 在你以后,将兴起另一个比你稍弱的国家,以后兴起第三个国家,属铜,她要统辖大地;
2:40 相继而来的是第四个,坚强如铁的国家,就如铁能粉碎击破一切,这个国家也要如铁粉碎击破一切。
2:41 至于你见脚和趾,一部分是泥,一部分是铁,表示这个国家必要分裂,然而国内仍有铁的坚强,正如你见铁与泥相混一样。
2:42 脚趾一部分是铁,一部份是泥,表示这个国家一部分强,一部分弱。
2:43 你见铁与泥混合,是说他们要与其它人种相混合,但是彼此不能相合,就如铁不能与泥相混合一样。
2:44 在这些君王时代,上天的大主必要兴起一个永不灭亡的国家,她的王权也决不归于其它民族,她要粉碎和毁灭这一切邦国,惟独她永存弗替,
2:45 就如你所见那块未经手凿,即从山上滚下的石头,把铁、铜、泥、银和金打得粉碎一样。伟大的天主已晓谕了大王,今后将要发生的事。这梦是真实的,梦的解释也是正确的。」

达尼尔及同伴升官
2:46 拿步高于是俯首至地,叩拜达尼尔,下令给他奉上礼物和香品,
2:47 然后开口对达尼尔说:「的确,你们的天主是万神的天主,万王的主宰,奥秘的启示者,因为你能启示这个奥秘。」
2:48 王遂擢升达尼尔,赏赐他很多珍贵的礼品,派他治理巴比伦全省,做巴比伦所有智者的首领。
2:49 达尼尔要求君王委任沙得辣客、默沙耳和阿贝得乃哥掌管巴比伦省的政务;达尼尔自己却留在朝廷内。

 

 

第三章(100)

拿步高竖立金像
3:1 拿步高王制造了一尊高六十肘,宽六肘的金像,立在巴比伦省的杜辣平原上。
3:2 拿步高王就派人召集总督、省长、知县、参谋、司库、法官、警官和各省官长,前来参与拿步高立像的开光典礼。
3:3 于是总督、省长、知县、参谋、司库、法官、警官和各省官长都聚集前来,参与拿步高王立像的开光典礼,都站在拿步高立的像前。
3:4 传令官高声呼喊说:「各民族、各邦国、各异语人民!这是给你们下的令:
3:5 你们几时听到角、笙、琴、瑟、筝、箫及各种乐器齐奏,就当俯伏朝拜拿步高王立的金像。
3:6 凡不俯伏朝拜的,应当立刻投在烈火窑中。」
3:7 因此,当在场的人听见角、笙、琴、瑟、筝、箫及各种乐器齐奏时,各民族、各邦国、各异语人民便都俯伏朝拜了拿步高王所立的金像。

三青年不叩拜金像
3:8 当时,有几个加色丁人前来控告犹太人,
3:9 对拿步高王启奏说:「大王万岁!
3:10 大王!你发出了谕令,要所有听见角、笙、琴、瑟、筝、箫及各种乐器齐奏的人,都应立刻俯伏朝拜金像,
3:11 谁不俯伏朝拜,就应立即把他投入烈火窑中。
3:12 然而有几个你所委任管理巴比伦省政务的犹太人,即沙得辣客、默沙耳和阿贝得乃哥,大王!他们不尊重你的谕令,不恭敬你的神,也不朝拜你所立的金像。」
3:13 拿步高勃然大怒,遂下令传沙得辣客、默沙耳和阿贝得乃哥来;这几个人就被带到君王前,
3:14 拿步高便对他们说:「沙得辣客、默沙耳、阿贝得乃哥!你们是真存心不恭敬我的神,不朝拜我立的金像吗﹖
3:15 现在你们准备好,一听见角、笙、琴、瑟、筝、箫及各种乐器齐奏,就俯伏朝拜我制造的像;若是你们不朝拜,你们就立刻被投入烈火窑中,看有什么神能由我手中将你们救出﹖」
3:16 沙得辣客、默沙耳和阿贝得乃哥回答拿步高王说:「关于这事,我们无须回答;
3:17 如果我们所恭敬的天主肯救我们,大王!他必会救我们脱离火窑和脱离你的手;
3:18 如果他不肯,大王!你应当知道,我们仍然不愿意恭敬你的神,也不朝拜你所立的金像。」

三青年被投入火窑
3:19 拿步高一听这话,怒火填胸,立刻对沙得辣客、默沙耳和阿贝得乃哥变了脸,下令要人将火窑烧得比往常更热七倍,
3:20 又命军中的几个壮士将沙得辣客、默沙耳和阿贝得乃哥捆起来,投入烈火窑中。
3:21 这三个人穿著外氅、长袍、头巾和其它的衣服,被捆起来,投入烈火窑中。
3:22 由于君王的命令急迫,火窑又烧得猛烈,火焰反将投掷沙得辣客、默沙耳和阿贝得乃哥的那些人烧死了。
3:23 至于沙得辣客、默沙耳和阿贝得乃哥三个人,被捆着落入烈火窑中。

阿匝黎雅的祈祷
3:24 他们在火焰中来回走动,歌颂天主,赞美上主。
3:25 阿匝黎雅立在火焰中,开口这样祈祷说:「
3:26 上主,我们祖先的天主!你是可赞美,可称颂的!你的名应受尊荣,直到永远!
3:27 因为你对我们所行的一切是公义的,你的一切作为是信实的,你的一切道路是正直的,你的一切审判是正确的。
3:28 在你所加于我们和加于我们祖先的圣城耶路撒冷的一切事上,你执行了公正的审判:由于我们的罪过,你按照真理和正义使这一切事临于我们身上。
3:29 我们犯罪作恶,离弃了你,在一切事上犯了重罪,没有听从你的诫命,
3:30 也没有遵守,也没有执行你为我们的好处,给我们所吩咐的事。
3:31 因此你所加于我们的一切,和你对我们所行的一切,都是按照公正的审判而行的。
3:32 你将我们交在无法无天,邪妄无信的仇人手中,又将我们交于一位不义和全世界上最凶暴不仁的君王手中。
3:33 现在,我们那里还敢开口!你的仆人和恭敬你的人们,只有羞愧和耻辱。
3:34 为了你的名,求你不要永远拋弃我们,也不要废除你的盟约;
3:35 为了你的朋友亚巴郎,你的仆人依撒格和你的圣者以色列,求你不要使你的仁爱离开我们,
3:36 因为你曾向他们应许过,要使他们的后裔繁多,有如天上的星辰,海边的沙粒。
3:37 恩主啊!由于我们的罪过,我们比任何民族都渺小,我们今天在全世界上成了微贱的。
3:38 目前我们没有元首,没有先知,没有领袖,没有全燔祭,没有祭祀,没有供物,没有馨香祭,没有地方可以给你荐新,好蒙受你的仁爱。
3:39 但愿我们能借着忏悔的心和谦虚的精神蒙你悦纳,就如献上公羊和公牛的全燔祭,又如献上了万只肥羊;
3:40 这样也希望我们今天在你面前所行的祭献,能当作满全了我们对你应尽的义务,因为凡信赖你的,决不会蒙受羞辱。
3:41 现在我们全心随从你,敬畏你,寻求你的慈颜,望你不要使我们羞惭。
3:42 但愿你按照你的宽容和你无限的仁慈,善待我们,
3:43 以你的奇能拯救我们!上主,愿光荣归于你的名!
3:44 愿那些迫害你仆人的人们都蒙受羞辱,丧失他们的一切权势,使他们蒙受耻辱,粉碎他们的一切力量,
3:45 好叫他们认识你是上主,惟一无二的天主,在全世界上应受光荣。」

三青年安然无恙
3:46 那些将三青年投入火窑中的君王的仆役,仍不断用石油、沥青、麻屑和碎柴增加火势,
3:47 以致火焰自窑内上腾,高达四十九肘;
3:48 喷出的火焰竟将火窑周围的加色丁人,卷去烧死了。
3:49 但是上主的天使降到窑中,来到阿匝黎雅及他同伴身旁,把窑中的火焰推出,
3:50 使窑中彷佛吹起清凉的微风,火焰不但不能接近他们,且也不能给他们招来什么痛苦或烦恼。

三青年赞美上主歌
3:51 于是他们三人在火窑中同声歌颂、光荣、赞美天主说:「
3:52 上主,我们祖先的天主,你是可赞美的,应受称赞,应受颂扬,直到永远!你光荣的圣名,是可赞美的,应极受称赞,极受颂扬,直到永远。
3:53 在你光荣的圣殿中,你是可赞美的,应极受歌颂,极受光荣,直到永远!
3:54 在你王国的宝座上,你是可赞美的,应极受歌颂,应极受颂扬,直到永远!
3:55 你鉴察深渊,坐于革鲁宾之上,是可赞美的,应受歌颂,应受光荣,直到永远!
3:56 你在天空穹苍之上,是可赞美的,应受歌颂,应备受光荣,直到永远!
3:57 上主的一切化工,请赞美上主,歌颂称扬他,直到永远!
3:58 上主的天使,请赞美上主,歌颂称扬他,直到永远!
3:59 层层高天,请赞美上主,歌颂称扬他,直到永远!
3:60 天上的水,请赞美上主,歌颂称扬他,直到永远!
3:61 上主的军旅,请赞美上主,歌颂称扬他,直到永远。
3:62 太阳月亮,请赞美上主,歌颂称扬他,直到永远!
3:63 天上的星辰,请赞美上主,歌颂称扬他,直到永远!
3:64 雨和露,请赞美上主,歌颂称扬他,直到永远!
3:65 所有的风,请赞美上主,歌颂称扬他,直到永远!
3:66 火与热,请赞美上主,歌颂称扬他,直到永远!
3:67 寒和暑,请赞美上主,歌颂称扬他,直到永远!
3:68 露和霜,请赞美上主,歌颂称扬他,直到永远!
3:69 冻和冷,请赞美上主,歌颂称扬他,直到永远!
3:70 冰和雪,请赞美上主,歌颂称扬他,直到永远!
3:71 夜和昼,请赞美上主,歌颂称扬他,直到永远!
3:72 光和暗,请赞美上主,歌颂称扬他,直到永远!
3:73 闪和云,请赞美上主,歌颂称扬他,直到永远!
3:74 愿大地,赞美上主,歌颂称扬他,直到永远!
3:75 山岳丘陵,请赞美上主,歌颂称扬他,直到永远!
3:76 地上的生物,请赞美上主,歌颂称扬他,直到永远!
3:77 水泉水源,请赞美上主,歌颂称扬他,直到永远!
3:78 海洋江河,请赞美上主,歌颂称扬他,直到永远!
3:79 鲸鱼和水中所有生物,请赞美上主,歌颂称扬他,直到永远!
3:80 天空所有飞鸟,请赞美上主,歌颂称扬他,直到永远!
3:81 野兽家畜,请赞美上主,歌颂称扬他,直到永远。
3:82 普世人类,请赞美上主,歌颂称扬他,直到永远!
3:83 以色列子民,请赞美上主,歌颂称扬他,直到永远!
3:84 上主的众司祭,请赞美上主,歌颂称扬他,直到永远!
3:85 上主的众仆人,请赞美上主,歌颂称扬他,直到永远!
3:86 义人的心灵,请赞美上主,歌颂称扬他,直到永远!
3:87 圣洁和心谦的人,请赞美上主,歌颂称扬他,直到永远!
3:88 阿纳尼雅、阿匝黎雅和米沙耳,请赞美上主,歌颂称扬他,直到永远!因为他由阴府中救出了我们,从死亡的掌握中抢救了我们;由烈火窑中救出了我们,从火焰中拯救了我们。
3:89 你们要称谢上主,因为他是美善的,因为他的仁慈,永远常存!
3:90 凡敬拜上主的,请赞美众神之神,歌颂称扬他,因为他的仁慈,永远常存!」

承认真主
3:91 那时拿步高王十分惊慌,急忙站起,问他的臣仆说:「我们不是把他们三个人全捆起来拋入烈火窑中了吗﹖」仆人回答君王说:「大王,实在是!」
3:92 君王又问说:「怎么我看见有四个人无拘无束地在火中行走,丝毫没有受伤,而且那第四个人的外貌,彷佛是神的儿子。」
3:93 于是拿步高走近烈火窑口,说道:「至高天主的仆人沙得辣客、默沙耳、和阿贝得乃哥,你们出来罢!」沙得辣客、默沙耳和阿贝得乃哥即从火中出来。
3:94 省长、太守、总督和君王的臣仆一齐前来,查看这几个人,见烈火在他们身上一点不发生作用,连他们头上的一根头发都没有烧掉,他们的外氅也没有变色,他们身上也没有一点火的气味。
3:95 于是拿步高说道:「沙得辣客、默沙耳和阿贝得乃哥的天主,是可赞美的!他打发了自己的天使来,救护那些信赖自己的仆人,他们敢违背王命,宁愿捐躯,除自己的天主以外,不愿事奉叩拜其它任何神祇。
3:96 为此我今颁发诏书,无论那一个民族,那一邦国,那一个异语人民,凡对沙得辣客、默沙耳和阿贝得乃哥的天主敢出言不恭的,必被万剐凌迟,他们的住宅必成为废墟,因为没有其它的神能像他这样施行拯救。」
3:97 然后君王在巴比伦省擢升了沙得辣客、默沙耳和阿贝得乃哥。

拿步高的诏书
3:98 拿步高王诏告居于普世的各民族,各邦国及各异语人民说:「愿平安丰富地赐予你们!
3:99 至高天主对我所行的神迹奇事,我以为最好宣布出来。
3:100 他的神迹何其伟大,他的奇事何其可畏!他的王国是永远的王国,他的主权世世常存!

 

 

第四章(34)

详述梦境
4:1 我拿步高安居在家中,在宫内行乐的时候,
4:2 忽然做了一梦,这梦使我害怕;我当时在床上所有的幻想,脑中所有的异象,使我心慌意乱,
4:3 遂下了一道谕令,召巴比伦所有的智者到我面前来,给我解说那梦的意义。
4:4 巫师、术士、占星者、占卜者都来了,我当面给他们说出了那梦,但他们却不能给我解说那梦的意义。
4:5 最后,达尼尔来到我面前,-他按我神的名字,起名叫贝耳特沙匝,这人身上具有至圣神明的精神;我给他讲述梦说:「
4:6 巫师长贝耳特沙匝!我知道你这个人具有至圣神明的精神,没有什么奥秘可以难住你,请听我梦中所见的异象,给我一个解释:
4:7 我在床上脑中所有的异象是这样:我忽然看见从地中生出一棵树来,极其高大。
4:8 这棵树长的非常粗壮,高可摩天,大地四极都可见到;
4:9 树叶美丽,果实繁多,足以供养一切生灵,田野的走兽安息在它的荫下,空中的飞鸟栖息在它的枝杈上,一切生物都由它获得供养。
4:10 我在床上,在我脑海所得的异象中,我看见有一位守卫兼圣者自天降下,
4:11 他大声呼喊说:砍倒这棵树,砍断它的枝条,摇落它的叶子,打下它的果实,叫走兽离开它下面,叫飞鸟飞离它的枝杈,
4:12 但在地上只留下它根上的余干,用铁索和铜链将它捆住,放在田野的青草中,让他为露水浸湿,与田野的走兽分食地上的青草,
4:13 使他的心改变不像人心,给他一个兽心,在他身上要这样经历七段时期。
4:14 这是守卫者宣布的定案,这是圣者所出的命令,好使众生知道:是至高者统治世人的国家,他将国权愿意给谁,就给谁;他可以将人间最卑贱的立为最高者。
4:15 这是我拿步高王所做的梦。现在,贝耳特沙匝!请你给我说出这梦的意义,因为我国内所有的智者,都不能使我知道这梦的意义,只有你能,因为只有你具有至圣神明的精神。

达尼尔详解梦意
4:16 名叫贝特沙匝的达尼尔,一时愕然,他想象的事,使他恐惧;君王于是说道:「贝耳特沙匝!不要为这梦和这梦的意义心乱!」贝耳特沙匝回答说:「我的主上!愿这梦应验在仇恨你的人身上,愿这梦的朕兆应验在你的敌人身上!
4:17 你所见的那棵树,长的非常粗大,高可摩天,大地四极都可见到,
4:18 树叶美丽,果实繁多,足以供养一切生灵,田野的走兽安息在它的荫下,空中的飞鸟栖息在它的枝条上。
4:19 大王!那树就是你,你长得高大强壮,你的伟大高可摩天,你的权势达于地极。
4:20 至于大王所见的那位警卫兼圣者自天降下说:砍倒、毁灭这棵树!只在地上留下它根子的余干,用铁索和铜链将它捆住,放在田野的青草中,让他为露水浸湿,与田野的走兽分食,这样在他身上直到经历了七段时期。-
4:21 大王!这是那梦的意义,这是要临到我主,大王身上的至高者的判决:
4:22 你将由人间被驱逐,与田野的走兽为伍,你吃草如同牛一样,为露水浸湿,要这样经历七段时期,直到你承认至高者统治世人的国度,愿意给谁,就给谁。
4:23 至于所说在地中只留下树根的余干,是说到你承认上天统治一切时,你的国仍再归于你。
4:24 为此,大王!望你接纳我的劝告:厉行正义,补赎罪过,怜贫济困,以抵偿不义;如此你的福乐或许可得延长。」

梦境的应验
4:25 这一切都临在拿步高王身上:
4:26 十二个月以后,王在巴比伦王宫的楼台上散步时,
4:27 自言自语说:「这不是我以大能大力,为彰显我的威荣而建为王都的大巴比伦吗﹖」
4:28 这些话君王还未说出口,便有声音从天上传来说:「拿步高王!现在有话告诉你:你的王位已被人夺去了!
4:29 你要由人间被驱逐,与田野的走兽为伍,你要吃草如同牛一样,这样,在你身上经历七段时期,直到你承认至高者统治世人的国度,他愿意给谁,就给谁。」
4:30 这话立即在拿步高身上应验了:他被逐离开了人群,吃草如同牛一样,他的身体为露水浸湿,直到他的头发长得有如鹰的羽翼,指甲有如鸟的爪子。

君王知过复位
4:31 这期限过了以后,我拿步高举目望天,我的理智恢复了常态,我立刻称谢至高者,赞美颂扬永生者,因为他的主权永远常存,他的王国世世常在。
4:32 地上的一切居民为他等于虚无,他对天上的军旅和地上的居民随意而行,没有能阻止他的,或问他说:你作什么﹖
4:33 就在那一时刻,我的理智恢复了常态,恢复了我王国的光荣,仍享威严富贵,我的朝臣和大官仍前来求见;我的国又归我所有,并且也给我增加了极大的权势。
4:34 现在,我拿步高要称颂、赞扬和光荣天上的君王,因为他的一切作为是真理,他的道路是正义;凡行动傲慢的,他都能压伏。」

 

 

第五章(30)

亵渎圣器
5:1 贝耳沙匝王为大员千人摆设了盛筵,并与千人宴饮。
5:2 贝耳沙匝乘着酒兴,命人将他父亲拿步高从耶路撒冷殿中劫掠的金银器皿取来,给君王和他的大员并自己的妻妾用来饮酒。
5:3 于是人把从耶路撒冷天主殿宇圣所内劫掠的金银器皿取来,给君王和他的大员并妻妾用来饮酒;
5:4 大家一面饮酒,一面赞扬自己用金、银、铜、铁、木、石制的神像。

怪手写字
5:5 正在此时,忽然出现了一个人的手指,在灯台后面王宫的粉墙上写字,君王也看见了那写字的手掌。
5:6 当时君王的面色立即改变,心意烦乱,两腰关节松弛,两膝互相碰击,
5:7 君王遂大声喊叫,命召术士、占星者和占卜者来;君王就向巴比伦的智者说:不论谁,如能阅读这些字,给我解说其中的意义,就必身被绛袍,带上金项链,位居全国第三。
5:8 巴比伦所有的智者都来了,却没有一个人能阅读那些文字,也不能给君王说明所含有的意义。
5:9 因此贝耳沙匝王极其惊慌,面色大变,他的大臣也都不知所措。

太后举荐达尼尔
5:10 太后听到了君王和大臣们的喧哗声,遂进入坐席的大厅,启奏说:「大王万岁!你不要心慌意乱,面容也不必改变;
5:11 你国内现有一个人,具有至圣神明的精神,你父亲在日,已发见他具有真知灼见,智慧如神。你父亲拿步高王,曾立他为所有巫师、术士、占星者和占卜者的首领,
5:12 就因为在他身上具有一种卓越的精神、学识和聪敏,能详解梦境,释谜破惑;君王就将他达尼尔的名字改作贝耳特沙匝。现在就召达尼尔前来,他必能说出其中的意义。」

君王命召达尼尔
5:13 于是达尼尔被引到王前,问达尼尔说:「你就是我父王昔日由犹大掳来的犹大俘虏中的达尼尔吗﹖
5:14 我听说你有神的精神,具有真知灼见,和卓越的智慧。
5:15 方才智者和术士被引至我前,要他们念这些文字,给我说明其中的意义,但是他们却都不能给我解释这些文字的意义。
5:16 我听说你能解疑释难,现在你若能念这些文字,给我说明其中的意义,你就要身披绛袍,带上金项链,位居全国第三。」

达尼尔责斥君王的罪过
5:17 达尼尔回答君王说:「你的礼物仍归你所有,你的酬报可赏给他人,至于我,我仍要给大王念这些文字,使大王得知其中的含义。
5:18 大王!至高者天主曾将国家、威权、光荣和尊严赏赐了你的父亲拿步高;
5:19 由于天主赏赐了他这样大的威权,各民族,各邦国,各异语人民,在他面前无不震惊害怕;他愿意杀的就杀,他愿意活的就活,他愿意升的就升,他愿意贬的就贬。
5:20 但在他心高气傲,目空一切的时候,便从王位上被推下来,丧失了自己的光荣,
5:21 由人间被驱逐,他的心相似兽心,与野驴为为伍,吃草如同牛一样;他的身体为露水浸湿,直到他承认至高者天主统治世人的国度,他愿意给谁统治,就给谁。
5:22 贝耳沙匝!你是他的儿子,虽然你知道这一切,但是你仍不低首下心,
5:23 反而自高自大,抵抗上天的大主,命人将他殿宇的器皿给你拿来,供你和你的大臣并你的妻妾用来饮酒,并且你赞美那些不能看,不能听,不能知的金、银、铜、铁、木、石制的神像,却不知尊崇那掌握你的气息,注定你一切命途的天主。
5:24 为此,他使一只手掌出现,写了这些字。
5:25 写出来的这些字是:「默乃,默乃,特刻耳,培勒斯。」
5:26 这些字的含义是:「默乃:」天主数了你的国祚,使它完结;「
5:27 特刻耳:」你在天平上被衡量了,不够分量;「
5:28 培勒斯:」你的国被瓜分了,给了玛待人和波斯人。」
5:29 于是贝耳沙匝下令,给达尼尔披上绛袍,带上金项链,并宣布他位居全国第三。
5:30 当夜加色丁王贝耳沙匝即为人所杀。

 

 

第六章(29)

达尼尔任监察史
6:1 玛待人达理阿承受了王位,那时他约六十二岁。
6:2 他认为更好在国内设立一百二十个总督,分治全国;
6:3 在这些总督之上另设三位监察史-达尼尔便是其中之一-各总督应向他们述职,这样可免君王烦劳。
6:4 这位达尼尔,由于他具有超凡的精神,办事胜过其它监察史和总督,所以君王有意立他治理全国。

达尼尔遭受嫉视
6:5 因此监察史和总督,竭力在达尼尔处理国事上,寻找机会陷害他,却总不能找到任何可控告他的事实和过失,因为达尼尔忠信可靠,所以在他身上总找不到任何疏忽和过错。
6:6 于是这些人说道:「我们若不在他的神的法律上寻找,就找不到陷害达尼尔的任何事。」
6:7 这些监察史和总督,便群集到君王前,对君王说:「达理阿大王,万岁!
6:8 国内的众监察史、知县、总督、大臣和省长,都计议请下一道诏书,立一禁令:三十天内,凡不向你大王,而向任何神祇或任何人祈求的,应将他投入狮子圈内。
6:9 大王!请你现在就立刻下这道禁令,签署这项文告,人就不能再更改,因为按玛待人和波斯人的法律,那是不可更改的。」
6:10 达理阿遂签署了这文告禁令。

被投入狮圈
6:11 达尼尔一知道君王签署了这项文告,便回了家。他楼房的窗户是向着耶路撒冷开的-他每天仍照常三次屈膝跪拜,祈求称谢自己的天主,如往日所行的一样。
6:12 那些人群集前来,看见达尼尔正在自己的天主前祈求哀祷,
6:13 他们遂去见君王,向他提及禁令说:「陛下不是签署了这样的一道禁令:三十天内,凡不向大王,而向任何神祇或任何人祈求的,应将他投入狮子圈内吗﹖」君王回答说:「确有此事!照玛待人和波斯人的法律是不可更改的。」
6:14 他们便对君王说道:「大王!犹大俘虏中的那个达尼尔,竟然不介意陛下和陛下所签署的禁令,仍照常一日三次自作祈祷。」
6:15 君王听了这些话,十分难过,有心要救达尼尔,君王直到日落要设法解救他。
6:16 但是那些人又群集到君王前,对君王说:「大王!陛下要知道玛待人和波斯人的法律:凡君王所立的禁令和法令,是不可更改的。」
6:17 君王于是下令,将达尼尔逮捕投入狮子圈内。君王对达尼尔说:「愿你恒心恭敬的天主拯救你!」
6:18 遂即移了一块大石,封住圈口,君王盖上自己的御玺,大臣们盖上自己的印章,免得达尼尔的案件发生意外的变化。

狮子不伤害先知
6:19 然后君王回了王宫,整夜绝食,断绝娱乐,并彻夜失眠未睡。
6:20 清晨,天一亮,君王便起来,急速往狮子圈去了,
6:21 一来到狮子圈旁,就哀声呼喊,向达尼尔说道:「永生天主的仆人达尼尔!你恒心恭敬的天主真能由狮子口里拯救你吗﹖」
6:22 达尼尔遂对君王说:「大王万岁!
6:23 我的天主曾打发他的天使闭住狮子的口,一点没有伤害我,因为我在他面前是无罪的;大王!我即在陛下面前,也从没有做过什么伤害人的事。」
6:24 君王非常高兴,遂下令将达尼尔从狮子圈里提出来。达尼尔便从狮子圈里被提出来,他身上丝毫没有受到损伤,因为他信赖了自己的天主。
6:25 君王遂下令逮捕那些控告达尼尔的人,将他们和他们的儿子、妻子,都投入狮子圈里,他们还没有到狮子圈底,狮子就向他们扑来,捉住他们,将他们的骨头全咬碎了。

诏示全国敬畏上主
6:26 达理阿于是诏告居民于普世的各民族,各邦国及各异语人民说:「愿平安常与你们同在!
6:27 我今颁发诏书,谕令我所统辖的全国人民,都应在达尼尔的天主前起敬起畏,因为他是生活永在的天主,他的国永不灭亡,他的王权永远常存。
6:28 他拯救施援,在天上地下实行神迹奇事;是他拯救达尼尔脱免狮子的爪牙。」
6:29 这位达尼尔就这样在达理阿和波斯人居鲁士为王时,事事亨通。

 

 

后编 神视叙述(7-12)

第七章(28)

神见四巨兽
7:1 巴比伦王贝尔沙匝元年,达尼尔睡在床上,作了一梦,在脑海里见了一些异象;他遂写下那梦,记述了这事的始末。
7:2 达尼尔说道:我夜间见了一个异象:看见天上忽然起了四股巨风,震荡了大海,
7:3 遂有四种巨兽从海中出来,各有不同的形状:
7:4 第一个相似狮子,具有鹰的翅膀;我观看,直至看见它的翅膀被拔去,由地上被举起来,两脚直立像一个人,且给了它一颗人心。
7:5 又看见另一个兽,就是第二个,相似熊,半身侧立,口内牙齿间衔着三根肋骨;有人吩咐它说:「起来,大量吞食肉罢!」
7:6 后来我又观看,看见另有一兽,相似豹子,有四个头,背上有四只鸟的翅膀,且赐给了它统治权。
7:7 此后,我在夜间的神视中观看,看见第四个兽,非常可怕,极其凶猛,有巨大的铁牙,吞噬咬碎,又把剩余的用脚践踏;它与以前各兽不同,尚有十只角。
7:8 我定睛注视这些角时,看见在那些角中又生出另一只小角,在这小角前面,以前的角中有三只角竟被连根拔除;看,小角上还有眼睛,相似人的眼睛,有一个夸大的口。

天上的法庭
7:9 我观望,直到安置了宝座,上面坐着一位万古常存者,他的衣服洁白如雪,他的头发洁白如羊毛,他的宝座好似火焰,宝座的轮子如同烈火。
7:10 一道火河涌出,从他面前流下,有千万服事他的,有亿兆侍立在他面前的,审判者已坐堂,案卷已展开。
7:11 那时,我因那只角说出大话而注意观望,一直观望到那兽被杀,它的尸体被撕毁,被投入火内。
7:12 至于其余的兽,他们的统治权被剥夺;至于它们的寿命,也被注定直到某一个时候和期限。
7:13 我仍在夜间的神视中观望;看见一位相似人子者,乘着天上的云彩而来,走向万古常存者,遂即被引到他面前。
7:14 他便赐给似人子者统治权、尊荣和国度,各民族、各邦国及各异语人民都要侍奉他;他的王权是永远的王权,永存不替,他的国度永不灭亡。

解释异象的意义
7:15 我达尼尔,因此心中忧愁,我所见的异象使我烦乱,
7:16 我遂走近一位侍者,问他关于这一切事的实情;他便告诉了我,使我知道这些事的意义说:「
7:17 这四个巨兽就是将在世界上兴起的四个君王;
7:18 但至高者的圣民要承受王国,永远占有,直至万世万代。」
7:19 当时我又想知道有关那第四个兽的实情,因为它与众不同,非常可怕,它的牙是铁的,爪是铜的,吞噬咬碎,又把剩余的用脚践踏。
7:20 我又愿意知道它头上的那十只角及生于其中的那另一只角,即那只使三只角堕于它前的角,这角还有眼睛,有夸大的口,并且它的形状比其余的角都大。
7:21 我观看,看见这只角正在与圣民交战,竟战胜了他们,
7:22 直到万古常存者降来,为至高者的圣民伸冤,于是期限到了,而众圣民取得了国权。
7:23 侍者告诉我说:「这第四个兽就是将在世界上兴起的地四个国,她与其它各国不同,她要并吞、蹂躏且粉碎天下。
7:24 至于那十只角,即指将由此国而兴起的十个君王;他们以后,将兴起另一位君王,他与以前者不同,他要制胜三个君王,
7:25 他要说亵渎至高者的话,企图消灭至高者的圣民,擅自改变节庆和法律;圣民将被交在他手中,直到一段时期,另两段时期和半段时期;
7:26 然后审判者要坐堂,夺去他的统治权,将他永远消灭,
7:27 将王国的统治权和天下万邦的尊威,赐给至高者的圣民:他的国是永远的国,一切邦国都要服事他,顺从他。
7:28 此事叙述至此结束,我达尼尔心中十分烦乱,面色都改变了,但我仍将此事存在心中。

 

 

第八章(27)

公绵羊与公山羊相争的异象
8:1 贝尔沙匝王在位第三年,在以前显现给我的异象之后,又有异象显现给我达尼尔。
8:2 我观看这异象;我观看时,恍惚见我在厄蓝省的稣撒禁城;在神视中,我恍惚见我在乌来河畔。
8:3 我举目仰视,看见有一只公绵羊站在河畔,它有两只角,这两只角都很高,但一只角却高于另一只角,且那较高的是较晚长出来的。
8:4 我见那只公绵羊向西、向北、向南抵撞,走兽中没有能抵御它,能摆脱它势力的;它任意行事,自高自大。
8:5 我定睛注视之时,看见有一只公山羊由西而来,跑遍天下而脚不着地;这只公山羊在两眼之间,有一只显著的角。
8:6 它来到我所见立在河畔而有两只角的公绵羊那里,就愤怒地猛力向它冲去。
8:7 我见它走近公绵羊前愤怒地抵撞它,将它的双角撞断,那公绵羊就再无力抵抗,公山羊把它击倒在地,用脚践踏,竟没有谁能救公绵羊摆脱它的势力。
8:8 后来这公只公山羊长的极其强大;正当它极强大的时候,它那只高大的角被折断了,代替这角而生出来的是四只卓绝的角,向着天下四方:
8:9 其中之一又生出一小角来,长得极其高大,向南、向东,亦向着光华之地。
8:10 这角逐渐增高,直达天上的万象,且把一些天象和星宿打落在地,加以蹂躏。
8:11 他又自高自大,直达天象之君,取消了他的日常祭,破坏了他的圣所,且加以劫掠;
8:12 又在献日常祭处,安放了罪孽,将真理拋弃于地;他如此作了,也成功了。
8:13 我听见一位圣者在说话,另一位圣者问那说话的说:「关于废除日常祭,招致毁灭的罪孽,圣所和天军遭蹂躏的异象,要延长到何时呢﹖」
8:14 那说话的回答他说:「要延长二千三百昼夜,以后圣所再要恢复原状。」

