cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well : but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? [1]
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
17 If it is so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thy hand, O king.
18 But if not, be it known to thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
19 Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he spoke, and commanded that they should heat the furnace seven times more than it was heated before. [2]
20 And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. [3]
21 Then these men were bound in their coats, their trousers, and their turbans, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. [4] [5]
22 Therefore because the king’s commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire killed those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. [6] [7]
23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste, and spoke, and said to his counsellors, Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said to the king, True, O king. [8]
25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. [9]
26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spoke, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come here . Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth from the midst of the fire. [10]
27 And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king’s counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor had the smell of fire passed upon them.
28 Then Nebuchadnezzar spoke, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.
29 Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a refuse heap: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort. [11] [12] [13]
30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the province of Babylon. [14]
CHAP. 4.
Nebuchadnezzar the king, to all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied to you.
2 I thought it good to show the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me. [15]
3 How great are his signs! and how mighty are his wonders! his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation.
4 I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in my house, and flourishing in my palace:
5 I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me.
6 Therefore I made a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream.
7 Then came in the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers: and I told the dream before them; but they did not make known to me the interpretation of it.
8 But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name is Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods: and before him I told the dream, saying,
9 O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation of it.
10 Thus were the visions of my head in my bed; I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great. [16]
11 The tree grew, and was strong, and its height reached to heaven, and the sight of it to the end of all the earth:
12 Its leaves were fair, and its fruit abundant, and in it was food for all: the beasts of the field had shade under it, and the fowls of heaven dwelt among its boughs, and all flesh was fed from it.
13 I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher and an holy one came down from heaven;
- ↑ dulcimer: or, singing: Chaldee, symphony
- ↑ full: Chaldee, filled
- ↑ most...: Chaldee, mighty of strength
- ↑ coats: or, mantles
- ↑ hats: or, turbans
- ↑ commandment: Chaldee, word
- ↑ flame: or, spark
- ↑ counsellors: or, governors
- ↑ they...: Chaldee, there is no hurt in them
- ↑ mouth: Chaldee, door
- ↑ I make...: Chaldee, a decree is made by me
- ↑ any...: Chaldee, error
- ↑ cut...: Chaldee, made pieces
- ↑ promoted: Chaldee, made to prosper
- ↑ I thought...: Chaldee, It was seemly before me
- ↑ I saw: Chaldee, I was seeing
