Then in a night vision the mystery was revealed to Daniel. So Daniel praised ¹  the God of heaven,

Then Daniel went to his home and informed his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the matter.

Then King Belshazzar was very terrified, and he was visibly shaken. ¹  His nobles were completely dumbfounded.

Then those officials who had gone to the king ¹  came by collusion and found Daniel praying and asking for help before his God.

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

He inquired of Arioch the king’s deputy, “Why is the decree from the king so urgent?” ¹  Then Arioch informed Daniel about the matter.

Then all the color drained from the king’s face ¹  and he became alarmed. ²  The joints of his hips gave way, ³  and his knees began knocking together.

So all the king’s wise men came in, but they were unable to read the writing or to make known its ¹  interpretation to the king.

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.”

So these supervisors and satraps came by collusion ¹  to the king and said ²  to him, “O King Darius, live forever!

Then the king departed to his palace. But he spent the night without eating, and no diversions ¹  were brought to him. He was unable to sleep. ² 

So Arioch quickly ushered Daniel into the king’s presence, saying to him, “I ¹  have found a man from the captives of Judah who can make known the interpretation to the king.”

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.

Then King Nebuchadnezzar was startled and quickly got up. He said to his ministers, “Wasn’t it three men that we tied up and threw ¹  into ²  the fire?” They replied to the king, “For sure, O king.”

Then Daniel (whose name is also Belteshazzar) was upset for a brief time; ¹  his thoughts were alarming him. The king said, “Belteshazzar, don’t let the dream and its interpretation alarm you.” But Belteshazzar replied, “Sir, ²  if only the dream were for your enemies and its interpretation applied to your adversaries!

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.

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 

When the king heard this, ¹  he was very upset and began thinking about ²  how he might rescue Daniel. Until late afternoon ³  he was struggling to find a way to rescue him.

“Then I wanted to know the meaning ¹  of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others. It was very dreadful, with two rows of iron teeth and bronze claws, and it devoured, crushed, and trampled anything that was left with its feet.