异象的意义
8:15 我达尼尔见了这异象之后,便渴望明了其中的意义;看见有一个外貌像人的立在我面前,
8:16 同时我听见在乌来河中间有人的声音呼喊说:「加俾额尔!给这人解说这异象罢!」
8:17 他便向我站立的地方走来;我见他来近,就害怕起来,俯伏在地;他对我说:「人子,你要明白!这异象是关于末世时期的。」
8:18 他与我说话时,我就昏迷过去了,脸伏于地上;他抚摸了我,使我起来,站在原处。
8:19 他说:「看,我要把在盛怒末期将要发生的事告诉你,因为这事是关于末期的。
8:20 你所见具有两角的公绵羊是玛待和波斯君王,
8:21 多毛的公山羊是雅汪君王,它两眼之间高大的角是第一位君王,
8:22 代替被折断的脚而另生出的四只角,是指由他的民族中崛起的四个王国,但没有前一个那样强盛。
8:23 在他们王国的末期,恶贯满盈之时,要兴起一位面貌凶恶,诡计多端的君王。
8:24 他必势力强大,但那力量不是出于自己;他却有惊人的破坏力,他所行的无不成功,要摧毁强有力者和圣民,
8:25 凭自己的机智必攻击圣民,靠自己的权术获得成功;他心中妄自尊大,趁人不备而毁灭许多人民,且起而攻击万君之君,但终于未经人手而自趋崩溃。
8:26 关于所说的昼夜数目的异象,是真实的,但你对这异象要保守秘密,因为是关于遥远日期的事而说的。」
8:27 我达尼尔疲惫患病数日,然后才起来处理君王的政务。我对这异象仍惊奇不已,因我不能明白其中的意义。

 

 

第九章(27)

达尼尔注意耶肋米亚的预言
9:1 玛待族的薛西斯的儿子达理阿作加色丁国的君王第一年,
9:2 在他为王元年,我达尼尔注意了经书中上主对耶肋米亚先知有关年数所说的话,即关于耶路撒冷的荒芜应满七十年的事。
9:3 我面向吾主天主,以祈祷、恳求、禁食、穿苦衣,顶灰尘,求问他。

达尼尔的祈祷
9:4 我哀求上主我的天主而认罪说:「哎!吾主,伟大可敬畏的天主!你对那些爱你和遵守你诫命的人,必守约施恩。
9:5 我们犯了罪,行了不义,作恶反叛,离弃了你的诫命和法令。
9:6 我们没有听从你的众仆人先知,因你的名向我们的君王,我们的首长,我们的祖先,和全国人民所说的话。
9:7 吾主,正义归于你!而满面羞愧归于我们,就如今日归于犹大人民,归于耶路撒冷的居民,归于所有不忠于你而被你驱至各地或远或近的以色列人一样。
9:8 吾主,满面羞愧归于我们,归于我们的君王,归于我们的首长以及我们的祖先,因为我们犯罪得罪了你,
9:9 然而慈悲和宽宥应归于上主我们的天主,因为我们实在都背叛了他,
9:10 没有听从上主我们天主的劝告,也没有遵行他借自己的仆人众先知,向我们所宣示的训令。
9:11 以色列人实在全都违犯离弃了你的法律,没有听从你的声音;因此,在天主的仆人梅瑟的法律上,所记载的咒骂和诅咒,都倾注在我们身上了,因为我们犯罪得罪了他,
9:12 所以他履行了他对我们和管理我们的官长所说的话:使我们遭受了普天下从未遭受过像耶路撒冷所遭受的这样大的灾难,
9:13 全如梅瑟法律上所记载的。这一切灾祸都降在我们身上,而我们仍不想平息上主我们天主的义怒,远离我们的罪恶,明白你的真理;
9:14 因此上主注视着灾祸,好把它降在我们身上,因为上主我们的天主,在所行的一切作为上是正义的,只是我们仍未听他的声音。
9:15 吾主,我们的天主!你曾以你强有力的手,领你的人民出了埃及地,而彰显了你的名声,有如今日;我们现今却仍然犯罪作恶。
9:16 吾主,求你照你所有的仁义,使你的忿怒和愤恨离开你的城耶路撒冷,即你的圣山;因为,由于我们的罪过和我们祖先的罪恶,耶路撒冷和你的人民已成了我们四邻的笑柄。
9:17 所以,现在,我们的天主!愿你俯听你仆人的祈祷和哀求!吾主,为了你自己的缘故,再以你的慈颜光照你现已荒凉的圣所。
9:18 我的天主!求你侧耳俯听,睁眼垂视我们的废墟,和属你名下的城市!我们将我们的哀祷呈于你前,不是因我们的正义,而只是依赖你的大慈大悲。
9:19 吾主,求你俯听!吾主,求你宽宥!吾主,求你垂听,迅速实行!为了你自己的缘故,我的天主,你不要再迟延,因为你的城和你的人民,是属你名下的。」

加俾额尔再次显现
9:20 我还在陈诉、祈祷和承认我罪及我人民以色列的罪,并为天主的圣山,将我的哀祷陈于上主我的天主面前时,
9:21 即我还在祈祷倾诉之际,约在晚祭时,先前我在异象中所见的那似人的加俾额尔,急速再向我飞来;
9:22 他一来到,就对我说:「达尼尔!我现在显现出来,是为叫你完全明白,
9:23 当你开始哀求时,便有话传出,要我前来通知你,因为你是个极可爱的人;所以你应该注意这话,理解这异象!」

七十星期的预言
9:24 「关于你的人民,和你的圣城已注定了七十个星期,为终止过犯,为结束罪恶,为赔补不义,为带来永远的正义,为应验神视和预言,为给至圣者傅油。
9:25 你应该知道,也应该明白:自从颁发重建耶路撒冷的命令,直到受傅的君王,共是七个星期;再经六十二个星期,城邑的广场和沟渠,要重新建起来,且是在困难之时;
9:26 六十二个星期之后,一位受傅者虽然无罪,却要被杀害,且那将要来临的首领的民族要破坏这城和圣所,但他的结局是在洪流中;直到末期要有战争,及决定了的毁灭。
9:27 在一个星期内,他要与许多人订立盟约;在半个星期内,他要使祭祀和供物停止,在圣所内要设立那招致荒凉的可憎之物,直到决定了的毁灭倾注在破坏者的身上。」

 

 

第十章(21)

达尼尔获得可怕的启示
10:1 波斯王居鲁士第三年,那名叫贝耳特沙匝的达尼尔得了一个启示,这启示是真实的,是有关一场大战的事;达尼尔注意了这事,也明白了这异象。
10:2 在这些日子里,我达尼尔忧闷了三个星期,
10:3 我食不知味,酒肉也没有沾过唇,也没有用油抹过身,直到满了三个星期。

天使的显现
10:4 正月二十四日,我在底格里斯大河边时,
10:5 我举目观望:看见有一个人身穿麻衣,腰束敖非尔金带,
10:6 他的身体好象碧玉,他的面容好似闪电,他的眼睛有如火炬,他的手臂和腿有如磨光了的铜,他说话的声音彷佛群众的喧嚷。
10:7 惟独我达尼尔看见了这异象,随从我的人都没有看见,只有一种巨大的恐怖临到他们身上,因而他们都逃避隐藏了。
10:8 只留下我一个人,独自观看这巨大的异象;我顿时全身无力,容貌改变,面色苍白,没有一点气力,
10:9 但仍能听到他说话的声音;一听到他说话的声音,我就昏迷过去,俯伏在地。
10:10 忽然有一只手触摸我,使我用膝和手掌勉强支持,
10:11 然后他对我说:「达尼尔,最可爱的人!你要明白我对你所说的话!你站起来,因为我现在是被派到你这里来的。」他对我说这话时,我站立起来,浑身战栗。
10:12 他又对我说:「达尼尔,你不要害怕!因为自从你下决心要明白此事,在你的天主前,自卑自贱的第一天以来,你的祈祷就得蒙应允,我就是因你的祈祷而来的。
10:13 但是波斯国的护守天使却反对我,使我在波斯国护守天使那里滞留了二十一天,后来忽有总领护守天使之一的弥额尔前来协助我,
10:14 我才来了,为叫你明白,你的百姓在末日所要遭遇的事,因为这神视是有关那未来之日的。」

天使启示神视的意义
10:15 他对我说这些话时,我俯首至地,哑口无言。
10:16 忽然有个像人子的手,触摸了我的唇,我便开口向那站在我面前的说道:「我主!由于这异象,我又感到非常痛苦,没有一点气力。
10:17 我主的这个仆人如何能同我主说话﹖因为我现在全身无力,连呼吸也没有了。」
10:18 那像人子的又抚摸了我,坚固我,
10:19 说:「极可爱的!不要害怕!愿你平安!鼓起勇气,振作精神!」他一对我说话,我立刻觉得有了力量,于是我说:「我主,请你发言罢!因为你坚固了我。」
10:20 他于是说:「你知道我为什么到你这里来﹖现在我要回去,同波斯的护守天使交战。我一去,希腊的护守天使就会前来。
10:21 我要把载于真理书上的事告诉你。除了你们的护守天使弥额尔外,没有前来协助我的。

 

 

第十一章(45)
11:1 玛待人达理阿王元年,他前来坚固我,协助我。

有关波斯的启示
11:2 现在我要把真事告诉你:看,在波斯还要兴起三位君王,第四位要拥有大量的财富,远远超过以前所有的君王;他因财富而强盛,于是煽动万国对抗雅汪国。

亚历山大帝国的分裂
11:3 以后要兴起一位英勇的君王,他独掌大权,统治一切,为所欲为。
11:4 但当他极盛的时候,他的国必要瓦解,他的天下必要四分五裂,而不归于他的后裔;也没有相似他所有的统治权,他的国必要灭亡,归属不是他后裔的外人。

埃及和叙利亚时战时和
11:5 南方的君王要强盛起来,但他的将领中,有一个比他更强的要获得政权;他王国的势力非常强大。
11:6 几年以后,他们要缔结同盟,南方君王的公主要嫁给北方的君王,以求修好;但是她得不到势力,她和她所生的也不能久存;她和她的侍从,她的儿子以及辅助她的都要被杀害。到那时,
11:7 必从她根上出生一个嫩枝,继承父位;他必兴师出征,进入北方君王的保垒,将他们击败,获得胜利;
11:8 并将他们的神像、铸像和金银宝器劫往埃及,从此数年之久与北方的君王对峙;
11:9 但北方的君王终要侵入南方君王的国土,事后仍返回本国。
11:10 他的儿子必要备战,招募强大的劲旅,亲自出征;冲过时,相似洪水泛滥;他必猛攻,直逼敌军的保垒。
11:11 南方的君王必然大怒,出师与北方的君王交战,北方的君王也必调集大军,但这支大军必被交在敌方手中。
11:12 这支大军被掳去以后,南方的君王便心高气傲,不过他虽击毙千万大军,仍不能强盛,
11:13 因为北方君王必再调集大军,比以前更为庞大,数年以后,再率领大军,带着大量的辎重,出征南下。
11:14 那时,将有许多人起来攻击南方君王,你百姓中的匪徒也要起来,为应验异象,但他们终必失败。
11:15 北方的君王就前来,兴建壁垒,攻取坚城,南方的军队不能抵抗,连精锐的部队也无力抵御。
11:16 来攻南方君王的,必任意而行,没有人能抵抗;他还要立足在华丽之地,破坏之权也操在他手中。
11:17 他企图征服整个南国,遂与南方君王立约通婚,将自己的女儿嫁给他,好倾覆他的国,但是他的企图没有成功,也没有见效。
11:18 此后,他要转向各岛屿,占据了许多岛屿;但有一个将官要阻止他的蛮横,使他的蛮横害了自己。
11:19 他遂转身回到他国内的保垒里,终于一蹶不振,从此消失不见。
11:20 以后另有一人代他兴起,他要派横征暴敛的人遍行国内华丽之地,但他没有过几天,就丧了命,不是由于叛变,也不是由于作战。

厄丕法乃篡位无道
11:21 这以后,将有一个下贱的人代他兴起;原来人没有将治国的权力授给他,他却乘人不备,以阴谋篡夺了王位。
11:22 来进攻他的大军要被他完全击溃,同盟之君也要被击败。
11:23 有人与他联合,他即施行骗术;他借助少数的人民,就渐渐强大起来。
11:24 他又乘人不备,侵入省内肥沃之区,实行他祖先及他祖先的祖先所未行过的事,将战利品、掠夺物和财产分给自己的党羽;又策划阴谋进攻保垒,但只到某一限期。

出征埃及
11:25 他要竭尽自己的精力,鼓起勇气,率领大军进攻南方君王;南方君王亦率领极强大的劲旅奋起迎战,但无法抵御,因为有人筹划阴谋陷害他;
11:26 那些破坏他的,正是吃他饭的人;他的劲旅将溃不成军,伤亡的极多。
11:27 两位君王都存心不良,同坐一桌,各说谎话,而毫无成就,因为必须到所定的时期,才有结局。
11:28 北方的君王却要带着大量的财物返回本国;他既存心与圣约作对,也必采取行动,然后才回国。

二次出征埃及
11:29 到了预定的时期,他必再度南征,但是第二次却不如第一次,
11:30 因为此次基廷的船必来攻击他,他只得惊慌而归。

迫害犹太教

他遂迁怒于圣约,任意妄为;回去以后,他必重用那些背弃圣约的人士。
11:31 那些迎合他意思的军队,也去亵渎圣所的保垒,废除日常祭,在那里设立了那招致荒凉的可憎之物。
11:32 至于那些作恶违犯圣约的人士,他要用诈术使他们更加败坏,但那认识自己天主的人民必也更加坚强有力。
11:33 民间贤明之士必要训诲民众,但他们有很多日子要受刀剑、烈火、充军和劫掠的迫害。
11:34 在他们受迫害时,稍微得到一些援助,但是有许多人却怀着奸诈的心与他们联合。
11:35 有些贤明之士要受迫害,是为锻炼、洗涤和洁净他们,直到时期结束,因为预定的时期尚未来到。

妄自尊大无法无天
11:36 这位君王要任意妄为,妄自尊大,高举自己在众神之上,要发出怪谬的言论,反抗万神之神,他暂时行事顺利,直到天主的义怒泄尽,因为天主决定的事必要应验。
11:37 他不尊重自己祖先的神,也不尊重妇女们所爱的神,他不尊重任何神明,因为他将自己高举在一切之上;
11:38 却去敬拜保垒之神,以金银、宝石和珍品恭奉他祖先所不认识的神。
11:39 他要凭借外神的助佑,攻击坚固的保垒;凡附和他的,他必增加他们的光荣,使他们治理民众,分封土地,做为赏报。

可悲的结局
11:40 到末期,南方的君王将要与他交战;北方的君王也要率领战车、骑兵和许多战舰,像旋风般向他还击,侵入他的国土;所经之地,有如洪水破堤。
11:41 他要侵入华丽之地,千万人要丧亡,但是厄东、摩阿布和大部分阿孟子民,却要逃脱他的手。
11:42 他又要伸手攻击各国,埃及地亦不能幸免;
11:43 他要占有金银府库和埃及的一切宝物。利比亚和雇士人也要来与他联合。
11:44 但是来自东方和北方的消息要使他震惊;他遂怀着盛怒去讨伐,要将许多人杀尽灭绝。
11:45 他要在海洋和美丽圣山之间,支搭他堂皇的帐幕,但此时已到了他的末日,已没有任何人能援助他。

 

 

第十二章(13)

义人的最后胜利
12:1 那时保佑你国家子民的伟大护守天使弥额尔必要起来;那将是一个灾难的时期,是自开国以来,直到那时从未有过的;那时,你的人民,凡是名录在那书上的,都必得救。
12:2 许多长眠于尘土中的人,要醒起来:有的要入于永生,有的要永远蒙羞受辱。
12:3 贤明之士要发光有如穹苍的光辉;那些引导多人归于正义的人,要永远发光如同星辰。
12:给达尼尔的最后训谕
12:4 至于你,达尼尔!你要隐藏这些话,密封这部书,直到末期;将有许多人要探讨,因而智识必要增长。

两位天使的神视
12:5 那时我达尼尔观望:看见另有两位天使,一位站在河岸这边,一位站在河岸那边。
12:6 我就问那身穿细麻衣,站在河水上的人说:「几时这些奇事才会实现呢﹖」
12:7 我听见那身穿细麻衣,站在河水上的人向天举起左手及右手,指着永生者起誓说:「的确,这事必须经过一段时期,另两段时期和半段时期:直到摧残圣民的势力终止时,这一切事才要实现。」

