Daniel 14

NEW JERUSALEM	DOUAI-RHEIMS
1 When King Astyages joined his ancestors, Cyrus of Persia succeeded him.	1 And Daniel was the king's guest, and was honoured above all his friends.
2 Daniel was very close to the king, who respected him more than any of his other friends.	2 Now the Babylonians had an idol called Bel: and there were spent upon him every day twelve great measures of fine flour, and forty sheep, and sixty vessels of wine.
3 Now, in Babylon there was an idol cal ed Bel, to which twelve bushels of the finest flour, forty sheepand six measures of wine were offered every day.	3 The king also worshipped him, and went every day to adore him: but Daniel adored his God. And the king said to him: Why dost thou not adore Bel?
4 The king venerated this idol and used to go and worship it every day. Daniel, however, worshipped hisown God.	4 And he answered, and said to him: Because I do not worship idols made with hands, but the living God, that created heaven and earth, and hath power over all flesh.
5 'Why do you not worship Bel?' the king asked Daniel. 'I do not worship idols made by human hand,'Daniel replied, 'I worship the living God who made heaven and earth and who is lord over al living creatures.'	5 And the king said to him: Doth not Bel seem to thee to be a living god? Seest thou not how much he eateth and drinketh every day?
6 'Do you not believe, then,' said the king, 'that Bel is a living god? Can you not see how much he eatsand drinks each day?'	6 Then Daniel smiled and said: O king, be not deceived: for this is but clay within, and brass without, neither hath he eaten at any time.
7 Daniel laughed. 'Your Majesty,' he said, 'do not be taken in; he is clay inside, and bronze outside, andhas never eaten or drunk anything.'	7 And the king being angry called for his priests, and said to them: If you tell me not, who it is that eateth up these expenses, you shall die.
8 This made the king angry; he summoned his priests, 'Tel me who eats all this food,' he said, 'or die.Prove to me that Bel real y eats it, and I wil have Daniel put to death for blaspheming him.'	8 But if you can shew that Bel eateth these things, Daniel shall die, because he hath blasphemed against Bel. And Daniel said to the king: Be it done according to thy word.
9 Daniel said to the king, 'Let it be as you say.'	9 Now the priests of Bel were seventy, besides their wives, and little ones, and children. And the king went with Daniel into the temple of Bel.
10 There were seventy of these priests, to say nothing of their wives and children. The king went to thetemple of Bel, taking Daniel with him.	10 And the priests of Bel said: Behold we go out: and do thou, O king, set on the meats, and make ready the wine, and shut the door fast, and seal it with thy own ring:
11 The priests of Bel said to him, 'We shal now go out, and you, Your Majesty, wil lay out the meal andmix the wine and set it out. Then, lock the door and seal it with your personal seal. If, when you return in themorning, you do not find that everything has been eaten by Bel, let us be put to death; otherwise let Daniel, thatslanderer!'	11 And when thou comest in the morning, if thou findest not that Bel hath eaten up all, we will suffer death, or else Daniel that hath lied against us.
12 They were thinking -- hence their confidence -- of a secret entrance which they had made under thetable, and by which they came in regularly and took the offerings away.	12 And they little regarded it, because they had made under the table a secret entrance, and they always came in by it, and consumed those things.
13 When the priests had gone and the king had set out the food for Bel,	13 So it came to pass after they were gone out, the king set the meats before Bel: and Daniel commanded his servants, and they brought ashes, and he sifted them all over the temple before the king: and going forth they shut the door, and having sealed it with the king's ring, they departed.
14 Daniel made his servants bring ashes and spread them all over the temple floor, with no otherwitness than the king. They then left the building, shut the door and, sealing it with the king's seal, went away.	14 But the priests went in by night, according to their custom, with their wives and their children: and they ate and drank up all.
15 That night, as usual, the priests came with their wives and children; they ate and drank everything.	15 And the king arose early in the morning, and Daniel with him.
16 The king was up very early next morning, and Daniel with him.	16 And the king said: Are the seals whole, Daniel? And he answered: They are whole, O king.
17 'Daniel,' said the king, 'are the seals intact?' 'They are intact, Your Majesty,' he replied.	17 And as soon as he had opened the door, the king looked upon the table, and cried out with a loud voice: Great art thou, O Bel, and there is not any deceit with thee.
18 The king then opened the door and, taking one look at the table, exclaimed, 'You are great, O Bel!There is no deception in you!'	18 And Daniel laughed: and he held the king that he should not go in: and he said: Behold the pavement, mark whose footsteps these are.
19 But Daniel laughed; and, restraining the king from going in any further, he said, 'Look at the floor andtake note whose footmarks these are!'	19 And the king said: I see the footsteps of men, and women, and children. And the king was angry.
20 'I can see the footmarks of men, of women and of children,' said the king,	20 Then he took the priests, and their wives, and their children: and they shewed him the private doors by which they came in, and consumed the things that were on the table.
21 and angrily ordered the priests to be arrested, with their wives and children. They then showed himthe secret door through which they used to come and take what was on the table.	21 The king therefore put them to death, and delivered Bel into the power of Daniel: who destroyed him, and his temple.
