The king commanded ¹  Ashpenaz, ²  who was in charge of his court officials, ³  to choose ⁴  some of the Israelites who were of royal and noble descent ⁵  –

They again replied, “Let the king inform us ¹  of the dream; then we will disclose its ²  interpretation.”

Because of this the king got furiously angry ¹  and gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.

But Daniel made up his mind ¹  that he would not defile ²  himself with the royal delicacies or the royal wine. ³  He therefore asked the overseer of the court officials for permission not to defile himself.

So they brought the gold and silver ¹  vessels that had been confiscated from the temple, the house of God ²  in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, together with his wives and concubines, drank from them.

The male goat acted even more arrogantly. But no sooner had the large horn become strong than it was broken, and there arose four conspicuous horns ¹  in its place, ²  extending toward the four winds of the sky. ³ 

Then the kingdom, authority, and greatness of the kingdoms under all of heaven will be delivered to the people of the holy ones ¹  of the Most High. His kingdom is an eternal kingdom; all authorities will serve him and obey him.’

Then Daniel spoke to ¹  the king, “O king, live forever!

Many will be purified, made clean, and refined, but the wicked will go on being wicked. None of the wicked will understand, though the wise will understand.

Then the king of the north will advance and will build siege mounds and capture a well-fortified city. ¹  The forces of the south will not prevail, not even his finest contingents. ²  They will have no strength to prevail.

I am delighted to tell you about the signs and wonders that the most high God has done for me.

Then he will enter the beautiful land. ¹  Many ²  will fall, but these will escape: ³  Edom, Moab, and the Ammonite leadership.

As for the king seeing a holy sentinel coming down from heaven and saying, ‘Chop down the tree and destroy it, but leave its taproot in the ground, with a band of iron and bronze around it, surrounded by the grass of the field. Let it become damp with the dew of the sky, and let it live with the wild animals, until seven periods of time go by for him’ –

The vision of the evenings and mornings that was told to you is correct. ¹  But you should seal up the vision, for it refers to a time many days from now.”

All the inhabitants of the earth are regarded as nothing. ¹  He does as he wishes with the army of heaven and with those who inhabit the earth. No one slaps ²  his hand and says to him, ‘What have you done?’

I was watching in the night visions, “And with ¹  the clouds of the sky ²  one like a son of man ³  was approaching. He went up to the Ancient of Days and was escorted ⁴  before him.

Then Nebuchadnezzar approached the door of the furnace of blazing fire. He called out, ¹  “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the most high God, come out! Come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego emerged from the fire. ² 

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.

Then the king elevated Daniel to high position and bestowed on him many marvelous gifts. He granted him authority over the entire province of Babylon and made him the main prefect over all the wise men of Babylon.

These who are wise among the people will teach the masses. ¹  However, they will fall ²  by the sword and by the flame, ³  and they will be imprisoned and plundered for some time. ⁴