达尼尔欲知详情
12:8 我听了以后,仍不明白,便问说:「我主!这些事的结局究竟怎样﹖」
12:9 他回答说:「达尼尔,你去罢!因为这些事隐藏密封,直到末期。
12:10 将有许多人要使自己纯洁清白,并受锻炼,而恶人却要更加作恶;凡作恶的人不能明白,惟有贤明之士才能明白。

迫害的期限
12:11 自从废弃日常祭,设立那招致荒凉的可憎之物的时候起,必要经历一千二百九十天。
12:12 凡能守候直到一千三百三十五天的,是有福的。
12:13 你应去等候末期,好好安息罢!到末日,你要起来接受你的福分。」

 

附录

第十三章(64)

苏撒纳的家世
13:1 从前有一个人住在巴比伦,名叫约雅金,
13:2 他娶了一个妻子名叫苏撒纳,是希耳克雅的女儿;这女子非常美丽,而且敬畏上主,
13:3 原来她的父母都是义人,常按照梅瑟的法律教育了自己的女儿。
13:4 约雅金是个很富有的人,靠近他的住宅有一个果园;由于他比众人更有声望,犹太人经常到他那里集会。

两个邪恶的长老
13:5 那一年,有两个长老由人民选为民长,上主曾论及这类人说:「邪恶充塞巴比伦,是由于只在表面上治理人民的长老和民长。」
13:6 这两个人经常到约雅金的家里来;凡有诉讼的,都到这里来见他们。
13:7 中午时,人民离去以后,苏撒纳常走进她丈夫的果园里散步。
13:8 那两个长老每天见她进去散步,遂对她起了邪念。
13:9 他们昧着良心,转眼不看上天,全不思念正义的裁判。
13:10 他们二人虽然都为了暗恋她而伤感,却不敢彼此披露自己的隐情,
13:11 因为他们都羞于说明自己希望与她交合的欲念。
13:12 但他们二人仍然天天争着去窥看她。

两个长老图奸苏撒纳
13:13 一天,这人对那人说:「我们现在回家罢,因为已到午饭的时候了。」他们出去以后,便各自走了。
13:14 接着又都走回原来的地方,他们互问走回来的原因之后,便都承认了自己的欲念;于是他们二人同谋,寻找一个能遇到苏撒纳一人独处的时机。
13:15 他们在等待一个适当的机会时,有一天苏撒纳像往日一样,只带着两个婢女进了果园,由于天热,她想在园中沐浴。
13:16 那时园中除了这两个藏着窥看她的长老外,没有别人。
13:17 苏撒纳对婢女说:「将油和香皂给我拿来,关上园门,我要沐浴。」
13:18 她们便遵命去作,关上园门,从侧门出去,去取她吩咐她们的东西,全不知道这两个长老隐藏在那里。
13:19 婢女们一走出去,这两个长老便起来,跑到她面前,
13:20 对她说:「看,园门关了,没有人能看见我们,我们早就爱上了你,你要答应我们,与我们交合罢!
13:21 不然,我们就要作证控告你,说有一个青年人同你在一起,所以你才打发婢女们离开你。」
13:22 苏撒纳叹息说:「我真是左右为难!因为我若作了这事,我是必死无疑;我若不作这事,我也难逃你们的手。
13:23 我不如不作,宁可落在你们手里,也不愿在上主面前犯罪。」
13:24 苏撒纳遂高声喊叫,这两个长老为对付她也喊叫起来,
13:25 其中一个跑去开了园门。
13:26 家人一听见园中的喊声,就急忙从侧门跑进来,要看看她遭遇了什么事。
13:27 但是当长老们说出这段话以后,仆人们都感觉羞惭,因为从来没有人说苏撒纳有过这样的事。

苏撒纳受诬被判死刑
13:28 第二天,人民聚集到她丈夫约雅金那里的时候,那两个长老也走来了,满怀恶意,一心要将苏撒纳置于死地。
13:29 他们在人民面前说:「派人将希耳克雅的女儿,约雅金的妻子,苏撒纳带上来!」差人便去了。
13:30 苏撒纳同他的父母,她的孩子和所有的亲戚都来了。
13:31 苏撒纳长得体态轻盈,相貌美丽。
13:32 这两个坏人命她除去面纱──因为她原是带着面纱的──好让自己饱览她的美色。
13:33 她的亲友和看见她的人都在哭泣。
13:34 那两个长老遂在人民中站起来,把手按在苏撒纳的头上。
13:35 她哭着仰视上天,衷心依赖上主。
13:36 两个长老说:「当时只有我们两人在园中散步,她同两个婢女进来,随即关了园门,并辞退了两个婢女。
13:37 一个预先藏在园中的青年人,走到她面前,与她睡在一起。
13:38 我们在园中的角落里看见这种丑事,便跑到他们那里。
13:39 我们虽然看见他们二人在一起,但我们却不能捉住那个青年,因为他比我们有力,他便开门逃走了。
13:40 我们捉住这女人以后,问她那个青年是谁,
13:41 她却不肯告诉我们:对于这些事,我们是见证。」会众相信了他们,因为他们是人民的长老和民长,于是便定了苏撒纳的死罪。

达尼尔为苏撒纳申冤
13:42 苏撒纳遂大声呼号说:「永生的天主!你洞察隐秘的事,凡事在发生以前,你已知道了;
13:43 你知道他们对我所作的是假见证;看,现在我要死了,然而我并没有作过,他们恶意对我所捏造的事。」
13:44 上主俯听了她的呼声;
13:45 当她被押赴刑场的时候,天主感动了一个青年人的圣善心灵,这青年名叫达尼尔,
13:46 他便高声呼喊说:「对于流这女人的血,我是没有罪的!」
13:47 民众转过身来问他说:「你说这话有什么意思呢﹖」
13:48 达尼尔立在民众中间说:「以色列子民!你们怎么这样糊涂﹖未经审问,不查实情,就定一个以色列女子的罪案吗﹖
13:49 你们再回审判厅!因为他们二人作了假见证,诬陷了她。」
13:50 于是民众急忙回去,众长老对达尼尔说:「请你来,坐在我们中间,明白地告诉我们,因为天主把长老的智慧赐给了你。」
13:51 达尼尔对他们说:「将这两个长老隔离开,让我来审问他们。」
13:52 把他们二人隔开以后,达尼尔叫过其中的一个来,对他说:「你这个一生作恶的老妖,你以前犯的罪,现在已临到你身上了!
13:53 你宣布不义的裁判,判定无辜者有罪,释放有罪的人,虽然上主曾说:不可杀害无辜和正义的人。
13:54 如果你真看见了她,现在你告诉我:你看见他们在一起是在什么树下﹖」他回答说:「是在乳香树下。」
13:55 达尼尔说:「够了!你在说谎,应砍你的头,因为天主的天使已奉天主的命,要把你斩为两段。」
13:56 达尼尔叫他退下,命将另一个带上来,对他说:「客纳罕的苗裔而非犹大的苗裔啊!美色迷惑了你,淫欲颠倒了你的心。
13:57 你们一向这样对待了以色列的女子们,她们由于害怕而与你们交往,但是这个犹大女子,却不能忍受你们的邪恶!
13:58 现在你告诉我:你发现他们在一起,是在什么树下﹖」他回答说:「是在樟树下。」
13:59 达尼尔对他说:「的确,你也一样在说谎话,也必要砍下你的头!天主的天使手中已拿了利剑在等待着,要将你斩为两段,消灭你们。」
13:60 全会众遂大声吶喊,赞美天主,因为他拯救了那些仰望他的人。

两个长老被判死刑
13:61 众人都起来攻击那两个长老,因为达尼尔按照他们二人的口供,证实了他们作假见证;他们怎样恶意对待了自己的近人,民众也怎样对待了他们。
13:62 于是众人按照梅瑟的法律将他们处死;这样,那一天救了无辜者的血。
13:63 为此,希耳克雅和他的妻子为女儿苏撒纳,同苏撒纳的丈夫约雅金和自己全体亲友,一起称谢了天主,因为在苏撒纳身上没有找到什么败德的事。
13:64 从那一天以后,达尼尔在人民面前大受尊重。

 

 

第十四章(43)

达尼尔拒拜贝耳
14:1 阿斯提雅革归到他祖先那里以后,波斯人居鲁士便继承了他的王位。
14:2 达尼尔与王住在一起,且受王尊敬,远在他所有的同僚之上。
14:3 巴比伦有一个偶像名叫贝耳,每天为这偶像耗费十二袋细面,四十只绵羊和六桶酒。
14:4 君王也恭敬这偶像,每天都去礼拜;但是达尼尔却崇拜自己的天主。
14:5 君王曾对他说:「为什么你不崇拜贝耳﹖」达尼尔回答说:「我不敬拜人手制造的偶像,我只敬拜创造天地,主宰全人类的生活的天主。」
14:6 君王对他说:「你不以为贝耳是生活的神吗﹖你不见贝耳每天吃喝那么多吗﹖」
14:7 达尼尔笑着说:「大王,不要受欺骗!它里面是泥土,外面是黄铜,决不会吃,也不会喝。」
14:8 君王大怒,命人将贝耳的司祭召来,对他们说:「你们若不告诉我是谁吃了这些供物,你们就该死;如果你们能证明是贝耳吃了,达尼尔就该死,因为他亵渎了贝耳。」
14:9 达尼尔对君王说:「就照你的话做罢!」贝耳的司祭共有七十人,此外还有他们的妻子和儿女。
14:10 于是君王同达尼尔进了贝耳的庙宇。
14:11 贝耳的司祭们说:「看,我们都出去!大王!你摆上食物,供上调好的酒,然后关上庙门,门上盖上你的御印;明天早上你来时,如果发现不是贝耳吃了这一切食物,我们情愿受死;否则,那诬告我们的达尼尔就该死。」
14:12 他们自以为得意,因为他们在供桌下面早开了一个暗门,天天从那里进来,吃光桌上的供物。

达尼尔揭穿秘密
14:13 司祭们出去以后,就在贝耳面前摆上食物。
14:14 达尼尔命自己的仆役拿灰来,只当着君王面前,将灰撒遍整个庙宇,然后出去,将门关好,盖上君王的御印,就走了。
14:15 到了夜间,司祭们照常各自带着妻子和孩子进来,吃尽喝尽了一切。
14:16 大清早,君王起来,达尼尔便陪伴着他一同前来;
14:17 君王问他说:「达尼尔!印封还完好吗﹖」达尼尔答说:「大王!印封还完好。」
14:18 及至开了门,君王一看见供桌,即刻大声喊叫说:「贝耳!你是伟大的!你毫无虚假!」
14:19 达尼尔笑了,并请君王留步,不要进去,说:「请看砌石的地面上;仔细察看这些脚印是谁的脚印﹖」
14:20 君王说:「我看是男人、女人和孩子的脚印。」
14:21 于是君王大怒,令人逮捕了司祭和他们的妻子儿女,这时他们才给君王指出他们是由暗门进来,吃尽供桌上的食物。
14:22 君王遂将他们杀掉,将贝耳交由达尼尔处理;达尼尔便推翻了贝耳和他的庙宇。

达尼尔杀死大龙
14:23 在那地方有一条巴比伦人所敬拜的大龙。
14:24 君王对达尼尔说:「现在你却不能说这不是生活的神了罢,那么你就应该崇拜它。」
14:25 达尼尔回答说:「我崇拜的是上主,我的天主,因为只有他是永生的天主;这条龙不是永生的神。大王!请给我全权!我不用刀,也不用棍,就可杀死这条龙。」
14:26 君王说:「我给你全权!」
14:27 达尼尔取了沥青、脂油和头发,搀和在一起煎熬,作成丸子送到龙口里;龙吃下以后,就爆裂了。于是达尼尔说:「请看,你们所敬拜的神!」

达尼尔被拋入狮圈
14:28 巴比伦人听了这事以后,非常愤怒,遂团结起来攻击君王,说:「君王竟变成了一个犹太人,他推倒了贝耳,击杀了大龙,屠杀了司祭。」
14:29 他们来见君王说:「请把达尼尔交给我们;否则,我们要杀死你和你全家的人。」
14:30 君王见众人迫他太甚,不得已只好将达尼尔交给他们。
14:31 他们便将达尼尔拋入狮子圈内,达尼尔在那里有六天之久。
14:32 圈里有七只狮子,每天给它们两个尸体,两只绵羊,但那时却没有给它们,好叫它们吞食达尼尔。
14:33 当时在犹大有个先知哈巴谷,他做好了肉汤,把饼切好放在罐里,正要往田间去,送给收割庄稼的人。
14:34 那时上主的天使便对哈巴谷说:「把你预备下的午饭,带到巴比伦去,送给在狮子圈里的达尼尔罢!」
14:35 哈巴谷说:「我主!我从未见过巴比伦,也不知道狮子圈在什么地方。」
14:36 上主的天使便抓紧他的头顶,握住他的头发,将他提起,瞬息之间,把他放在巴比伦的狮子圈口。
14:37 哈巴谷呼喊说:「达尼尔,达尼尔!请吃天主给你送来的午饭罢!」
14:38 达尼尔说:「天主!你想起了我,你没有拋弃爱慕你的人。」
14:39 于是达尼尔起来吃了;天主的天使立刻又把哈巴谷送回到原来的地方。

达尼尔获救
14:40 到了第七天,君王前来哀悼达尼尔。当他走近狮子圈往里面观看时,望见达尼尔坐在那里。
14:41 君王遂大声呼喊说:「上主,达尼尔的天主!你是伟大的,除你以外没有别的神。」
14:42 于是君王将达尼尔拉上来,将那些想陷害他的人拋进狮子圈里,顷刻之间,他们在君王面前,便被狮子吞噬了。
14:43 君王遂宣布说:「全地的君民都应敬畏达尼尔的天主,因为他施救,在地上行了神迹奇事,从狮子圈里拯救了达尼尔。」

 

BOOK ENDS. Seraphim, April 2009.

JB DANIEL Chapter 1

 

THE YOUNG HEBREWS AT THE COURT OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR

1:1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched on Jerusalem and besieged it.

1:2 The Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hands, with some of the furnishings of the Temple of God. He took them away to the land of Shinar, and stored the sacred vessels in the treasury of his own gods.

1:3 The king ordered Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to select from the Israelites a certain number of boys of either royal or noble descent;

1:4 they had to be without any physical defect, of good appearance, trained in every kind of wisdom, well-informed, quick at learning, suitable for service in the palace of the king. Ashpenaz himself was to teach them the language and literature of the Chaldaeans.

1:5 The king assigned them a daily allowance of food and wine from his own royal table. They were to receive an education lasting for three years, after which they were expected to be fit for the king’s society.

1:6 Among them were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, who were Judaeans.

1:7 The chief eunuch gave them other names, calling Daniel Belteshazzar, Hananiah Shadrach, Mishael Meshach, and Azariah Abednego.

1:8 Daniel, who was most anxious not to defile himself with the food and wine from the royal table, begged the chief eunuch to spare him this defilement;

1:9 and by the grace of God Daniel met goodwill and sympathy on the part of the chief eunuch.

1:10 But he warned Daniel, ‘I am afraid of my lord the king: he has assigned you food and drink, and if he sees you looking thinner in the face than the other boys of your age, my head will be in danger with the king because of you’.

1:11 At this Daniel turned to the guard whom the chief eunuch had assigned to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. He said,

1:12 ‘Please allow your servants a ten days’ trial, during which we are given only vegetables to eat and water to drink.

1:13 You can then compare our looks with those of the boys who eat the king’s food; go by what you see, and treat your servants accordingly.’

1:14 The man agreed to do what they asked and put them on ten days’ trial.

1:15 When the ten days were over they looked and were in better health than any of the boys who had eaten their allowance from the royal table;

1:16 so the guard withdrew their allowance of food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.

1:17 And God favoured these four boys with knowledge and intelligence in everything connected with literature, and in wisdom; while Daniel had the gift of interpreting every kind of vision and dream.

1:18 When the period stipulated by the king for the boys’ training was over, the chief eunuch presented them to Nebuchadnezzar.

1:19 The king conversed with them, and among all the boys found none to equal Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. So they became members of the king’s court,

1:20 and on whatever point of wisdom or information he might question them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his entire kingdom.

1:21 Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.

 

JB DANIEL Chapter 2

 

NEBUCHADNEZZAR’S DREAM: THE COMPOSITE STATUE

 

The king questions his sages

2:1 In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had a series of dreams; his mind was troubled, sleep deserted him.

2:2 The king then had magicians and enchanters, sorcerers and Chaldaeans[*a] summoned to tell the king what his dreams meant. They arrived and stood in the king’s presence.

2:3 The king said to them, ‘I have had a dream, and my mind is disturbed by a desire to understand the dream’.

2:4 The Chaldaeans answered the king: ‘O king, live for ever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will reveal its meaning for you.’

