Bel and the Dragon 14
14
Daniel Defeats the Priests of Bel
1When King Astyages was buried in the tomb with his ancestors, Cyrus the Persian took his place as king.#1 King Astyages … king: Astyages was the last king of Media. He was defeated in battle in 550 b.c. by his grandson Cyrus the Great, the king of Persia, who then became king of the Medes and the Persians and ruled until 530 b.c. 2Daniel was a friend and advisor of King Cyrus, and the king honored him more than anyone else.
3 #
Is 46.1; Jr 51.44. Every day, the Babylonians took food to the idol of their god Bel.#3 Bel: Another name for Marduk, the chief god of Babylonia. Bel means “lord.” They brought 272 kilograms of the best wheat flour, 190 liters of wine, and the meat from 40 sheep.
4King Cyrus believed that Bel was a powerful god, and he worshiped the idol every day, but Daniel worshiped only his own God. One day, Cyrus asked Daniel, “Why don't you worship Bel?”
5Daniel answered, “I refuse to worship idols—they are made by humans. Instead, I worship the living God, because he created heaven and earth, and he rules everyone who lives.”
6“But, Daniel,” the king replied, “isn't Bel a living god? Haven't you seen how much he eats and drinks each day?”
7Daniel laughed and said, “Don't be fooled, Your Majesty. That idol is merely clay on the inside and bronze on the outside! It never ate or drank anything.”
8This made the king angry. So he called in his priests and told them, “Prove to me that Bel#8 Prove to me that Bel: Greek “Tell me who.” is eating all this food! If you can't, then you will die. 9But if you can prove that Bel really is eating the food, then Daniel will die, because he has insulted the god Bel.”
Daniel said, “Your Majesty, that sounds fair enough to me.”
10Now there were 70 priests of Bel, and they and their wives had lots of children.
The king went with Daniel into the temple of Bel, 11and the priests said, “Your Majesty, we will go outside now. Please set out the food and the wine yourself, then shut the door. Drip some hot wax along the edge of the door and press your ring into the wax to leave your special mark. This will show that only you are allowed to open the door.#11 Drip some hot wax … open the door: The king's ring had a special design on it, and he pressed the ring into the soft, hot wax. Then, after the wax cooled, the door could not be opened without breaking the wax. 12When you come back in the morning, if you find that Bel hasn't eaten everything, then you can put us to death. But if the food is gone, this will prove Daniel has been lying, and you can put him to death.”
13The priests were not worried at all. They had a secret trap door under the table, and that was how they sneaked into the temple every night to eat the food.
14The priests left, and the king arranged Bel's food on the table. Then Daniel told his servants to scatter ashes over the temple floor. The king was the only other person who saw them do this. They shut the door as they went outside, and the king placed his special mark on some hot wax along the edge of the door so that they could tell if the door had been opened. Then they all left.
15Later that night, the priests and their wives and children went to the temple as they always did, and they ate and drank everything.
16Early the next morning, the king brought Daniel to the temple 17and asked him, “Daniel, has the wax been broken? Has the door been opened?”
“No, Your Majesty,” Daniel answered.
18As soon as the door was opened,#18 door was opened: Greek “doors were opened.” the king looked at the empty table and shouted, “Bel, you are a great god, and you always tell the truth!”
19Daniel just laughed. He kept the king from entering the temple and said, “Look at the floor—I wonder who left all those footprints?”
20The king said, “I can see the footprints of men, women, and children!” 21He was furious and told his guards to arrest the priests along with their wives and children. Then the priests showed him the secret door they used when they sneaked into the temple to eat the food that was on Bel's table.
22The king told his guards to kill the priests and their families. Then he gave the temple and the idol of Bel to Daniel, who had them destroyed.
Daniel Kills the Dragon
23The Babylonians also worshiped a huge dragon#23 dragon: Or “snake”; the Greek word can refer either to a snake or to an imaginary snake-like monster. The snake may have represented the Babylonian goddess Tiamat. as a god, 24and the king of Babylonia said to Daniel, “You can't say this god isn't alive! So you ought to worship it.”
25Daniel answered, “I worship the Lord, because he is the living God. 26Your Majesty, if you will give me permission, I will kill this dragon, without striking it with a sword or a club.”
“I give you permission to try,” the king replied.
27Daniel put some tar and animal fat and hair in a pot and boiled them together. Then he shaped the mixture into cakes that looked something like loaves of barley bread and fed them to the dragon. It swelled up and burst open, and Daniel said, “Take a look at what you Babylonians worship.”
28But when the Babylonians heard what had happened, they were so upset with the king that they began plotting against him. “Has the king become a Jew?” they asked each other. “First he destroyed our idol Bel and killed its priests. And now he has killed our dragon-god.”
29The Babylonians went to the king and said, “Hand Daniel over to us. If you don't, we will kill you and everyone in your family!”
30The king saw that he really had no choice, and so he was forced to let them have Daniel.
31-32 #
Dn 6.16-24. The Babylonians kept seven lions in a large pit and fed them two people and two sheep each day. Daniel was thrown into this pit, and for the next six days the lions were given no other food. The Babylonians wanted to make sure the lions would eat Daniel.
33Meanwhile, far away in Judea, the prophet Habakkuk had made a pot of stew and put some pieces of bread into a bowl. He was about to take it to the workers who were harvesting wheat in the fields, 34when an angel told him, “Take this meal to the lion pit in Babylon, and give it to Daniel.”
35Habakkuk replied, “But, sir, I've never been to Babylon, and I don't know where the lion pit is.”
