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The Prophecy
of Daniel 14
And Daniel was the king's guest, and was honoured above
all his friends.
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.
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?
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
But the priests went in by night, according to their
custom, with their wives and their children: and they
ate and drank up all.
And the king arose early in the morning, and Daniel
with him.
And the king said: Are the seals whole, Daniel? And
he answered: They are whole, O king.
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.
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.
And the king said: I see the footsteps of men, and women,
and children. And the king was angry.
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.
The king therefore put them to death, and delivered
Bel into the power of Daniel: who destroyed him, and
his temple.
And there was a great dragon in that place, and the
Babylonians worshipped him.
And the king said to Daniel: Behold thou canst not say
now, that this is not a living god: adore him therefore.
And Daniel said: I adore the Lord my God: for he is
the living God: but that is no living god.
But give me leave, O king, and I will kill this dragon
without sword or club. And the king said: I give thee
leave.
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.
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.
And they came to the king, and said: Deliver us Daniel,
or else we will destroy thee and thy house.
And the king saw that they pressed upon him violently:
and being constrained by necessity he delivered Daniel
to them.
And they cast him into the den of lions, and he was
there six days.
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.
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.
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.
And Habacuc said: Lord, I never saw Babylon, nor do
I know the den.
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.
And Habacuc cried, saying: O Daniel, thou servant of
God, take the dinner that God hath sent thee.
And Daniel said: Thou hast remembered me, O God, and
thou hast not forsaken them that love thee.
And Daniel arose and ate. And the angel of the Lord
presently set Habacuc again in his own place.
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.
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.
But those that bad been the cause of his destruction,
he cast into the den, and they were devoured in a moment
before him.
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. |
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