2:5 The king answered the Chaldaeans, ‘This is my firm resolve: if you cannot tell me what my dream was, and what it means, I will have you torn limb from limb and your houses razed to the ground.

2:6 If, on the other hand, you can tell me what I dreamt and what it means, I will give you presents, rewards and high honour. So tell me what I dreamt and what it means.’

2:7 A second time they said, ‘Let the king tell his dream to his servants, and we will reveal its meaning’.

2:8 But the king retorted, ‘It is plain to me that you are trying to gain time, knowing my proclaimed and firm resolve.

2:9 Your intention is not to interpret my dream, but to make me misleading and tortuous speeches while the time goes by. So tell me what my dream was, and I shall know whether you can interpret it or not.’

2:10 The Chaldaeans answered the king, ‘Nobody in the world could find out the king’s trouble; what is more, no other king, governor or chief would think of putting such a question to any magician, enchanter or Chaldaean.

2:11 The question the king asks is difficult, and no one can find the king an answer to it, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with creatures of flesh.’

2:12 At this the king flew into a rage and ordered all the Babylonian sages to be put to death.

2:13 On publication of the decree to have the sages killed, search was made for Daniel and his companions to have them put to death.

 

Daniel Intervenes

2:14 With shrewd and cautious words, however, Daniel approached Arioch, commander of the king’s executioners, when he was on his way to kill the Babylonian sages.

2:15 He said to Arioch, the royal marshal, ‘Why has the king issued such an urgent decree?’ Arioch explained matters to Daniel

2:16 and Daniel went off to ask the king for a stay of execution to give him the opportunity of revealing his interpretation to the king.

2:17 Daniel then went home and told his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah what had happened,

2:18 urging them to beg the God of heaven to show his mercy in this mysterious affair, so that Daniel and his friends might be spared the fate of the other Babylonian sages.

2:19 The mystery was then revealed to Daniel in a night-vision, and Daniel blessed the God of heaven.

2:20 This is what Daniel said: ‘May the name of God be blessed for ever and ever, since wisdom and power are his alone.

2:21 His, to control the procession of times and seasons, to make and unmake kings, to confer wisdom on the wise, and knowledge on those with wit to discern;

2:22 his, to uncover depths and mysteries, to know what lies in darkness; and light dwells with him.

2:23 To you, God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise for having given me wisdom and intelligence: now you have shown me what we asked you, you have revealed the king’s trouble to us.’

2:24 So Daniel went to see Arioch whom the king had made responsible for putting the Babylonian sages to death. On going in he said, ‘Do not put the Babylonian sages to death. Take me into the king’s presence and I will reveal the meaning to the king.’

2:25 Arioch lost no time in bringing Daniel to the king. ‘Among the exiles from Judah,’ he said ‘I have discovered a man who can reveal the meaning to the king.’

2:26 The king said to Daniel (who had been given the name Belteshazzar), ‘Can you tell me what my dream was, and what it means?’

2:27 Facing the king, Daniel replied, ‘None of the sages, enchanters, magicians or wizards has been able to tell the king the truth of the mystery which the king propounded;

2:28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and who has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what is to take place in the days to come. These, then, are the dream and the visions that passed through your head as you lay in bed:

2:29 ‘O king, on your bed your thoughts turned to what would happen in the future, and the Revealer of Mysteries disclosed to you what is to take place.

2:30 This mystery has been revealed to me, not that I am wiser than any other man, but for this sole purpose: that the king should learn what it means, and that you should understand your inmost thoughts.

2:31 ‘You have had a vision, O king; this is what you saw: a statue, a great statue of extreme brightness, stood before you, terrible to see.

2:32 The head of this statue was of fine gold, its chest and arms were of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze,

2:33 its legs of iron its feet part iron, part earthenware.

2:34 While you were gazing, a stone broke away, untouched by any hand, and struck the statue, struck its feet of iron and earthenware and shattered them.

2:35 And then, iron and earthenware, bronze, silver, gold all broke into small pieces as fine as chaff on the threshing-floor in summer. The wind blew them away, leaving not a trace behind. And the stone that had struck the statue grew into a great mountain, filling the whole earth.

2:36 This was the dream; now we will explain to the king what it means.

2:37 You, O king, king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given sovereignty, power, strength and glory-

2:38 the sons of men, the beasts of the field, the birds of heaven, wherever they live, he has entrusted to your rule, making you king of them all-you are the golden head.

2:39 And after you another kingdom will rise, not so great as you, and then a third, of bronze, which will rule the whole world.

2:40 There will be a fourth kingdom, hard as iron, as iron that shatters and crushes all. Like iron that breaks everything to pieces, it will crush and break all the earlier kingdoms.

2:41 The feet you saw, part earthenware, part iron, are a kingdom which will be split in two, but which will retain something of the strength of iron, just as you saw the iron and the clay of the earthenware mixed together.

2:42 The feet were part iron, part earthenware: the kingdom will be partly strong and partly weak.

2:43 And just as you saw the iron and the clay of the earthenware mixed together, so the two will be mixed together in the seed of man;[*b] but they will not hold together any more than iron will blend with earthenware.

2:44 In the time of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, and this kingdom will not pass into the hands of another race: it will shatter and absorb all the previous kingdoms, and itself last for ever-

2:45 just as you saw the stone untouched by hand break from the mountain and shatter iron, bronze, earthenware, silver and gold. The great God has shown the king what is to take place. The dream is true, the interpretation exact.’

 

The king’s profession of faith

2:46 At this, King Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate before Daniel; he gave orders for Daniel to be offered an oblation and a fragrant sacrifice.

2:47 The king said to Daniel, ‘Your god must be the God of gods, the master of kings, and the Revealer of Mysteries, since you have been able to reveal this mystery’.

2:48 The king conferred high rank on Daniel and gave him many handsome presents. He also made him governor of the whole province of Babylon and head of all the sages of Babylon.

2:49 At Daniel’s request, however, the king entrusted the affairs of the province of Babylon to Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego; Daniel himself remained at court.

 

JB DANIEL Chapter 3

 

THE ADORATION OF THE GOLDEN STATUE

 

Nebuchadnezzar erects a golden statue

3:1 King Nebuchadnezzar had a golden statue made, six cubits tall and three cubits wide, which he erected on the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.

3:2 King Nebuchadnezzar then summoned the satraps, prefects, governors, counsellors, treasurers, judges, men of law, and all the provincial authorities to assemble and attend the dedication of the statue erected by King Nebuchadnezzar.

3:3 Then the satraps, prefects, governors, counsellors, treasurers, judges, men of law and all the provincial authorities assembled for the dedication of the statue erected by King Nebuchadnezzar; and they stood there in front of the statue which King Nebuchadnezzar had erected.

3:4 The herald then made this proclamation: ‘Men of all peoples, nations, languages! This is required of you: the moment you hear the sound of horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, or any other instrument, you must prostrate yourselves and worship the golden statue erected by King Nebuchadnezzar.

3:6 Those who do not prostrate themselves and worship shall immediately be thrown into the burning fiery furnace.’

3:7 And so, the instant the people heard the sound of horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe and all the other instruments, the men of all peoples, nations and languages prostrated themselves and worshipped the statue erected by King Nebuchadnezzar.

 

The denunciation and condemnation of the Jews

3:8 Some Chaldaeans then came forward and laid information against the Jews.

3:9 They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, ‘O king, live for ever!

3:10 You have issued a decree, O king, to the effect that everyone on hearing the sound of horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe or any other instrument is to prostrate himself and worship the golden statue;

3:11 and that anyone who does not prostrate himself and worship is to be thrown into the burning fiery furnace.

3:12 Now there are certain Jews to whom you have entrusted the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego; these men have ignored your command, O king; they do not serve your gods, and refuse to worship the golden statue you have erected.’

3:13 Furious with rage, Nebuchadnezzar sent for Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. The men were immediately brought before the king.

3:14 Nebuchadnezzar addressed them, ‘Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, is it true that you do not serve my gods, and that you refuse to worship the golden statue I have erected?

3:15 When you hear the sound of horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, or any other instrument, are you prepared to prostrate yourselves and worship the statue I have made? If you refuse to worship it, you must be thrown straight away into the burning fiery furnace; and where is the god who could save you from my power?’

3:16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to King Nebuchadnezzar, ‘Your question hardly requires an answer:

3:17 if our God, the one we serve, is able to save us from the burning fiery furnace and from your power, O king, he will save us;

3:18 and even if he does not, then you must know, O king, that we will not serve your god or worship the statue you have erected’.

3:19 These words infuriated King Nebuchadnezzar; his expression was very different now as he looked at Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. He gave orders for the furnace to be made seven times hotter than usual,

3:20 and commanded certain stalwarts from his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the burning fiery furnace.

3:21 They were then bound, fully clothed, cloak, hose and headgear, and thrown into the burning fiery furnace.

3:22 The king’s command was so urgent and the heat of the furnace was so fierce, that the men carrying Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were burnt to death by the flames from the fire;

3:23 the three men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego fell, still bound, into the burning fiery furnace.

!!!!!ALTERNATIVE/ OPTIONAL SECTION!!!!!

 

The song of Azariah in the furnace

3:24 And they walked in the heart of the flames, praising God and blessing the Lord.

3:25 Azariah stood in the heart of the fire, and he began to pray:

3:26 ‘All honour and blessing to you, Lord, God of our ancestors, may your name be held glorious for ever.

3:27 In all that you have done your justice is apparent: your promises are always faithfully fulfilled, your ways never deviate, your judgements are always true.

3:28 You have given a just sentence in all the disasters you have brought down on us and on Jerusalem, the holy city of our ancestors, since it is for our sins that you have treated us like this, fairly and as we deserved.

3:29 Yes, we have sinned and committed a crime by deserting you, yes, we have sinned gravely; we have not listened to the precepts of your Law,

3:30 we have not observed them, we have not done what we were told to do for our own good.

3:31 Yes, all the disasters you have brought down on us, all that you have done to us, you have been fully justified in doing.

3:32 You have delivered us into the power of our enemies, of a lawless people, the worst of the godless, of an unjust king, the worst in the whole world;

3:33 today we dare not even open our mouths, shame and dishonour are the lot of those who serve and worship you.

3:34 Oh! Do not abandon us for ever, for the sake of your name; do not repudiate your covenant,

3:35 do not withdraw your favour from us, for the sake of Abraham, your friend, of Isaac your servant, and of Israel your holy one,

3:36 to whom you promised descendants as countless as the stars of heaven and as the grains of sand on the seashore.

3:37 Lord, now we are the least of all the nations, now we are despised throughout the world, today, because of our sins.

3:38 We have at this time no leader, no prophet, no prince, no holocaust, no sacrifice, no oblation, no incense, no place where we can offer you the first-fruits

3:39 and win your favour. But may the contrite soul, the humbled spirit be as acceptable to you

3:40 as holocausts of rams and bullocks, as thousands of fattened lambs: such let our sacrifice be to you today, and may it be your will that we follow you wholeheartedly, since those who put their trust in you will not be disappointed.

3:41 And now we put our whole heart into following you, into fearing you and seeking your face once more.

3:42 Do not disappoint us; treat us gently, as you yourself are gentle and very merciful.

3:43 Grant us deliverance worthy of your wonderful deeds, let your name win glory, Lord.

3:44 Confusion seize those who ill-treat your servants: may they be covered with shame, deprived of all their power, and may their strength be broken.

3:45 Let them learn that you alone are God and Lord, glorious over the whole earth.’

3:46 All this time the servants of the king who had thrown the men into the furnace had been stoking it with crude oil, pitch, tow and brushwood

3:47 until the flames rose to a height of forty-nine cubits above the furnace

3:48 and, leaping out, burnt those Chaldaeans to death who were standing round it.

3:49 But the angel of the Lord came down into the furnace beside Azariah and his companions; he drove the flames of the fire outwards,

3:50 and fanned in to them, in the heart of the so furnace, a coolness such as wind and dew will bring, so that the fire did not even touch them or cause them any pain or distress.

 

The song of the three young men

3:51 Then all three in unison began to sing, glorifying and blessing God, there in the furnace, in these words:

3:52 ‘May you be blessed, Lord, God of our ancestors, be praised and extolled for ever. Blessed be your glorious and holy name, praised and extolled for ever.

3:53 May you be blessed in the Temple of your sacred glory, exalted and glorified above all else for ever:

3:54 blessed on the throne of your kingdom, praised and exalted above all else for ever.

3:55 Blessed, you fathomer of the great depths, enthroned on the cherubs, praised and glorified above all else for ever;

3:56 blessed in the vault of heaven, exalted and glorified above all else for ever.

3:57 ‘All things the Lord has made, bless the Lord: give glory and eternal praise to him.

3:58 Angels of the Lord! all bless the Lord: give glory and eternal praise to him.

3:59 Heavens! bless the Lord: give glory and eternal praise to him.

3:60 Waters above the heavens! bless the Lord: give glory and eternal praise to him.

3:61 Powers of the Lord! all bless the Lord: give glory and eternal praise to him.

3:62 Sun and moon! bless the Lord: give glory and eternal praise to him.

3:63 Stars of heaven! bless the Lord: give glory and eternal praise to him.

3:64 Showers and dews! all bless the Lord: give glory and eternal praise to him.

3:65 Winds! all bless the Lord: give glory and eternal praise to him

3:66 Fire and heat! bless the Lord: give glory and eternal praise to him.

3:67 Cold and heat! bless the Lord: give glory and eternal praise to him.

3:68 Dews and sleets! bless the Lord: give glory and eternal praise to him.

3:69 Frost and cold! bless the Lord: give glory and eternal praise to him.

3:70 Ice and snow! bless the Lord: give glory and eternal praise to him.

3:71 Nights and days! bless the Lord: give glory and eternal praise to him.

3:72 Light and darkness! bless the Lord: give glory and eternal praise to him.

3:73 Lightning and clouds! bless the Lord: give glory and eternal praise to him.

3:74 Let the earth bless the Lord, give glory and eternal praise to him.

3:75 Mountains and hills! bless the Lord: give glory and eternal praise to him.

3:76 Every thing that grows on the earth! bless the Lord: give glory and eternal praise to him.

3:77 Springs of water! bless the Lord: give glory and eternal praise to him.

3:78 Seas and rivers! bless the Lord: give glory and eternal praise to him.

3:79 Sea beasts and everything that lives in water! bless the Lord: give glory and eternal praise to him.

3:80 Birds of heaven! all bless the Lord: give glory and eternal praise to him.

3:81 Animals wild and tame! all bless the Lord: give glory and eternal praise to him.

3:82 Sons of men! bless the Lord: give glory and eternal praise to him.

3:83 Israel! bless the Lord: give glory and eternal praise to him.

3:84 Priests! bless the Lord: give glory and eternal praise to him.

3:85 Servants of the Lord! bless the Lord: give glory and eternal praise to him.

3:86 Spirits and souls of the virtuous! bless the Lord: give glory and eternal praise to him.

3:87 Devout and humble-hearted men! bless the Lord: give glory and eternal praise to him.

3:88 Ananiah; Azariah, Mishael! bless the Lord: give glory and eternal praise to him. For he has snatched us from the underworld, saved us from the hand of death, saved us from the burning fiery furnace, rescued us from the heart of the flame.

3:89 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his love is everlasting.

3:90 All you who worship him, bless the God of gods, praise him and give him thanks, for his love is everlasting.’

 

The king acknowledges the miracle

3:91 Then King Nebuchadnezzar sprang to his feet in amazement. He said to his advisers, ‘Did we not have these three men thrown bound into the fire?’ They replied, ‘Certainly, O king’.

3:92 ‘But,’ he went on ‘I can see four men walking about freely in the heart of the fire without coming to any harm. And the fourth looks like a son of the gods.'[*a]

3:93 Nebuchadnezzar approached the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and shouted, ‘Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, come here!’ And from the heart of the fire out came Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

3:94 The satraps, prefects, governors, and advisers of the king crowded round the three men to examine them: the fire had had no effect on their bodies: not a hair of their heads had been singed, their cloaks were not scorched, no smell of burning hung about them.

3:95 Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, ‘Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego: he has sent his angel to rescue his servants who, putting their trust in him, defied the order of the king, and preferred to forfeit their bodies rather than serve or worship any god but their own.

3:96 I therefore decree as follows: Men of all peoples, nations, and languages! Let anyone speak disrespectfully of the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and I will have him torn limb from limb and his house razed to the ground, for there is no other god who can save like this.’

3:97 Then the king showered favours on Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

 

THE WARNING DREAM AND THE MADNESS OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR

3:98 Nebuchadnezzar the king, to men of all peoples, nations and languages, throughout the world: ‘May peace be always with you.

3:99 It is my pleasure to make known the signs and wonders with which the Most High God has favoured me.

