1:15. And after ten days, their faces appeared fairer and fatter than all the children that ate of the king"s meat.
1:16. So Malasar took their portions, and the wine that they should drink: and he gave them pulse.
1:17. And to these children G.o.d gave knowledge, and understanding in every book, and wisdom: but to Daniel the understanding also of all visions and dreams.
1:18. And when the days were ended, after which the king had ordered they should be brought in: the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nabuchodonosor.
1:19. And when the king had spoken to them, there were not found among them all such as Daniel, Ananias, Misael, and Azarias: and they stood in the king"s presence.
1:20. And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the diviners, and wise men, that were in all his kingdom.
1:21. And Daniel continued even to the first year of king Cyrus.
Daniel Chapter 2
Daniel, by divine revelation, declares the dream of Nabuchodonosor, and the interpretation of it. He is highly honoured by the king.
2:1. In the second year of the reign of Nabuchodonosor, Nabuchodonosor had a dream, and his spirit was terrified, and his dream went out of his mind.
The second year... Viz., from the death of his father Nabopola.s.sar; for he had reigned before as partner with his father in the empire.
2:2. Then the king commanded to call together the diviners and the wise men, and the magicians, and the Chaldeans: to declare to the king his dreams: so they came and stood before the king.
The Chaldeeans... That is, the astrologers, that pretended to divine by stars.
2:3. And the king said to them: I saw a dream: and being troubled in mind I know not what I saw.
2:4. And the Chaldeans answered the king in Syriac: O king, live for ever: tell to thy servants thy dream, and we will declare the interpretation thereof.
2:5. And the king, answering, said to the Chaldeans: The thing is gone out of my mind: unless you tell me the dream, and the meaning thereof, you shall be put to death, and your houses shall be confiscated.
2:6. but if you tell the dream, and the meaning of it, you shall receive of me rewards, and gifts, and great honour: therefore, tell me the dream, and the interpretation thereof.
2:7. They answered again and said: Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will declare the interpretation of it.
2:8. The king answered and said: I know for certain, that you seek to gain time, since you know that the thing is gone from me.
2:9. If, therefore, you tell me not the dream, there is one sentence concerning you, that you have also framed a lying interpretation, and full of deceit, to speak before me till the time pa.s.s away. Tell me, therefore, the dream, that I may know that you also give a true interpretation thereof.
2:10. Then the Chaldeans answered before the king, and said: There is no man upon earth, that can accomplish thy word, O king; neither doth any king, though great and mighty, ask such a thing of any diviner, or wise man, or Chaldean.
2:11. For the thing that thou asketh, O king, is difficult: nor can any one be found that can shew it before the king, except the G.o.ds, whose conversation is not with men.
2:12. Upon hearing this, the king in fury, and in great wrath, commanded that all the wise men of Babylon should be put to death.
2:13. And the decree being gone forth, the wise men were slain: and Daniel and his companions were sought for, to be put to death.
2:14. Then Daniel inquired concerning the law and the sentence, of Arioch, the general of the king"s army, who was gone forth to kill the wise men of Babylon.
2:15. And he asked him that had received the orders of the king, why so cruel a sentence was gone forth from the face of the king. And when Arioch had told the matter to Daniel,
2:16. Daniel went in, and desired of the king, that he would give him time to resolve the question, and declare it to the king.
2:17. And he went into his house, and told the matter to Ananias, and Misael, and Azarias, his companions:
2:18. To the end that they should ask mercy at the face of the G.o.d of heaven, concerning this secret, and that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
2:19. Then was the mystery revealed to Daniel by a vision in the night: and Daniel blessed the G.o.d of heaven,
2:20. And speaking, he said: Blessed be the name of the Lord from eternity and for evermore: for wisdom and fort.i.tude are his.
2:21. And he changeth times and ages: taketh away kingdoms, and establisheth them: giveth wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to them that have understanding:
2:22. He revealeth deep and hidden things, and knoweth what is in darkness: and light is with him.
2:23. To thee, O G.o.d 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.
2:24. 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.
2:25. 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.
2:26. The king answered, and said to Daniel, whose name was Balta.s.sar: Thinkest thou indeed that thou canst tell me the dream that I saw, and the interpretation thereof?
2:27. 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.
2:28. But there is a G.o.d in heaven that revealeth mysteries, who hath shewn to thee, O king Nabuchodonosor, what is to come to pa.s.s in the latter times. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these:
2:29. Thou, O king, didst begin to think in thy bed, what should come to pa.s.s hereafter: and he that revealeth mysteries shewed thee what shall come to pa.s.s.
2:30. 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.
2:31. 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.
2:32. The head of this statue was of fine gold, but the breast and the arms of silver, and the belly and the thighs of bra.s.s.
2:33. And the legs of iron, the feet part of iron and part of clay.
2:34. 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.
2:35. Then was the iron, the clay, the bra.s.s, 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.
2:36. This is the dream: we will also tell the interpretation thereof before thee, O king.
2:37. Thou art a king of kings: and the G.o.d of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, and strength, and power, and glory:
2:38. 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.
2:39. And after thee shall rise up another kingdom, inferior to thee, of silver: and another third kingdom of bra.s.s, which shall rule over all the world.