Study Desk

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

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

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

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

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

—it is you, O king, who have grown great and you have grown strong, and so your greatness has increased and it has reached to heaven and your sovereignty to the end of the earth.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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