3:100 ‘How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His sovereignty is an eternal sovereignty, his empire lasts from age to age.

!!!!!END OF ALTERNATIVE/ OPTIONAL SECTION!!!!!

 

The king acknowledges the miracle

3:24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar sprang to his feet in amazement. He said to his advisers, ‘Did we not have these three men thrown bound into the fire?’ They replied, ‘Certainly, O king’.

3:25 ‘But,’ he went on ‘I can see four men walking about freely in the heart of the fire without coming to any harm. And the fourth looks like a son of the gods.'[*a]

3:26 Nebuchadnezzar approached the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and shouted, ‘Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, come here!’ And from the heart of the fire out came Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

3:27 The satraps, prefects, governors, and advisers of the king crowded round the three men to examine them: the fire had had no effect on their bodies: not a hair of their heads had been singed, their cloaks were not scorched, no smell of burning hung about them.

3:28 Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, ‘Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego: he has sent his angel to rescue his servants who, putting their trust in him, defied the order of the king, and preferred to forfeit their bodies rather than serve or worship any god but their own.

3:29 I therefore decree as follows: Men of all peoples, nations, and languages! Let anyone speak disrespectfully of the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and I will have him torn limb from limb and his house razed to the ground, for there is no other god who can save like this.’

3:30 Then the king showered favours on Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

 

THE WARNING DREAM AND THE MADNESS OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR

3:31 Nebuchadnezzar the king, to men of all peoples, nations and languages, throughout the world: ‘May peace be always with you.

3:32 It is my pleasure to make known the signs and wonders with which the Most High God has favoured me.

3:33 ‘How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His sovereignty is an eternal sovereignty, his empire lasts from age to age.

 

JB DANIEL Chapter 4

 

Nebuchadnezzar describes his dream

4:1 ‘I, Nebuchadnezzar, was living at ease at home, prosperous in my palace.

4:2 I had a dream; it appalled me. Dread assailed me as I lay in bed; the visions that passed through my head tormented me.

4:3 So I decreed that all the sages of Babylon be summoned to explain to me what the dream meant.

4:4 Magicians, enchanters, Chaldaeans and Wizards came, and I told them what I had dreamt, but they could not interpret it for me.

4:5 Daniel, renamed Belteshazzar after my own god,[*a] and in whom the spirit of God Most Holy resides, then came into my presence. I told him my dream:

4:6 ‘Belteshazzar, I said, chief of magicians, I know that the spirit of God Most Holy resides in you and that no mystery puts you at a loss. This is the dream I have had; tell me what it means.

4:7 ‘The visions that passed through my head as I lay in bed were these: I saw a tree in the middle of the world; it was very tall.

4:8 The tree grew taller and stronger, until its top reached the sky, and it could be seen from the ends of the earth.

4:9 Its foliage was beautiful, its fruit abundant, in it was food for all. For the wild animals it provided shade, the birds of heaven nested in its branches, all living creatures found their food on it.

4:10 I watched the visions passing through my head as I lay in bed. Next a watcher, a holy one came down from heaven.

4:11 At the top of his voice he shouted, “Cut the tree down, lop off its branches, strip off its leaves, throw away its fruit; let the animals flee from its shelter and the birds from its branches.

4:12 But leave stump and roots in the ground bound with hoops of iron and bronze in the grass of the field. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, let him share the grass of the earth with the animals.

4:13 Let his heart turn from mankind, let a beast’s heart be given him and seven times pass over him!

4:14 Such is the sentence proclaimed by the watchers, the verdict announced by the holy ones, that every living thing may learn that the Most High rules over the kingship of men, he confers it on whom he pleases, and raises the lowest of mankind.”

4:15 ‘This is the dream I had, I, Nebuchadnezzar the king. Now it is for you, Belteshazzar, to pronounce on its meaning, since not one of the sages in my kingdom has been able to interpret it for me; you, however, will be able to, because the spirit of God Most Holy resides in you.’

 

Daniel interprets the dream

4:16 Daniel, known as Belteshazzar, hesitated for a moment in embarrassment. The king said, ‘Belteshazzar, do not be alarmed at the dream and its meaning’. Belteshazzar answered, ‘My lord, may the dream apply to your enemies, and its meaning to your foes!

4:17 The tree you saw that grew so tall and strong that it is reached the sky and could be seen from the ends of the earth,

4:18 the tree with beautiful foliage and abundant fruit, with food for all in it, providing shade for the wild animals, with the birds of heaven nesting in its branches,

4:19 that tree is yourself, O king, for you have grown tall and strong; your stature is now so great that it reaches the sky, and your rule extends to the ends of the earth.

4:20 ‘And the watcher seen by the king, the holy one coming down from heaven and saying, “Cut the tree down and destroy it, but leave stump and roots in the ground, bound with hoops of iron and bronze in the grass of the field; let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, let him share with the wild animals until seven times have passed over him”:

4:21 the meaning of this, O king, this decree of the Most High passed on my lord the king, is this:

4:22 ‘You are to be driven from human society, and live with the wild animals; you will feed on grass like the oxen, you will be drenched by the dew of heaven; seven times will pass over you until you have learnt that the Most High rules over the kingship of men, and confers it on whom he pleases.

4:23 ‘And the order, “Leave the stump and roots of the tree”, means that your kingdom will be kept for you until you come to understand that heaven rules all.

4:24 May it please the king to accept my advice: by virtuous actions break with your sins, break with your crimes by showing mercy to the poor, and so live long and peacefully.’

 

The dream comes true

4:25 This all happened to King Nebuchadnezzar.

4:26 Twelve months later, while strolling on the roof of the royal palace in Babylon,

4:27 the king was saying ‘Great Babylon! Imperial palace! ‘Was it not built by me alone, by my own might and power to the glory of my majesty?’

4:28 The boast was not out of his mouth when a voice came down from heaven: ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, these words are for you! Sovereignty is taken from you,

4:29 you are to be driven from human society, and live with the wild animals; you will feed on grass like oxen, and seven times will pass over you until you have learnt that the Most High rules over the kingship of men, and confers it on whom he pleases.’

4:30 The words were immediately fulfilled: Nebuchadnezzar was driven from human society and fed on grass like oxen, and was drenched by the dew of heaven; his hair grew as long as eagle’s feathers, and his nails became like bird’s claws.

4:31 ‘When the time was over, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes to heaven: my reason returned. And I blessed the Most High, ‘praising and extolling him who lives for ever, for his sovereignty is an eternal sovereignty, his empire lasts from age to age.

4:32 The inhabitants of the earth count for nothing: he does as he pleases with the array of heaven, and with the inhabitants of the earth. No one can arrest his hand or ask him, “What are you doing?”

4:33 ‘At that moment my reason returned, and, to the glory of my royal state, my majesty and, splendour returned too. My counsellors and noblemen acclaimed me; I was restored to my throne, and to my past greatness even more was added.

4:34 And now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and glorify the King of heaven, his promises are always faithfully fulfilled, his ways are always just, and he has power to humble those who walk in pride.’

 

JB DANIEL Chapter 5

 

BELSHAZZAR’S FEAST

5:1 King Belshazzar[*a] gave a great banquet for his noblemen; a thousand of them attended, and he drank wine in company with this thousand.

5:2 As he sipped his wine, Belshazzar gave orders for the gold and silver vessels to be brought which his father Nebuchadnezzar had looted from the sanctuary in Jerusalem, so that the king, his noblemen, his wives and his singing women could drink out of them.

5:3 The gold and silver vessels looted from the sanctuary of the Temple of God in Jerusalem were brought in, and the king, his noblemen, his wives and his singing women drank out of them.

5:4 They drank their wine and praised their gods of gold and silver, of bronze and iron, of wood and stone.

5:5 Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared, and began to write on the plaster of the palace wall, directly behind the lamp-stand; and the king could see the hand as it wrote.

5:6 The king turned pale with alarm: his thigh-joints went slack and his knees began to knock.

5:7 He shouted for his enchanters, Chaldaeans and wizards. And the king said to the Babylonian sages, ‘Anyone who can read this writing and tell me what it means shall be dressed in purple, and have a chain of gold put round his neck, and be third in rank in the kingdom’.

5:8 The king’s sages all crowded forward, but they could neither read the writing nor explain to the king what it meant.

5:9 Greatly alarmed, King Belshazzar turned even paler, and his noblemen were equally disturbed.

5:10 Then the queen, attracted by the noise made by the king and his noblemen, came into the banqueting hall. ‘O king, live for ever!’ said the queen. ‘Do not be alarmed, do not look so pale.

5:11 In your kingdom there is a man in whom lives the spirit of God Most Holy. In your father’s days, he was known for having percipience, intelligence and wisdom comparable to that of the gods. King Nebuchadnezzar, your father, made him head of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldaeans and wizards.

5:12 Since such a marvellous spirit, and such knowledge and intelligence in interpreting dreams, solving enigmas and unravelling difficult problems, live in this man Daniel, whom the king had renamed Belteshazzar, send for Daniel: he will be able to tell you what this means.’

5:13 Daniel was brought into the king’s presence; the king said to Daniel, ‘Are you the Daniel who was one of the Judaean exiles brought by my father the king from Judah?

5:14 I am told that the spirit of God Most Holy lives in you, and that you are known for your perception, intelligence and marvellous wisdom.

5:15 The sages and enchanters have already been brought to me to read this writing and tell me what it means, but they have been unable to reveal its meaning.

5:16 As I am told that you are able to give interpretations and to unravel difficult problems, if you can read the writing and tell me what it means, you shall be dressed in purple, and have a chain of gold put round your neck, and be third in rank in the kingdom.’

5:17 Then Daniel spoke up in the presence of the king. ‘Keep your gifts for yourself,’ he said ‘and give your rewards to others. I will read the writing to the king without them, and tell him what it means.

5:18 O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father sovereignty, greatness, glory, majesty.

5:19 He made him so great that men of all peoples, nations and languages shook with dread before him: he killed whom he pleased, spared whom he pleased, promoted whom he pleased, degraded whom he pleased.

5:20 But because his heart grew swollen with pride, and his spirit stiff with arrogance; he was deposed from his sovereign throne and stripped of his glory.

5:21 He was driven from the society of men, his heart grew completely animal; he lived with the wild asses; he fed on grass like the oxen; his body was drenched by the dew of heaven, until he had learnt that the Most High rules over the empire of men and appoints whom he pleases to rule it.

5:22 But you, Belshazzar, who are his son, you have not humbled your heart, in spite of knowing all this.

5:23 You have defied the Lord of heaven, you have had the vessels from his Temple brought to you, and you, your noblemen, your wives and your singing women have drunk your wine out of them. You have praised gods of gold and silver, of bronze and iron, of wood and stone, which cannot either see, hear or understand; but you have given no glory to the God who holds your breath and all your fortunes in his hands.

5:24 That is why he has sent the hand which, by itself, has written these words.

5:25 The writing reads: Mene, Mene, Tekel and Parsin.[*b]

5:26 The meaning of the words is this: Mene: God has measured your sovereignty and put an end to it;

5:27 Tekel: you have been weighed in the balance and found wanting;

5:28 Parsin: your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and the Persians.’

5:29 At Belshazzar’s order Daniel was dressed in purple, a chain of gold was put round his neck and he was proclaimed third in rank in the kingdom.

5:30 That same night, the Chaldaean king Belshazzar was murdered,

 

JB DANIEL Chapter 6

 

6:1 and Darius the Mede[*a] received the kingdom, at the age of sixty-two.

 

DANIEL IN THE LION PIT

 

The Satraps resent Daniel’s promotion

6:2 It pleased Darius to appoint a hundred and twenty satraps over his kingdom for the various parts of the kingdom,

6:3 and over them three presidents – of whom Daniel was one – to whom the satraps were to be responsible. This was to ensure that no harm should come to the king.

6:4 This Daniel, by virtue of the marvellous spirit residing in him, was so evidently superior to the presidents and satraps that the king considered appointing him to rule the whole kingdom.

6:5 The presidents and satraps in consequence started hunting for some affair of state by which they could discredit Daniel; but they could find nothing to his discredit, and no case of negligence; he was so punctilious that they could not find a single instance of maladministration or neglect.

6:6 These men then thought, ‘We shall never find a way of discrediting Daniel unless we try something to do with the law of his God’.

6:7 The presidents and satraps then went in a body to the king. ‘King Darius,’ they said ‘live for ever!

6:8 We are all agreed, the presidents of the kingdom, the prefects, satraps, counsellors and governors, that the king should issue a decree enforcing the following regulation: whoever within the next thirty days prays to anyone, god or man, other than to yourself O king, is to be thrown into the lions’ den.

6:9 O king, ratify the edict at once by signing this document, making it unalterable, as befits the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked.’

6:10 King Darius accordingly signed the document embodying the edict.

 

Daniel’s prayer

6:11 When Daniel heard that the document had been signed, he retired to his house. The windows of his upstairs room faced towards Jerusalem. Three times each day he continued to fall on his knees, praying and giving praise to God as he had always done.

6:12 These men came along in a body and found Daniel praying and pleading with God.

6:13 They then came to the king and said, ‘Have you not just signed an edict forbidding any man for the next thirty days to pray to anyone, god or man, other than to yourself O king, on pain of being thrown into the lions’ den?’ ‘The decision stands,’ the king replied ‘as befits the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked.’

6:14 Then they said to the king, ‘O king, this man Daniel, one of the exiles from Judah, disregards both you and the edict which you have signed: he is at his prayers three times each day’.

6:15 When the king heard these words he was deeply distressed, and determined to save Daniel; he racked his brains until sunset to find some way out.

6:16 But the men came back in a body to the king and said, ‘O king, remember that in conformity with the law of the Medes and the Persians, no edict or decree can be altered when once issued by the king’.

 

Daniel is thrown to the lions

6:17 The king then ordered Daniel to be fetched and thrown into the lion pit. The king said to Daniel, ‘Your God himself, whom you have served so faithfully, will have to save you’.

6:18 A stone was then brought and laid over the mouth of the pit; and the king sealed it with his own signet and with that of his noblemen, so that there could be no going back on the original decision about Daniel.

6:19 The king returned to his palace, spent the night in fasting and refused to receive any of his concubines. Sleep eluded him,

6:20 and at the first sign of dawn he was up, and hurried off to the lion pit.

6:21 As he approached the pit he shouted in anguished tones, ‘Daniel, servant of the living God! Has your God, whom you serve so faithfully, been able to save you from the lions?’

6:22 Daniel replied, ‘O king, live for ever!

6:23 My God sent his angel who sealed the lions’ jaws, they did me no harm, since in his sight I am blameless, and I have never done you any wrong either, O king.’

6:24 The king was overjoyed, and ordered Daniel to be released from the pit. Daniel was released from the pit, and found to be quite unhurt, because he had trusted in his God.

6:25 The king sent for the men who had accused Daniel and had them thrown into the lion pit, they, their wives and their children: and they had not reached the floor of the pit before the lions had seized them and crushed their bones to pieces.

 

The king’s profession of faith

6:26 King Darius then wrote to men of all nations, peoples and languages throughout the world, ‘May peace be always with you!

6:27 I decree: in every kingdom of my empire let all tremble with fear before the God of Daniel: He is the living God, he endures for ever, his sovereignty will never be destroyed and his kingship never end.

6:28 He saves, sets free, and works signs and wonders in the heavens and on earth; he has saved Daniel from the power of the lions.’

6:29 This Daniel flourished in the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

 

JB DANIEL Chapter 7

 

DANIEL’S DREAM: THE FOUR BEASTS

 

The vision of the beasts

7:1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions that passed through his head as he lay in bed. He wrote the dream down, and this is how the narrative began:

7:2 Daniel said, ‘I have been seeing visions in the night. I saw that the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea;

7:3 four great beasts emerged from the sea, each different from the other.

7:4 The first[*a] was like a lion with eagle’s wings; and as I looked its wings were torn off, and it was lifted from the ground and set standing on its feet like a man; and it was given a human heart.

7:5 The second beast I saw[*b] was different, like a bear, raised up on one of its sides, with three ribs in its mouth, between its teeth. “Up!” came the command “Eat quantities of flesh!”

7:6 After this I looked, and saw another beast,[*c] like a leopard, and with four bird’s wings on its flanks; it had four heads, and power was given to it.

7:7 Next I saw another vision in the visions of the night: I saw a fourth beast,[*d] fearful, terrifying, very strong; it had great iron teeth, and it ate, crushed and trampled underfoot what remained. It was different from the previous beasts and had ten horns.

7:8 ‘While I was looking at these horns, I saw another horn sprouting among them, a little one;[*e] three of the original horns were pulled out by the roots to make way for it; and in this horn I saw eyes like human eyes, and a mouth that was full of boasts.

