1 In the third year of the reign of Y’hoyakim king of Y’hudah, N’vukhadnetzar king of Bavel came to Yerushalayim and laid siege to it; ² and Adonai handed Y’hoyakim king of Y’hudah over to him, along with some of the articles from the house of God. He took them to the land of Shin‘ar, to the house of his god and placed the articles in the storehouse of his god.

³ The king ordered Ashp’naz, the eunuch serving as his chief officer, to bring into the palace from the people of Isra’el some of royal or noble descent. ⁴ They were to be boys without physical defect, handsome in appearance, versed in all kinds of wisdom, quick to learn, discerning, and having the capacity to serve in the king’s palace; and he was to teach them the language and literature of the Kasdim. ⁵ The king assigned them a daily portion of his own food and the wine he drank, and they were to be cared for in this way for three years. At the end of this time they were to become the king’s attendants.

⁶ Among these, from the people of Y’hudah, were Dani’el, Hananyah, Misha’el and ‘Azaryah. ⁷ The chief officer gave them other names — to Dani’el he gave the name Belt’shatzar; to Hananyah, Shadrakh; to Misha’el, Meishakh; and to ‘Azaryah, ‘Aved-N’go.

⁸ But Dani’el resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food or the wine he drank, so he asked the chief officer to be excused from defiling himself. ⁹ God caused the chief officer to be kind and sympathetic toward Dani’el; ¹⁰ however, the chief officer said to Dani’el, “I’m afraid of my lord the king. After all, he has given you an allowance of food and drink; so if he were to see you boys looking worse than the others your age, you would be putting my own head in danger from the king.”

¹¹ Then Dani’el said to the guard whom the chief officer had put in charge of Dani’el, Hananyah, Misha’el and ‘Azaryah, ¹² “Please! Try an experiment on your servants — for ten days have them give us only vegetables to eat and water to drink. ¹³ Then see how we look, and compare us with how the boys who eat the king’s food look; and deal with your servants according to what you see.” ¹⁴ He agreed to do what they had asked and gave them a ten-day test. ¹⁵ At the end of ten days they looked better and more robust than all the boys who were eating the king’s food. ¹⁶ So the guard took away their food and the wine they were supposed to drink, and gave them vegetables.

¹⁷ To these four boys God had given knowledge and skill in every aspect of learning and wisdom; moreover, Dani’el could understand all kinds of visions and dreams.

¹⁸ When the time the king had set for them to be presented came, the chief officer presented them to N’vukhadnetzar; ¹⁹ and when the king spoke with them, none was found among all of them to compare with Dani’el, Hananyah, Misha’el and ‘Azaryah. So they entered the king’s service; ²⁰ and in all matters requiring wisdom and understanding, whenever the king consulted them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and exorcists in his entire kingdom.

²¹ So Dani’el remained there until the first year of King Koresh.

2 In the second year of the reign of N’vukhadnetzar, N’vukhadnetzar became so troubled by a series of dreams he had that he couldn’t sleep. ² So the king ordered the magicians, exorcists, sorcerers and astrologers summoned to interpret the king’s dreams to him. They came and stood in his presence. ³ The king said to them, “I had a dream which will keep troubling my spirit until I know what it means.”

⁴ The astrologers spoke to the king in Aramaic: “May the king live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will interpret it.” ⁵ The king answered the astrologers, “Here is what I have decided: if you don’t tell me both the dream and its interpretation, you will be torn limb from limb and your houses reduced to rubble. ⁶ But if you do state the dream and its interpretation, I will give you presents, rewards and great honor. Just tell me the dream and its interpretation.” ⁷ A second time they said, “Let his majesty tell his servants the dream, and we will interpret it.” ⁸ The king replied, “I see you’re only trying to gain time, because you see that I’ve decided ⁹ that if you don’t tell me the dream, there is only one sentence passed on all of you. So you’ve conspired to mislead me with lies in the hope that time will change things. Now, just tell me the dream! That will convince me that you will also be able to give me its correct interpretation.” ¹⁰ The astrologers answered the king, “Your majesty, nobody in the world can do this! Never has a king, no matter how great and powerful, asked such a thing of any magician or exorcist or astrologer. ¹¹ The king is asking a difficult thing; nobody but the gods could tell this to your majesty, and they don’t live with mere mortals.” ¹² At this the king flew into a rage and ordered all the sages of Bavel put to death. ¹³ When the decree was published that the sages were to be slain, they sought Dani’el and his companions in order to have them put to death.

