His intention ¹  will be to come with the strength of his entire kingdom, and he will form alliances. ²  He will give the king of the south ³  a daughter ⁴  in marriage in order to destroy the kingdom, but it will not turn out to his advantage.

The king replied, “I know for sure that you are attempting to gain time, because you see that my decision is firm.

What the king is asking is too difficult, and no one exists who can disclose it to the king, except for the gods – but they don’t live among mortals!” ¹ 

The king then asked Daniel (whose name was also Belteshazzar), “Are you able to make known to me the dream that I saw, as well as its interpretation?”

If ¹  our God whom we are serving exists, ²  he is able to rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and he will rescue us, O king, from your power as well.

Now let the king issue a written interdict ¹  so that it cannot be altered, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be changed. ² 

It grew so big it reached the army ¹  of heaven, and it brought about the fall of some of the army and some of the stars ²  to the ground, where it trampled them.

It also acted arrogantly against the Prince of the army, ¹  from whom ²  the daily sacrifice was removed and whose sanctuary ³  was thrown down.

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.”

Now I have come to help you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision pertains to future days.”

“But you, Daniel, close up these words and seal the book until the time of the end. Many will dash about, ¹  and knowledge will increase.”

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.

However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, ¹  and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the times to come. ²  The dream and the visions you had while lying on your bed ³  are as follows.

But since the king’s command was so urgent, and the furnace was so excessively hot, the men who escorted ¹  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were killed ²  by the leaping flames. ³ 

saying, “Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, in whom I know there to be a spirit of the holy gods and whom no mystery baffles, consider ¹  my dream that I saw and set forth its interpretation!

Its foliage was attractive and its fruit plentiful; on it there was food enough for all. Under it the wild animals ¹  used to seek shade, and in its branches the birds of the sky used to nest. All creatures ²  used to feed themselves from it.

He called out loudly ¹  as follows: ²  ‘Chop down the tree and lop off its branches! Strip off its foliage and scatter its fruit! Let the animals flee from under it and the birds from its branches!

They said to leave the taproot of the tree, for your kingdom will be restored to you when you come to understand that heaven ¹  rules.

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!

In the first ¹  year of King Belshazzar of Babylon, Daniel had ²  a dream filled with visions ³  while he was lying on his bed. Then he wrote down the dream in summary fashion. ⁴