7:9 As I watched:

 

The vision of the ‘Ancient of Days’ and of the son of man

‘Thrones were set in place[*f] and one of great age took his seat. His robe was white as snow, the hair of his head as pure as wool. His throne was a blaze of flames, its wheels were a burning fire.

7:10 A stream of fire poured out, issuing from his presence. A thousand thousand waited on him, ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. A court was held and the books were opened.

7:11 ‘The great things the horn was saying were still ringing in my ears, and as I watched, the beast was killed, and its body destroyed and committed to the flames.

7:12 The other beasts were deprived of their power, but received a lease of life for a season and a time.

7:13 ‘I gazed into the visions of the night. And I saw, coming on the clouds of heaven, one like a son of man. He came to the one of great age and was led into his presence.

7:14 On him was conferred sovereignty, glory and kingship, and men of all peoples, nations and languages became his servants. His sovereignty is an eternal sovereignty which shall never pass away, nor will his empire ever be destroyed.

 

The interpretation of the vision

7:15 ‘I, Daniel, was deeply disturbed and the visions that passed through my head alarmed me.

7:16 So I approached one of those who were standing by and asked him to tell me the truth about all this. And in reply he revealed to me what these things meant.

7:17 “These four great beasts are four kings who will rise from the earth.

7:18 Those who are granted sovereignty are the saints of the Most High, and the kingdom will be theirs for ever, for ever and ever.”

7:19 Then I asked to know the truth about the fourth beast, different from all the rest, very terrifying, with iron teeth and bronze claws, eating, crushing and trampling underfoot what remained;

7:20 and the truth about the ten horns on its head – and why the other horn sprouted and the three original horns fell, and why this horn had eyes and a mouth that was full of boasts, and why it made a greater show than the other horns.

7:21 This was the horn I had watched making war on the saints and proving the stronger,

7:22 until the coming of the one of great age who gave judgement in favour of the saints of the Most High, when the time came for the saints to take over the kingdom.

7:23 This is what he said: “The fourth beast is to be a fourth kingdom on earth, different from all other kingdoms. It will devour the whole earth, trample it underfoot and crush it.

7:24 As for the ten horns: from this kingdom will rise ten kings, and another after them; this one will be different from the previous ones and will bring down three kings;

7:25 he is going to speak words against the Most High, and harass the saints of the Most High. He will consider changing seasons and the Law,[*g] and the saints will be put into his power for a time, two times, and half a time.[*h]

7:26 But a court will be held and his power will be stripped from him, consumed, and utterly destroyed.

7:27 And sovereignty and kingship, and the splendours of all the kingdoms under heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Most High. His sovereignty is an eternal sovereignty and every empire will serve and obey him.”

7:28 ‘Here the narrative ends. I, Daniel, was greatly disturbed in mind, and I grew pale; but I kept these things to myself.’

 

JB DANIEL Chapter 8

 

DANIEL’S VISION: THE RAM AND THE HE-GOAT

 

The vision

8:1 In the third year of King Belshazzar a vision appeared to me, Daniel, after the one that originally appeared to me.

8:2 I gazed at the vision, and as I gazed I found myself in Susa,[*a] the citadel in the province of Elam; gazing at the vision I found myself at the Gate of the Ulai.

8:3 I raised my eyes to look round me, and I saw a ram standing in front of the river. It had two horns; both were tall, but one taller than the other, and the one that rose the higher was the second.

8:4 I saw the ram thrust westwards, northwards and southwards. No animal could stand up to it, nothing could escape it. It did as it pleased and grew very powerful.

8:5 This is what I observed: a he-goat came from the west, having covered the entire earth but without touching the ground, and between its eyes the goat had one majestic horn.

8:6 It advanced towards the ram with the two horns, which I had seen standing in front of the river, and charged at it with all the fury of its might.

8:7 I saw it reach the ram, and it was so enraged with the ram, it knocked it down, breaking both its horns, and the ram had not the strength to resist; it felled it to the ground and trampled it underfoot; no one was there to save the ram.

8:8 Then the he-goat grew more powerful than ever, but at the height of its strength the great horn snapped, and in its place sprouted four majestic horns, pointing to the four winds of heaven.

8:9 From one of these, the small one, sprang a horn which grew to great size towards south and east and towards the Land of Splendour.[*b]

8:10 It grew right up to the armies of heaven and flung armies and stars to the ground, and trampled them underfoot.

8:11 It even challenged the power of that army’s Prince; it abolished the perpetual sacrifice and overthrew the foundation of his sanctuary,

8:12 and the army too; it put iniquity on the sacrifice and flung truth to the ground; the horn was active and successful.

8:13 I heard a holy one speaking, and another who said to the speaker, ‘How long is this vision to be-of perpetual sacrifice, disastrous iniquity, of sanctuary and army trampled underfoot?’

8:14 The first replied, ‘Until two thousand three hundred evenings and mornings have gone by: then the sanctuary shall have its rights restored’.

 

The angel Gabriel interprets the vision

8:15 As I, Daniel, gazed at the vision and tried to understand it, I saw someone standing before me who looked like a man.

8:16 I heard a man’s voice cry over the Ulai, ‘Gabriel, tell him the meaning of the vision!’

8:17 He approached the place where I was standing; as he approached I was seized with terror, and fell prostrate. ‘Son of man,’ he said to me ‘understand this: the vision shows the time of the End.’

8:18 He was still speaking, when I fell senseless to the ground. He touched me, however, and raised me to my feet.

8:19 ‘Come,’ he said ‘I will tell you what is going to happen when the wrath comes to an end; this concerns the appointed End.

8:20 As for the ram that you saw, its two horns are the kings of Media and of Persia.

8:21 The hairy he-goat is the king of Javan, the large horn between its eyes is the first king.[*c]

8:22 The horn that snapped and the four horns that sprouted in its place are four kingdoms rising from his nation but not having his power.

8:23 ‘And at the end of their reign, when the measure of their sins is full, a king will arise, a proud-faced, ingenious-minded man.

8:24 His power will gather strength – but not through power of his own – he will plot incredible schemes, he will succeed in what he undertakes, he will destroy powerful men and the people of the saints.

8:25 Such will be his resourcefulness of mind that all his treacherous activities will succeed. He will grow arrogant of heart, take many unawares and destroy them. He will challenge the power of the Prince of princes but, no hand intervening,[*d] shall himself be broken.

8:26 This explanation of the vision of the mornings and the evenings is true, but you must keep the vision secret, for there are still many days to go.’

8:27 At this I, Daniel, lost consciousness; I was ill for several days. Then I got up to discharge my duties in the king’s service, keeping the vision a secret, and not understanding what it meant.

 

JB DANIEL Chapter 9

 

THE PROPHECY OF THE SEVENTY WEEKS

 

Daniel’s prayer

9:1 It was the first year of Darius son of Ahasuerus, who was of Median stock and ruled the kingdom of Chaldaea.

9:2 In the first year of his reign I, Daniel, was perusing the scriptures, counting over the number of years – as revealed by Yahweh to the prophet Jeremiah – that were to pass before the successive devastations of Jerusalem would come to an end, namely seventy years.

9:3 I turned my face to the Lord God begging for time to pray and to plead with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.

9:4 I pleaded with Yahweh my God and made this confession: ‘O Lord, God great and to be feared, you keep the covenant and have kindness for those who love you and keep your commandments:

9:5 we have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly, we have betrayed your commandments and your ordinances and turned away from them.

9:6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, our ancestors, and to all the people of the land.

9:7 Integrity, Lord, is yours; ours the look of shame we wear today, we, the people of Judah, the citizens of Jerusalem, the whole of Israel, near and far away, in every country to which you have dispersed us because of the treason we have committed against you.

9:8 To us, Yahweh, the look of shame belongs, to our kings, our princes, our ancestors, because we have sinned against you.

9:9 To the Lord our God mercy and pardon belong, because we have betrayed him,

9:10 and have not listened to the voice of Yahweh our God nor followed the laws he has given us through his servants the prophets.

9:11 The whole of Israel has flouted your Law and turned away, unwilling to listen to your voice; and the curse and imprecation written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have come pouring down on us-because we have sinned against him.

9:12 He has carried out the threats which he made against us and against the princes who governed us – that he would bring so great a disaster down on us that the fate of Jerusalem would find no parallel in the whole of the world.

9:13 And now all this disaster has happened to us, just as it is written in the Law of Moses; even so, we have not tried to appease Yahweh our God by renouncing our crimes and being guided by your truth.

9:14 Yahweh has watched for the right moment to bring disaster on us, since Yahweh our God is just in all his dealings with us, and we have not listened to his voice.

9:15 And now, Lord our God, who by your mighty hand brought us out of the land of Egypt – the renown you won then endures to this day – we have sinned, we have done wrong.

9:16 Lord, by all your acts of justice turn away your anger and your fury from Jerusalem, your own city, your holy mountain, for as a result of our sins and the crimes of our ancestors, Jerusalem and your own people have become a byword among all around us.

9:17 And now, our God, listen to the prayer and pleading of your servant. For your own sake, Lord, let your face smile again on your desolate sanctuary.

9:18 Listen my God, listen to us; open your eyes and look on our plight and on the city that hears your name. We are not relying on our own good works but on your great mercy, to commend our humble plea to you.

9:19 Listen, Lord! Lord, forgive! Hear, Lord, and act! For your own sake, my God, do not delay, because they hear your name, this is your city, this is your people.’

 

The angel Gabriel explains the prophecy

9:20 I was still speaking, still at prayer, confessing my own sins and the sins of my people Israel and placing my plea before Yahweh my God for the holy mountain of my God,

9:21 still speaking, still at prayer, when Gabriel, the being I had seen originally in a vision, flew suddenly down to me at the hour of the evening sacrifice.

9:22 He said to me, ‘Daniel, you see me; I have come down to teach you how to understand.

9:23 When your pleading began, a word was uttered, and I have come to tell you what it is. You are a man specially chosen. Grasp the meaning of the word, understand the vision:

9:24 ‘Seventy weeks are decreed[*a] for your people and your holy city, for putting an end to transgression, for placing the seals on sin, for expiating crime, for introducing everlasting integrity, for setting the seal on vision and on prophecy, for anointing the Holy of Holies.

9:25 ‘Know this, then, and understand: from the time this message went out: “Return and rebuild Jerusalem” to the coming of an anointed Prince, seven weeks and sixty-two weeks, with squares and ramparts restored and rebuilt, but in a time of trouble.

9:26 And after the sixty-two weeks an anointed one will be cut off-and… will not be for him-the city and the sanctuary will be destroyed by a prince who will come. His end will come in catastrophe and, until the end, there will be war and all the devastation decreed.

9:27 He will make a firm covenant with many[*b] for the space of a week; and for the space of one half-week he will put a stop to sacrifice and oblation, and on the wing of the Temple will be the disastrous abomination[*c] until the end, until the doom assigned to the devastator.’

 

JB DANIEL Chapter 10

 

THE GREAT VISION

 

THE TIME OF WRATH

 

The vision of the man dressed in linen

10:1 In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a revelation was made to Daniel known as Belteshazzar, a true revelation of a great conflict. He grasped the meaning of the revelation; what it meant was disclosed to him in a vision.

10:2 At that time, I, Daniel, was doing a three-week penance;

10:3 I ate no rich food, touched no meat or wine, and did not anoint myself, until these three weeks were over.

10:4 On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I stood on the bank of that great river, the Tigris,

10:5 I raised my eyes to look about me, and this is what I saw: A man dressed in linen, with a girdle of pure gold round his waist;

10:6 his body was like beryl, his face shone like lightning, his eyes were like fiery torches, his arms and his legs had the gleam of burnished bronze, the sound of his voice was like the noise of a crowd.

10:7 I, Daniel, alone saw the apparition; the men who were with me did not see the apparition, but so great a trembling overtook them that they fled to hide.

10:8 I was left alone, gazing on this great apparition; I was powerless, my appearance altered out of all recognition, what strength I had deserted me.

 

The apparition of the angel

10:9 I heard him speak, and at the sound of his voice I fell unconscious to the ground.

10:10 I felt a hand touching me, setting my knees and my hands trembling.

10:11 He said, ‘Daniel, you are a man specially chosen; listen carefully to the words that I am going to say; stand up; I have been sent to you and here I am’. He said this, and I stood up trembling.

10:12 He said then, ‘Daniel, do not be afraid: from that first day when you resolved to humble yourself before God, the better to understand, your words have been heard; and your words are the reason why I have come.

10:13 The prince of the kingdom of Persia has been resisting me for twenty-one days, but Michael,[*a] one of the leading princes, came to my assistance. I have left him confronting the kings of Persia

10:14 and have come to tell you what will happen to your people in the days to come. For here is a new vision about those days.’

10:15 When he had said these things to me I prostrated myself on the ground, without saying a word;

10:16 then someone looking like a son of man came and touched my lips. I opened my mouth to speak, and I said to the person standing in front of me, ‘My lord, anguish overcomes me at this vision, and what strength I had deserts me.

10:17 How can my lord’s servant speak to my lord now that I have no strength left and my breath fails me?’

10:18 Once again the person like a man touched me; he gave me strength.

10:19 ‘Do not be afraid,’ he said ‘you are a man specially chosen; peace be with you; play the man, be strong!’ And as he spoke to me I felt strong again and said, ‘Let my lord speak, you have given me strength’.

 

The prelude to the prophecy

10:20a He said then, ‘Do you know why I have come to you?

10:21a It is to tell you what is written in the Book of Truth.

10:20b I must go back to fight against the prince of Persia: when I have done with him, the prince of Javan will come next.

10:21b In all this there is no one to lend me support except Michael your prince,

 

JB DANIEL Chapter 11

 

11:1 on whom I rely to give me support and reinforce me.

11:2 And now I will tell you the truth about these things.

 

Early struggles between Seleucids and Ptolemies

‘Three more kings are going to rise in Persia; a fourth will come and be richer than all the others, and when, thanks to his wealth, he has grown powerful, he will challenge all the kingdoms of Javan.

11:3 A mighty king will rise and reign over a vast empire and do whatever he pleases.

11:4 But once he has come to power his empire will be broken up and parcelled out to the four winds of heaven, though not to his descendants: it will not be ruled as he ruled it, for his sovereignty is going to be uprooted and pass to others than his own.

11:5 ‘The king of the South[*a] will grow powerful, but one of his princes[*b] will grow more powerful still with an empire greater than that of the former.

11:6 Some years later, these will form an alliance and, to ratify the agreement, the daughter of the king of the South will go to the king of the North. Her arm will not, however, retain its strength, nor his posterity endure: she will be handed over, she, her escorts and her child, and he who has had authority over her.[*c] In due time

11:7 a sprig from her roots will rise in his place, will march on the defences, force the stronghold of the king of the North, and succeed in overcoming them.

11:8 He will even carry off all their gods, their statues, their precious gold and silver plate to Egypt. For some years he will leave the king of the North in peace,

11:9 but the latter will invade the kingdom of the king of the South, then retire to his own country.

11:10 His sons[*d] will next be on the march, mustering a host of powerful forces; and he[*e] will advance, deploy, break through and march on his stronghold once again.

11:11 The king of the South will fly into a rage and set out to give battle to the king of the North who will have an immense army on his side, and this army will be delivered into his hands.

11:12 The army will be annihilated; he will be triumphant; he will overthrow tens of thousands; yet he will have no strength.

11:13 The king of the North will come back, having recruited an even larger army than before, and finally, when the time comes, he will advance with a great army and plentiful supplies.

11:14 In those times many will rebel against the king of the South; men of violence will also rebel from your own people, thus fulfilling the vision; but they will fail.

11:15 The king of the North will then come and throw up siege-works to capture a strongly fortified city. The forces of the South will not stand their ground, its picked troops will not be strong enough to resist.

11:16 The invader will treat him as he pleases, no one will be able to resist him: he will take his stand in the Land of Splendour, destruction in his hands.

11:17 He will consider conquering his entire kingdom, but will then make a treaty with him and, to overthrow the kingdom, give him a woman’s daughter;[*f] but this will not last or be to his advantage.

11:18 He will next turn to the islands and conquer many of them, but a magistrate will put a stop to his outrages in such a way that he will be unable to repay outrage for outrage.[*g]

11:19 ‘He will then turn on the strongholds of his own country, but will stumble, fall, and never be seen again.

11:20 In his place there will rise a man[*h] who will send an extortioner to despoil the royal splendour; in a few days he will be shattered, though neither publicly nor in battle.[*i]

 

Antiochus Epiphanes

11:21 ‘In his place there will rise a wretch:[*j] he will not be given royal honours, but will insinuate himself into them in his own time and gain possession of the kingdom by intrigue.

