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
honoured 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
kings 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.