Daniel 14

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 When King Astyages joined his ancestors, Cyrus of Persia succeeded him.	1 And so Daniel was living with the king, and he was honored above all his friends.
2 Daniel was very close to the king, who respected him more than any of his other friends.	2 Now there was an idol with the Babylonians named Bel. And each day there was expended on him twelve great measures of fine flour, and forty sheep, and six 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 likewise worshipped him and went each day to adore him, but Daniel adored his God. And the king said to him, “Why do you 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 answering, he said to him, “Because I do not worship idols made with hands, but the living God, who created heaven and earth, and who holds 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, “Does not Bel seem to you to be a living god? Do you not see how much he eats and drinks 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 said, smiling, “O king, do not make a mistake, for this one is clay on the inside and brass on the outside, and he has never eaten.”
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 do not tell me who it is that has eaten these expenses, you will 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 show that Bel has eaten these, Daniel will die, because he has blasphemed against Bel.” And Daniel said to the king, “Let it be according to your 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 sons. 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 are going out, and you, O king, set out the meats, and mix the wine, and close the door, and seal it with your 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 you have entered in the morning, if you have not found that Bel has consumed all, we will suffer death, or else Daniel will, who has 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 But they had no concern because they had made a secret entrance under the table, and they always went in through it and devoured those things.
13 When the priests had gone and the king had set out the food for Bel,	13 And so it happened, after they had departed, that the king set the foods before Bel, and Daniel commanded his servants, and they brought ashes, and he sifted them throughout the temple in the sight of the king, and, as they left, they shut the door, and after sealing 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 entered by night, according to their custom, with their wives, and their sons, and they ate and drank everything.
15 That night, as usual, the priests came with their wives and children; they ate and drank everything.	15 But the king arose at first light, 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 unbroken, Daniel?” And he answered, “They are unbroken, 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 stared at the table, and cried out with a loud voice, “Great are you, O Bel, and there is not any deceit with you.”
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 back the king, so that he would not enter, and he said, “Look at the pavement, notice 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 apprehended the priests, and their wives, and their sons, and they showed him the secret doors through which they entered 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 Therefore, the king slaughtered them and delivered Bel into the power of Daniel, who overturned 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, now you cannot say that this is not a living god; therefore, adore him.”
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 one is not a 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 Therefore, you give me the power, O king, and I will execute this dragon without sword or club.” And the king said, “I give it to you.”
26 'You have my permission,' said the king.	26 And so Daniel took pitch, and fat, and hair, and cooked them together. And he made lumps and put them into the dragon’s mouth, and the dragon burst open. And he said, “Behold, this is what you worship.”
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 When the Babylonians had heard this, they were greatly indignant. And gathering together against the king, they said, “The king has become a Jew. He has destroyed Bel, he has executed the dragon, and he has slaughtered the priests.”
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 when they came to the king, they said, “Deliver Daniel to us, otherwise we will execute you and your 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 Thus the king saw that they pressured him vehemently, and so, being compelled 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 for six days.
31 They threw Daniel into the lion pit, and there he stayed for six days.	31 Furthermore, 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 to them, so that they would 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 Habakkuk, and he had cooked a small meal and had broken bread in a bowl, and he was going into the field, to bring it to the harvesters.
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 Habakkuk, “Carry the meal that you have 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 Habakkuk said, “Lord, I have not seen Babylon, and I do not 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 seized him by the top of his head, and carried him by the hair of his head, and set him in Babylon, over the den, by 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 Habakkuk shouted, saying, “Daniel, servant of God, take the dinner that God has sent you.”
37 'Daniel, Daniel,' Habakkuk shouted, 'take the meal that God has sent you.'	37 And Daniel said, “You have remembered me, O God, and you have not abandoned those who love you.”
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 then the angel of the Lord immediately returned Habakkuk to his 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 so, on the seventh day, the king came to morn Daniel. And he came to the den, and gazed 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 are you, O Lord, the God of Daniel.” And he pulled him out of the lions’ den.
41 'You are great, O Lord, God of Daniel,' he exclaimed, 'there is no god but you!'	41 Furthermore, those who had been the cause of his downfall, he hurled 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 Savior, working signs and miracles on earth, who has freed Daniel from the lions’ den.”