11:22 Armies will be utterly routed and crushed by him, the prince of the covenant too.[*k]

11:23 Still conspiring, he will go from treachery to treachery, ever growing stronger despite the smallness of his following.

11:24 In his own time he will invade the richest provinces, acting as his fathers or his fathers’ fathers never acted, distributing plunder, spoil and wealth among them, plotting his stratagems against fortresses – for a time.

11:25 ‘He will rouse his strength and his heart against the king of the South with a great army. The king of the South will march to war with a huge and powerful army, but will offer no resistance, since he will be outwitted by trickery.

11:26 Those who shared his food will ruin him; his army will be swept away, many will fall in the slaughter.

11:27 ‘The two kings, seated at one table, hearts bent on evil, will tell their lies; but they will not have their way, for the appointed time is still to come.

11:28 He will return greatly enriched to his own country, his heart set against the holy covenant; he will take action, and next return to his own country.

11:29 In due time he will make his way southwards again, but this time the outcome will not be as before.

11:30 The ships of Kittim[*l] will oppose him, and he will be worsted. He will retire and take furious action against the holy covenant and, as before, will favour those who forsake that holy covenant.

11:31 ‘Forces of his will come and profane the sanctuary citadel; they will abolish the perpetual sacrifice and install the disastrous abomination there.

11:32 Those who break the covenant he will corrupt by his flatteries, but the people who know their God will stand firm and take action.

11:33 Those of the people who are learned will instruct many; for some days, however, they will be brought down by sword and flame, by captivity and by plundering.

11:34 And thus brought down, little help will they receive, though many will be plotting on their side.

11:35 Of the learned some will be brought down, as a result of which certain of them will be purged, purified and made white – until the time of the End, for the appointed time is still to come.

11:36 do as he pleases, growing more and more arrogant, considering himself greater than all the gods; he will utter incredible blasphemies against the God of gods, and he will thrive until the wrath reaches bursting point; for what has been decreed will certainly be fulfilled.

11:37 Heedless of his fathers’ gods, heedless of the one whom women love,[*m] heedless of any god whatever, he will

11:38 consider himself greater than them all. Instead of them, he will honour the god of fortresses, will honour a god unknown to his ancestors with gold and silver, precious stones and valuable presents.

11:39 He will use the people of an alien god[*n] to defend the fortresses; he will confer great honours on those who will acknowledge him, by giving them wide authority and by farming out the land at a price.

 

THE TIME OF THE END

 

The end of the persecutor

11:40 ‘When the time comes for the End, the king of the South will try conclusions with him; but the king of the North will come storming down on him with chariots, cavalry, and a large fleet. He will invade countries, overrun them and drive on.

11:41 He will invade the Land of Splendour, and many will fall; but Edom, Moab, and what remain of the sons of Ammon will escape him.

11:42 ‘He will reach out to attack countries: the land of Egypt will not escape him.

11:43 The gold and silver treasures and all the valuables of Egypt will lie in his power. Libyans and Cushites[*o] will be at his feet:

11:44 but reports coming from the East and the North will worry him, and in great fury he will set out to bring ruin and complete destruction to many.

11:45 He will pitch the tents of his royal headquarters between the sea and the mountains of the Holy Splendour. Yet he will come to his end – there will be no help for him.

 

JB DANIEL Chapter 12

 

Resurrection and retribution

12:1 ‘At that time Michael will stand up, the great prince who mounts guard over your people. There is going to be a time of great distress, unparalleled since nations first came into existence. When that time comes, your own people will be spared, all those whose names are found written in the Book.

12:2 Of those who lie sleeping in the dust of the earth many will awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting disgrace.

12:3 The learned will shine as brightly as the vault of heaven, and those who have instructed many in virtue, as bright as stars for all eternity.

12:4 ‘But you, Daniel, must keep these words secret and the book sealed until the time of the End. Many will wander this way and that, and wickedness will go on increasing.’

 

The sealed prophecy

12:5 Then I, Daniel, looked on and saw two others standing, one on the near bank of the river, one on the other.

12:6 One said to the man dressed in linen who was standing further up the stream, ‘How long until these wonders take place?’

12:7 I heard the man speak who was dressed in linen, standing further up the stream: he raised his right hand and his left to heaven and swore by him who lives for ever, ‘A time and two times, and half a time; and all these things are going to happen when he who crushes the power of the holy people meets his end’.

12:8 I listened but did not understand. Then I said, ‘My lord, what is to be the outcome?’

12:9 ‘Daniel,’ he said ‘go away: these words are to remain secret and sealed until the time of the End.

12:10 Many will be cleansed, made white and purged; the wicked will go on doing wrong; the wicked will never understand; the learned will understand.

12:11 From the moment that the perpetual sacrifice is abolished and the disastrous abomination erected: one thousand two hundred and ninety days.

12:12 Blessed is he who stands firm and attains a thousand three hundred and thirty-five days.

12:13 But you, go away and rest; and you will rise for your share at the end of time.’

 

JB DANIEL Chapter 13

 

SUSANNA AND THE JUDGEMENT OF DANIEL

13:1 In Babylon there lived a man named Joakim.

13:2 He had married Susanna daughter of Hilkiah, a woman of great beauty;

13:3 and she was God-fearing, because her parents were worthy people and had instructed their daughter in the Law of Moses.

13:4 Joakim was a very rich man, and had a garden attached to his house; the Jews would often visit him since he was held in greater respect than any other man.

13:5 Two elderly men had been selected from the people that year to act as judges. Of such the Lord said, ‘Wickedness has come to Babylon through the elders and judges posing as guides to the people’.

13:6 These men were often at Joakim’s house, and all who were engaged in litigation used to come to them.

13:7 At midday, when everyone had gone, Susanna used to take a walk in her husband’s garden.

13:8 The two elders, who used to watch her every day as she came in to take her walk, gradually began to desire her.

13:9 They threw reason aside, making no effort to turn their eyes to heaven, and forgetting its demands of virtue.

13:10 Both were inflamed by the same passion, but they hid their desire from each other,

13:11 for they were ashamed to admit the longing to sleep with her,

13:12 but they still contrived to see her every day.

13:13 One day, having parted with the words, ‘Let us go home, it is time for the midday meal’, they went off in different directions,

13:14 only to retrace their steps and find themselves face to face again. Obliged then to explain, they admitted their desire and agreed to look for an opportunity of surprising her alone.

13:15 So they waited for a favourable moment; and one day Susanna came as usual, accompanied only by two young maidservants. The day was hot and she wanted to bathe in the garden.

13:16 There was no one about except the two elders, spying on her from their hiding place.

13:17 She said to the servants, ‘Bring me some oil and balsam and shut the garden door while I bathe’.

13:18 They did as they were told, shutting the garden door and going back to the house by a side entrance to fetch what she had asked for; they knew nothing about the elders, who were hiding.

13:19 Hardly were the servants gone than the two elders were there after her. ‘Look,’

13:20 they said ‘the garden door is shut, no one can see us. We want to have you, so give in and let us!

13:21 Refuse, and we will both give evidence that a young man was with you and that was why you sent your maids away.’

13:22 Susanna sighed. ‘I am trapped,’ she said ‘whatever I do. If I agree, that means my death; if I resist, I cannot get away from you.

13:23 But I prefer to fall innocent into your power than to sin in the eyes of the Lord.’

13:24 Then she cried out as loud as she could. The two elders began shouting too, putting the blame on her,

13:25 and one of them ran to open the garden door.

13:26 The household, hearing the shouting in the garden, rushed out by the side entrance to see what was happening;

13:27 once the elders had told their story the servants were thoroughly taken aback, since nothing of this sort had ever been said of Susanna.

13:28 Next day a meeting was held at the house of her husband Joakim. The two elders arrived, in their vindictiveness determined to have her put to death.

13:29 They addressed the company: ‘Summon Susanna daughter of Hilkiah and wife of Joakim’. She was sent for,

13:30 and came accompanied by her parents, her children and all her relations.

13:31 Susanna was very graceful and beautiful to look at;

13:32 she was veiled, so the wretches made her unveil in order to feast their eyes on her beauty.

13:33 All her own people were weeping, and so were all the others who saw her.

13:34 The two elders stood up, with all the people round them, and laid their hands on the woman’s head.[*a]

13:35 Tearfully she turned her eyes to heaven, her heart confident in God.

13:36 The elders then spoke. ‘While we were walking by ourselves in the garden, this woman arrived with two servants. She shut the garden door and then dismissed the servants.

13:37 A young man who had been hiding went over to her and they lay down together.

13:38 From the end of the garden where we were, we saw this crime taking place and hurried towards them.

13:39 Though we saw them together we were unable to catch the man: he was too strong for us; he opened the door and took to his heels.

13:40 We did, however, catch this woman and ask her who the young man was.

13:41 She refused to tell us. That is our evidence.’ Since they were elders of the people, and judges, the assembly took their word: Susanna was condemned to death.

13:42 She cried out as loud as she could, ‘Eternal God, you know all secrets and everything before it happens;

13:43 you know that they have given false evidence against me. And now have I to die, innocent as I am of everything their malice has invented against me?’

13:44 The Lord heard her cry

13:45 and, as she was being led away to die, he roused the holy spirit residing in a young boy named Daniel

13:46 who began to shout, ‘I am innocent of this woman’s death!’

13:47 At which all the people turned to him and asked, ‘What do you mean by these words?’

13:48 Standing in the middle of the crowd he replied, ‘Are you so stupid, sons of Israel, as to condemn a daughter of Israel unheard, and without troubling to find out the truth?

13:49 Go back to the scene of the trial: these men have given false evidence against her.’

13:50 All the people hurried back, and the elders said to Daniel, ‘Come and sit with us and tell us what you mean, since God has given you the gifts that elders have’.

13:51 Daniel said, ‘Keep the men well apart from each other for I want to question them’.

13:52 When the men had been separated, Daniel had one of them brought to him. ‘You have grown old in wickedness,’ he said ‘and now the sins of your earlier days have overtaken you,

13:53 you with your unjust judgements, your condemnation of the innocent, your acquittal of guilty men, when the Lord has said, “You must not put the innocent and the just to death”.

13:54 Now then, since you saw her so clearly, tell me what tree you saw them lying under?’ He replied, ‘Under a mastic tree’.

13:55 Daniel said, ‘True enough! Your lie recoils on your own head: the angel of God has already received your sentence from him and will slash you in half.’

13:56 He dismissed the man, ordered the other to be brought and said to him, ‘Spawn of Canaan, not of Judah, beauty has seduced you, lust has led your heart astray!

13:57 This is how you have been behaving with the daughters of Israel and they were too frightened to resist; but here is a daughter of Judah who could not stomach your wickedness!

13:58 Now then, tell me what tree you surprised them under?’ He replied, ‘Under a holm oak’.

13:59 Daniel said, ‘True enough! Your lie recoils on your own head: the angel of God is waiting, with a sword to drive home and split you, and destroy the pair of you.’

13:60 Then the whole assembly shouted, blessing God, the saviour of those who trust in him.

13:61 And they turned on the two elders whom Daniel had convicted of false evidence out of their own mouths.

13:62 As prescribed in the Law of Moses, they sentenced them to the same punishment as they had intended to inflict on their neighbour. They put them to death; the life of an innocent woman was spared that day.

13:63 Hilkiah and his wife gave thanks to God for their daughter Susanna, and so did her husband Joakim and all his relations, because she had been acquitted of anything dishonourable.

13:64 From that day onwards Daniel’s reputation stood high with the people.

 

JB DANIEL Chapter 14

 

BEL AND THE DRAGON

 

Daniel and the priests of Bel

14:1 When King Astyages joined his ancestors, Cyrus of Persia succeeded him.

14:2 Daniel was very close to the king who thought more of him than of any other of his friends.

14:3 Now in Babylon there was an idol called Bel,[*a] to which twelve bushels of the finest flour, forty sheep and six measures of wine were offered every day.

14:4 The king took part in this cult and used to go and worship the idol every day. Daniel, however, worshipped his own God.

14:5 ‘Why do you not worship Bel?’ the king asked Daniel. ‘I do not worship idols made by the hands of men,’ Daniel replied ‘I worship the living God who made heaven and earth and who has power over all living creatures.’

14:6 ‘You believe, then,’ said the king ‘that Bel is not a living god? Can you not see how much he eats and drinks every day?’

14:7 Daniel laughed. ‘My king,’ he said ‘do not be taken in; he is clay inside, and bronze outside, and has never eaten or drunk anything.’

14:8 This made the king angry; he summoned his priests, ‘Tell me who eats all this food,’ he said ‘or die. Prove to me that Bel really eats it, and I will have Daniel put to death for blaspheming him.’

14:9 Daniel said to the king, ‘Let it be as you say’. There were seventy of these priests, to say nothing of their wives and children.

14:10 The king went to the temple of Bel, taking Daniel with him.

14:11 The priests of Bel said to him, ‘We are now withdrawing, as you can see; but we will leave you, O king, to set out food and prepare the wine and leave it there. Then you can shut the door and seal it with your own seal. If, when you return in the morning, you do not find that everything has been eaten by Bel, then let us be put to death; if not, then Daniel, that slanderer!’

14:12 They were thinking-hence their confidence-of a secret entrance which they had made under the table, by which they came in daily and took the offerings away.

14:13 When the priests had gone and the king had set out the food for Bel,

14:14 Daniel made his servants bring ashes and spread them all over the temple floor, with no other witness than the king. Then they left the building, shut the door and, sealing it with the king’s seal, went away.

14:15 That night, as usual, the priests came with their wives and children; they ate and drank everything.

14:16 The king was up very early next morning; so was Daniel.

14:17 ‘Daniel,’ said the king ‘are the seals intact?’ ‘They are intact, O king’ he replied.

14:18 The king then opened the door and taking one look at the table he exclaimed, ‘You are great, O Bel! There is no deception in you!’

14:19 But Daniel laughed. And restraining the king from going further in, he said, ‘Look at the floor and examine these footprints’.

14:20 ‘I can see footprints of men, of women and of children’ said the king,

14:21 and angrily ordered the priests to be arrested, with their wives and children. They showed him then the secret door through which they used to come and remove what was on the table.

14:22 The king had them put to death and handed Bel over to Daniel who destroyed both the idol and its temple.

 

Daniel kills the dragon

14:23 There was a big dragon in Babylon, and this was worshipped too.

14:24 The king said to Daniel, ‘You are not going to tell me that this is no more than bronze? Look, it is alive; it eats and drinks; you cannot deny that this is a living god; worship it, then.’

14:25 Daniel replied, ‘I worship the Lord my God; he is the living God. With your permission, O king, without using either sword or club I will kill this serpent.’

14:26 ‘You have my permission’ said the king.

14:27 Whereupon Daniel took some pitch, some fat and some hair and boiled them up together, rolled the mixture into balls and fed them to the dragon; the dragon swallowed them and burst. Daniel said, ‘Now look at the sort of thing you worship!’

14:28 The Babylonians were furious when they heard about this and began intriguing against the king. ‘The king has turned Jew,’ they said ‘he has allowed Bel to be overthrown, and the dragon to be killed, and he has put the priests to death.’

14:29 So they went to the king and said, ‘Hand Daniel over to us or else we will kill you, and your family’.

14:30 They pressed him so hard that the king found himself forced to hand Daniel over to them.

 

Daniel in the lion pit

14:31 They threw Daniel into the lion pit, and there he stayed for six days.

14:32 In the pit were seven lions, which were given two human bodies and two sheep every day; but for this period they were not given anything, to make sure they would eat Daniel.

14:33 Now the prophet Habakkuk was in Judaea: he had been making a stew, and breaking up bread small to put in a basket. He was on his way to the fields, taking this to the harvesters,

14:34 when the angel of the Lord spoke to him, ‘Take the meal you are carrying to Babylon and give it to Daniel in the lion pit’.

14:35 ‘Lord,’ replied Habakkuk ‘I have not even seen Babylon, and know nothing about this pit.’

14:36 The angel of the Lord seized his head and carried him off by the hair to Babylon where, with a great thrust of his spirit, he set Habakkuk down on the edge of the pit.

14:37 ‘Daniel, Daniel,’ Habakkuk shouted ‘take the meal that God has sent you.’

14:38 And Daniel said, ‘You have kept me in mind, O God; you have not deserted those who love you’.

14:39 Rising to his feet he ate the meal, while the angel of God lost no time in returning Habakkuk to his own country.

14:40 On the seventh day the king came to lament over Daniel; on reaching the pit he looked inside, and there was Daniel, quite unperturbed.

14:41 ‘You are great, O Lord, God of Daniel,’ he exclaimed ‘there is no god but you!’

14:42 Then he released Daniel from the pit and had the plotters of Daniel’s ruin thrown in instead, where they w`ere instantly eaten before his eyes.

 

END OF JB DANIEL [14 Chapters].

 

 

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