Then King Nebuchadnezzar was startled and quickly got up. He said to his ministers, “Wasn’t it three men that we tied up and threw ¹  into ²  the fire?” They replied to the king, “For sure, O king.”

Due to the noise ¹  caused by the king and his nobles, the queen mother ²  then entered the banquet room. She ³  said, “O king, live forever! Don’t be alarmed! Don’t be shaken!

Then he said to me, “Don’t be afraid, Daniel, for from the very first day you applied your mind ¹  to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard. I have come in response to your words.

He said to me, “Don’t be afraid, you who are valued. ¹  Peace be to you! Be strong! Be really strong!” When he spoke to me, I was strengthened. I said, “Sir, you may speak now, ²  for you have given me strength.”

Then Daniel (whose name is also Belteshazzar) was upset for a brief time; ¹  his thoughts were alarming him. The king said, “Belteshazzar, don’t let the dream and its interpretation alarm you.” But Belteshazzar replied, “Sir, ²  if only the dream were for your enemies and its interpretation applied to your adversaries!

If you don’t inform me of the dream, there is only one thing that is going to happen to you. ¹  For you have agreed among yourselves to report to me something false and deceitful ²  until such time as things might change. So tell me the dream, and I will have confidence ³  that you can disclose its interpretation.”

Then Daniel went in to see ¹  Arioch (whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon). He came ²  and said to him, “Don’t destroy the wise men of Babylon! Escort me ³  to the king, and I will disclose the interpretation to him!” ⁴ 

He answered, “But I see four men, untied and walking around in the midst of the fire! No harm has come to them! And the appearance of the fourth is like that of a god!” ¹ 

He has carried out his threats ¹  against us and our rulers ²  who were over ³  us by bringing great calamity on us – what has happened to Jerusalem has never been equaled under all heaven!

I ate no choice food; no meat or wine came to my lips, ¹  nor did I anoint myself with oil ²  until the end of those three weeks.

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

Now if you are ready, when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, trigon, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, you must bow down and pay homage to the statue that I had made. If you don’t pay homage to it, you will immediately be thrown into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire. Now, who is that god who can rescue you from my power?” ¹ 

When they stumble, they will be granted some help. But many will unite with them deceitfully.

Then they said to the king, “Daniel, who is one of the captives ¹  from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or to the edict that you issued. Three times daily he offers his prayer.” ² 

I, Daniel, was exhausted ¹  and sick for days. Then I got up and again carried out the king’s business. But I was astonished at the vision, and there was no one to explain it.

Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, ¹  “Praised be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent forth his angel ²  and has rescued his servants who trusted in him, ignoring ³  the edict of the king and giving up their bodies rather than ⁴  serve or pay homage to any god other than their God!

“This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. Now you, Belteshazzar, declare its ¹  interpretation, for none of the wise men in ²  my kingdom are able to make known to me the interpretation. But you can do so, for a spirit of the holy gods is in you.”

In the second year of his ¹  reign Nebuchadnezzar had many dreams. ²  His mind ³  was disturbed and he suffered from insomnia. ⁴ 

I saw it approaching the ram. It went into a fit of rage against the ram ¹  and struck it ²  and broke off its two horns. The ram had no ability to resist it. ³  The goat hurled the ram ⁴  to the ground and trampled it. No one could deliver the ram from its power. ⁵ 

Now after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one will be cut off and have nothing. ¹  As for the city and the sanctuary, the people of the coming prince will destroy ²  them. But his end will come speedily ³  like a flood. ⁴  Until the end of the war that has been decreed there will be destruction.