Holy Bible

  Daniel 1:1-21 [1]In the third year that Jehoiakim was king of Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia attacked Jerusalem and surrounded the city. [2]The Lord let him capture King Jehoiakim and seize some of the temple treasures. He took some prisoners back with him to the temple of his gods in Babylon, and put the captured treasures in the temple storerooms. [3]The king ordered Ashpenaz, his chief official, to select from among the Israelite exiles some young men of the royal family and of the noble families. [4]They had to be handsome, intelligent, well trained, quick to learn, and free from physical defects, so that they would be qualified to serve in the royal court. Ashpenaz was to teach them to read and write the Babylonian language. [5]The king also gave orders that every day they were to be given the same food and wine as the members of the royal court. After three years of this training they were to appear before the king. [6]Among those chosen were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael,

  Daniel 2:1-49 [1]In the second year that Nebuchadnezzar was king, he had a dream. It worried him so much that he couldn't sleep, [2]so he sent for his fortune tellers, magicians, sorcerers, and wizards to come and explain the dream to him. When they came and stood before the king, [3]he said to them, “I'm worried about a dream I have had. I want to know what it means.” [4]They answered the king in Aramaic, “May Your Majesty live for ever! Tell us your dream, and we will explain it to you.” [5]The king said to them, “I have made up my mind that you must tell me the dream and then tell me what it means. If you can't, I'll have you torn limb from limb and make your houses a pile of ruins. [6]But if you can tell me both the dream and its meaning, I will reward you with gifts and great honour. Now then, tell me what the dream was and what it means.” [7]They answered the king again, “If Your Majesty will only tell us what the dream was, we will explain it.” [8]At that, the

  Daniel 3:1-30 [1]King Nebuchadnezzar had a gold statue made, 27 metres high and nearly three metres wide, and he had it set up in the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. [2]Then the king gave orders for all his officials to come together — the princes, governors, lieutenant-governors, commissioners, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the other officials of the provinces. They were to attend the dedication of the statue which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. [3]When all these officials gathered for the dedication and stood in front of the statue, [4]a herald announced in a loud voice, “People of all nations, races, and languages! [5]You will hear the sound of the trumpets, followed by the playing of oboes, lyres, zithers, and harps; and then all the other instruments will join in. As soon as the music starts, you are to bow down and worship the gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. [6]Anyone who does not bow down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blaz

  Daniel 4:1-37 [1]King Nebuchadnezzar sent the following message to the people of all nations, races, and languages in the world:“Greetings! [2]Listen to my account of the wonders and miracles which the Supreme God has shown me. [3]“How great are the wonders God shows us! How powerful are the miracles he performs! God is king for ever; he will rule for all time. [4]“I was living comfortably in my palace, enjoying great prosperity. [5]But I had a frightening dream and saw terrifying visions while I was asleep. [6]I ordered all the royal advisers in Babylon to be brought to me so that they could tell me what the dream meant. [7]Then all the fortune tellers, magicians, wizards, and astrologers were brought in, and I told them my dream, but they could not explain it to me. [8]Then Daniel came in. (He is also called Belteshazzar, after the name of my god.) The spirit of the holy gods is in him, so I told him what I had dreamt. I said to him: [9]Belteshazzar, chief of the fortune tellers, I

  Daniel 5:1-31 [1]One night King Belshazzar invited a thousand noblemen to a great banquet, and they drank wine together. [2]While they were drinking, Belshazzar gave orders to bring in the gold and silver cups and bowls which his father Nebuchadnezzar had carried off from the Temple in Jerusalem. The king sent for them so that he, his noblemen, his wives, and his concubines could drink out of them. [3]At once the gold cups and bowls were brought in, and they all drank wine out of them [4]and praised gods made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. [5]Suddenly a human hand appeared and began writing on the plaster wall of the palace, where the light from the lamps was shining most brightly. And the king saw the hand as it was writing. [6]He turned pale and was so frightened that his knees began to shake. [7]He shouted for someone to bring in the magicians, wizards, and astrologers. When they came in, the king said to them, “Anyone who can read this writing and tell me what it

 Daniel 6:1-28 [1]Darius decided to appoint 120 governors to hold office throughout his empire. [2]In addition, he chose Daniel and two others to supervise the governors and to look after the king's interests. [3]Daniel soon showed that he could do better work than the other supervisors or the governors. Because he was so outstanding, the king considered putting him in charge of the whole empire. [4]Then the other supervisors and the governors tried to find something wrong with the way Daniel administered the empire, but they couldn't, because Daniel was reliable and did not do anything wrong or dishonest. [5]They said to one another, “We are not going to find anything of which to accuse Daniel unless it is something in connection with his religion.” [6]So they went to see the king and said, “King Darius, may Your Majesty live for ever! [7]All of us who administer your empire — the supervisors, the governors, the lieutenant-governors, and the other officials — have agreed that