¹⁴ Then, choosing his words carefully, Dani’el consulted Aryokh, captain of the royal guard, who had already gone out to kill the sages of Bavel. ¹⁵ He said to Aryokh, “Since you are the king’s official, let me ask: why has the king issued such a harsh decree?” Aryokh explained the matter to Dani’el. ¹⁶ Then Dani’el went in and asked the king to give him time to tell the king the interpretation.

¹⁷ Dani’el went home and made the matter known to Hananyah, Misha’el and ‘Azaryah, his companions; ¹⁸ so that they could ask the God of heaven for mercy concerning this secret, and thus save Dani’el and his companions from dying along with the other sages of Bavel. ¹⁹ Then the secret was revealed to Dani’el in a vision at night, and Dani’el blessed the God of heaven ²⁰ in these words:

²⁴ So Dani’el went to see Aryokh, whom the king had charged with destroying the sages of Bavel, and said to him, “Don’t destroy the sages of Bavel! Bring me before the king, and I will give the king the interpretation.” ²⁵ Quickly Aryokh brought Dani’el before the king and told him, “I have found one of the exiles of Y’hudah who will reveal the interpretation to his majesty.” ²⁶ The king said to Dani’el (who had been renamed Belt’shatzar), “Can you tell me what I dreamt and what it means?” ²⁷ Dani’el answered the king, “No sage, exorcist, magician or astrologer can tell his majesty the secret he has asked about. ²⁸ But there is a God in heaven who unlocks mysteries, and he has revealed to King N’vukhadnetzar what will happen in the acharit-hayamim. Here are your dream and the visions you had in your head when you were in bed.

²⁹ “Your majesty, when you were in bed, you began thinking about what would take place in the future; and he who reveals secrets has revealed to you what will happen. ³⁰ Yet this secret has not been revealed to me because I am wiser than anyone living, but so that the meaning can be made known to your majesty, and then you can understand the thoughts of your own mind.

³¹ “Your majesty had a vision of a statue, very large and extremely bright; it stood in front of you and its appearance was terrifying. ³² The head of the statue was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its trunk and thighs of bronze, ³³ its legs of iron, and its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. ³⁴ As you watched, a stone separated itself without any human hand, struck the statue on its feet made of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. ³⁵ Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken into pieces which became like the chaff on a threshing-floor in summer; the wind blew them away without leaving a trace. But the stone which had struck the statue grew into a huge mountain that filled the whole earth.

³⁶ “That is what you dreamt, and now we will give the king its interpretation. ³⁷ Your majesty, king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the strength and the glory; ³⁸ so that wherever people, wild animals or birds in the air live, he has handed them over to you and enabled you to rule them all — you are the head of gold. ³⁹ But after you another kingdom will rise, inferior to you; then a third kingdom, of bronze, which will rule the whole world. ⁴⁰ The fourth kingdom will be as strong as iron. Iron can break anything into pieces, pulverize it and crush it. So just as iron can crush anything, this kingdom will break the other kingdoms into pieces and crush them. ⁴¹ Finally, you saw the feet and toes made partly of pottery clay and partly of iron; this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the firmness of iron, since you saw the iron mixed with clay from the ground. ⁴² Just as the toes of the feet were part iron and part clay, this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. ⁴³ You saw the iron mixed with clay; that means that they will cement their alliances by intermarriages; but they won’t stick together any more than iron blends with clay.

⁴⁴ “In the days of those kings the God of heaven will establish a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not pass into the hands of another people. It will break to pieces and consume all those kingdoms; but it, itself, will stand forever — ⁴⁵ like the stone you saw, which, without human hands, separated itself from the mountain and broke to pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold. The great God has revealed to the king what will come about in the future. The dream is true, and its interpretation is reliable.”

⁴⁶ Then King N’vukhadnetzar fell on his face and worshipped Dani’el; he ordered that a grain offering and incense be offered to him. ⁴⁷ To Dani’el the king said, “Your God is indeed the God of gods, the Lord of kings and a revealer of secrets, since you have been able to reveal this secret.” ⁴⁸ The king promoted Dani’el to a high rank, gave him many rich gifts and made him governor of the entire province of Bavel and head of all the sages of Bavel. ⁴⁹ At Dani’el’s request, the king put Shadrakh, Meishakh and ‘Aved-N’go in charge of the affairs of the province of Bavel, while Dani’el remained in attendance on the king.

