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They answered a second time, "Let the king tell the dream to his servants, and we will give the interpretation."

So the decree went out that the wise men were to be executed, and men went to look for Daniel and his friends to execute them.

Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,

urging them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his friends would not be killed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

At this, King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, paid homage to Daniel, and ordered that an offering of incense be presented to him.

At this, Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He gave orders to heat the furnace seven times hotter than usual,

and he commanded mighty warriors in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and throw them into the burning fiery furnace.

Suddenly King Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in amazement and asked his advisers, "Did we not throw three men, firmly bound, into the fire?" "Certainly, O king," they replied.

Nebuchadnezzar declared, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him. They violated the king's command and risked their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.

How great are His signs, and how mighty His wonders! His kingdom is an eternal kingdom, and His dominion endures from generation to generation.

But at last, Daniel came into my presence (his name is Belteshazzar, after the name of my god, and the spirit of the holy gods is in him.) And I told him the dream:

Let his mind be changed from that of a man, and let him be given the mind of a beast till seven times pass him by.

For a time, Daniel, who was also known as Belteshazzar, was perplexed, and his thoughts alarmed him. So the king said, "Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation alarm you." "My lord," replied Belteshazzar, "may the dream apply to those who hate you, and its interpretation to your enemies!

At that moment the sentence against Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from mankind. He ate grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird.

But at the end of those days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven, and my sanity was restored to me. Then I praised the Most High, and I honored and glorified Him who lives forever: "For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation.

All the peoples of the earth are counted as nothing, and He does as He pleases with the army of heaven and the peoples of the earth. There is no one who can restrain His hand or say to Him, 'What have You done?'"

Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, for all His works are true, and all His ways are just. And those who walk in pride He is able to humble.

Many years later King Belshazzar held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he drank wine with them.

Under the influence of the wine, Belshazzar gave orders to bring in the gold and silver vessels that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king could drink from them, along with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines.

Thus they brought in the gold vessels that had been taken from the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king drank from them, along with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines.