Daniel 14

NEW JERUSALEM	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 When King Astyages joined his ancestors, Cyrus of Persia succeeded him.	1 After King Astyages was laid with his fathers, Cyrus the Persian succeeded to his kingdom.
2 Daniel was very close to the king, who respected him more than any of his other friends.	2 Daniel was the king's favorite and was held in higher esteem than any of the friends of the king.
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 Babylonians had an idol called Bel, and every day they provided for it six barrels of fine flour, forty sheep, and six measures of wine.
4 The king venerated this idol and used to go and worship it every day. Daniel, however, worshipped hisown God.	4 The king worshiped it and went every day to adore it; but Daniel adored only his God.
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 When the king asked him, "Why do you not adore Bel?" Daniel replied, "Because I worship not idols made with hands, but only the living God who made heaven and earth and has dominion over all mankind."
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 the king continued, "You do not think Bel is a living god? Do you not see how much he eats and drinks every day?"
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 Daniel began to laugh. "Do not be deceived, O king," he said; "it is only clay inside and bronze outside; it has never taken any food or drink."
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 Enraged, the king called his priests and said to them, "Unless you tell me who it is that consumes these provisions, you shall die.
9 Daniel said to the king, 'Let it be as you say.'	9 But if you can show that Bel consumes them, Daniel shall die for blaspheming Bel." Daniel said to the king, "Let it be as you say!"
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 There were seventy priests of Bel, besides their wives and children. When the king went with Daniel into the temple of Bel,
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 the priests of Bel said, "See, we are going to leave. Do you, O king, set out the food and prepare the wine; then shut the door and seal it with your ring.
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 If you do not find that Bel has eaten it all when you return in the morning, we are to die; otherwise Daniel shall die for his lies against us."
13 When the priests had gone and the king had set out the food for Bel,	13 They were not perturbed, because under the table they had made a secret entrance through which they always came in to consume the food.
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 After they departed the king set the food before Bel, while Daniel ordered his servants to bring some ashes, which they scattered through the whole temple; the king alone was present. Then they went outside, sealed the closed door with the king's ring, and departed.
15 That night, as usual, the priests came with their wives and children; they ate and drank everything.	15 The priests entered that night as usual, with their wives and children, and they ate and drank everything.
16 The king was up very early next morning, and Daniel with him.	16 Early the next morning, the king came with Daniel.
17 'Daniel,' said the king, 'are the seals intact?' 'They are intact, Your Majesty,' he replied.	17 "Are the seals unbroken, Daniel?" he asked. And Daniel answered, "They are unbroken, O king."
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 As soon as he had opened the door, the king looked at the table and cried aloud, "Great you are, O Bel; there is no trickery in you."
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 But Daniel laughed and kept the king from entering. "Look at the floor," he said; "whose footprints are these?"
20 'I can see the footmarks of men, of women and of children,' said the king,	20 "I see the footprints of men, women, and children!" said the king.
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 angry king arrested the priests, their wives, and their children. They showed him the secret door by which they used to enter to consume what was on the table.
22 The king had them put to death and handed Bel over to Daniel who destroyed both the idol and itstemple.	22 He put them to death, and handed Bel over to Daniel, who destroyed it and its temple.
23 There was a great dragon which the Babylonians worshipped too.	23 There was a great dragon which the Babylonians worshiped.
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 "Look!" said the king to Daniel, "you cannot deny that this is a living god, so adore it."
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 Daniel answered, "I adore the Lord, my God, for he is the living God.
26 'You have my permission,' said the king.	26 Give me permission, O king, and I will kill this dragon without sword or club." "I give you permission," the king said.
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 Then Daniel took some pitch, fat, and hair; these he boiled together and made into cakes. He put them into the mouth of the dragon, and when the dragon ate them, he burst asunder. "This," he said, "is what you worshiped."
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 When the Babylonians heard this, they were angry and turned against the king. "The king has become a Jew," they said; "he has destroyed Bel, killed the dragon, and put the priests to death."
29 So they went to the king and said, 'Hand Daniel over to us or else we shall kil you and your family.'	29 They went to the king and demanded: "Hand Daniel over to us, or we will kill you and your family."
30 They pressed him so hard that the king found himself forced to hand Daniel over to them.	30 When he saw himself threatened with violence, the king was forced to hand Daniel over to them.
31 They threw Daniel into the lion pit, and there he stayed for six days.	31 They threw Daniel into a lions' den, where he remained six days.
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 In the den were seven lions, and two carcasses and two sheep had been given to them daily. But now they were given nothing, so that they would devour Daniel.
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 In Judea there was a prophet, Habakkuk; he mixed some bread in a bowl with the stew he had boiled, and was going to bring it to the reapers in the field,
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 when an angel of the Lord told him, "Take the lunch you have to Daniel in the lions' den at Babylon."
35 'Lord,' replied Habakkuk, 'I have not even seen Babylon and know nothing about this pit.'	35 But Habakkuk answered, "Babylon, sir, I have never seen, and I do not know the den!"
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 The angel of the Lord seized him by the crown of his head and carried him by the hair; with the speed of the wind, he set him down in Babylon above the den.
37 'Daniel, Daniel,' Habakkuk shouted, 'take the meal that God has sent you.'	37 "Daniel, Daniel," cried Habakkuk, "take the lunch God has sent you."
38 And Daniel said, 'You have kept me in mind, O God; you have not deserted those who love you.'	38 "You have remembered me, O God," said Daniel; "you have not forsaken those who love you."
39 Rising to his feet, he ate the meal, while the angel of God carried Habakkuk back in a moment to hisown country.	39 While Daniel began to eat, the angel of the Lord at once brought Habakkuk back to his own place.
40 On the seventh day, the king came to lament over Daniel; on reaching the pit he looked inside, andthere sat Daniel.	40 On the seventh day the king came to mourn for Daniel. As he came to the den and looked in, there was Daniel, sitting there!
41 'You are great, O Lord, God of Daniel,' he exclaimed, 'there is no god but you!'	41 The king cried aloud, "You are great, O Lord, the God of Daniel, and there is no other besides you!"
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 Daniel he took out, but those who had tried to destroy him he threw into the den, and they were devoured in a moment before his eyes.