3 N’vukhadnetzar the king had a gold statue made, ninety feet high and nine feet wide, which he set up on the plain of Dura, in the province of Bavel. ² Then N’vukhadnetzar the king summoned the viceroys, prefects, governors, judges, treasurers, counselors, sheriffs and all the provincial officials to assemble and come to the dedication of the statue which N’vukhadnetzar the king had set up. ³ The viceroys, prefects, governors, judges, treasurers, counselors, sheriffs and all the provincial officials assembled for the dedication of the statue which N’vukhadnetzar the king had set up. They stood in front of the statue that N’vukhadnetzar had set up; ⁴ and a herald proclaimed, “Peoples! Nations! Languages! You are ordered ⁵ that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, harp, zither, lute, bagpipe and the rest of the musical instruments, you fall down and worship the gold statue that N’vukhadnetzar the king has set up. ⁶ Whoever does not fall down and worship is to be thrown immediately into a blazing hot furnace.” ⁷ Therefore, when all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, harp, zither, lute and the rest of the musical instruments, all the peoples, nations and languages fell down and worshipped the gold statue that N’vukhadnetzar the king had set up.

⁸ But then some Kasdim approached and began denouncing the Jews. ⁹ They said to N’vukhadnetzar the king, “May the king live forever! ¹⁰ Your majesty, you have ordered that everyone who hears sound of the horn, pipe, harp, zither, lute, bagpipe and the rest of the musical instruments is to fall down and worship the gold statue; ¹¹ and that whoever does not fall down and worship is to be thrown into a blazing hot furnace. ¹² There are some Jews whom you have put in charge of the affairs of the province of Bavel, Shadrakh, Meishakh and ‘Aved-N’go; and these men, your majesty, have paid no attention to you. They do not serve your gods, and they do not worship the gold statue you set up.”

¹³ In a raging fury N’vukhadnetzar ordered that Shadrakh, Meishakh and ‘Aved-N’go be brought. When the men had been brought before the king, ¹⁴ N’vukhadnetzar said to them, “Shadrakh! Meishakh! ‘Aved-N’go! Is it true that you neither serve my gods nor worship the gold statue I set up? ¹⁵ All right, then. If you are prepared, when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, harp, zither, lute, bagpipe and the rest of the musical instruments, to fall down and worship the gold statue, very well. But if you won’t worship, you will immediately be thrown into a blazing hot furnace — and what god will save you from my power then?” ¹⁶ Shadrakh, Meishakh and ‘Aved-N’go answered the king, “Your question doesn’t require an answer from us. ¹⁷ Your majesty, if our God, whom we serve, is able to save us, he will save us from the blazing hot furnace and from your power. ¹⁸ But even if he doesn’t, we want you to know, your majesty, that we will neither serve your gods nor worship the gold statue which you have set up.”

¹⁹ N’vukhadnetzar became so utterly enraged that his face was distorted with anger against Shadrakh, Meishakh and ‘Aved-N’go. He ordered the furnace made seven times hotter than usual. ²⁰ Then he ordered some of the strongest men in his army to tie up Shadrakh, Meishakh and ‘Aved-N’go and throw them into the blazing hot furnace. ²¹ So these men were tied up in their cloaks, tunics, robes and other clothes, and thrown into the blazing hot furnace. ²² The king’s order was so urgent and the furnace so overheated that the men carrying Shadrakh, Meishakh and ‘Aved-N’go were burned to death by the flames. ²³ These three men, Shadrakh, Meishakh and ‘Aved-N’go, fell, bound, into the blazing hot furnace.

²⁴ Suddenly N’vukhadnetzar sprang to his feet. Alarmed, he asked his advisers, “Didn’t we throw three men, bound, into the flames?” They answered the king, “Yes, of course, your majesty.” ²⁵ But he exclaimed, “Look! I see four men, not tied up, walking around there in the flames, unhurt; and the fourth looks like one of the gods!” ²⁶ N’vukhadnetzar approached the opening of the blazing hot furnace and said, “Shadrakh! Meishakh! ‘Aved-N’go! You servants of El ‘Elyon! Come out, and come here!” Shadrakh, Meishakh and ‘Aved-N’go emerged from the flames. ²⁷ The viceroys, prefects, governors and royal advisers who were there saw that the fire had had no power on the bodies of these men — not even their hair was singed, their clothes looked the same, and they didn’t smell of fire.

