Daniel 1

• 1. During the third year of King Jehoiakim's reign in Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it with his armies.
• 2. The Lord gave him victory over King Jehoiakim of Judah. When Nebuchadnezzar returned to Babylon, he took with him some of the sacred objects from the Temple of God and placed them in the treasure-house of his god in the land of Babylonia.
• 3. Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, who was in charge of the palace officials, to bring to the palace some of the young men of Judah's royal family and other noble families, who had been brought to Babylon as captives.
• 4. "Select only strong, healthy, and good-looking young men," he said. "Make sure they are well versed in every branch of learning, are gifted with knowledge and good sense, and have the poise needed to serve in the royal palace. Teach these young men the language and literature of the Babylonians. "
• 5. The king assigned them a daily ration of the best food and wine from his own kitchens. They were to be trained for a three-year period, and then some of them would be made his advisers in the royal court.
• 6. Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were four of the young men chosen, all from the tribe of Judah.
• 7. The chief official renamed them with these Babylonian names: Daniel was called Belteshazzar. Hananiah was called Shadrach. Mishael was called Meshach. Azariah was called Abednego.
• 8. But Daniel made up his mind not to defile himself by eating the food and wine given to them by the king. He asked the chief official for permission to eat other things instead.
• 9. Now God had given the chief official great respect for Daniel.
• 10. But he was alarmed by Daniel's suggestion. "My lord the king has ordered that you eat this food and wine," he said. "If you become pale and thin compared to the other youths your age, I am afraid the king will have me beheaded for neglecting my duties."
• 11. Daniel talked it over with the attendant who had been appointed by the chief official to look after Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
• 12. "Test us for ten days on a diet of vegetables and water," Daniel said.
• 13. "At the end of the ten days, see how we look compared to the other young men who are eating the king's rich food. Then you can decide whether or not to let us continue eating our diet."
• 14. So the attendant agreed to Daniel's suggestion and tested them for ten days.
• 15. At the end of the ten days, Daniel and his three friends looked healthier and better nourished than the young men who had been eating the food assigned by the king.
• 16. So after that, the attendant fed them only vegetables instead of the rich foods and wines.
• 17. God gave these four young men an unusual aptitude for learning the literature and science of the time. And God gave Daniel special ability in understanding the meanings of visions and dreams.
• 18. When the three-year training period ordered by the king was completed, the chief official brought all the young men to King Nebuchadnezzar.
• 19. The king talked with each of them, and none of them impressed him as much as Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. So they were appointed to his regular staff of advisers.
• 20. In all matters requiring wisdom and balanced judgment, the king found the advice of these young men to be ten times better than that of all the magicians and enchanters in his entire kingdom.
• 21. Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus's reign.

Daniel 2

• 1. One night during the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that disturbed him so much that he couldn't sleep.
• 2. He called in his magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers, and he demanded that they tell him what he had dreamed. As they stood before the king,
• 3. he said, "I have had a dream that troubles me. Tell me what I dreamed, for I must know what it means."
• 4. Then the astrologers answered the king in Aramaic, "Long live the king! Tell us the dream, and we will tell you what it means."
• 5. But the king said to the astrologers, "I am serious about this. If you don't tell me what my dream was and what it means, you will be torn limb from limb, and your houses will be demolished into heaps of rubble!
• 6. But if you tell me what I dreamed and what the dream means, I will give you many wonderful gifts and honors. Just tell me the dream and what it means!"
• 7. They said again, "Please, Your Majesty. Tell us the dream, and we will tell you what it means."
• 8. The king replied, "I can see through your trick! You are trying to stall for time because you know I am serious about what I said.
• 9. If you don't tell me the dream, you will be condemned. You have conspired to tell me lies in hopes that something will change. But tell me the dream, and then I will know that you can tell me what it means."
• 10. The astrologers replied to the king, "There isn't a man alive who can tell Your Majesty his dream! And no king, however great and powerful, has ever asked such a thing of any magician, enchanter, or astrologer!
• 11. This is an impossible thing the king requires. No one except the gods can tell you your dream, and they do not live among people."
• 12. The king was furious when he heard this, and he sent out orders to execute all the wise men of Babylon.
• 13. And because of the king's decree, men were sent to find and kill Daniel and his friends.
• 14. When Arioch, the commander of the king's guard, came to kill them, Daniel handled the situation with wisdom and discretion.
• 15. He asked Arioch, "Why has the king issued such a harsh decree?" So Arioch told him all that had happened.
• 16. Daniel went at once to see the king and requested more time so he could tell the king what the dream meant.
• 17. Then Daniel went home and told his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah what had happened.
• 18. He urged them to ask the God of heaven to show them his mercy by telling them the secret, so they would not be executed along with the other wise men of Babylon.
• 19. That night the secret was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven,
• 20. saying, "Praise the name of God forever and ever, for he alone has all wisdom and power.
• 21. He determines the course of world events; he removes kings and sets others on the throne. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the scholars.
• 22. He reveals deep and mysterious things and knows what lies hidden in darkness, though he himself is surrounded by light.
• 23. I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors, for you have given me wisdom and strength. You have told me what we asked of you and revealed to us what the king demanded."
• 24. Then Daniel went in to see Arioch, who had been ordered to execute the wise men of Babylon. Daniel said to him, "Don't kill the wise men. Take me to the king, and I will tell him the meaning of his dream."
• 25. Then Arioch quickly took Daniel to the king and said, "I have found one of the captives from Judah who will tell Your Majesty the meaning of your dream!"
• 26. The king said to Daniel (also known as Belteshazzar), "Is this true? Can you tell me what my dream was and what it means?"
• 27. Daniel replied, "There are no wise men, enchanters, magicians, or fortune-tellers who can tell the king such things.
• 28. But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and he has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the future. Now I will tell you your dream and the visions you saw as you lay on your bed.
• 29. "While Your Majesty was sleeping, you dreamed about coming events. The revealer of mysteries has shown you what is going to happen.
• 30. And it is not because I am wiser than any living person that I know the secret of your dream, but because God wanted you to understand what you were thinking about.
• 31. "Your Majesty, in your vision you saw in front of you a huge and powerful statue of a man, shining brilliantly, frightening and awesome.
• 32. The head of the statue was made of fine gold, its chest and arms were of silver, its belly and thighs were of bronze,
• 33. its legs were of iron, and its feet were a combination of iron and clay.
• 34. But as you watched, a rock was cut from a mountain by supernatural means. It struck the feet of iron and clay, smashing them to bits.
• 35. The whole statue collapsed into a heap of iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold. The pieces were crushed as small as chaff on a threshing floor, and the wind blew them all away without a trace. But the rock that knocked the statue down became a great mountain that covered the whole earth.
• 36. "That was the dream; now I will tell Your Majesty what it means.
• 37. Your Majesty, you are a king over many kings. The God of heaven has given you sovereignty, power, strength, and honor.
• 38. He has made you the ruler over all the inhabited world and has put even the animals and birds under your control. You are the head of gold.
• 39. "But after your kingdom comes to an end, another great kingdom, inferior to yours, will rise to take your place. After that kingdom has fallen, yet a third great kingdom, represented by the bronze belly and thighs, will rise to rule the world.
• 40. Following that kingdom, there will be a fourth great kingdom, as strong as iron. That kingdom will smash and crush all previous empires, just as iron smashes and crushes everything it strikes.
• 41. The feet and toes you saw that were a combination of iron and clay show that this kingdom will be divided.
• 42. Some parts of it will be as strong as iron, and others as weak as clay.
• 43. This mixture of iron and clay also shows that these kingdoms will try to strengthen themselves by forming alliances with each other through intermarriage. But this will not succeed, just as iron and clay do not mix.
• 44. "During the reigns of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed; no one will ever conquer it. It will shatter all these kingdoms into nothingness, but it will stand forever.
• 45. That is the meaning of the rock cut from the mountain by supernatural means, crushing to dust the statue of iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold. "The great God has shown Your Majesty what will happen in the future. The dream is true, and its meaning is certain."
• 46. Then King Nebuchadnezzar bowed to the ground before Daniel and worshiped him, and he commanded his people to offer sacrifices and burn sweet incense before him.
• 47. The king said to Daniel, "Truly, your God is the God of gods, the Lord over kings, a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this secret."
• 48. Then the king appointed Daniel to a high position and gave him many valuable gifts. He made Daniel ruler over the whole province of Babylon, as well as chief over all his wise men.
• 49. At Daniel's request, the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to be in charge of all the affairs of the province of Babylon, while Daniel remained in the king's court.