22 The king had them put to death and handed Bel over to Daniel who destroyed both the idol and itstemple.	22 And there was a great dragon in that place, and the Babylonians worshipped him.
23 There was a great dragon which the Babylonians worshipped too.	23 And the king said to Daniel: Behold thou canst not say now, that this is not a living god: adore him therefore.
24 The king said to Daniel, 'Are you going to tel me that this is made of bronze? Look, it is alive; it eatsand drinks; you cannot deny that this is a living god; worship it, then.'	24 And Daniel said: I adore the Lord my God: for he is the living God: but that is no living god.
25 Daniel replied, 'I wil worship the Lord my God; he is the living God. With your permission, YourMajesty, without using either sword or club, I shal kil this dragon.'	25 But give me leave, O king, and I will kill this dragon without sword or club. And the king said: I give thee leave.
26 'You have my permission,' said the king.	26 Then Daniel took pitch, and fat, and hair, and boiled them together: and he made lumps, and put them into the dragon's mouth, and the dragon burst asunder. And he said: Behold him whom you worshipped.
27 Whereupon, Daniel took some pitch, some fat and some hair and boiled them up together, rol ed themixture into bal s and fed them to the dragon; the dragon swallowed them and burst. Daniel said, 'Now look atthe sort of thing you worship!'	27 And when the Babylonians had heard this, they took great indignation: and being gathered together against the king, they said: The king is become a Jew. He hath destroyed Bel, he hath killed the dragon, and he hath put the priests to death.
28 The Babylonians were furious when they heard about this and rose against the king. 'The king hasturned Jew,' they said, 'he has al owed Bel to be overthrown, and the dragon to be kil ed, and he has put thepriests to death.'	28 And they came to the king, and said: Deliver us Daniel, or else we will destroy thee and thy house.
29 So they went to the king and said, 'Hand Daniel over to us or else we shall kil you and your family.'	29 And the king saw that they pressed upon him violently: and being constrained by necessity he delivered Daniel to them.
30 They pressed him so hard that the king found himself forced to hand Daniel over to them.	30 And they cast him into the den of lions, and he was there six days.
31 They threw Daniel into the lion pit, and there he stayed for six days.	31 And in the den there were seven lions, and they had given to them two carcasses every day, and two sheep: but then they were not given unto them, that they might devour Daniel.
32 In the pit were seven lions, which were given two human bodies and two sheep every day; but forthis period they were not given anything, to make sure they would eat Daniel.	32 Now there was in Judea a prophet called Habacuc, and he had boiled pottage, and had broken bread in a bowl: and was going into the field, to carry it to the reapers.
33 Now, the prophet Habakkuk was in Judaea: he had been making a stew and breaking up bread intoa basket. He was on his way to the fields, taking this to the harvesters,	33 And the angel of the Lord said to Habacuc: Carry the dinner which thou hast into Babylon to Daniel, who is in the lions' den.
34 when the angel of the Lord spoke to him, 'Take the meal you are carrying to Babylon, and give it toDaniel in the lion pit.'	34 And Habacuc said: Lord, I never saw Babylon, nor do I know the den.
35 'Lord,' replied Habakkuk, 'I have not even seen Babylon and know nothing about this pit.'	35 And the angel of the Lord took him by the top of his head, and carried him by the hair of his head, and set him in Babylon over the den in the force of his spirit.
36 The angel of the Lord took hold of his head and carried him off by the hair to Babylon where, with agreat blast of his breath, he set Habakkuk down on the edge of the pit.	36 And Habacuc cried, saying: O Daniel, thou servant of God, take the dinner that God hath sent thee.
37 'Daniel, Daniel,' Habakkuk shouted, 'take the meal that God has sent you.'	37 And Daniel said: Thou hast remembered me, O God, and thou hast not forsaken them that love thee.
38 And Daniel said, 'You have kept me in mind, O God; you have not deserted those who love you.'	38 And Daniel arose and ate. And the angel of the Lord presently set Habacuc again in his own place.
39 Rising to his feet, he ate the meal, while the angel of God carried Habakkuk back in a moment to hisown country.	39 And upon the seventh day the king came to bewail Daniel: and he came to the den, and looked in, and behold Daniel was sitting in the midst of the lions.
40 On the seventh day, the king came to lament over Daniel; on reaching the pit he looked inside, andthere sat Daniel.	40 And the king cried out with a loud voice, saying: Great art thou, O Lord the God of Daniel. And he drew him out of the lions' den.
41 'You are great, O Lord, God of Daniel,' he exclaimed, 'there is no god but you!'	41 But those that bad been the cause of his destruction, he cast into the den, and they were devoured in a moment before him.
42 He then had Daniel released from the pit and the plotters of Daniel's ruin thrown in instead, wherethey were instantly eaten before his eyes.	42 Then the king said: Let all the inhabitants of the whole earth fear the God of Daniel: for he is the Saviour, working signs, and wonders in the earth: who hath delivered Daniel out of the lions' den.