²⁸ N’vukhadnetzar said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrakh, Meishakh and ‘Aved-N’go! He sent his angel to deliver his servants who trusted in him. They defied the royal order to the point of being willing to give up their bodies, in order not to serve or worship any god but their own God. ²⁹ Therefore I herewith decree that anyone, no matter from which people, nation or language, who says anything to insult the God of Shadrakh, Meishakh and ‘Aved-N’go is to be torn limb from limb, and his house is to be reduced to rubble; because there is no other god who can save like this.”

³⁰ Then the king gave Shadrakh, Meishakh and ‘Aved-N’go higher rank in the province of Bavel.

^31 (4:1) [The following letter was sent out:]

“From: N’vukhadnetzar the king

“To: All the peoples, nations and languages living throughout the earth:

“Shalom rav! [Abundant peace!]

^32 (4:2) “I am pleased to recount the signs and wonders which the Most High God has done for me.

4 ⁽⁴⁾ “I, N’vukhadnetzar, was contentedly living at home, enjoying the luxury of my palace; ^2 (5) but as I lay on my bed, I had a dream which frightened me, followed by fantasies and visions in my head which frightened me even more. ^3 (6) So I ordered all the sages of Bavel to present themselves to me, so that they could tell me the interpretation of the dream. ^4 (7) When the magicians, exorcists, astrologers and diviners came, I told them the dream; but they couldn’t interpret it for me. ^5 (8) Finally, however, Dani’el (renamed Belt’shatzar, after the name of my god), in whom is the spirit of the holy gods, came before me; and I told him the dream: ^6 (9) ‘Belt’shatzar, chief of the magicians! Because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you, and no mystery is too difficult for you, tell me the meaning of the visions I saw in my dream. ^7 (10) Here are the visions I had in my head as I lay on my bed: I looked, and there before me was a tree at the center of the earth; it was very tall. ^8 (11) The tree grew and became strong until its crown reached the sky, and it could be seen from anywhere on earth. ^9 (12) Its foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant; it produced enough food for everyone. The wild animals enjoyed its shade, the birds in the air lived in its branches, and it gave food to every living creature. ^10 (13) I looked in the visions of my head as I lay on my bed, and there appeared a holy watcher coming down from heaven. ^11 (14) He cried out:

^15 (18) “‘This is the dream which I, King N’vukhadnetzar, saw. Now you, Belt’shatzar, tell me its interpretation. None of the sages of my kingdom can tell me the interpretation, but you can do it, because the spirit of the holy gods is in you.’

^16 (19) “Dani’el, whose name was Belt’shatzar, was in shock awhile, frightened by his thoughts. The king said, ‘Belt’shatzar, don’t let the dream or the interpretation frighten you.’ Belt’shatzar answered, ‘My lord, if only the dream were about those who hate you, and the interpretation about your enemies! ^17 (20) The tree you saw which grew and became strong until its crown reached the sky, and it could be seen throughout the whole earth, ^18 (21) that had beautiful foliage and abundant fruit, enough to feed everyone, under which the wild animals lived, and on whose branches the birds in the air built their nests — ^19 (22) it’s you, your majesty! You have grown and become strong — your greatness has grown and reaches to heaven, and your rule extends to the end of the earth.

^20 (23) “‘Now the king saw a holy watcher coming down from heaven, who said,

^21 (24) “‘This is the interpretation, your majesty; and it is the decree of the Most High that has come upon my lord the king:

^23 (26) “‘But since it was ordered to leave the stump of the tree with its roots, your kingdom will be kept for you until you have learned that Heaven rules everything. ^24 (27) Therefore, your majesty, please take my advice: break with your sins by replacing them with acts of charity, and break with your crimes by showing mercy to the poor; this may extend the time of your prosperity.’

^25 (28) “All this happened to King N’vukhadnetzar. ^26 (29) Twelve months later, as he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Bavel, ^27 (30) the king said, ‘Bavel the great! I built it as a royal residence by my power and force to enhance the glory of my majesty!’ ^28 (31) No sooner had the king spoken these words when a voice came down from heaven: ‘King N’vukhadnetzar! These words are for you:

^30 (33) “Within the hour the word was fulfilled. N’vukhadnetzar was driven from human society, he ate grass like an ox, and his body was drenched with dew from the sky, until his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.

^31 (34) “When this period was over, I, N’vukhadnetzar, lifted my eyes toward heaven, and my understanding came back to me. I blessed the Most High, I praised and gave honor to him who lives forever.

^33 (36) “It was at that moment that my understanding came back to me; and for the sake of the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and splendor also came back to me. My advisers and lords sought me out, I was re-established in my kingdom, and to my previous greatness even more was added. ^34 (37) So now I, N’vukhadnetzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of heaven: