The history of Bel, and of the great serpent worshipped by the
Babylonians.
14:1. And Daniel was the king's guest, and was honoured above all his
friends.
The king's guest. . .It seems most probable, that the king here spoken
of was Evilmerodach, the son and successor of Nabuchodonosor, and a
great favourer of the Jews.
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 said: 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 said 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 are 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 to 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 dragon 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.
The den of lions. . .Daniel was twice cast into the den of lions; one
under Darius the Mede, because he had transgressed the king's edict, by
praying three times a day: and another time under Evilmerodach by a
sedition of the people. This time he remained six days in the lions'
den; the other time only one night.
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.
Habacuc. . .The same, as some think whose prophecy is found among the
lesser prophets but others believe him to be different.
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.