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DOUAY-RHEIMS VERSION OF THE HOLY BIBLE
Daniel 14
Daniel in the Lions' Den
14:1. And Daniel was the king's guest, and was honoured
above all his friends.
14:2. Now the Babylonians had an idol called Bel: and there
was spent upon him every day twelve great measures of fine
flour, and forty sheep, and six vessels of wine.
14:3. The king also worshipped him, and went every day to
adore him: but Daniel adored his God. And the king said to
him: Why dost thou not adore Bel?
14:4. And he answered, and said to him: Because I do not
worship idols made with hands, but the living God, that
created heaven and earth, and hath power over all flesh.
14:5. And the king said to him: Doth not Bel seem to thee to
be a living god? Seest thou not how much he eateth and
drinketh every day?
14:6. Then Daniel smiled, and siad: O king, be not deceived:
for this is but clay within, and brass without, neither hath
he eaten at any time.
14:7. And the king being angry, called for his priests, and
siad to them: If you tell me not who it is that eateth up
these expenses, you shall die.
14:8. But if you can shew that Bel eateth these things,
Daniel shall die, because he hath blasphemed against Bel.
And Daniel said to the king: Be it done according to thy
word.
14:9. Now the priests of Bel were seventy, beside their
wives, and little ones, and children. And the king went with
Daniel into the temple of Bel.
14:10. And the priests of Bel said: Behold, we go out: and
do thou, O king, set on the meats, and make ready the wine,
and shut the door fast, and seal it with thy own ring:
14:11. And when thou comest in the morning, if thou findest
not that Bel hath eaten up all, we will suffer death, or
else Daniel, that hath lied against us.
14:12. And they little regarded it, because they had made
under the table a secret entrance, and they always came in
by it, and consumed those things.
14:13. So it came to pass after they were gone out, the king
set the meats before Bel: and Daniel commanded his servants,
and they brought ashes, and he sifted them all over the
temple before the king: and going forth, they shut the door,
and having sealed it with the king's ring, they departed.
14:14. But the priests went in by night, according to their
custom, with their wives, and their children: and they eat
and drank up all.
14:15. And the king arose early in the morning, and Daniel
with him.
14:16. And the king said: Are the seals whole, Daniel? And
he answered: They lare whole, O king.
14:17. And as soon as he had opened the door, the king
looked upon the table, and cried out with a loud voice:
Great art thou, O Bel, and there is not any deceit with
thee.
14:18. And Daniel laughed: and he held the king, that he
should not go in: and he said: Behold the pavement, mark
whose footsteps these are.
14:19. And the king said: I see the footsteps of men, and
women, and children. And the king was angry.
14:20. Then he took the priests, and their wives, and their
children: and they shewed him the private doors by which
they came in, and consumed the things that were on the
table.
14:21. The king, therefore, put them ot death, and delivered
Bel into the power of Daniel: who destroyed him and his
temple.
14:22. And there was a great dragon in that place, and the
Babylonians worshipped him.
14:23. And the king said to Daniel: Behold, thou canst not
say now, that this is not a living god: adore him,
therefore.
14:24. And Daniel said: I adore the Lord, my God: for he is
the living God: but that is no living god.
14:25. But give me leave, O king, and I will kill this
dreagon without sword or club. And the king said, I give
thee leave.
14:26. Then Daniel took pitch, and fat, and hair, and boiled
them together: and he made lumps, and put them into the
dragon's mouth, and the dragon burst asunder. And he said:
Behold him whom you worship.
14:27. And when the Babylonians had heard this, they took
great indignation: and being gathered together against the
king, they said: The king is become a Jew. He hath destroyed
Bel, he hath killed the dragon, and he hath put the priests
to death.
14:28. And they came to the king, and said: Deliver us
Daniel, or else we will destroy thee and thy house.
14:29. And the king saw that they pressed upon him
violently: and being constrained by necessity: he delivered
Daniel to them.
14:30. And they cast him into the den of lions, and he was
there six days.
14:31. And in the den there were seven lions, and they had
given to them two carcasses every day, and two sheep: but
then they were not given unto them, that they might devour
Daniel.
14:32. Now there was in Judea a prophet called Habacuc, and
he had boiled pottage, and had broken bread in a bowl: and
was going into the field, to carry it to the reapers.
14:33. And the angel of the Lord said to Habacuc: Carry the
dinner which thou hast into Babylon, to Daniel, who is in
the lions' den.
14:34. And Habacuc said: Lord, I never saw Babylon, nor do I
know the den.
14:35. And the angel of the Lord took him by the top of his
head, and carried him by the hair of his head, and set him
in Babylon, over the den, in the force of his spirit.
14:36. And Habacuc cried, saying: O Daniel, thou servant of
God, take the dinner that God hath sent thee.
14:37. And Daniel said, Thou hast remembered me, O God, and
thou hast not forsaken them that love thee.
14:38. And Daniel arose, and eat. And the angel of the Lord
presently set Habacuc again in his own place.
14:39. And upon the seventh day the king came to bewail
Daniel: and he came to the den, and looked in, and behold
Daniel was sitting in the midst of the lions.
14:40. And the king cried out with a loud voice, saying:
Great art thou, O Lord, the God of DAniel. And he drew him
out of the lions' den.
14:41. But those that had been the cause of his destruction,
he cast into the den, and they were devoured in a moment
before him.
14:42. Then the king said: Let all the inhabitants of the
whole earth fear the God of Daniel: for he is the Saviour,
working signs, and wonders in the earth: who hath delivered
Daniel out of the lions' den.
Updated by Jane Vadnal, December, 1997