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

“But you, his son ¹  Belshazzar, have not humbled yourself, ²  although you knew all this.

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.

(3:31) ¹  “King Nebuchadnezzar, to all peoples, nations, and language groups that live in all the land: Peace and prosperity! ² 

Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and language groups who were living in all the land: “Peace and prosperity! ¹ 

“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.

Now all of this happened ¹  to King Nebuchadnezzar.

The wise men replied to the king, “There is no man on earth who is able to disclose the king’s secret, ¹  for no king, regardless of his position and power, has ever requested such a thing from any magician, astrologer, or wise man.

Then there will be a fourth kingdom, one strong like iron. Just like iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything, and as iron breaks in pieces ¹  all of these metals, ²  so it will break in pieces and crush the others. ³ 

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 

To all the supervisors of the kingdom, the prefects, satraps, counselors, and governors it seemed like a good idea for a royal edict to be issued and an interdict to be enforced. For the next thirty days anyone who prays ¹  to any god or human other than you, O king, should be thrown into a den of lions.

Now ¹  at that time certain ²  Chaldeans came forward and brought malicious accusations against ³  the Jews.

The tree grew large and strong. Its top reached far into the sky; it could be seen ¹  from the borders of all the land. ² 

So King Darius issued the written interdict.

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 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.

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.

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.

“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.”

Now this Daniel was distinguishing himself above the other supervisors and the satraps, for he had an extraordinary spirit. In fact, the king intended to appoint him over the entire kingdom.