36 #
Ez 8.3. The angel lifted up Habakkuk by his hair and carried him to Babylon as fast as the wind. He set Habakkuk down at the edge of the lion pit, 37and Habakkuk shouted, “Daniel, take this food God has sent you.”
38Daniel prayed, “Thank you, God, for remembering me. You always take care of those who love you.”
39Daniel got up and ate the food, while God's angel quickly returned Habakkuk to his home.
40Seven days later, the king came to the lion pit to mourn for Daniel. But when he looked into the pit, he saw Daniel sitting there, alive. 41Then the king shouted out this prayer: “You, the Lord God of Daniel, are powerful! You alone are the true God!”
42The king ordered Daniel to be pulled up out of the pit, then he arrested the men who had tried to have Daniel killed. The king had them thrown into the pit, and he watched the lions gobble them up.
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Bel and the Dragon 14
14
1When King Astyages was laid with his fathers, Cyrus the Persian received his kingdom. 2And Daniel was a companion of the king, and was the most honored of his friends.
3Now the Babylonians had an idol called Bel, and every day they spent on it twelve bushels of fine flour and forty sheep and fifty gallons of wine. 4The king revered it and went every day to worship it. But Daniel worshiped his own God.
5And the king said to him, “Why do you not worship Bel?” He answered, “Because I do not revere man-made idols, but the living God, who created heaven and earth and has dominion over all flesh.”
6The king said to him, “Do you not think that Bel is a living God? Do you not see how much he eats and drinks every day?” 7Then Daniel laughed, and said, “Do not be deceived, O king; for this is but clay inside and brass outside, and it never ate or drank anything.”
8Then the king was angry, and he called his priests and said to them, “If you do not tell me who is eating these provisions, you shall die. 9But if you prove that Bel is eating them, Daniel shall die, because he blasphemed against Bel.” And Daniel said to the king, “Let it be done as you have said.”
10Now there were seventy priests of Bel, besides their wives and children. And the king went with Daniel into the temple of Bel. 11And the priests of Bel said, “Behold, we are going outside; you yourself, O king, shall set forth the food and mix and place the wine, and shut the door and seal it with your signet. 12And when you return in the morning, if you do not find that Bel has eaten it all, we will die; or else Daniel will, who is telling lies about us.” 13They were unconcerned, for beneath the table they had made a hidden entrance, through which they used to go in regularly and consume the provisions. 14When they had gone out, the king set forth the food for Bel. Then Daniel ordered his servants to bring ashes and they sifted them throughout the whole temple in the presence of the king alone. Then they went out, shut the door and sealed it with the king's signet, and departed. 15In the night the priests came with their wives and children, as they were accustomed to do, and ate and drank everything.
16Early in the morning the king rose and came, and Daniel with him. 17And the king said, “Are the seals unbroken, Daniel?” He answered, “They are unbroken, O king.” 18As soon as the doors were opened, the king looked at the table, and shouted in a loud voice, “You are great, O Bel; and with you there is no deceit, none at all.”
19Then Daniel laughed, and restrained the king from going in, and said, “Look at the floor, and notice whose footsteps these are.” 20The king said, “I see the footsteps of men and women and children.”
21Then the king was enraged, and he seized the priests and their wives and children; and they showed him the secret doors through which they were accustomed to enter and devour what was on the table. 22Therefore the king put them to death, and gave Bel over to Daniel, who destroyed it and its temple.
23There was also a great dragon, which the Babylonians revered. 24And the king said to Daniel, “You cannot deny that this is a living god; so worship him.” 25Daniel said, “I will worship the Lord my God, for he is the living God. 26But if you, O king, will give me permission, I will slay the dragon without sword or club.” The king said, “I give you permission.”
27Then Daniel took pitch, fat, and hair, and boiled them together and made cakes, which he fed to the dragon. The dragon ate them, and burst open. And Daniel said, “See what you have been worshiping!”
28When the Babylonians heard it, they were very indignant and conspired against the king, saying, “The king has become a Jew; he has destroyed Bel, and slain the dragon, and slaughtered the priests.” 29Going to the king, they said, “Hand Daniel over to us, or else we will kill you and your household.” 30The king saw that they were pressing him hard, and under compulsion he handed Daniel over to them.
31They threw Daniel into the lions' den, and he was there for six days. 32There were seven lions in the den, and every day they had been given two human bodies and two sheep; but these were not given to them now, so that they might devour Daniel. 33Now the prophet Habakkuk was in Judea. He had boiled pottage and had broken bread into a bowl, and was going into the field to take it to the reapers. 34But the angel of the Lord said to Habakkuk, “Take the dinner which you have to Babylon, to Daniel, in the lions' den.” 35Habakkuk said, “Sir, I have never seen Babylon, and I know nothing about the den.” 36Then the angel of the Lord took him by the crown of his head, and lifted him by his hair and set him down in Babylon, right over the den, with the rushing sound of the wind itself.
37Then Habakkuk shouted, “Daniel, Daniel! Take the dinner which God has sent you.” 38And Daniel said, “Thou hast remembered me, O God, and hast not forsaken those who love thee.” 39So Daniel arose and ate. And the angel of God immediately returned Habakkuk to his own place.
40On the seventh day the king came to mourn for Daniel. When he came to the den he looked in, and there sat Daniel. 41And the king shouted with a loud voice, “Thou art great, O Lord God of Daniel, and there is no other besides thee.” 42And he pulled Daniel #14.42 Gk him out, and threw into the den the men who had attempted his destruction, and they were devoured immediately before his eyes.
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