Bel and the Dragon
Bel.1
[1] When King Astyages was laid with his fathers, Cyrus the
Persian received his kingdom.
[2] And Daniel was a companion of the
king, and was the most honored of his friends.
[3]
Now 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.
[4] The king revered it and went every day to worship it. But
Daniel worshiped his own God.
[5]
And 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."
[6]
The 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?"
[7] Then 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."
[8]
Then 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.
[9]
But 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."
[10]
Now there were seventy priests of Bel, besides their wives and children. And
the king went with Daniel into the temple of Bel.
[11] And 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.
[12] And 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."
[13] They were unconcerned, for beneath the
table they had made a hidden entrance, through which they used to go in
regularly and consume the provisions.
[14] When 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.
[15] In the night the priests came with their
wives and children, as they were accustomed to do, and ate and drank everything.
[16]
Early in the morning the king rose and came, and Daniel with him.
[17] And the king said, "Are the seals unbroken, Daniel?" He
answered, "They are unbroken, O king."
[18] As 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."
[19]
Then Daniel laughed, and restrained the king from going in, and said, "Look
at the floor, and notice whose footsteps these are."
[20] The
king said, "I see the footsteps of men and women and children."
[21]
Then 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.
[22]
Therefore the king put them to death, and gave Bel over to Daniel, who destroyed
it and its temple.
[23]
There was also a great dragon, which the Babylonians revered.
[24] And the king said to Daniel, "You cannot deny that this is a
living god; so worship him."
[25] Daniel said, "I will worship the
Lord my God, for he is the living God.
[26] But if you, O king, will
give me permission, I will slay the dragon without sword or club." The king
said, "I give you permission."
[27]
Then 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!"
[28]
When 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."
[29] Going to the king,
they said, "Hand Daniel over to us, or else we will kill you and your
household."
[30] The king saw that they were pressing him hard, and
under compulsion he handed Daniel over to them.
[31]
They threw Daniel into the lions' den, and he was there for six days.
[32] There 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.
[33]
Now 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.
[34] But the angel of the Lord said to Habakkuk, "Take the dinner
which you have to Babylon, to Daniel, in the lions' den."
[35]
Habakkuk said, "Sir, I have never seen Babylon, and I know nothing about the
den."
[36] Then 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.
[37]
Then Habakkuk shouted, "Daniel, Daniel! Take the dinner which God has sent
you."
[38] And Daniel said, "Thou hast remembered me, O God, and
hast not forsaken those who love thee."
[39] So Daniel arose and ate.
And the angel of God immediately returned Habakkuk to his own place.
[40]
On the seventh day the king came to mourn for Daniel. When he came to the den
he looked in, and there sat Daniel.
[41] And the king shouted
with a loud voice, "Thou art great, O Lord God of Daniel, and there is no other
besides thee."
[42] And he pulled Daniel out, and threw into the den
the men who had attempted his destruction, and they were devoured immediately
before his eyes.