A scroll was found in the citadel<n id="1" /> of Ecbatana which is in the province of Media, and it was inscribed as follows:p> <p class="bodytext">&#8220;Memorandum:

<p class="bodytext">Rehum the commander<n id="1" /> and Shimshai the scribe<n id="2" /> wrote a letter concerning<n id="3" /> Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes as follows:

But in the first year of King Cyrus of Babylon,<n id="1" /> King Cyrus enacted a decree to rebuild this temple of God.

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;You, O king, were watching as a great statue &#8211; one<n id="1" /> of impressive size and extraordinary brightness &#8211; was standing before you. Its appearance caused alarm.

Then a stone was brought and placed over the opening<n id="1" /> to the den. The king sealed<n id="2" /> it with his signet ring and with those<n id="3" /> of his nobles so that nothing could be changed with regard to Daniel.

<t /><p class="bodytext">In the first<n id="1" /> year of King Belshazzar of Babylon, Daniel had<n id="2" /> a dream filled with visions<n id="3" /> while he was lying on his bed. Then he wrote down the dream in summary fashion.<n id="4" />

I approached one of those standing nearby and asked him about the meaning<n id="1" /> of all this. So he spoke with me and revealed<n id="2" /> to me the interpretation of the vision:<n id="3" />

In the first year of his reign,<n id="1" /> King Cyrus gave orders concerning the temple of God in Jerusalem:<n id="2" /> &#8216;Let the temple be rebuilt as a place where sacrifices are offered. Let its foundations be set in place.<n id="3" /> Its height is to be ninety feet and its width ninety<n id="4" /> feet,<n id="5" />

If you don&#8217;t inform me of the dream, there is only one thing that is going to happen to you.<n id="1" /> For you have agreed among yourselves to report to me something false and deceitful<n id="2" /> until such time as things might change. So tell me the dream, and I will have confidence<n id="3" /> that you can disclose its interpretation.&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage, and his disposition changed<n id="1" /> toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He gave orders<n id="2" /> to heat the furnace seven times hotter than it was normally heated.

<t /><p class="bodytext">Then Daniel (whose name is also Belteshazzar) was upset for a brief time;<n id="1" /> his thoughts were alarming him. The king said, &#8220;Belteshazzar, don&#8217;t let the dream and its interpretation alarm you.&#8221; But Belteshazzar replied, &#8220;Sir,<n id="2" /> if only the dream were for your enemies and its interpretation applied to your adversaries!

Over them would be three supervisors, one of whom was Daniel. These satraps were accountable<n id="1" /> to them, so that the king&#8217;s interests might not incur damage.

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;Then<n id="1" /> a second beast appeared, like a bear. It was raised up on one side, and there were three ribs<n id="2" /> in its mouth between its teeth.<n id="3" /> It was told,<n id="4" /> &#8216;Get up and devour much flesh!&#8217;p>

Then the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold were broken in pieces without distinction<n id="1" /> and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors that the wind carries away. Not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the statue became a large mountain that filled the entire earth.