The Bible (Old and New Testaments)

And he changeth times and ages: taketh away kingdoms, and establisheth them: giveth wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to them that have understanding:

He revealeth deep and hidden things, and knoweth what is in darkness: and light is with him.

To thee, O God of our fathers, I give thanks, and I praise thee: because thou hast given me wisdom and strength: and now thou hast shewn me what we desired of thee, for thou hast made known to us the king's discourse.

After this Daniel went in to Arioch, to whom the king had given orders to destroy the wise men of Babylon, and he spoke thus to him: Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will tell the solution to the king.

Then Arioch in haste brought in Daniel to the king, and said to him: I have found a man of the children of the captivity of Juda, that will resolve the question to the king.

The king answered, and said to Daniel, whose name was Baltassar: Thinkest thou indeed that thou canst tell me the dream that I saw, and the interpretation thereof?

And Daniel made answer before the king, and said: The secret that the king desireth to know, none of the wise men, or the philosophers, or the diviners, or the soothsayers, can declare to the king.

But there is a God in heaven that revealeth mysteries, who hath shewn to thee, O king Nabuchodonosor, what is to come to pass in the latter times. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these:

Thou, O king, didst begin to think in thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth mysteries shewed thee what shall come to pass.

To me also this secret is revealed, not by any wisdom that I have more than all men alive: but that the interpretation might be made manifest to the king, and thou mightest know the thought of thy mind.

Thou, O king, sawest, and behold there was as it were a great statue: this statue, which was great and high, tall of stature, stood before thee, and the look thereof was terrible.

The head of this statue was of fine gold, but the breast and the arms of silver, and the belly and the thighs of brass.

And the legs of iron, the feet part of iron and part of clay.

Thus thou sawest, till a stone was cut out of a mountain without hands: and it struck the statue upon the feet thereof that were of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces.

Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of a summer's threshing floor, and they were carried away by the wind: and there was no place found for them: but the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

This is the dream: we will also tell the interpretation thereof before thee, O king.

Thou art a king of kings: and the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, and strength, and power, and glory:

And all places wherein the children of men, and the beasts of the field do dwell: he hath also given the birds of the air into thy hand, and hath put all things under thy power: thou, therefore, art the head of gold.

And after thee shall rise up another kingdom, inferior to thee, of silver: and another third kingdom of brass, which shall rule over all the world.

And the fourth kingdom shall be as iron. As iron breaketh into pieces, and subdueth all things, so shall that break, and destroy all these.

And whereas thou sawest the feet, and the toes, part of potter's clay, and part of iron: the kingdom shall be divided, but yet it shall take its origin from the iron, according as thou sawest the iron mixed with the miry clay.

And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay: the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.

And whereas thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay, they shall be mingled indeed together with the seed of man, but they shall not stick fast one to another, as iron cannot be mixed with clay.

But in the days of those kingdoms, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never by destroyed, and his kingdom shall not be delivered up to another people: and it shall break in pieces, and shall consume all these kingdoms: and itself shall stand for ever.

According as thou sawest, that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and broke in pieces the clay and the iron, and the brass, and the silver, and the gold, the great God hath shewn the king what shall come to pass hereafter, and the dream is true, and the interpretation thereof is faithful.

Then king Nabuchodonosor fell on his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer in sacrifice to him victims and incense.

And the king spoke to Daniel, and said: Verily, your God is the God of gods, and Lord of kings, and a revealer of hidden things: seeing thou couldst discover this secret.

Then the king advanced Daniel to a high station, and gave him many and great gifts: and he made him governor over all the provinces of Babylon: and chief of the magistrates over all the wise men of Babylon.

And Daniel requested of the king, and he appointed Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, over the works of the province of Babylon: but Daniel himself was in the king's palace.

King Nabuchodonosor made a statue of gold, of sixty cubits high, and six cubits broad, and he set it up in the plain of Dura, of the province of Babylon.

Then Nabuchodonosor, the king, sent to call together the nobles, the magistrates, and the judges, the captains, the rulers, and governors, and all the chief men of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the statue which king Nabuchodonosor had set up.

Then the nobles, the magistrates, and the judges, the captains, and rulers, and the great men that were placed in authority, and all the princes of the provinces, were gathered together to come to the dedication of the statue, which king Nabuchodonosor had set up. And they stood before the statue which king Nabuchodonosor had set up.

Then a herald cried with a strong voice: To you it is commanded, O nations, tribes and languages:

That in the hour that you shall hear the sound of the trumpet, and of the flute, and of the harp, of the sackbut, and of the psaltery, and of the symphony, and of all kind of music, ye fall down and adore the golden statue which king Nabuchodonosor hath set up.

But if any man shall not fall down and adore, he shall the same hour be cast into a furnace of burning fire.

Upon this, therefore, at the time when all the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the flute, and the harp, of the sackbut, and the psaltery, of the symphony, and of all kind of music, all the nations, tribes, and languages fell down and adored the golden statue which king Nabuchodonosor had set up.

And presently at that very time some Chaldeans came and accused the Jews,

And said to king Nabuchodonosor: O king, live for ever:

Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the trumpet, the flute, and the harp, of the sackbut, and the psaltery, of the symphony, and of all kind of music, shall prostrate himself, and adore the golden statue:

And that if any man shall not fall down and adore, he should be cast into a furnace of burning fire.

Now there are certain Jews, whom thou hast set over the works of the province of Babylon, Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago: these men, O king, have slighted thy decree: they worship not thy gods, nor do they adore the golden statue which thou hast set up.

Then Nabuchodonosor in fury, and in wrath, commanded that Sidrach, Misach, ad Abdenago should be brought: who immediately were brought before the king.

And Nabuchodonosor, the king, spoke to them, and said: Is it true, O Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, that you do not worship my gods, nor adore the golden statue that I have set up?

Now, therefore, if you be ready, at what hour soever, you shall hear the sound of the trumpet, flute, harp, sackbut, and psaltery, and symphony, and of all kind of music, prostrate yourselves, and adore the statue which I have made: but if you do not adore, you shall be cast the same hour into the furnace of burning fire: and who is the God that shall deliver you out of my hand?

Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, answered, and said to king Nabuchodonosor: We have no occasion to answer thee concerning this matter.

For behold our God, whom we worship, is able to save us from the furnace of burning fire, and to deliver us out of thy hands, O king.

But if he will not, be it known to thee, O king, that we will not worship thy gods, nor adore the golden statue which thou hast set up.

Then was Nabuchodonosor filled with fury: and the countenance of his face was changed against Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, and he commanded that the furnace should be heated seven times more than it had been accustomed to be heated.

And he commanded the strongest men that were in his army, to bind the feet of Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, and to cast them into the furnace of burning fire.

And immediately these men were bound, and were cast into the furnace of burning fire, with their coats, and their caps, and their shoes, and their garments.

For the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace was heated exceedingly. And the flame of the fire slew those men that had cast in Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago.

But these three men, that is, Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, fell down bound in the midst of the furnace of burning fire.

And they walked in the midst of the flame, praising God, and blessing the Lord.

Then Azarias standing up, prayed in this manner, and opening his mouth in the midst of the fire, he said:

Blessed art thou, O Lord, the God of our fathers, and thy name is worthy of praise, and glorious for ever:

For thou art just in all that thou hast done to us, and all thy works are true, and thy ways right, and all thy judgments true.

For thou hast executed true judgments in all the things that thou hast brought upon us, and upon Jerusalem, the holy city of our fathers: for according to truth and judgment, thou hast brought all these things upon us for our sins.

For we have sinned, and committed iniquity, departing from thee: and we have trespassed in all things:

And we have not hearkened to thy commandments, nor have we observed nor done as thou hadst commanded us, that it might go well with us.

Wherefore, all that thou hast brought upon us, and every thing that thou hast done to us, thou hast done in true judgment:

And thou hast delivered us into the hands of our enemies that are unjust, and most wicked, and prevaricators, and to a king unjust, and most wicked beyond all that are upon the earth.

And now we cannot open our mouths: we are become a shame, and a reproach to thy servants, and to them that worship thee.

Deliver us not up for ever, we beseech thee, for thy name's sake, and abolish not thy covenant.

And take not away thy mercy from us, for the sake of Abraham, thy beloved, and Isaac, thy servant, and Israel, thy holy one:

To whom thou hast spoken, promising that thou wouldst multiply their seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand that is on the sea shore.

For we, O Lord, are diminished more than any nation, and are brought low in all the earth this day for our sins.

Neither is there at this time prince, or leader, or prophet, or holocaust, or sacrifice, or oblation, or incense, or place of first fruits before thee,

That we may find thy mercy: nevertheless, in a contrite heart and humble spirit let us be accepted.

As in holocausts of rams, and bullocks, and as in thousands of fat lambs: so let our sacrifice be made in thy sight this day, that it may please thee: for there is no confusion to them that trust in thee.

And now we follow thee with all our heart, and we fear thee, and seek thy face.

Put us not to confusion, but deal with us according to thy meekness, and according to the multitude of thy mercies.

And deliver us, according to thy wonderful works, and give glory to thy name, O Lord:

And let all them be confounded that shew evils to thy servants, let them be confounded in all thy might, and let their strength be broken:

And let them know that thou art the Lord, the only God, and glorious over all the world.

Now the king's servants that had cast them in, ceased not to heat the furnace with brimstone and tow, and pitch, and dry sticks,

And the flame mounted up above the furnace nine and forty cubits:

And it broke forth, and burnt such of the Chaldeans as it found near the furnace.

But the angel of the Lord went down with Azarias and his companions into the furnace: and he drove the flame of the fire out of the furnace,

And made the midst of the furnace like the blowing of a wind bringing dew, and the fire touched them not at all, nor troubled them, nor did them any harm.

Then these three, as with one mouth, praised and glorified and blessed God, in the furnace, saying:

Blessed art thou, O Lord, the God of our fathers; and worthy to be praised, and glorified, and exalted above all for ever: and blessed is the holy name of thy glory: and worthy to be praised and exalted above all, in all ages.

Blessed art thou in the holy temple of thy glory: and exceedingly glorious for ever.

Blessed art thou on the throne of thy kingdom, and exceedingly to be praised and exalted above all for ever.

Blessed art thou that beholdest the depths, and sittest upon the cherubims: and worthy to be praised and exalted above all for ever.

Blessed art thou in the firmament of heaven: and worthy of praise, and glorious for ever.

All ye works of the Lord, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.

O ye angels of the Lord, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.

O ye heavens, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.

O all ye waters that are above the heavens, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.

O all ye powers of the Lord, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.

O ye sun and moon, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.

O ye stars of heaven, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.

O every shower and dew, bless ye the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.

O all ye spirits of God, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.

O ye fire and heat, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.

O ye cold and heat, bless the Lord, praise and exalt him above all for ever.

O ye dews and hoar frost, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.

O ye frost and cold, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.

O ye ice and snow, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.

O ye nights and days, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.