Daniel 3

• 1. King Nebuchadnezzar made a gold statue ninety feet tall and nine feet wide and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.
• 2. Then he sent messages to the princes, prefects, governors, advisers, counselors, judges, magistrates, and all the provincial officials to come to the dedication of the statue he had set up.
• 3. When all these officials had arrived and were standing before the image King Nebuchadnezzar had set up,
• 4. a herald shouted out, "People of all races and nations and languages, listen to the king's command!
• 5. When you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and other instruments, bow to the ground to worship King Nebuchadnezzar's gold statue.
• 6. Anyone who refuses to obey will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace."
• 7. So at the sound of the musical instruments, all the people, whatever their race or nation or language, bowed to the ground and worshiped the statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
• 8. But some of the astrologers went to the king and informed on the Jews.
• 9. They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, "Long live the king!
• 10. You issued a decree requiring all the people to bow down and worship the gold statue when they hear the sound of the musical instruments.
• 11. That decree also states that those who refuse to obey must be thrown into a blazing furnace.
• 12. But there are some Jews--Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego--whom you have put in charge of the province of Babylon. They have defied Your Majesty by refusing to serve your gods or to worship the gold statue you have set up."
• 13. Then Nebuchadnezzar flew into a rage and ordered Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to be brought before him. When they were brought in,
• 14. Nebuchadnezzar said to them, "Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you refuse to serve my gods or to worship the gold statue I have set up?
• 15. I will give you one more chance. If you bow down and worship the statue I have made when you hear the sound of the musical instruments, all will be well. But if you refuse, you will be thrown immediately into the blazing furnace. What god will be able to rescue you from my power then?"
• 16. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you.
• 17. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty.
• 18. But even if he doesn't, Your Majesty can be sure that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up."
• 19. Nebuchadnezzar was so furious with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego that his face became distorted with rage. He commanded that the furnace be heated seven times hotter than usual.
• 20. Then he ordered some of the strongest men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace.
• 21. So they tied them up and threw them into the furnace, fully clothed.
• 22. And because the king, in his anger, had demanded such a hot fire in the furnace, the flames leaped out and killed the soldiers as they threw the three men in!
• 23. So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, securely tied, fell down into the roaring flames.
• 24. But suddenly, as he was watching, Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in amazement and exclaimed to his advisers, "Didn't we tie up three men and throw them into the furnace?Yes," they said, "we did indeed, Your Majesty."
• 25. "Look!" Nebuchadnezzar shouted. "I see four men, unbound, walking around in the fire. They aren't even hurt by the flames! And the fourth looks like a divine being!"
• 26. Then Nebuchadnezzar came as close as he could to the door of the flaming furnace and shouted: "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!" So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego stepped out of the fire.
• 27. Then the princes, prefects, governors, and advisers crowded around them and saw that the fire had not touched them. Not a hair on their heads was singed, and their clothing was not scorched. They didn't even smell of smoke!
• 28. Then Nebuchadnezzar said, "Praise to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! He sent his angel to rescue his servants who trusted in him. They defied the king's command and were willing to die rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.
• 29. Therefore, I make this decree: If any people, whatever their race or nation or language, speak a word against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they will be torn limb from limb, and their houses will be crushed into heaps of rubble. There is no other god who can rescue like this!"
• 30. Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to even higher positions in the province of Babylon.

New Living Translation: 295 of 324 days.