For the king of the north will again muster an army, one larger than before. At the end of some years he will advance with a huge army and enormous supplies.

After some years have passed, they ¹  will form an alliance. Then the daughter ²  of the king of the south will come to the king of the north to make an agreement, but she will not retain her power, ³  nor will he continue ⁴  in his strength. ⁵  She, together with the one who brought her, her child, ⁶  and her benefactor will all be delivered over at that time. ⁷ 

In the third ¹  year of the reign of King Jehoiakim of Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar ²  of Babylon advanced against Jerusalem ³  and laid it under siege. ⁴ 

It seemed like a good idea to Darius ¹  to appoint over the kingdom 120 satraps ²  who would be in charge of the entire kingdom.

I, Daniel, watched as two others stood there, one on each side of the river. ¹ 

You have issued an edict, O king, that everyone must bow down and pay homage to the golden statue when they hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, trigon, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music.

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!

“This is what he told me: ¹  ‘The fourth beast means that there will be a fourth kingdom on earth that will differ from all the other kingdoms. It will devour all the earth and will trample and crush it.

He will pitch his royal tents between the seas ¹  toward the beautiful holy mountain. But he will come to his end, with no one to help him.

Then the herald ¹  made a loud ²  proclamation: “To you, O peoples, nations, and language groups, the following command is given: ³ 

He will confirm a covenant with many for one week. ¹  But in the middle of that week he will bring sacrifices and offerings to a halt. On the wing ²  of abominations will come ³  one who destroys, until the decreed end is poured out on the one who destroys.”

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.

Wherever human beings, ¹  wild animals, ²  and birds of the sky live – he has given them into your power. ³  He has given you authority over them all. You are the head of gold.

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 

The LORD was mindful of the calamity, and he brought it on us. For the LORD our God is just ¹  in all he has done, ²  and we have not obeyed him. ³ 

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.

Then four large beasts came up from the sea; they were different from one another.

Then compare our appearance ¹  with that of ²  the young men who are eating the royal delicacies; ³  deal with us ⁴  in light of what you see.”

Then the king was delighted and gave an order to haul Daniel up from the den. So Daniel was hauled up out of the den. He had no injury of any kind, because he had trusted in his God.

Only I, Daniel, saw the vision; the men who were with me did not see it. ¹  On the contrary, they were overcome with fright ²  and ran away to hide.