  Daniel 7:1-28 [1]In the first year that Belshazzar was king of Babylonia, I had a dream and saw a vision in the night. I wrote the dream down, and this is the record [2]of what I saw that night:Winds were blowing from all directions and lashing the surface of the ocean. [3]Four huge beasts came up out of the ocean, each one different from the others. [4]The first one looked like a lion, but had wings like an eagle. While I was watching, the wings were torn off. The beast was lifted up and made to stand upright. And then a human mind was given to it. [5]The second beast looked like a bear standing on its hind legs. It was holding three ribs between its teeth, and a voice said to it, “Go on, eat as much meat as you can!” [6]While I was watching, another beast appeared. It looked like a leopard, but on its back there were four wings, like the wings of a bird, and it had four heads. It had a look of authority about it. [7]As I was watching, a fourth beast appeared. It was powerful, horri

Daniel 8:1-27 [1]In the third year that Belshazzar was king, I saw a second vision. [2]In the vision I suddenly found myself in the walled city of Susa in the province of Elam. I was standing by the River Ulai, [3]and there beside the river I saw a ram that had two long horns, one of which was longer and newer than the other. [4]I watched the ram butting with his horns to the west, the north, and the south. No animal could stop him or escape his power. He did as he pleased and grew arrogant. [5]While I was wondering what this meant, a goat came rushing out of the west, moving so fast that his feet didn't touch the ground. He had one prominent horn between his eyes. [6]He came towards the ram, which I had seen standing beside the river, and rushed at him with all his force. [7]I watched him attack the ram. He was so angry that he smashed into him and broke the two horns. The ram had no strength to resist. He was thrown to the ground and trampled on, and there was no one who could sa

  Daniel 9:1-27 [1]Darius the Mede, who was the son of Xerxes, ruled over the kingdom of Babylonia. [2]In the first year of his reign, I was studying the sacred books and thinking about the seventy years that Jerusalem would be in ruins, according to what the Lord had told the prophet Jeremiah. [3]And I prayed earnestly to the Lord God, pleading with him, fasting, wearing sackcloth, and sitting in ashes. [4]I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed the sins of my people.I said, “Lord God, you are great, and we honour you. You are faithful to your covenant and show constant love to those who love you and do what you command. [5]“We have sinned, we have been evil, we have done wrong. We have rejected what you commanded us to do and have turned away from what you showed us was right. [6]We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our rulers, our ancestors, and our whole nation. [7]You, Lord, always do what is right, but we have always brought d

Daniel 10:1-20 [1](In the third year that Cyrus was emperor of Persia, a message was revealed to Daniel, who is also called Belteshazzar. The message was true but extremely hard to understand. It was explained to him in a vision.) [2]At that time, I was mourning for three weeks. [3]I did not eat any rich food or any meat, drink any wine, or comb my hair until the three weeks were past. [4]On the 24th day of the first month of the year, I was standing on the bank of the mighty River Tigris. [5]I looked up and saw someone who was wearing linen clothes and a belt of fine gold. [6]His body shone like a jewel. His face was as bright as a flash of lightning, and his eyes blazed like fire. His arms and legs shone like polished bronze, and his voice sounded like the roar of a great crowd. [7]I was the only one who saw the vision. Those who were with me did not see anything, but they were terrified and ran and hid. [8]I was left there alone, watching this amazing vision. I had no strength left,

  Daniel 11:1-45 [1]He is responsible for helping and defending me. [2]And what I am now going to tell you is true.” [3]“Then a heroic king will appear. He will rule over a huge empire and do whatever he wants. [4]But at the height of his power his empire will break up and be divided into four parts. Kings not descended from him will rule in his place, but they will not have the power that he had. [5]“The king of Egypt will be strong. One of his generals, however, will be even stronger and rule a greater kingdom. [6]After a number of years the king of Egypt will make an alliance with the king of Syria and give him his daughter in marriage. But the alliance will not last, and she, her husband, her child, and the servants who went with her will all be killed. [7]Soon afterwards, one of her relatives will become king. He will attack the army of the king of Syria, enter their fortress, and defeat them. [8]He will carry back to Egypt the images of their gods and the articles of gold and sil

  Daniel 12:1-13 [1]The angel wearing linen clothes said, “At that time the great angel Michael, who guards your people, will appear. Then there will be a time of troubles, the worst since nations first came into existence. When that time comes, all the people of your nation whose names are written in God's book will be saved. [2]Many of those who have already died will live again: some will enjoy eternal life, and some will suffer eternal disgrace. [3]The wise leaders will shine with all the brightness of the sky. And those who have taught many people to do what is right will shine like the stars for ever.” [4]He said to me, “And now, Daniel, close the book and put a seal on it until the end of the world. Meanwhile, many people will waste their efforts trying to understand what is happening.” [5]Then I saw two men standing by a river, one on each bank. [6]One of them asked the angel who was standing further upstream, “How long will it be until these amazing events come to an end?”