¹ In the third ²  year of King Cyrus of Persia a message was revealed to Daniel (who was also called Belteshazzar). This message was true and concerned a great war. ³  He understood the message and gained insight by the vision.

“There will arise in his ¹  place one from her family line ²  who will come against their army and will enter the stronghold of the king of the north and will move against them successfully. ³ 

“Then the king of the south ¹  will be enraged and will march out to fight against the king of the north, who will also muster a large army, but that army will be delivered into his hand.

He will not respect ¹  the gods of his fathers – not even the god loved by women. ²  He will not respect any god; he will elevate himself above them all.

young men in whom there was no physical defect and who were handsome, ¹  well versed in all kinds of wisdom, well educated ²  and having keen insight, ³  and who were capable ⁴  of entering the king’s royal service ⁵  – and to teach them the literature and language ⁶  of the Babylonians. ⁷ 

Therefore when they all ¹  heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, trigon, harp, pipes, ²  and all kinds of music, all the peoples, nations, and language groups began bowing down and paying homage to the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had erected.

Therefore, O king, may my advice be pleasing to you. Break away from your sins by doing what is right, and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps your prosperity will be prolonged.” ¹ 

Now in that very moment ¹  this pronouncement about ²  Nebuchadnezzar came true. ³  He was driven from human society, he ate grass like oxen, and his body became damp with the dew of the sky, until his hair became long like an eagle’s feathers, and his nails like a bird’s claws. ⁴ 

As for teqel – you are weighed on the balances and found to be lacking.

As for peres ¹  – your kingdom is divided and given over to the Medes and Persians.”

Consequently the supervisors and satraps were trying to find ¹  some pretext against Daniel in connection with administrative matters. ²  But they were unable to find any such damaging evidence, ³  because he was trustworthy and guilty of no negligence or corruption. ⁴ 

So know and understand: From the issuing of the command ¹  to restore and rebuild Jerusalem ²  until an anointed one, a prince arrives, ³  there will be a period of seven weeks ⁴  and sixty-two weeks. It will again be built, ⁵  with plaza and moat, but in distressful times.

In a time of prosperity for the most productive areas of the province he will come and accomplish what neither his fathers nor their fathers accomplished. He will distribute loot, spoils, and property to his followers, and he will devise plans against fortified cities, but not for long. ¹ 

Now as for these four young men, God endowed them with knowledge and skill in all sorts of literature and wisdom – and Daniel had insight into all kinds of visions and dreams.

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 

“You, O king, were watching as a great statue – one ¹  of impressive size and extraordinary brightness – was standing before you. Its appearance caused alarm.

But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we don’t serve your gods, and we will not pay homage to the golden statue that you have erected.”

So those men were tied up while still wearing their cloaks, trousers, turbans, and other clothes, ¹  and were thrown into the furnace ²  of blazing fire.

Let his mind ¹  be altered from that of a human being, and let an animal’s mind be given to him, and let seven periods of time ²  go by for ³  him.

So these men concluded, ¹  “We won’t find any pretext against this man Daniel unless it is ²  in connection with the law of his God.”